A Classic Man | Pastor Nelson Bowen

OK, I'm not going to be before you too long today. For Mother's Day, I took care of the moms. And we had a good time, did we not? And then, so can you guess who the message is for today? If y'all don't know, my name is Nelson Bowen, Pastor B. I pastor the greatest church on the planet, Engage Community Church. So I'm going to preach to the fathers. If there's one thing I understand that men like is a short message. So God is good all the time. All right, amen, let's go. At 9 AM, they started getting their stuff. They said, I like this church, man. This church is fire. I'm not going to be before you too long at all. But I do just want to share a few moments. Is that OK? And then we'll get out and enjoy some of these cars and all of that. But if you've been following me online at all, or just in conversation with me, I've gotten to the point where I don't know if it's because I'm getting older in age, but I got a greater appreciation for vintage and classic, especially like that Porsche, that old school Porsche. I don't believe in God. It's one of those in my future. I really am. But I've just started to get a greater appreciation for it.

People don't like classic cars because they're the fastest. They don't like them because they're the most technologically advanced. They don't like them because of how new they are. The reason why a lot of times people like classic cars is because of what it represents. They were built with intention. Yes or no? They carry history. They were made with craftsmanship. They've stood the test of time. And here's the one that's really great is that they still carry value. Listen to this, even with miles. In fact, the average person may look at a classic car and just say that's an old car. But when you put it in front of the right person who understands value, that's not just an old car. That is a collector's car. There's value in it. It's really good for us to know that there are things that exist that can carry miles and still have value. The reason why that's important, men, is because what I understand is that we can get some miles on us for sure. Miles can often represent wounds that we carry or secrets that we have, things that we'll take to the grave, regrets that we might not want to talk about, shame that oftentimes can come with us. And what I've discovered, Derek, is that just because I have

miles doesn't mean that I'm not valuable. But we live in a time and we live in a place and the area where I have found and begin to see that they are diminishing the value of the man. We live in a culture that is always trying to redefine and reshape what masculinity looks like. I don't care what month it is. I'm going to be biblical. Yeah. Because culture will try to train men to perform and to consume and to chase status and to hide emotions and to avoid responsibility and to fear commitment and embrace femininity. I'm going to talk about it, which we are not. God made us men. I say God made us men. Men going to get dirty. Men don't always use manners. Men don't know we hunt, we kill, we provide, we bring home. But we don't carry purses. OK, let me calm down. I got a little too excited. No, there's masculinity that is biblical. And today, I want to look at the first man that God created, Adam. Because that's the original design. Classic men are obsessed with generationally passing something down. A classic car said, is maintained because the intent is I'm going to pass this down.

And as men, we must live with an awareness, with an understanding that you are, in fact, going to pass stuff down. Whether it's intentional or unintentional, things in your life will get passed down. Biblical. Manhood is really about one word, inheritance. And it's not just money, it's faith, it's discipline, it's wisdom, it's integrity, it's spiritual leadership. In fact, Solomon, he was writing about this in Proverbs 13, 22, look at what he says. He says, a good man, what kind of man? A good man. Leaves what? Inheritance. To who? His children. So not just his child. Not just his child, but his what? Grandchild. Well, it makes sense because if I'm leaving an inheritance to my children's children, then what this assumes is that your child is already taken care of because your grandfather did that. This is generationally, now I know this has not always been the case, but here's what I know and what I love about God is that you're sitting in this room to make a difference. You're sitting in this room because it's not too late and so a good man, I can't even be good

unless I've got inheritance on my mind. In fact, look at Deuteronomy. Don't just make this about money, it's about legacy, it's about discipline, it's about character, it's about spiritual leadership. It's not just money, but in these words that I command you today, that they shall be when your heart, watch this, verse seven, you shall teach them, them being the children, diligently to your children and talk to them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. Here's where the writer of Deuteronomy is saying you should be talking to your children about Jesus, not just today, but all day, every day, talking to them about why? Because if you don't, Disney will raise your kids. If you don't, the society and the culture will plant things inside of their brain and you gotta have some type of spiritual inheritance that's been deposited that can say, that ain't it. As men, we must understand that what we do today, listen, will be in our backseat tomorrow. What we do today. I'll say it again after a bit, it's fine. We'll be in our backseat tomorrow. I wanna say it this way, see, our children ride in the backseats of our decisions. In the backseats of our speech, in the backseats of our integrity,

in the backseats of our spiritual life, in the backseats of our emotional health and there's two things that I wanna give you this morning that I'm committed to that we can see in the life of Adam that God gave us. I think Genesis chapter two, verse 15 is one of the most important scriptures to manhood. It says, the Lord God took the man. Took who? And put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. The Lord God took who? Took who? And put who? What's the pronoun? Him. In the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. A classic man works the Garden. In Hebrew, this reads a little different. Our English language say it doesn't do a great job of translating what this verse means. Because the word took in Hebrew actually means to bring to an assignment. Which means that when God created Adam, this was not just a passive act. This was God intentionally placing Adam for a purpose, for a reason. He gave him an assignment. What am I saying, man? That your life is intentional. That you aren't just a product of your parents' passion.

But you are an original design and intent for you to be here in this moment, in this time, in this place. Your calling is intentional. Your life is intentional. Your family is intentional. Everything about you is intentional. You're not a man looking for purpose. You're a man created on purpose who has a purpose and you are there to carry out an assignment. You're not trying to discover purpose and meaning. You're already placed with God for an assignment and the assignment is the garden. Now we all have a garden. Your garden is your responsibility. It's your stewardship. It's your assignment, it's your sphere of influence. The garden can represent one, if not all of these. It's your marriage, your children, your ministry, your business, your calling, your community. It's whatever God has entrusted you with. Here's what you have to know though, Chris. Whatever he gives you, it's your responsibility to cultivate. Whatever God gives you, it's your responsibility to cultivate it. The word working, you gotta work the garden, you gotta work the garden. The word Hebrew in work is abad, abod. I like saying abad because a man with a job is a bad man.

A man that's got a dream and has got purpose and is working what God has given him, that's a bad man. The word abad, to work, it means to cultivate, to serve, to labor, to worship. What it actually means is that what Adam was doing when God told him to work the garden, what he was doing was spiritual. What do you mean? This verse is written before the curse. So what it says is that when he was working what God gave him to work, that was an act of worship. A job is not a curse or punishment. Responsibility is not a punishment. Leadership is not a punishment. It is a form of worship when we take what God has given us as men and we cultivate it. In fact, the Apostle Paul was writing to the Colossians. Look at what he says in Colossians chapter three, verse 23, the church of Colossae, he says, whatever you do, I don't care what it is, but whatever it is that you do, because I need to let you know, man, there's nothing that you do that's insignificant. See, culture will try to put us against each other. Well, he's this and I'm that, it doesn't, whatever you do, you work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Solomon put it this way. When you take your garden serious, when you become men who are obsessed

with cultivation of your families, of your faith, of your disciplines, of your body, of your finances, of your purpose. Look at what he says in Proverbs chapter 22, men. He said, do you see a man that's skillful in his work? Do you see a man that is skillful in his work? Because if you do, that man is gonna stand before kings. Amen. Amen. Amen. Why am I telling you this? Because culture has convinced us that it's okay to sit back, to be complacent, to be uninvolved, to be noncommittal, but you're called to build. You're called to cultivate. I like to say it this way, Derek. The grass is green wherever I'm standing. That's what I'm telling you. It's within your DNA. You work and you keep and you cultivate. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Okay, a classic man doesn't just work the garden, but a classic man has to know how to keep the garden. Genesis 2.15 is very, look, the Lord God took the man, put him in the Garden of Eden. Why he put him in the garden? Why did he give him an assignment? It was to work it and to keep it. Now, how many know that sometimes, if not all times, Derek, it's harder to keep it,

I mean, it's harder to keep it than it is to get it. Anyone ever been in a situation where like, you got it, but keeping it, that's a whole, I mean, maybe you bought the car, but you ain't know the car came with oil changes and tire rotations and you bought that, so it's not just enough to have it. I also have to keep it. God looks at Adam and he says, I need you to not just receive what I've given you, but keep what I've given you. If you don't get nothing else from me today, here's what I want you to get, man. Whatever God gives you will be contested. Yes. Okay. I'm gonna give you the biblical definition of masculinity. It's not domination, it's not ego. not performance. It's the ability to steward well what God has given you. Hear me, under pressure. It's the ability to steward well what God has given you under pressure. As men, you gonna go under pressure. Your marriage is gonna go under pressure. Your children is gonna go under pressure. Your character is gonna go under pressure. And when you get under pressure, who are you? Can you keep what God has given you? Because the tension that is found in Genesis 2.15 is that he gives them two assignments. He says, work it and keep it. Work it, which is abode. Keep it, which is shamar. The word shamar, this Hebrew word, oh, it's, it's, it's, here's what it would be. It's like, don't be passive. Don't fall asleep. Don't be careless. In fact, the word shamar is where we get the word watchman. The enemy is going to attack two things in your life. What threatens him and what matters to you. The enemy is going to attack two things in your life. What threatens him, you coming to church is threatening to him. You loving your wife faithfully is threatening to him.

Your children, they matter to you, so they, he's going to attack your kids. He's going to challenge what's been given to you. It's why he attacks purity and discipline and peace and identity and focus and children and calling and legacy. Why? Because what the enemy understands is that if I can corrupt the man, I can destroy the family. It's the reason why culture right now is trying to reshape and redefine fatherhood and masculinity and leadership and discipline and responsibility and trying to frame it in a way that we don't feel needed, that we feel less than, that we aren't good enough, that women can put on the pants that we put on, that they can carry the weight that we can, and it's a lie. Now listen, I'm not saying that women aren't doing it, but they shouldn't have to. But if I can attack that, if I can reframe that, if I can let them see that it's OK for women to propose to men. I don't want to see not a damn woman in this church. Get on your knee. I don't care what this child told you. Look at Genesis chapter 3 verse 2. And when the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. Watch this. But God said you should not eat of the fruit of this tree that's in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. Now she added that part. That's a lie. He didn't say any of that. He didn't say touch it. He said don't eat it. Sometimes we take what God said and we convert it, but that's a whole other message. OK. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. I'm going to teach a message probably before I leave this year that don't put question marks where God put periods. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. They were already like God. But if you don't know who you are, the enemy can convince you who you're not. Knowing good and evil. Verse number 6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was the light to the eyes because the enemy does what he does. He tried to take what's wicked and make it normal. So the enemy does what the enemy always does. He tried to take what's perverse and make it look like it's straight. And that tree was to be desired to make one wise. She took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her, to her who? And where was he at? Look on this screen. She took of its fruit and ate. Who ate? But she gave some to her. Who was? And he ate after her. But he was with her.

So the whole time that this wicked, perverse stuff was going on, he was right there. Men, can I help you out? The sin here was not her eating, because God gave the instruction to Adam. The instruction to Adam was to not just receive what I've given you, but keep what I've given you. Shamar, be a watchman. I need you to be alert. I need you to understand what situations are going on around you. So the sin in the garden was not Eve eating, it was man being passive. And passiveness in a man is not what's needed in this moment. Some moments, it's okay for you to be cool. Some moments, it's okay for you to be kind. Some moments, it's okay for you to be chill. But then there comes a time where the warriors pick up their sword. Then there comes a time where a man has to say, wait a second, we're not going on like this. This is not going to happen. God gave me this woman. God gave me this garden. God gave me this children, and I must protect what He's given me. Put that apple down, Eve. And you, and the nerve of you to come up in here and slide in my chick's DM, who you think you are? Hey, I'm the wrong one. He was passive. He was sitting back while the enemy was taking ground. And what the enemy wants to do right now, men, is cause us to sit down and be quiet and be passive and allow our men to be demasculated. Allow our children to be hoodwinked, and he shows up not as a snake. He shows up in the movie like the Minions, which is witchcraft.

And we just sit back passively and take our children and be like, it's just a movie. No, it's an attack on your legacy. It's an attack on the seed that God has given you to work and to keep, and it's our job to make sure that we're staying on guard and not allowing the enemy to come in and run Rothschild all over our families. Our job as men is to work and to keep what God has given us. He stood right there, present and distant, and it happens today. We're present at home and disconnected from family. We're present financially but absent emotionally. We're present physically but spiritually not leading. The snakes, they look different. It's temptation and distractions and compromise and addiction and pride and lust and passivity and emotional isolation and selfish ambition. And while the snakes look different, the goal is still the same. Can I disconnect man from his assignment? Can I disconnect him from his assignment? That's why Peter wrote this in 1 Peter, I need you to see this. He said, be sober-minded, be watchful, Shamar, your adversary the devil prowls around like. Not a lion, there's only one lion in the Bible, it's the Lion of Judah, it's Jesus Christ himself. The enemy wants to be him but he's not him. He is a phony case. I'm going to be very clear, the opposite of God is not the devil. He don't even hold a candlestick to who that is but he roars around like a roaring lion. That's why my job as a man is to be sober-minded, to be able to say, okay, I see what the enemy is trying to do here and I'm going to stand up, take my position, take my rightful place, and keep what he's given me. Does this make sense? That's why I love this verse in Nehemiah, another strong one for me. Look at this, look, who were building on the wall, those who carry burdens were loaded

in such a way. the way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. I love this because here's what Nehemiah is saying. Yes, building is important, but so is fighting. And what's happening is what the culture will try to get you to do is build your career and build your life and build your purpose and you'll lose your family at the same time. But what God is showing us is that you can be successful and have your children and your marriage with you. You can be successful and keep your spirituality. You can do both at the same time. We work and we fight. I said I wasn't gonna preach. I'm up here sweating. I was supposed to be cool today. God, dog, I'm supposed to be like you, oh, just chilling. Got my linen on, sweating. All right, I'm gonna give you three quick things when we get out of here, is that okay? Real quick. Caleb, you can come to me real quick, real quick. Number one, say, stay alert. The enemy loves distracted men. Men say, stay alert. It's our job to pay attention to our habits, to our atmosphere, to our emotional conditions, to temptations, to relationship. It's our job to be alert.

Why, because what we don't confront is what the enemy will access. Does it make sense? What we don't confront is what the enemy will access. Say, stay alert. Second one, say, stay disciplined. Listen, gardens die without maintenance. I told them this at the 9 a.m. No man accidentally becomes faithful. Yeah, that's about the same response I got in there. No man accidentally becomes faithful. No man accidentally becomes disciplined. No man accidentally becomes spiritually strong. No man accidentally becomes emotionally healthy. You will not sit down and accidentally become the man you wanna be. You won't. There's no amount of sitting that's gonna create what you desire. It takes work. It takes discipline. It takes putting yourself in a position, a place where you're like, no, I am committed to growing. It requires intentionality. Look at 1 Corinthians 9, verse 27. I'm almost done. It says, but I discipline, what? And I do what? Keep it under control. Do you?

Do you? I discipline my body. I told, like there's sometimes I say no to like food just to do it. Because if I can't say no to a Tasty Cake, then you ain't gonna say no to a, if I can't say no to a ho-ho, I discipline my body and I keep it under control. Watch this. Less after preaching to others, I'm myself. PB, ain't that just for you? No, you preach to your family. Man, listen to me, listen to me. Our children hear half of what we hear, I mean half of what we say, and watch all of what we do. If I can be honest, man, we're preaching great messages and living 20% of them out. Amen. And then we wonder why our kids don't really listen to us. They've listened to you, now they're examining fruit. Does the fruit match the message? It's important for us to understand this. It's important for us to say, okay, wait a second, man. It's important for me to have a prayer life. It's important for me to be consistent. It's important for me to have boundaries. It's important for me to rest and to have integrity and to have spiritual routines. Why? Because the enemy often enters

through neglected areas of your life. Whatever you're neglecting is where the enemy's camping out. Here's the last one, stay alert, stay disciplined, last one, stay connected to God. All right, man, I'm going to give you something, it's a little, y'all still with me, men? Y'all enjoying this? Hey, the men have been in the house all day, yo, like, like, like, no, let me be clear, this is probably the most attended between both services Father's Day we've ever had. Men, thank you for coming to church, men, thank you for being here, men, thank you for being around God, no, for real. Here's the last one, stay connected to God, say, stay alert, stay disciplined, stay connected to God. All right, men, let me help you. You cannot protect physically where you are not spiritually. You cannot protect spiritually, I'm sorry, physically, how about this, where you are disconnected spiritually. Here's the problem, the enemy will convince us that our physicality is our strength. And as men, we like that, we like to be physical, we like to be macho, we like to be strong, we like to, I mean, we'll, at least we should be. Oh, I just had a joke, I'm not going to say that, okay, I had to let, I heard a lady be like, stop, so I had to stop, because I almost had a, I had a good one, ask me outside, I'm going to tell you, okay. Here's where the enemy is winning though, it does not matter how strong you are physically, you don't fight him physically. You can't protect your family with your strength alone. You can't put hands on the devil, you can try all you want. You protect your family with your prayer life. You need spiritual tools. The battle for your family and the battle for your marriage, the battle for your legacy is not a physical battle, it's a spiritual one. And where you are spiritually will determine how you're able to deal with things physically.

Does this make sense? The greatest strength that you have for your family won't be a weapon, it'll be your ear. Your ability to hear from God. The reason why all this matters is because what we protect today becomes what our children inherit tomorrow. And so as a classic man, what are you protecting? What are you giving? What are you passing down? And here's what I'm talking about at 9 a.m., you know what your children are going to inherit? You. And if they inherited you, which they will, what are they going to get? Because the decisions you make today are sitting in the back seat of the car tomorrow. So we got to stay alert, we got to stay disciplined, and we got to stay connected to God, amen? Did we enjoy today? So awesome, I know we went over, that's because we had 5,011 people in the catwalk. No, I'm playing, let's pray, God, thank you so much for you being so good, thank you for you being so awesome and so great. We love you, Jesus, we honor you, we praise you, we lift your name up high and we magnify you today, God. Thank you for being so good and so awesome. Pray for one more person, pray for the person in here today who says, hey, I want to give my life to Jesus. I don't know where you are, I don't know where you find yourself on in this journey, but I want to let you know that God loves you so much that he sent you here today, and really for one reason, so that you can spend eternity with him. Don't let the world try to psych you out and think that there's no coming back from where you are, that you're damaged, man, God loves you. In fact, he loves you so much that he gave his one and only son to die for you, and his name is Jesus. So there's a debate that often goes on between heaven and hell, are they both real?

The answer is yes. The myth is that God doesn't send you to neither one of them, you actually get to decide where you go. And we decide to spend our lives in eternity with God when we accept his son Jesus into our life. And maybe even now your heart's racing, and you're like, what's this? Simply Jesus knocking on the door of your heart with one question. The question is simple. Will you give your life to me? I want to live with you, but he's a perfect gentleman. So he doesn't come by intrusion He doesn't come by an invasion only comes by an invitation. The invitation is simple Jesus. I'm a sinner I'm in need of a Savior. Would you save my life? And if that's you today, I want to give you that opportunity to be bold See at some point you're gonna take your last breath And when you do my job is to make sure that you spend eternity with God And it's simple. We're not gonna think spooky or scary. We're not gonna ask you to stand or come to the front We're just gonna ask you to raise your hand on the count of three and say that's me pastor I want to give my life to Jesus today And so if that's you this is your moment I'll make this about no one else to the left or to the right But on the count of three, I just want you to raise your hand and say that's me one God loves you to your life would never be the same three of that. She would you raise your hand? So awesome, we got one over there Come on let's celebrate Come on let's say it's gonna say God Today, I give you my life. I believe in my heart and confess in my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Come on, let's celebrate So Awesome so awesome. Have you said that prayer for the first time? They put in a QR code on the screen would love for you to take a picture of that There's a salvation class. We got a gift for you. I want to tell you welcome to the family I love you guys. Y'all know next Sunday is my last Sunday for a while

So y'all got to come in the building and you got to just we're gonna just have fun And we're gonna send me off in the good and I'm gonna see y'all in about four or five weeks. Amen But please don't stop coming because I'm not here as I've said before and I'm gonna keep saying that if your attendance stops when I am not here that you've Made me an idol and that's not a good thing to be at all And so we come because God called us to this place not because the personality lives here Alright, and so our prayers that you'll continue to show up that you continue to be here continue to give but I got some good Friends that are coming to me. It's pretty exciting Let's take a look at the video and I'll see you guys on Wednesday Tuesday Right this down fear is a form of spiritual warfare Watch it that primarily seeks to compromise. Here's the word Obedience, do you know what fear most? Attacks is your yes, because I want to be planted. I want to see the fruit I don't want to live this thing all my life and don't see no fruit I don't want to just come to church and just do Do the thing and the routine and the rehearsal because I marked it off my list. No, I want to see the fruit Miracle signs and wonders. I Told God let me be the one Let me be the one that lay hands on a dead man and he gets up Let your light shine before others. Should you hide it? No, let your light shine before others that they may see See See what your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. They need to see something on us That's gonna compel them to come and see the God that we serve And he never talks to Timothy about who's against him He only talks to Timothy about what's in him can I make 12 of y'all man Part of the reason you may not be getting what you desire or need out of this season It's because you only talk to God about who's against you When God is more interested in talking to you about what's in you and When you get your focus, right? You can then get your future, right?