It's been a while. It's been a long while.

I just looked at my last blog and I was thinking about how I'm slowly but surely working to overcome that, I'm not afraid of being strong because I know it's necessary later on in life.
I picked up the book "No More Christian Nice Guy" by Paul Coughlin, and the subheading (or whatever you call the description of the book on the cover) is "when being nice, instead of good, hurts men, women, and children." And this book has conveyed an idea that seems so foreign to the minds of Americans and especially Christians: Christian men should have a backbone. What?!
It has changed (and is still changing) my perspective on things like standing up for the truth, and what is right.
I remember always viewing the concept of standing up for Jesus as something like a girlfriend standing up for their boyfriend, not really able to do anything, hoping for the best, but being confident that their boyfriend can hold their own and knowing he's in the right.
But since I've been to the men's retreat, and have been reading this book, standing up for Christ seems more like standing up for a Brother, and a Friend. A mindset more like, "He never backed down for me and my needs, so I'm not going to back down for His standards, and how He wants me to live."

And my view of Jesus has changed. I always thought of Jesus as soft and tender, maybe a little on the wild side, but not much. But it has finally occured to me that Jesus had (and has) a backbone. He didn't back down from hypocrites. He didn't tiptoe around subjects. He wasn't scared to step on anyone's toes. He didn't apologize for offending people, but said woe to those who He offended.

But to expand on something earlier said: being strong is necessary for living our lives. If I am married one day (and even if not,) I'm going to need to be strong in order to:

-Stay faithful to God
-Stay faithful to my wife
-Honor my friends' wives
-Lead where God has me in a position of leadership
-Be a steward of what God has given to me

It's not good to go through life without a backbone, and I feel like I sound like a radical and I'm really not, but I have to draw the line. Strength is not bad.

I kinda lost my train of thought, so let me write later.