Blackhawk Down.  The story of American military involvement in Somalia and a particularly gruesome battle in Mogadishu following a botched raid and the downing of two Blackhawk helicopters.  A small group of elite soldiers are pinned down by an overwhelming number of Somali militia.  Men are dead.  Men are wounded.  Those still alive are trapped in a couple locations trying to survive the night, hoping for reinforcements to arrive and rescue them at first light.

A good number of them are huddled together in a location surrounded by the enemy, trying to keep the enemy at bay.  They are tired.  They are wounded.  They are discouraged.  They are afraid.  Their friends are dead.  It wasn’t supposed to be like this.  They were better trained than their enemy.  Better equipped.  It was supposed to straightforward - in and out with minimal issues.  This was not the plan.

One wounded soldier begins to give into the pressure to give up hope, to cave into fear and despair. He puts his weapon down.  His commander sees this happening and reminds him of his duty to fight for the bigger mission, for his brothers, for himself.  He’s not the only one exhausted, afraid and wounded.  The commander picks up his weapon, pushes it into his hands and asks him this question:

“Are you still in the fight?”

He slowly takes hold of his weapon and responds, “Still in the fight sir.”

Are you still in the fight?  Or, have you given in to hopelessness, fear and despair?  Have you put your weapon down?  Are you wounded and giving up?  We are all battling similar enemies - fatigue, despair, dread, hopelessness, self pity, apathy, diminishment, passivity, resignation, etc.  We are all wounded to various degrees and in need of healing.

Pick up your weapon.  Wield your will well.  Walk in the light with your brothers.  Resist the enemy.  Meditate on the truth.  Commune with Jesus.  He is with us. He is for us.  Help is on the way.  Sometimes though, it’s just hard and we need to resolve to stay in the fight.

Don’t give up.  Don’t give in.  Still in the fight sir.

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Strength and courage,

David

HELP!!!!!!!!!  Have you ever prayed a deep, guttural prayer that comes out of the pit of your stomach motivated by an overwhelming, paralyzing fear?  Well, this was one of those.

Anne and I and our 2 “toddler” sons had recently left Winnipeg to move back to BC.   I had been working with the Winnipeg Jets, who were now going to Phoenix.  Anne and I believed that the Lord was leading us back to BC.  I had spent a lot of time during my last year with the hockey club cultivating an employment opportunity with a Kelowna organization.  They had indicated to me that they wanted to hire me to start a program I had presented to them.  There were a few details to work out, but they were excited to bring me on.  So, with faith in our hearts that the Lord was calling us to Kelowna, and the assurance of this organization that they were intending to hire me, we sold our home and shipped all our belongings to Kelowna.  We headed to Langley for a few weeks to stay with Anne’s parents.

After we had been at Anne’s parent’s place for 4 weeks I got the call that the deal was off.  I was gutted.  Winded.  Devastated.  How could God let this happen?  We were following Him - He was supposed to provide.  I went for a desperate prayer walk with the Lord and prayed that gut honest one word prayer - help!  I felt like we were the Israelites who had been led out of Egypt only to be trapped at the Red Sea, waiting to be slaughtered by Pharaoh’s economic army.

That’s when the Lord asked me, “Do you believe I can still part waters?”

I knew I had no option.  I had to believe that He can still part waters, or we were dead.  It was at that point that He told me to start my own company.  Through lots of hard work and the faithfulness of God, MacLean Group has been a wonderful blessing for over 10 years.  However, it all began with a belief that God still parts waters.

Do you believe that God can part the waters in your situation?  He can.  Believe and follow Him.

Exodus 14: 13, 14

“Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.’”

Strength and courage.

David

John Wayne.  An iconic man’s man.  I remember the first time I saw a John Wayne movie when I was a boy.  True Grit.  It was the late 60’s and my dad took us to the 17^th St. Drive In, in Calgary.  We had an old wood paneled Ford station wagon - sleeping bags in the back for when we fell asleep.  I’ll never forget watching John Wayne fearlessly gallop across the clearing toward his enemies: the reins of his horse in his mouth, lever action Winchester blasting away in his right hand and his six shooter blasting in his left.  Wow.  Now that’s a man.  Fearless.

At least I thought he was fearless.  I have since learned John Wayne’s definition of courage - “Being scared spitless, but saddling up anyways.”  It’s been said there are two kinds of people in this world:  those who are afraid and those who are afraid.  No one is fearless.  You see, it’s what we do with the fear that matters.  That’s where we separate the men from the boys.  Fear is the prerequisite for courage.  Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to keep going in spite of it.  Courage is not a gift, it is a decision to keep going even though you are afraid.

We all have an equal opportunity to be courageous, because courage is an act of your will.  The greatest gift God has given mankind is our ability to choose - our will.  Even though you’re afraid, maybe terrified, you can choose to keep going.  You can choose to press through your fears.  Surrender your fears to God and don’t let them stop you.  Press on.  If you’re afraid, then you have the opportunity to be courageous.

God didn’t say to Joshua that He would give him courage.  He told him to be strong and courageous.  In other words, He told him to “choose” to be strong and courageous.  Give your fear to God and make a decision to keep moving forward - that’s courage.

Courage is not a gift - it’s being scared spitless, but saddling up anyway.

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Strength and courage.

David

So there I stood in my scuba gear, waist deep in the Pacific waters of the Gulf Islands, waiting with my instructor as he talked with a another diver who was just coming out of the water.  I didn’t hear much of their conversation except for the initial question my instructor had asked - “Howzaviz?”  What the heck did that mean?  I soon learned that in Scuba lingo, Howzaviz? means: “How is the visibility?  How far can you see?”  You see, the visibility in water can change quite significantly due to currents, tides, rain, temperature, etc.  Before you begin a dive it is helpful to know how far you will be able to see - 2 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet?

I’ve learned over the years that life is like that.  Some days it feels like we can see forever.  We see the big picture.  We’re full of faith and hope.  If only everyday were like that… Many days, if not most days, we feel like we’re stuck in cloudy waters.  We can’t see very far.  We don’t know what’s up ahead - or all around us.  We don’t really understand our place in the bigger picture.  It can be very disorienting.  It can be terrifying.  However, I believe God wants to open up the eyes of our hearts so that we can see the hope, the riches of our inheritance and His power that He has for us.  Sometimes the waters will be clear, sometimes the waters will be cloudy, but if we’re able to see with the eyes of our heart - with eyes of faith - our vision can be clear in the midst of the our surroundings regardless of how certain or uncertain they may be.

This “e-visional” is the first of what I hope will be many encouraging visionals written to help improve your vision and help you begin to see clearly with the eyes of your heart.  To help you see the truth of who God is, who He says you are, and the truth about this life we are invited into.  My prayer is that “Howzaviz?” will help open the eyes of your heart so that you can,  “… see the hope to which He has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance in us and His incomparably great power for us who believe…”.

Ephesians 1:18,19

“I pray that the Lord may open the eyes of your heart that you might see the hope to which He has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparable great power that is at work in us.”

Strength and courage,

Dave

Men, we want to be courageous, passionate, powerful, alive and free. We want to know who we are. We want to know whose we are. We want to live the adventure, to take risks and dare mighty things. We want to make sure that our lives count for something, for someone. We want to play an irreplaceable role in an epic adventure for which we have been created, and into which we have been called.

We want to live in a God-breathed wholeheartedness.

At least we did as boys.

Unfortunately, now as men, we typically feel hopeless, helpless and harmless. We seem to have somehow lost heart. Life has in many ways crushed our dreams and damaged our desires. Somehow we are missing the life for which God has created us, and called us into. But, deep down there is a flickering flame, a seed of hope, a divine restlessness reminding us that we have been created for greater things.

Every man is hungry and thirsty for more - more of something deeper that we can’t really put our finger on. We are all searching for a deep, rich, powerfully transformational relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Our Father is breathing life into the dry bones of men’s lives. He is inviting us into new life that we might come out of our graves and stand up in true strength - a God-breathed wholeheartedness - together, as a vast army for good.

David MacLean, through his group presentations, consulting and writing, invites each man into God-breathed wholeheartedness - into a journey of the heart to uncover the Father’s heart.

Learn more about what David would like to share and let us journey together.