"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
Seats by Carlos SardáSummer's over and it's time to get back to the Calvinista routine. Which routine you might ask? Conferences, conferences, conferences… Who has the money to attend all these events anyway?
Well, here's the latest offering from Mark Driscoll, James MacDonald, Matt Chandler, Greg Laurie, and others. It's called Act Like Men. I don't know about you, but Driscoll and MacDonald are not what I consider to be terrific role models for how Christian men should act. Just search our previous posts about them, and you'll see that there are definitely some problems.
To get a taste of the © 2013 Act Like Men conference , take a look…
Yes, even though the phrase 'act like men' appears in Bible, it's now copyrighted by this crowd. This brings back memories of the legal wrangling over the trademark for Mars Hill. We covered that debacle in a post called The Branding of Mars Hill.
So what's the real focus of this conference? Perhaps the following question and answer under the FAQ section will shed some light…
Q: What is the recommended age for the Act Like Men Conference? Can I bring my teenage son?
A: The Act Like Men conference is appropriate for young men and men ages 13 & up. All content presented by the speakers will be candid and biblically based dealing with issues men face today. Note: may not be suitable for pre-teens or young teens but is geared toward a more mature audience.
The © 2013 Act Like Men conference will take place at three venues, specifically:
Hamilton, Ontario (October 4-5)
Long Beach, California (October 18-19)
Indianapolis, Indiana (November 8-9)
Here are the speakers explaining why this conference is so important.
In order to act like men, attendees will need to don the appropriate attire, so they might want to go ahead and order the Conference Gear. Actually, only the t-shirt is being sold prior to the conference, and the link (which takes you to James MacDonald's website) is not working at the time of this writing. You know what they say – the clothes make the man… Also, to see the © 2013 Act Like Men sponsors (Walk in the Word, Resurgence, Acts 29, etc.), scroll down past the t-shirts, baseball caps and hoodies to the bottom of the virtual catalog.
And if you want to advertise the conference, look how easy the promoters have made it for you (link). No doubt churches and men's groups around the country will be pushing this event in the coming days. We're curious… Has your church or Christian group started promoting © 2013 Act Like Men yet? Please keep us updated. 🙂
Oh, and remember, this event is FOR MEN ONLY!
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Since Driscoll, MacDonald and gang have copyrighted the conference name – © 2013 Act Like Men – I wondered whether anyone else had used that phrase (besides Almighty God, of course!)
Perhaps these mature, manly men are clueless as to the fact that a documentary was released just last year with an interesting title:
Act Like Men: A Titanic Lesson in Manliness
The DVD is from the award-winning producers of Indoctrination, which we reviewed (link). Here is some additional information on the Vision Forum website:
Act Like Men was produced for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking with the intention to inspire today's generation to pursue godly manhood. Featuring Scott Brown, William Einwechter, Bill Potter, and Kevin Swanson, this documentary tells the true story of the Titanic and compares the manly response of its passengers and crew with the weakening of modern morality, as evidenced by recent events such as the partial sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia.
Watch this timely film with your entire family, and discover why it's time to once again act like men.
Act Like Men was a semi-finalist in the 2013 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Kevin Swanson (remember Dee's post on womb tomb babies?) gives us an overview of the documentary.
How coincidental that these two hyper-masculine groups – the Driscoll/MacDonald 'tribe' and the Vision Forum crowd – have tried to capitalize on the 'Biblical' phrase ACT LIKE MEN. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether Driscoll and gang came up with this conference slogan on their own…
In closing, I am so tired of Christians who want to teach young men how to be 'real men' for a price. Vision Forum markets its DVD, etc., and the Driscoll/MacDonald 'tribe' charges over $100 per person to attend a two-day event — remember food, housing, transportation and conference gear are (in all likelihood) NOT included.
Want to know the secret to stamping out the merchandising of masculinity? It has to do with economics. Decreased demand (of conferences and resources) results in a decreased supply. And that's what we really need!
We leave you with a video that would fit in well at the © 2013 Act Like Men conference.
Lydia's Corner: Esther 1:1-3:15 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Psalm 35:17-28 Proverbs 21:19-20