"Men of the Hour"

“Men of The Hour”

– by Aris Metaxukis, (April 26, 2012 - ANVIL Guest Speaker)

Luke 12:37 "...It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching   
                      when he comes."

Aris's Background:

As a young boy, Aris grew up on the northern part of the island of Cyprus, which was later invaded by Turkey.  Although Greek was his native tongue, he lost much of it when he moved with his family to Guelph, Ontario.  Growing up as a teen in Canada, he recalls living a troubled teen life, getting into trouble and using some of the readily available “soft” drugs.  He knew he was going in the wrong direction and somehow he sensed God working in his life.  Without being assisted or influenced by another person, Aris started to pray on his own.

Aris began working in the food service industry, and in his travels in downtown Toronto in the 1980’s, he attended a ministry coffee shop called "Evergreen"  on Young Street in downtown Toronto.  There he met “Arnold” who was apx 65 years old and a Christian.  He was drawn by his joyful persona and they began a conversation on the walk home.  The conversation lasted two and a half hours, during which time Arnold explained salvation using Romans 10: 9&10.  Arnold asked Aris if he was saved, and then after he explained what being "saved" meant, Arnold asked Aris to bow in prayer.  Aris decided to pray in Greek to hide his embarrassment of asking for forgiveness for his sin. Arnold then surprised him by asking him to repeat the same prayer in English.  Aris prayed earnestly, and meant every word of his prayer. He became a child of God that night!  Surprisingly, although seemingly in good health, Arnold died a few months later.

Aris began to grow ever deeper in his faith, and soon began to take bible college courses.  God has blessed his life in so many ways; a very close Prescence with God, a Christian wife, a son and a granddaughter are some of the many things he is so thankful for.  Aris was an encouragement to our ANVIL men as he gave us his testimony and encouraged us to be “Men of the Hour”.  Here are several highlights of his speaking points Thursday, April 26, 2012 for the benefit of the men who weren’t able to make it out.

“Men of the Hour”:

Introduction:  

“The 'Call to Watchfulness' in this late hour”  (- Luke 12: 35-48)

During Roman times, a watchman (or guard) was kept over a settlement to keep a wary eye on dangers that would occur from enemies wanting to inflict damage on the community, especially during the night.  The guards would work in shifts from 6pm to 6am.  (4 watches x 3 hours each = 12 hours; cf. Mark 13: 32-37). 

Jesus spoke of similar dangers to christian men using the "watchmen" analogy.  We need to be watchful as christians, on guard against our enemy Satan - He is a liar, He is called the "deceiver of the brethern" and so our challenge is to be on guard against his evil schemes, especially for men who are assigned a protective role as head of the home, and "high priest" so to speak, of the family.

The Watchmen's ground-rules were:

1)      No Sleeping on your watch!  ; it is paramount for security

2)      Luke 12:35-48 –

a)      V. 35a -“…let your waist be girded…”  (Eph. 6:14 – Mentally focused, prepared with God’s belt of truth…”)   

b)       V.35b – “…and your lights burning.” Lamp: the presence and power of the Holy Spirit needed today to illuminate, empower us…

c)      V. 37-38 – God expects us to be alert, watching for the day is evil

d)     V. 39-40 – we do not know the hour of His coming, so we need to watch for FAMILIES, MARRIAGES, CHURCHES, NATION, REVIVAL.

3)      V. 42 God expects us to be faithful: “…who then is that faithful and wise steward…?”  this is a challenge to us…!

4)      V. 45-48 – “A warning to not assume anything or take God for granted”

Conclusion:

1)      How are you watching?  ; …Are you God’s “man of the hour”?  You can be!

2)      Where I’d like to be is ….”here I am Lord; I am available and willing.”

Thank you so much Aris, for your insightful thoughts tonight!

More About Change…

   We find the theme of change surfaces again in Jeremiah 18.  God’s absolute sovereignty over his creation is quite evident as we can see during Jeremiah’s visit to the potter’s house.

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand…”.

   God can make of your life whatever he pleases, in fact as painful as it sounds God uses the circumstances in your life to change you.  Are you staying soft, & pliable in His hands….. are you teachable!

An Agent of Change?

9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”  Jeremiah 1:9

   In my bible tour I'm passing through the book of Jeremiah, "the weeping prophet".  It is interesting to read the "marching orders" or "the call" that God gave to this man of God.  It seems God's plan was for Jeremiah to be his "agent-of-change", severely scolding rebellious Israel; to "uproot, tear-down, destroy, overthrow - and then to build and plant".
   Here the "Unchangeable God" is all for change in his people Israel.  They were rebellious and their hearts were wayward.  I am reminded of how God wants to keep changing and making me ever more closer to the image of His Son.  I know of areas in my life that need to change and be placed more firmly in his hands.  
   Jewish legend has Jeremiah as being stoned to death as he faithfully lived out his marching orders for God. Change it seems is often not well-received.  How have you dealt with a recent change in your life?  Do you see it as an opportunity to trust God a bit more?