It was the summer of 2004 and Melissa and I had only recently moved to the small town of Keokuk, Iowa, to take a youth and worship pastor position at a church there.

There was one particular day I remember vividly. It was a good day. And I was feeling positive about the headway we were making in the youth department amongst the young people. I spent the majority of the day remodeling the youth room to make it more, well, “youthy.”

In addition, Melissa and I were starting to feel a great connection with those involved in the music and worship department. We felt like, though things were still somewhat new for everyone, we were making progress and things were starting to flow together nicely.

All throughout this specific day I had been thinking on these things and I was starting to feel good about our new role and the progress we were making. But just as I was leaving the church parking lot for the day, I felt an urge to go a different route home. At first I wasn’t exactly sure why I did this, especially since it was completely the wrong direction in which I was supposed to be heading. Regardless, I just started driving, turning left instead of right. And as I turned left, I immediately knew the reason for this illogical prompting.

He was a large man in a powered wheelchair cruising down the sidewalk on Main Street. I’d seen him before and, though he didn’t look poor or in immediate need, my heart still went out to him. I felt bad but never really did anything about it or asked him if I could help in any way. You know, never being Jesus in the flesh. I wanted to but didn’t. And knowing all this, I felt another urge – an urge to stop and ask him how I could help.

So I did.

Well, first I pulled my car into a parking lot on the other side of the road and told myself, “If he crosses the street right here, then I’ll get out of my car and talk with him.” He crossed the street but I stayed in my car.

I pulled back onto the street and into a different, more secluded parking lot down the road and told myself, “If he passes by here, then I’ll get out and ask him if he needs anything.” He did. So I did what felt natural. I stayed in my car and pulled back onto the road – such a risk-taker, I know.

Then I pulled into the Burger King parking lot. When I say “the” Burger King parking lot, I mean the “only” Burger King parking lot – validating my earlier point that Keokuk is, in fact, a really small town. I’m sure you can guess what I did next. I told myself “If he goes into Burger King, then I’m definitely getting out and talking to him about Jesus.”

He wheeled past my car, up onto the ramp, and drove his wheelchair into the front entrance of Burger King. I watched him the whole way, praying that he would go somewhere else – anywhere besides Burger King. But he did not. And so I got out of my car and walked in.

If you’re hoping for a nice ending, well, this story doesn’t have one. I was as nervous as could be as I walked through the door. God had called me to this point, the opportunity was there, but I was petrified. I was so nervous to present Jesus, if even by actions only, to this man.

He was short a quarter for his meal. I reached into my pocket, found a quarter and handed it to him. The door opened. He thanked me. I acknowledged politely, “Of course, no problem.” I ordered a burger and stood fairly close to the man as we both waited for our orders – the door still wide open. He turned and thanked me again. It would’ve been so easy for me to simply say, “I’ve seen you around town a few times. My name is Bo.” or “Man, I’ve had a pretty decent day. What about you?” Something, anything could’ve been my first step through the open door. But I let it slip away.

He grabbed his order. I grabbed mine. He cruised away in his wheelchair while I got in my car and drove home. That “great day” I had was robbed right from under me and I was the one who stole it.

It’s unfortunate, and ironic, that I had a hard time reaching out to one person when now I have been given the opportunity to reach out to thousands of people each month with our magazine, Rethink Monthly. Who’d of thought, as the hymnist penned, that a wretch like me, a guy who couldn’t even follow the simplest urge, would be given a task such as this.

Bo & Melissa Lane have two beautiful kids, Benjamin and Bella Lane. Besides having the privilege of printing this wonderful magazine, they enjoy long walks on the beach, listening to Hillsong United, and will pay virtually any amount for a quality babysitter.

I could tell that my mother was nervous. She didn’t need to say anything; it was evident by the amount of food she made when my brand new girlfriend, Melissa, came home with me to meet the parents. There were only four of us, not forty.

For many years my mom was the only woman in my life. She changed my diapers and taught me how to read and write. She taught me how to share, except of course, when it came to large baskets of fries from McDonald’s; those little adventures we shared together were sacred. But, most importantly, she was the first to tell me about Jesus. And today she was about to meet the person who would do the same for her grandchildren. She was nervous, and rightly so.

But I was equally nervous. My dad had a secret weapon and fully intended on using it.

The photo album was strategically placed within arm’s reach. I could tell that my dad had it planned out, meticulously plotting my demise. Apparently it was humorous for him to show my future wife images of me in the most awkward stages of life; from chubby pre-pubescence to acne-laced teen. I wasn’t laughing.

But beyond the embarrassment, my dad had a goal; to show Melissa an image of me when I shot my first deer. He takes pride in that picture, mostly because he was proud of me, but also because he’s passionate about hunting.

Let’s face it, men like to shoot things. We like to pack our rifles, dress up in camouflage, and hide out for hours waiting for the perfect opportunity to suck the life out of the season’s biggest prize.

Men don’t cry when they see blood. We join the NRA and put the sticker on our truck – not for proof, we simply like the way it reflects off the sun.

Men like to watch movies where the good guy wins. We thrive when men like William Wallace stand up in front of other men and proclaim their independence, shouting, “They may take away our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”

Men hate the mall. We’d rather clean the garage or watch NASCAR.

Men want their daughters to grow up and do girly things. Like play with dollies, put their hair in pigtails, and not date anyone until the age of forty two.

Let me also mention (boy who wants to date my daughter) that men use knives. Remember that buck we shot last season? Yes, we skinned it. Take note.

And when men use the phrase “last season,” we’re not referring to American Idol.

Equally, men want their sons to grow up and do manly-things. Like watch football on Sunday, eat beans straight from the can, and grow a mop of facial hair in the winter. We commission them to protect their little sisters. And if that means we have to teach them how to jab with their left or perfect the Karate Kid swan kick, so be it.

Men are men. We’re often uncivilized. We’ve been known to eat steaks raw and pick the leftovers out of our teeth with large sticks. That’s what we do.

But most importantly, real men love God. We want to experience God the provider, God the protector, God the inventor of Ultimate Fighting Championship, not the God of pastels.

We don’t like the lack of manliness that often accompanies those promoting the gospel. We’re manly men remember? And we operate on manliness. It’s programmed within us.

Or at least it used to be.

The Barna Group recently released a study called, “Women are the Backbone of Christian Congregations in America.” In it they noted that more than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church. They also concluded that midweek activities often draw 70 to 80 percent female participants.

It begs the question: Where have all the cowboys gone? Or rather, why have we pushed them out of our churches?

For too long, we’ve developed programs that cater mostly to women. For too long, we’ve replaced boldness and aggression with passivity. We’ve forgotten that Christianity was founded by a man, followed by a dozen other men. And for some reason, it doesn’t bother us that 70 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it during their teens and twenties and many of these boys will never return.

There are 25 percent of married, churchgoing women who will worship without their husbands this Sunday. It’s my guess, that if we were to ask these women to lay down their lattes, remove the flowers that fill the sanctuary, and exchange it for a bow and arrow, they’d gladly do so.

Bo & Melissa Lane have two beautiful kids, Benjamin and Bella Lane. Besides having the privilege of printing this wonderful magazine, they enjoy long walks on the beach, listening to Hillsong United, and will pay virtually any amount for a quality babysitter.

Just because I fail to put my wallet in its rightful place or because I leave my bag in the middle of our living room floor, doesn’t mean I’m lazy. In fact, my socks belong right where I left them – on the floor next to the chair in my office. I keep telling Melissa that but she doesn’t seem to believe me. Regardless, I stand by my argument: I’m not lazy, I simply forget.

Let me digress.

Several months ago, when moving into our new place, our new neighbor stopped by to drop off a welcoming gift. Unfortunately, we weren’t home at the time but she was kind enough to leave it at the door. The following day, in my normal hurry, I sat it in our garage, hoping for the chance to plant it in the near future.

It was a rose bush. The kind that comes in a plastic bag and has a handful of branches sprouting from the top. You know … the kind that should be planted shortly after its purchase? Or rather, the kind that requires water at least once in its lifetime … Yeah, that kind.

Now, it’s imperative that I remind you that I’m not lazy, I simply forget. Like the time I drove a flat bed truck for an equipment rental company I worked for who rented equipment to contractors, it wasn’t laziness that caused the truck’s boom arm to stay extended up to the sky only to rip down two electric poles, it was forgetfulness. And forgetfulness was the root cause as to why I didn’t get around to planting that beautiful rose bush our neighbor bought us.

So as you can imagine, weeks passed and it sat there. Months passed and it sat longer. In fact, it sat there up until a few weeks ago when I went in search for the occasionally used yet invaluable tool in the garage: the plunger.

Now, just because my garage isn’t as tidy as it could be, doesn’t make me lazy. The unorganized look is what I’m going for – or at least that’s what I keep telling Melissa. She doesn’t seem to believe me. Nevertheless, the story must go on.

In my desperate search for that invaluable tool, I came to what I call “The Corner.” You know what I’m talking about right? The dark, mysterious corner in every man’s garage where things just seem to congregate – the same place you store those nearly empty cans of paint you want to get rid of but for some reason you keep them forever. And it’s the same spot you hide those important thingamajigs that, if put anywhere else, your wife would “accidently” throw away.

That’s where I found it. Tucked into the dark corner, sitting next to the plunger was the rose bush that had long escaped my memory. Except this time its contents had noticeably changed. The stubby little rose bush that we were given had started blossoming right there in the corner of our garage – still in its original packaging.

I wasn’t sure if its growth was attributed to the fact that it sat for months next to the family plunger or if people were sneaking into my garage in the middle of the night, secretly spraying it with some miracle rose-growing chemical. Either way, this rose bush had experienced a radical transformation and I was pleased with the outcome.

After seeing what that rose bush looked like in the beginning and then, despite its lack of water and sunlight, seeing how it started growing into a beautiful plant, really got me thinking. Especially about all the times I’ve been through dark and dry seasons in my own life – or how Melissa and I have seen those moments of emptiness or lack of water being poured into in our marriage or ministry.

That little rose bush caused me to rethink the way God works in certain areas and times in our lives. How, despite the heaviness of going through dark times, situations or even hurts, we can grow… And not only can we grow, we can flourish and bloom into something more beautiful than we were in the beginning.

So, maybe it’s in those times we should start asking more questions; start asking how we can grow or how we can be pruned. Maybe God is faithful enough to meet us where we’re at, even if it’s not in the place we need to be. And maybe, just maybe, for some of us it’s time to get out of the darkness where we hide, push the smelly plunger out of the way, and show the rest of the world how we’ve been transformed.

The next day our neighbor, Sharon, was outside planting flowers of her own. I asked if she would like to plant the bush she gave us in our yard – since I’m not quite the green thumb. She gladly accepted.

Now, every time I walk out my front door, I’m greeted by what I call my “Rose of Sharon.” I was going to add something else to the end of this article … but I forgot.

Bo & Melissa Lane have two beautiful kids, Benjamin and Bella Lane. Besides having the privilege of printing this wonderful magazine, they enjoy long walks on the beach, listening to Hillsong United, and will pay virtually any amount for a quality babysitter.

PURCHASE MURDER BY PRIDE, SONG-BY-SONG, ON ITUNES (for a limited time)

Stryper fans will have limited time to purchase “Murder by Pride” song-by-song up until July 21, 2009 when the first album will be released. Here’s how it will work: Beginning on Tuesday May 5, 2009 you can purchase a song per week on iTunes. However, as each new song is released, the previous one will no longer be available until the full album is released. So fans have a 7 day window to purchase each track from “Murder by Pride” beginning May 5. Below is a schedule of the release dates for each song on the album. Remember, each song only stays up until the next one is made available so be sure to mark your calendars.

Tuesday 5/5 \\ Eclipse of the Son
Tuesday 5/12 \\ Murder By Pride
Tuesday 5/19 \\ 4 Leaf Clover
Tuesday 5/26 \\ The Plan
Tuesday 6/2 \\ Alive
Tuesday 6/9 \\ I Believe
Tuesday 6/23 \\ Mercy Over Blame
Tuesday 6/30 \\ Run In You
Tuesday 7/7 \\ Everything
Tuesday 7/14 \\ My Love (I’ll Always Show)
Tuesday 7/21 \\ FULL “MURDER BY PRIDE” ALBUM AVAILABLE ON iTunes

Have you signed the RETHINK Monthly petition: Bring Stryper to Salem? If not, click here to get signed up!

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New Studio Album ‘Murder by Pride’ Set for July release

Legendary Christian rock band Stryper has announced plans for a 25th Anniversary Tour, hitting 50 cities in North America this fall before going international in January and February 2010. Stryper’s upcoming studio album Murder by Pride (Big3 Records) will be released in July.

The 25th Anniversary Tour, scheduled to launch in September, will be a two-set show. The first set will feature new Stryper material and include current bassist Tracy Ferrie, along with original members Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet and Oz Fox. The second set will feature all four original members, including original bassist Tim Gaines, wearing the original yellow and black stage outfits and performing the band’s hits from the last 25 years.

“After recently learning about how precious life is and how often we take for granted the time that we have here on earth, I realized that this tour may very well be the most important tour in the history of Stryper,” said Michael Sweet. “Tim, Robert, Tracy, Oz and myself are all stepping out together to show the importance of unity and forgiveness and the only way to show this is to live it. We’ve been faced with challenges over the past 25 years but two things have remained certain within our hearts and within our lives – the power of God’s love and the beauty of God’s grace.”

The tour will be a family project, with Michael Sweet Jr’s band Flight Patterns opening all dates. Their debut album will release on Fifty Three Five Records in July.

In 1984, Stryper broke on to the scene with their debut EP Yellow and Black Attack, and have since gone on to sell 8 million albums and tour the world spreading an inspirational message through their branded sound of rock songs, heavy guitars and pristine harmony vocals. The group’s unprecedented 1986 album To Hell with the Devil went platinum and was named one of the “100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music” by CCM Magazine.

In 2008, Michael Sweet joined legendary band BOSTON on vocals and guitar for their 54-city summer headlining tour of North America, performing the band’s classic hits like “More than a Feeling,” “Peace of Mind,” “Amanda” and “Don’t Look Back.” BOSTON has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, including the band’s 1976 self-titled debut, which has sold over 17 million copies to date and was the highest selling debut of all time.

Murder by Pride will include a cover of the BOSTON song “Peace of Mind” that features BOSTON guitarist Tom Scholz on the recording. Ironically, Stryper had recorded “Peace of Mind” and planned to put it on their 2009 release long before Michael Sweet was even considered as a new member of BOSTON.

In 2008, BOSTON’s Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl joined Stryper on stage to perform “Peace of Mind” for VH1 Classic’s After Math: The Station Fire Five Years Later – a televised benefit concert also featuring performances by John Rich, Dierks Bentley, Gretchen Wilson, Aaron Lewis (Staind), Tesla, Twisted Sister, Winger and more.

“This record is a true miracle,” said Michael Sweet. “We began rehearsing the new material in 2006 and now here we are looking at a 2009 release. It’s been an extremely difficult process yet through this came one of the most powerful records that we’ve ever made. We decided to go back to what we were known for – vocal harmonies, guitar harmonies, solid grooves and melodic melodies and arrangements. We put our hearts and souls into making this record and we can only hope that it changes a few lives along the way. If so, it was all worth it!”

Stryper is booked by APA Nashville and managed by Deep South Entertainment. All confirmed Stryper tour dates will be announced at www.Stryper.com and www.MichaelSweet.com.

This is a message from Jim Moore, director of the Salem House of Prayer (SHOP). Please find out more about SHOP on their website, www.salemhouseofprayer.org.

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They are positioned at arms length from one another – watching and alert – with their weapons in hand. They rest in shifts. They cover for one another as they eat. They are frequently shot at and attacked. It is far from a life of ease and comfort. Their mission is to hold the sacred ground they have been given, and they would rather die than quit.

They are the Watchers.

Before they lie down to sleep, they must make sure the ground is secured for the night. The Night Watch has just come up to report for duty. They are fewer in numbers for a variety of reasons. Some have jobs. Some have families. Many do not have the physical capacity to live as though day is night and night is day. These are the elite. Though they are few in number, they excel in dedication, sacrifice and determination. Many of us are not even aware of the debt we owe them.

I have just described to you the intercessors who daily stand in the place of prayer every day, 24 hours a day, at the Salem House of Prayer.

This is a cry for help. This is a plea for additional soldiers.

This is the captain of one platoon writing to his fellow companions in battle, to come and send reinforcements so the line can be held a little longer. We are in desperate need of intercessors for the Night Watch. Let me explain why.

Imagine that line again. The enemy forces always seek out the part of the line that has the fewest soldiers, or where they are the most spread out. For this line, it is the night watch. We currently have three people who are covering 18-25 prayer shifts a week at night. They have time and time again come under serious assault. One of these brothers had a rare stone in his appendix suddenly appear and after months of inability to properly diagnose it, finally had it surgically removed. This has left him susceptible to various afflictions, and he is still trying to recover…all while he is still praying.

Another young lady again had abdominal pains that the doctors could not seem to understand. She was just recently told that she had a cyst that ruptured, and now she is unable to stand at her watch while she is recovering. This leaves just one brand new recruit who has come with fresh passion to help – to come and stand with the recovering brother in the night watch. These are real people who are making real sacrifices because they believe in the extreme value and the nobility of night and day prayer.

They believe, as many of you do, that Salem must have a “corporate altar” of unceasing prayer if we are to truly expect to have a habitation of the Lords presence. That alone will transform our cities. They believe it so much they are laying down their lives for it.

Let me make it clear what we are asking you for:

We are asking you to come and sign up for daily or weekly prayer: specifically between the hours of 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. We need pray-ers. We appreciate all the wonderful e-mails. We greatly value all the words of encouragement and the pats on the back that have over and over kept us going. But now we need you. We need your human body in the prayer room, coming and praying on a predictable schedule. We need you to literally sign up for prayer.

Our troops are thin. They are tired and weary, but they are more determined than ever. With respect I ask you, please do not call or write us to say that we simply need to quit. You will not be doing us any favors. But please do call or write to say you can come and pray.

We love you.
We need you.
We appeal to you.
Please come.

If you absolutely cannot come, then please pray that others will.

www.salemhouseofprayer.org