2021 by Dr. Tony Evans
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3011-6
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Some material in chapter 2 adapted from Tony Evans, America: Turning a Nation to God (Chicago: Moody, 2015), chapter 2.
Portions of chapter 6 adapted from 30 Days to Overcoming Addictive Behavior , Copyright 2017 Tony Evans. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97408. www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Other material in chapter 6 adapted from Its Not Too Late , Copyright 2012 Tony Evans. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97408. www.harvesthousepublishers.com
A segment of chapter 8 adapted from Tony Evans, Oneness Embraced (Chicago: Moody, 2015), chapter 2.
Some material in chapter 12 adapted from Tony Evans, Raising Kingdom Kids: Giving Your Child a Living Faith (Carol Stream, IL: Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale, 2014), chapter 11.
Cover design by Dan Pitts
Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: AWAKENING BIBLICAL MANHOOD
1. Chosen for the Challenge
2. Dry Bones Can Dance
3. A Tale of Two Men
4. The Secret to Success
PART TWO: UNLEASHING BIBLICAL MANHOOD
5. Get Up
6. Get Over
7. Get Going
8. Get Along
PART THREE: TRANSFERRING BIBLICAL MANHOOD
9. Setting the Stage
10. Furthering the Future
11. Identifying Key Influencers
12. Starting the Transfer
Appendix A: Kingdom Declaration
Appendix B: The Urban Alternative
Notes
About the Author
Cover Flaps
Back Cover
This book is dedicated to my sons-in-law, Jerry Shirer and Jessie Hurst, who continue the process of messaging and modeling the principles of
Kingdom Men Rising to my daughters,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my friends at Baker Publishing Group for their interest and partnership in bringing my thoughts, study, and words to print on this valuable subject. I particularly want to thank Andy McGuire for leading the charge on this manuscript with Baker Publishing Group. Its been a pleasure working with Andy to see this through to print. I also want to publicly thank Sharon Hodge and Hannah Ahlfield. In addition, my appreciation goes out to Heather Hair for her skills and insights in writing and collaboration on not only this manuscript, but also on my book Kingdom Man .
Introduction
When you purchase a game of checkers, youll notice that on the top of each piece is the insignia of a crown. That is because each checker was created to become a king.
Once it is crowned because it has successfully made it to the other side of the board, it will have the right and authority to maneuver and function at a much higher level than it could prior to being crowned. The reality is, however, that most individual checkers will not successfully make it to the other end of the board to be crowned, because the opposition will jump them and knock them out of the game. Whether a checker achieves its created goal of being crowned as a king is fully determined by the moves that are made underneath the hand of the one controlling it.
When God created men, He created them with a crown because each man was made to rule under the authority of God. God created the man prior to creating the woman, like pouring a foundation first, because the success or failure of Gods created purpose of building His kingdom in history would be directly related to a mans relationship with and submission to Gods rule over his life. Foundations dont have to be fancy or pretty, but they do have to be strong. When a foundation is weak, everything resting on it is at risk. God holds the man ultimately responsible for keeping steady what He has entrusted to his care while simultaneously advancing His kingdom program.
However, as with the first man, Adam, Satan is seeking to jump men to keep us from fulfilling our divinely ordained kingdom purposes. He goes to great lengths to remove us from functioning in alignment with God so that our families, churches, communities, and nation experience the negative consequences and confusion of men living independently of God.
It is evident that our spiritual energy has kept too many men in a cycle of defeat, discouragement, confusion, rebellion, addiction, and a myriad of other things that have resulted in the spiritual, social, racial, and political chaos we are experiencing today. Far too many men have become either neutered and domesticated or abusive and irresponsible, resulting in a society that is torn, tattered, and in utter dysfunction.
Yet, despite all we see around us, there remains hope. If God can get His men to rise up as the kingdom men He has created us to bemen who pursue an intimate relationship with Him while simultaneously representing Him in all we doHe will reverse the downward spiral of the culture. God is waiting on His kingdom men to rise from our spiritual slumber to accept the responsibility of reversing the decay and disunity that engulf us.
Just as the first Adam brought defeat to the human race, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, came to bring victory. Its time for Gods men, under the lordship of Jesus Christ, to change the trajectory of our culture as we submit ourselves to Him and His kingdom agenda.
It is my goal, in Kingdom Men Rising , to challenge you and all of us as men to accept and implement the responsibility handed to us by our Creator. This responsibility involves not only rising to the challenges we face but also influencing a whole generation of men and boys to do the same. If Gods kingdom men decide to rise up to fulfill our calling, we can see Him heal our hearts, our families, our churches, and our land.
Its time to join a new movement of men who long to see what God will do with the awakening of His kingdom men who lead their families and infiltrate the culture as kingdom citizens. Men who proudly and victoriously wear our crowns and are used by God to crown the next generation with kingdom values.
