John Eldredge - Killing Lions Journal: A Practical Guide for Overcoming the Trials Young Men Face

2014 by John Eldredge and Samuel Eldredge

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken 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 names and identifying characteristics of some individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-4002-0672-8

ISBN: 978-1-4002-0673-5 (eBook)

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Contents

Youve just picked up a powerful little journal. This baby could change your life. Were serious. This journal is a companion to the book KillingLions: A Guide Through the Trials Young Men Face. That book is all about process, journey, a season of discovery, and development in a young mans life. So, in the spirit of process we offer you this guide to bring the ideas in the book to the realities of your life. As an old proverb says,

I hear and I forget

I see and I remember

I do and I understand

Men learn by doing. You can read all you want about swinging a baseball bat, but that is nothing like going to the batting cages and taking a few swings yourself. You can watch motorcycle racing all day on your big-screen TV, but it is an entirely different universe when you straddle that bike and fire it up. This workbook is going to take your experience of Killing Lions and bring it home.

Weve divided each chapter into four categories:

Reflect: First, well give you some space and a handful of questions to journal about.

Watch or Read: Well recommend books and movies we think youll really love, and that illustrate the ideas even further. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes.

Do: Theres nothing that provides clarity like action, having something to go do. This is going to the cages or revving up that bike for each chapter.

Talk About It: Because were hoping that you will not journey alone, were providing some questions for conversation with your pals.

Living the Questions

Killing Lions begins with questions; in the first paragraphs of the preface, Sam says,

In the summer of 2012 I found myself one year out of college and suddenly facing a host of questions. When I left the mountains of Colorado for the beaches of California to pursue a college education, I did it without much forethought. I liked the warmer weather, the campus was beautiful, and I needed to get out from under the guy I had been in my parents home. Most of my decisions in those years were made impulsively. Do I like what it has to offer? Okay, Ill do it.

Then I graduated. After the first few months of elation that freedom and being on your own can bring, I found myself floundering. I had jumped into the deep end of the pool that is life in your twenties, and it felt like I was treading water and getting nowhere. Life was getting more complicated by the week, and my ability to choose the right direction for myself was falling apart.

Before we dive in to the specifics each chapter addressesmoney, women, career, etc.we want to give you some room simply to voice your current questions. It really helps to name things, put words to what you are facing, what you are wrestling with. Sometimes simply naming the questions provides loads of clarity too.

Sowhat are the issues you are facing these days? Where is life not making sense or getting complicated? What do you wish you had answers to?

The opening chapter of Killing Lions speaks to the questions surrounding school, work, and finding a life you can love. It is, in part, about chasing your dreams. It is also an attempt to reframe the decade of your twenties, or that period between high school and the thirties.

Reflect

Lets just start with: What struck you most as you read this chapter? What leapt out?

Has anyone offered to help you reframe this decade, this period of life between high school and having-a-family-and-a-real-job that is the thirties? What do you feel is expected of you in these years?

My generation is desperate for meaning. And I mean in everything. Its hard to find a category in which some company hasnt sprung up to meet the demand for a cause these days. TOMS Shoes gives a pair to a child in need for every pair bought. (Ive bought several from them; after about a month they get too stinky to wear in public.) Any self-respecting coffee jointfrom the little guys to the corporate giantsknows that people are buying more fair trade (no slave labor) products, as do the chocolate makers. Clothing manufacturers have learned that by avoiding sweatshops and advertising their high moral ground, they can pull in customers; I wish more actually did what they claimed. People pay for conflict-free diamonds; I have a plastic-free kitchen; even bicycles can be helping those in need through World Bicycle Relief. Throw in ethical eating, which rightfully targets the destructive and inhumane system of factory farms, and I think we have covered every inch of daily life. These are my people.

Do you resonate with thatwith the longing for meaning in your life?

And why did God give you such hearts? Isnt that fascinatingwhy you and all your peers have a heart to change the world?... Christianity is all about revolutionis a revolution to its coreand that is why God gives young men and women passion to change the world. God gave you that heart in order that you might discover both the joy of being part of his revolution and your own unique place within it.

... Frederick Buechner believed that, The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet. What could be more hopeful?

React to this ideadoes it bring hope? How much of you believes it?

Some of my favorite conversations Ive had with friends were late in the evening, when we just started talking about dreams and how nothing could stop us from going to Africa or starting a business or opening up the first newspaper to really tell the truth. Everyone was able to let their dreams run wild those nights. Somehow, under the stars, we felt again that anything was possible. I loved those times. But, like Santiago when he gets ripped off in Tangier, we forget that feeling and doubt creeps back in when the sun rises, and I dont know many people that are moving toward the dreams they voiced those nights. I feel so bad for my friends. I want each of them to move in the direction of their dreams, before they change (meaning surrender) with the voice of comfort or fear. Or they run off chasing everything, anything, hoping something will come of it....

The reason you love TheAlchemistas I dois because the story is speaking deep truth to you. It whispers a promise the heart yearns to hear: