I had the knife on my throat. In that lowest moment of my life, in a rest area parking lot on Interstate 95 in Florida in August of 2010. I was screaming at God. Cursing him. My depressed state and confused mind didn't know what else to do. Then, I felt a presence. I took a pause as I heard a whisper. "You can't leave your son, because I have never left you." Then the phone rang. It was a brother in Christ, "I need you here brother. Come home, let's chat and get through this together. I need you here." Yes, I took a pause for a moment, and realized Jesus was right there with me.
I met a new friend at our big event last week in Gainesville, Florida with Tim Tebow and Zach Williams. Derek, from Auburndale, had a similar moment in the lowly pit of depression and instability. He was ready to end his misery. But a Zach Williams song came on the radio. The song was RESCUE STORY. That song came on and, at that critical moment, Derek paused, listened, prayed, wept and then turned to Jesus and his family for help. Last week, his amazing daughter and I surprised him by taking him backstage to meet Zach Williams and Derek shared his powerful experience where he heard Zach's song, was able to pause, take a deep breath, reframe his thoughts and be touched by the Lord in a way that gave him the revelation that taking his life was not the answer . . . He now knows JESUS is that answer and that His Grace is more powerful than any season of personal struggle.
Depression and suicidal thoughts are a very real problem today. Nothing to be brushed aside or scoffed at when someone feels a man isn't "manly" enough if he ever gets into that state. Did you know that 22 veterans commit suicide . . . EVERY DAY? The suicide rate of teenagers grows every year and is the second leading cause of death for young adults. We had a young man at the University of Florida who confessed that he began contemplating suicide when he was 8 years old . . . yes, you read that right . . . 8 YEARS OLD.
I've lost 4 friends to suicide. All of these men were strong, loved their wives and family, worked hard at their careers and had an impact on our community and yes, I know three of them were definitely CHRISTIANS. They were Harley riding, football loving, little league coaching, hunters and fisherman that lived what many would call "manly" lives. Just like I did.
My brush with suicide and the loss of those friends were the seed planted to form MEN PASSIONATE ABOUT CHRIST. After I chatted with the wife of my most recent suicidal friend, I discovered things about him, his persona and his problems in life that I never knew. It seems all we ever talked about were sports, jobs, fishing and hunting, my son's batting average and how we would succeed in this world by our hard work and smarts. We never talked about our fears, faith, loves and frustrations. My main question . . . WHY DIDN'T WE? Maybe he would still be here today if we had. In retrospect, I now know we were both good at putting on masks and hiding the full truth about our lives, mostly out of fear and pretention.
In 2016, less than a year after that friend took his life, I sat down in our Florida living room with 3 brothers. We began a process of unpacking trauma, failures, successes, fears and misunderstandings. We learned that the power of Jesus blood in forgiving our sins was the example set for us to let go and forgive those who had wronged us in the past. We discovered that Jesus DID forgive us from some sins we committed that we thought were unforgivable. These brothers came together in an atmosphere of grace, transparency, no judgement and no condemnation so we could do one thing . . . HEAL; through confession to another (James 5:16), prayer, The Holy Spirit and genuine Christian brotherhood.
Yes, in that living room, we were able to pause, look deep inside and know the truth about Jesus. We discovered who he truly is and who he says we truly are as his forgiven, holy, justified and righteous sons. This freed us to walk more boldly in our Chrisitan identity so we can be the true fathers, husbands, sons and spiritual leaders God made us to be. We took the time to pause, get real, listen, pray and comfort each other.
Our ministry has grown since that night in my living room. These last 4 months of 2024 have some special themes and causes that MPACT supports. But September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month. It was a suicidal moment and a whisper from God that planted the seed to start this ministry to help others discover grace, one man at a time. To help them pause and heal in the name of Christ.
We are in a critical time in our ministry as we grow and try to fund all of our efforts. The three events we run this year are the primary way we raise the money for MPACT. But as we turn to the end of the year we are at a point where we truly need your help as a donor partner to help us move to the next levels of spreading this message of grace to more men and their families through all of our platforms. Our hope is that you prayerfully consider joining us as a recurring monthly donor. Just a $50 monthly gift we help us so much in delivering this message to all for the years to come. One time donations are always welcome. Please join us with your tax-deductible gift by giving on the link below.
Peace, prayers, blessings and grace to you all!
Trey Etheridge
Founder - Men Passionate About Christ
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