A Legion Of Bears

Since encountering Christ in 2019, I have had a handful of seasons where my spiritual disciplines fall short and my faith walk stalls. This last November was certainly not one of those.

I was invited to join an online brotherhood of Christian Men from the Unbearables. The "bears" are those who have at one point in time listened to and enjoyed the livestreams from comedian and legend Owen Benjamin, who then decided to join the community that has formed around him. These bears are locally minded, focused on building and maintaining strong, healthy families, and are all in a pursuit of what's beautiful, what's true, and what's good. 

This attracts all types of people from all sorts of backgrounds, but mostly they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, serve the Father, and seek to in some way participate in the building of His Kingdom. In 2020 some of the men in this bear community decided to form a private club that would serve as not only a male fellowship circle, but also as an accountability group focused on building each other up emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

The Legion of Bears is now made up of men from all around the world, literally, from every generation, and from all races + ethnicities. This group informs each other of local events happening, discusses meaningful topics and not just the current events, the internet dramas or the political theatrics. This legion most importantly holds each other accountable for their wrongs, while lifting each other up for their successes. 

 The building, the growing, the overcoming, and the crushing that occurs with these men is truly remarkable, and you reading this could easily benefit from membership in it as well. If you currently lack brotherhood, fellowship, community, accountability, discipline, and/or determination in your life, but are truly seeking to find it, the legion might just be the place for you. 

All men are invited to join, and the contact info will be at the bottom of this blog.. But not all who sign up will make it through the recruitment stage. This is a one month challenge where all new recruits are put together in a seperate telegram chatroom where they are tested to make sure that they have the discipline, the attitude, and the determination to be a part of the greater Legion. 

During this thirty day trial all recruits must reject the materialistic pleasures of modern society, embrace hardship + struggle, thrive in the war against the vices of flesh, while seeking righteous living at all times. 

The requirements : 

Must watch the three part sermon series from Paul Washer called "Biblical Manhood" 

Must read the entire required literature inside of the recruitment month period. The reading might change over time, but for my recruitment grouping we read The Doctrines of the Lesser Magistrates by Matthew Trewhella and discussed it over the course of the month.

Must only eat one meal per day [OMAD] and should plan schedules and stomachs ahead of time to accomodate this necessity. 

There are no added sugars allowed. Naturally occurring sugars only in the food that is consumed once a day. 

There is absolutely no tolerance for the consumption of drugs and alcohol, including smoking cigarettes and vaping. 

There is a daily minimum of 2 chapters per day read from the Bible, the choice of which is up to you. 

There is absolutely no pornography use allowed. As well as no masterbation, and no unneccesary sexual intercourse with a committed spouse unless it is done with the intention of conceiving a child. 

All recruits are to wake up + check in publicly with the group before 6am in the timezone you are living in. There must also be a publicly posted video of the required workout for the day before 6am. 

Failure to accomplish these tasks, or a failure to reject the temptations of pleasure and comfort will result in various amounts of penance. Typically this involved pushups.. Lots and lots of them..  Which can at times include group penance for the rest of your fellow recruits following a slip up of your own. Some failures will require handwritten apology letters, some will require a change of one's public profile picture to something very embarassing, some can even result in a permanent removal from the challenge and group altogether.. But no matter what, you can be assured that all of the failures will be followed by some savage and ruthless memes at your expense, and with the experienced meme warriors in there, it truly won't be a fun time for you over the next few days.. 

These rules and restrictions to outsiders might seem harsh, or silly, or overly demanding of a man in our modern era, but as one who successfully accomplished doing them all I can say that they not only worked to help my mind and body, but also lifted up my spirit. My experience in the recruitment month greatly benefitted my earthly body as well as my immortal soul.

There were pains and struggles along the way, and the great deceiver did try his best to lead me away from my requirements and tasks, but I pushed on through the storm. 

During this recruitment month and now beyond it, I have found myself becoming legitimately more disciplined in my life. My days are more prepared and planned out, I am aware of what is going in my body and not making excuses for consuming or using what is not healthy.. My daily scripture reading has always been pretty consistent, but is now absolute. 

I have become more active and busy in the best of ways, accomplishing more and budgeting my time successfully each day and every week.. All without the stress and burnout that has typically resulted from prior periods like this in my life. I find myself planning ahead with ease and making more out of every day, with positivity and hope in mind. 

I also lost close to 15 pounds, as a result of eating healthier food less often. Cutting the sugar was tough, but not impossible, and the shakes and cravings died down after a week or so. Eating less has always been a battle for me, but thanks to the added pressure of penance, along with all the uplifting sentiments and encouragement from the boys, I managed to finally eat less. 

The daily workouts weren't overly difficult, but pushed me enough to break a sweat to start my day and get the blood pumping. I have slacked a bit on these after my recruitment month, but have been going to the gym fairly regularly in the morning to do workouts of my own to start the day. It seems to be not only good for the gains, but good for my sanity. 

If you are interested in taking up the call and joining this legion of bears, you can contact me on the various social media places and I will forward your requests to the veterans and leaders. If you want to contact them directly reach out to those listed at the bottom of this blog post..

This challenge is not for everyone, but it could be exactly what you need to start off 2022 in the right way.

The thirty day challenge begins at 5am on January 1st, no excuses and no exceptions. This challenge will help you reject the materialistic pleasures of modern society, embrace struggle and discomfort, and offers you accountability and brotherhood during your journey. 

We are Christian men who find our strength in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you choose this narrow path over the wide path of destruction, you will gain spiritual, mental, and physical strength, alongside those who have also answered the call of the Legion. 

May you find strength in our creator and be the men our families and nations require us to be in a world of universal depravity and wickedness. 

The challenge is currently held on the Telegram app, so be sure to download it and familiarize yourself with it. You can reach out to one of the men in charge for the invite link and be entered in and ready to roll on January 1st.. I would love to see you in the ranks of the general legion in February!

Contact On Telegram :

@LegionnaireBear  @BearBravelybear  @telecaster_bear  @plane_runner  @steadfast_bear

Contact On Instagram : 

@plane_runnerr  @joe.gagan  @mj_corum  @steadfast_bear