Back in the days of high school shop class we made things with iron. My memory of working with iron was welding, using the cutting torch, heating up iron and pounding it with a sledgehammer on the anvil. Sparks and pieces of metal flew around you. We burnt holes in our shirts and jeans.

One day one of the guys set his long-sleeved shirt on fire. He was just standing there flagging his arm thinking it would go out. Several guys grabbed a blanket of some sort and covered up his arm and put out the fire. Next day the kid was back in class with his armed wrapped up in bandages where he had burnt his arm. Shop class was exciting and fun, and you never knew what was going to happen next.

There was always some kind of conflict going on in shop class. Guys would get unhappy with each other and yell at each other. Sophomores got picked on and made fun of. There were no women in the class so there was lots of manly talk going on.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

It takes work to grow up to be a man. You were not born a leader or unselfish, you must be taught. Men need other men to show them how. There are going to be sparks with each other as you grow up and learning how to handle conflict is a good thing.

Jesus started his church with 12 men and there was conflict among them. There was greed, selfishness, want of power among them, just your typical 12 men off the street kind of guys.

We need not, to be many, to start to change the world. We just need to get started one man at a time.