Stronger then....

If for nothing else through the course of the week, I look forward to my Saturday Mornings.  Albeit, today was a tad hard waking up to a cold room (snow outside) and and comfy bed, however, I managed to remember that a "brother" of mine said that he may go to men's group this morning so I got myself up and to men's group.

I am so thankful that I came today.  Every third Saturday we have two facilitators that have been doing this for the past two and a half years and going on three.  They continued their theme on Anger and we split the group (as it was too big for all to share).  We read Scripture from Genesis to Colossians and touched on some key things relating to anger and to ways around and through anger.

I have the privilege and honor to be the men's ministry leader (co-leader) of this flourishing ministry in our church.  As one elder recently told me it is a "hotspot" for spiritual growth in our church - To God be the Glory forever and ever, amen!  Our formula is simple on Saturday Mornings:  Open with worship, read scripture, discuss relevant and real-life experience and see what wisdom and scripture has to say on this.  The Holy Spirit does the rest.  (that is our success to our men's ministry).

The two discussions on anger have really energized me in my walk and our walk with like-minded brothers.  The coolest thing is seeing some of the "younger spiritual" brothers (not necessarily in age) growing and sharing and really putting their ideas and scripture that means much to them.  They think that more mature Christians gain more by talking more - I don't agree with that because when we see brother's and/or sister's turning away from the world and growing spiritually - that is awesome.

I love it when I see spiritual growth in people - it energizes me - it excites me. I want to thank any of you legacy dads out there that have changed course and submitted to God's will in your life - you are already winning the battle through obedience.

This morning brought me to a really healthy place in realizing that we don't have to react to the world in a worldly way.  Instead if we choose to Set our hearts and minds on things above (Where Jesus Christ is).  Put away the earthly things that turn us away from Him.  Clothe ourselves in love and kindness and putting on the love that binds us.  Giving thanks to God our father.

When we do this and we humble ourselves before a Holy God and realize that in Him we can have the abundant life that he has planned for us then we realize that all things are possible with God.

Saturday Mornings are a beautiful thing!

Dante

This is discipling...

Matthew 28:18-20

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Radical Mentoring

Twitter.com can sometimes bring to light ideas that have be stuck in neutral (in my head) for a very long time, that is, I know what the right thing is to do, but I sometimes find the business of life can distract me from doing what I know should be done...I am a leader in my church's Men's Ministry called Men of Faith.  I recently sent a letter (via email) to each of our Facilitators for men's group sharing some thought and ideas about taking men's ministry to the next level.  Let's just call it a 201 level were we will embark on an initial 6 month commitment with 4 to 6 men per group to go deeper, dig deeper and study scripture together.

Then I get this tweet on Radical Mentoring:

Radical Mentoring from Radical Mentoring on Vimeo.

The article along with it stated the following:

Ever been mentored? Ever mentored? Female or Male … if not, you are missing out. You are missing out on someone who has some years on you … challenging you, serving you, listening to you, guiding you, offering you examples of what they did and wished they hadn’t.

How would you classify your mentoring experience? Reactive or Proactive?

Back in 2007 … I (Bryan) went through a year-long structured mentoring group led by Regi Campbell (the guy speaking in the video above). It was like getting a baby MBA. Regi, as a successful business guy proactively led 8 guys around my age, with similar characteristics through a mentoring group that fascinated me. Regi was already busy … and yet … he had control of his time enough to investment in me and our group with his time. Not to mention that he is crazy in love with Jesus. I was in “RMG 7″ which stood for Radical Mentoring Group – 7th year.

Yip! 7 years … he had poured himself (as of 2007) … and now more groups have occurred. It felt like a Band of Brothers. We argued & push-backed. We discussed & learned from each other. We poked fun at each other. We read books together & netted them out with each other. We memorized scripture. We went on 2 private retreats. We prayed together. ALL under the watchful eye of Regi. Don’t miss this … he proactively guided eight 30-somethings with huge ambitions all in 1 year.

Some other mentoring considerations for you today:

1. Are you hungering for a mentor? Seek one. Ask God to provide you with one.
2. Be intentional about your mentoring effort … have a plan … regardless of whether you are the mentor or mentee.
   • How long?
   • What will you do?
   • What will you read?
   • How many of you will there be?
   • What are your end goal(s)?
3. I see too many young men who hunger to be mentored … BUT … their mentors are not structured. They think that asking tough questions can happen with someone once a quarter at a Waffle House is mentoring. That’s not mentoring … that’s having an arm’s length acquaintance. One-directional question asking is just that. As a mentor you have to expose all & be as transparent.
4. What is at stake? Imagine more & more young people deciding to intentionally, and proactively be led by a person, for a defined period of time … with an end-goal of being more in love with Jesus, a stronger leader, better husband, greater friend, engaged parent, contributor to society … the list is endless.

Regi, has now created a new entity called Radical Mentoring. If you are interested in creating this sort of environment in your church or business … reach out to his new group.

Thank you Regi … for your proactive investment in me.

Bryan

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So the question I have for you (Reader) are you being mentored?  Are you mentoring?  Whose life are you involved with?  Why not?  What is holding you back?

Dante

The 10 Commandments

The 10 Commandments via the Old TestamentExodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt: 

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

The 10 Commandments via the New TestamentAbout 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at Matthew 22, when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

A reflective reading of Christ's teaching reveals that the first four commandments given to the children of Israel are contained in the statement: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It continues that the last six commandments are enclosed in the statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Go Jonah!

This past Saturday in our Men's Bible Study, Jim, who was also the worship leader that morning shared insight to the book of Jonah, that is, we read the whole book of Jonah and opened up the rest of the morning for people's insights and what scripture spoke to them.Jonah, one of the minor prophets, I found to be a very interesting book.  I mean, we all know the story from children's stories, but this time the book spoke differently to us (to me).  Some themes that came out of the men's group were:  Obedience, running from God, Faithfulness, heart of God (His compassion and mercy), evidence of what happens when we repent and much more.

Jonah ran from God because he feared going to Nineveh. He was a Jew and they lived in Assyria.  There were cultural divides.  He didn't want be be rejected.  So he disobeyed God.  His actions almost cost the lives (the souls) of sailors on the ship that he was running from God.  He repented through the belly of a fish (3 days/3 nights - and he rose again - sound familiar).  He was thrown up on shore and then he was restored in his ministry to do God's will.  He preached the truth - Repent - people humbled themselves before God and repented wearing sack cloth.  The king even repented and changed the ways of his people.  They were saved and God had mercy on them.  Jonah got mad (they weren't destroyed and all of his fears went away) God provided for Jonah (shade) and then took it away (and Jonah got angry again).  Jonah was questioned by God, Jonah heard God cares for even the lost and sinful.  God's mercy is beyond any of understanding.  God is love.

The end of Jonah (Jonah 5:¹⁰ But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

When we find ourselves in God's will and seek His kingdom (and not ours), then great and wonderful things happen - People find God's mercy and salvation.  Cities, Nations and even animals are saved.  When we listen...

Thoughts?  Comments?

Dante

Biblical Hockey

This past Saturday we had our Annual Men's Breakfast at our church and had around two hundred guys that came to hear the Word of the Lord.  The theme was, "It is not about the perfection of your life, but the the direction of your life."  Our Pastor called out to us, "O Man of God." (1 Timothy 6:6-12).Some points that were made for our direction are that a man of God flees from greed and the love money (biblical stewardship tells us that it all belongs to God).  The man of God flees from evil, that is, from worldliness.   We should do this because if we do this, then we will develop godliness and find contentment in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Why should we avoid and flee worldliness?  Because it simply will ruin and destroy us.  Evil takes us away from the faith and it will ruin us and bring much pain to our lives.

Pastor Mike asked us if we are fleeing worldliness and evil.  He said that this is what the man of God does.  Is this the direction of our life?  A real man of God is know by what he pursues.  Are we pursuing a relationship with God?  A man of God pursues righteousness (living by God's right standards), he pursues godliness (living a God-centered life) and the man of God pursues the faith (living on the teachings and promises of God).  The man of God pursues love (love our our neighbors) and steadfastness (through tough times) and he pursues gentleness (an even tempered life).  To put it simply, a man of God pursues a Christ-centered life.  Again, is this the direction of your life?

SUMMARY:  Once you place your faith in Christ, you are a man of God. The direction of your life is now to flee sin and pursue Christ.  You are called by God to "flee" and to "pursue" for the rest of your life.  Make sure you trust God's enablement.  You can only do this in His strength (John 15:5 & Philippians 4:13).  

So how do you learn to play biblical H O C K E Y ? ? ? ? ? ?

H = HUMBLE yourself before God (2 Chronicles 10-13)

O = you need OTHER men in your life (Moses in Exodus 17:12)

You need 3 buddy relationships (1. Someone who is pouring their life into you (Mentor); 2. Some who is your peer (equal) and 3. Some you are pouring your life into (mentee - a "Timothy").

C = CONFESSION in our lives (David in Psalm 51:4)

K = KICK IT INTO GEAR (Timothy 1:8 & 2:1)

E = EAT Scripture (EZEKIEL 3:1-3 and Revelation 10:8-10)

Y = Say YES to God (Isaiah 6:8).

A man of God is pure and confesses when he is not.  A man of God is a faithful steward of God's resources (giving God 10% of everything and being responsible with the rest of what he has given each of us - to some 5 talents to others 2 and to others 1).  Will God tell us at our judgement - well done thou good and faithful servant?

Where you are in your life, whether young, middle aged or old, it is never to late to finish well.  O Man of God, are you ready for the first day of the rest of your life to be given to God?  Will you allow the Lord to be the Lord over your entire life?  In the last minute of your life - can you look back for a moment and say that today (October 15, 2011) was the day that I made the right choice?

Dante

The Hole in our (my) Gospel

James 1:27

The Message (MSG)

^26-27Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Job 29

When God Was Still by My Side

^1-6 Job now resumed his response: "Oh, how I long for the good old days,when God took such very good care of me. He always held a lamp before meand I walked through the dark by its light. Oh, how I miss those golden yearswhen God's friendship graced my home, When the Mighty One was still by my side and my children were all around me, When everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult.  ^7-20 "When I walked downtownand sat with my friends in the public square, Young and old greeted me with respect;  I was honored by everyone in town. When I spoke, everyone listened; they hung on my every word.  People who knew me spoke well of me; my reputation went ahead of me.  I was known for helping people in trouble and standing up for those who were down on their luck.  The dying blessed me, and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.  All my dealings with people were good. I was known for being fair to everyone I met.  I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, Father to the needy, and champion of abused aliens. I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck and made them give back what they'd stolen.  I thought, 'I'll die peacefully in my own bed, grateful for a long and full life, A life deep-rooted and well-watered,a life limber and dew-fresh, My soul suffused with glory and my body robust until the day I die.'  ^21-25 "Men and women listened when I spoke,hung expectantly on my every word. After I spoke, they'd be quiet,taking it all in. They welcomed my counsel like spring rain, drinking it all in.When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it; their faces lit up, their troubles took wing! I was their leader, establishing the mood and setting the pace by which they lived.  Where I led, they followed."

Can good things come from bad?

The other night I was home working on the computer, as I often do, sending some work emails to clients.  I also take time out during this process to talk with and play with my kids before dinner.  This past Thursday, it was time for dinner and my two girls washed up and were sitting at the table, while my son and I were slightly behind (me sending the last work email) and my son playing with his Legos.  I walked by his room to tell him, not once, not twice, but three times to wash up and come to dinner.  After the third strike, I told him that he just lost dinner for not obeying and listening.  Obviously his world was rocked and he lost his composure.  I joined the rest of my family and we prayed for our meal and began to eat when I told my son that I wanted him to get ready for bed and to come say goodnight to the rest of the family before bed.  This may sound mean and heartless, but I wanted to drive a point home to him and to my family (my wife was aware by me that some mercy would take place, but she wasn't sure where I was going yet).  Well, my son come down to say goodnight and kiss his sisters and mommy good night.  He was both physically and emotionally shaken with concern of no dinner and bedtime story.

I went to his room, while the rest of the family just started eating and sat down to tell him why I was disappointed and then we prayed together.  Afterwards I told him, because he listened intently and obeyed to my words to get ready for bed, brush his teeth, go to the bathroom and say goodnight, that he could now join us for dinner on the condition that he would not only listen the rest of the night, but he would do the words that both his mother and I asked him to do.

I also want to say that the girls were emotionally upset that I wasn't giving their brother mercy and another chance before I went to his room to talk, but they understood the consequence of his actions.  When Trey and I rejoined the table for dinner, the whole family had a great time followed by clean up and some wrestling on the family room floor followed by daddy flips where I grab them by their waists and flip them over to land on my legs or stomach depending on their standing position behind my head.

I wasn't feeling really good about my actions and the turn of events that caused my son this pain and discomfort thinking that he lost a meal and more importantly to him - story time.  As a matter of fact, my wife had thought I was overreacting because I may have had a stressful time at work.  I was wondering if I was really being the dad that God calls me to be - the Spiritual Leader of my family and my wife.

And then it happened out of nowhere.  As my kids and I were playing a game, my son said this to me, "Daddy, you are my role model."  I asked him why he would say that, and he said, "because I want to be like you."  My wife and I shared that instant look that parents do when positive things happen in our lives.  I told him and the girls how proud that their mother and I are to be their parents.

This is exactly what God requires of us, His children:  To submit, obey and follow his words.  He wants a personal relationship with us and to be the Lord of our entire lives.  He cares for us so much, that is why He gave his only Son to die for us in order to save us.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Children need boundaries (lines that don't move day to day) and they need us to make our faith real to them.  This world is never easy, but when we teach them to trust, obey and submit (having complete faith in God) then they have a foundation that they can trust.

The more real we are with our family, friends and co-workers (letting our life bear witness and occasionally lettings words affirm the Way) then the more real our faith becomes to them.

Trust and Obey for there is no other way!

Dante