Happy Monday, friends! The past few days have been (no surprise) full and thought-provoking. There is so much going on that warrants comment, and only so many days available to blog.
But I can’t start this new week without a brief comment about Saturday evening’s “Men’s Steak-fry” event at our church.
AN “X-FACTOR FOR CHURCH HEALTH: If you read this space with any regularity you already know how important I believe men’s ministry is to the health and potency of the local church. I’m convinced that even a small group of men committed to encouraging one another, and to nurturing discipleship, will impact the spiritual core of a church in ways vastly disproportionate to their numbers.
It’s like the story of Moses, who had friends – Aaron and Hur – to come alongside him. Moses needed those other guys to help hold his arms up. However, the experience didn’t just help Moses… that small group encouragement session gave strength to the entire community.
As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. – (Exodus 17)
At First Presbyterian Church of Brandon we have two strong men’s ministry groups: the Tuesday morning prayer breakfast and a Wednesday evening Bible-study. The “Steak-fry” event was planned to encourage men from both groups, to provide an “open door” for guys not currently involved, and to reach out to neighbors and friends.
SUCCESS! In consequence, 60-plus men shared an amazing steak dinner together, listened to an inspirational speaker, and then participated in “table-talk” designed to turn the conversation toward faith.
We sat at round tables, in groups of five or six. Some powerful connections were made, both with one-another and with God, and a powerful precedent was set in terms of expanding the reach and the mission of men’s ministry in the future.
Our speaker, Dave Teeples, is a member of my Men’s Room Bible study group. Dave recently retired after a stellar career with the U.S. Army. His message was straightforward, and tied in beautifully with what has become a recurring theme for me: Life is full, life is loaded with potential, and life is often defined by the challenges we face and the obstacles that stand in our way. Following Jesus does nothing to change any of those definitive truths; but following Jesus changes everything about how we respond, and it changes everything about the meaning we can find in the everyday.
Following Jesus does not make our lives more easy; but following Jesus does make life more wonderful, and more redemptive, and more real. And the only place – in my experience – where we can adequately engage such meaning and wonder and redemption, is in the context of a life-charged community of faith.
MY WORD TO MEN: I don’t care who you are, and what your background is, you need the community of faith; you need to find a band of brothers; and you need to become a Follower of The Way of Jesus.
In love, and because of love – DEREK