It Starts With Us Men

This mission-vision that I have been called to see become a reality is SIMPLY using The Words of Jesus from The Book of Matthew. 22: 34-40 and 28: 19-20 Again, keeping it simple, this is what I see unfolding for me..... To go reach the people who do not "yet" know Christ by using love AND to go strengthen His believers who already know Him using love, all done here in my very own community. The key word is Love in both missions. By building relationships with His people and equipping each group with encouragement (love in action) we WILL change this community and therefore the culture we live in.

Because I know I can NOT do this alone, I am going to address in detail the second mission first. "To strengthen His believers who already know Him". In order to be effective in a ministry like this it is clear to me that we need each other. Like The Word of God describes about The Body of Christ, we as parts of that body need to learn how to work together in unison and community.

What God has really laid on my heart is this..... the change and unifying in The Body of Christ WILL have to start with men. Like what the Promise Keepers movement of years past attempted MUST again come alive in the local community! Men must first realize we NEED each other. There is not a single man who has it all together. Each and all of us struggle with something, and therefore each one of us needs love, prayer and encouragement from another. We need to know we are NOT alone in our journey.

My prayer and vision is for men in the local church body, (in his own church home) coming together and sharing/caring in each others personal struggles. Learning how carry each other in love and encouragement. Because I know men and know that getting started is the hardest, this is where I can/will help. My "calling" is helping in starting these kind of groups. Each church body will have different dynamics and core beliefs, I understand. However, men at the core are the same. We are all sinful by nature. We ALL NEED Jesus and each other! We just need encouragement in finding our individual calling and heart's desire with help from The Holy Spirit and our brothers.

As I begin to lay out the "mission plan" in the next article or "blog" it's important to emphasize simply this: Men, we NEED Jesus! We NEED to be in community and accountability with our brothers in Him!

This is just the start to something MUCH bigger to come! Again I ask for those who read this to pray for me and my family. Pray that I can communicate in the way He would like me to and also pray that His Will in me is done and not my own selfish ambitions.

Questions to Answer - Part 1

What will it look like to be a full time missionary in a community that is full of "churched" people? How will local churches take to the idea of a man who's heart is to strengthen their own body of believers? Will pride be a factor when I ask, "what is your body of men doing to grow spiritually? Are men of this community really ready to humble themselves? Will the dads really take the time to bring their son(s) or daughter(s) to a public arena for prayer and worship? What about the tradition or heritage of their faith? Can the local body of ALL churches truly come together and unify under His banner? Will denomination stand prideful in the way? And last, the REAL personal questions for me to address. Am I worthy to be the motion in The Body? Can I put away my own pride? Can I overcome my fear/pride to ask my brothers for monetary resources?

All of these questions (and MANY more) have been eating away at me and in some ways keeping me from going through with what The Holy Spirit has called me to do. Due to fear and denial, I wanted to answer to the negative side of each one. Again I wanted to "hide" His calling in my life and to continue to ignore The Holy Spirit prompting me to "follow through". These questions still pose serious prayer and finally today I CAN and WILL accept the answers with Hope and Grace.

Many things have fallen into place in order for this ministry to happen. I have no doubt of the Hand of God working and moving ahead of me. As I listen and observe the people who I believe to have Godly Wisdom, not just worldly wisdom, my encouragement grows! The Lord Jesus' own ministry didn't make sense to the culture of His time. His apostles too went against the grain and lived on the edge while living deeply in Faith. The Bible is real to me and so are the men in It who made a difference! I was reminded several time over the last three days of this....Anyone who was anyone in The Word of God did NOT follow the normal way of life. Faith. Faith in Him. Not faith in self or the flesh. I know by my own life experience, I will fail. But even when I took my eyes off of Him, He, The Lord Jesus NEVER took His eyes off of me. In fact, He poured His Grace on to me and my loved ones when I could or would not be looking for it.

Because it is late on a Wednesday night and my body is tired, I will have to finish this article another time. But again I ask anyone and everyone to please pray for me as I will pray for anyone who asks me to in return. Together, we CAN change this culture with His Great and Loving Grace!

Awaiting His Glorious Return,

Time to Roll

The time has come for me to officially put into action this burning desire and vision that I pray in The Name of Jesus is from Him. As I explain this, my prayer will be that God gives me words to describe this action and to have courage to back it.

For sometime now I have been "called" into ministry. In fact going back 15 years ago, I then too felt this same calling. Lisa and I was much younger and if my memory serves me right she was pregnant with our son Caleb. At the time my "calling" was to be a pastor or so I thought. The logical thing at the time, or least by what the world around me was saying "go to college and then on to seminary then you can fulfill that calling". There was no doubt this "call" was from Him but yet there was hesitation on my behalf..... maybe fear....I did not know BUT I cowardly ignored His call. It wasn't until much later in life when I heard a man who claimed to have the gift of prophesy say to me (by the way, this man pegged me out of a group and called me up first), he said "You disqualified yourself from your calling didn't you?" He went on to say, "God still desires you serving Him." He was right on of course, but I honestly again chose to ignore even that and went on to open a restaurant instead.

Long story short, I chose to ignore my Lord's call because of my own unforgiven sins. Sins that Jesus covered on my behalf by His blood, but sins I could/would not forgive myself of. I thought I had to be a "perfect Christian" first. What pride and arrogance! My selfishness and really disbelief in Jesus Christ (when it's boiled down) separated me from my savior! Fooling only myself and sadly, those closest to me, my family.

Here's the irony of it all. Even in my state of self doubt and not having the ability to forgive myself, This Almighty God still blessed me! He sent nine, nine souls from heaven for me and my lovely bride to parent and care for. Jesus also blessed me personally with a most beautiful woman in Lisa. She is so diligent as a wife but also as a mother. I don't say it enough, but she is the best. If anyone really knew our life story, one would find that it was truly God who put us together. He took two broken pieces of life and made whole a family. I do NOT deserve Lisa or any of my offspring, BUT by His Mercy and Grace......here we are!

With all that said, here we go. The calling He has put in my heart is so real that I can no longer ignore it. All I can think about is serving Jesus by being in relation with my brother and sister in Christ. I know what I am about to embark on defies today's culture of Christian believers. My call is to be a missionary right here in my community serving His people.

Please pray for me! Pray that God Himself puts His words into my mouth as I describe to friends and family this call. Pray also for understanding in faith.

Blessings! Look for the second part of this soon!

Awaiting His Glorious Return,