"WALKING WITH GOD & CONNECTING w/ MEN"
To all the KING'S Men...
+ K now Christ!
+ I nvite others to join God's team!
+ N urture your faith through prayer, worship & daily Bible reading!
+ G ive your time & money supporting God's work in your congregation!''
+ ' ( ' = a sign of "possession" and it's about "belonging"---who we are and whose we are!)
+ S peak well of your pastor and the men in your life!
KING'S men...that's who we are! Or think of it this way...
"one man at a time...no man left behind..."
And if that doesn't strike you...try the ELCA's Lutheran Men in Mission "vision" statement...
"That every man grow in his relationship with Jesus Christ
through an effective men‘s ministry in every congregation."
KING'S Men...I pray that we all sense God's Holy Spirit leading us to be just that...
A few weeks ago, I preached a message to the people at New Life Church that began with this news..."I should be dead by now!" More than once! And over my 55+ years of living I can say that with confidence and as a confession. Some of the those near death experiences were when I was very young and a couple during my HS and college years and yes the stories include alcohol and a car and a woman and her boyfriend...and I'm not going to share the details here but I think you get what I mean and the last time was just a year ago...an episode that didn't involve alcohol, a car, a woman or her boyfriend but rather a river, an inner tube and three water shoots that seemed to have my number... and for a moment, death and I had a duel.
Yes, I should be dead by now...I could be dead by now...but I'm not and so I will give thanks to God for each breath each and every day until I have no more breath in which to give thanks which will then require those in my family and friendship circles...to give thanks in my absence...and I trust they will for a life of walking with God includes a life of connecting with others especially the men I know...they are all around us...
But, let's make sure this is a Lutheran kind of piece by first saying...
- God walks with us...as it's God's intention for us to never be abandoned...
- God's Holy Spirit places other men in our lives to nurture us, challenge us and for each of us to have opportunity to challenge and nurture others...
- Jesus' words to us..."follow me" and "go, teach, preach and baptize" are good reminders as well as good directives of both Jesus constant presence and the call to be disciple.
Therefore, walking with God and connecting to other men around us is indeed a "God Thing" and requires some effort on our part. Let me even go so far as saying that this kind of work requires a plan AND when it comes to plans I'm always mindful to recall, that... 1) most plans or new plans are always better than the plan we never had; and 2) all plans are worth review from time to time and updating and expanding. So, for me and for all of us...having a plan to walk with God and connect with the men God has placed in our lives is a worthy thing.
This is then a process of transformation. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to his friends in Corinth... "In Christ you are a new creation...the old has passed away and the new has come..."
How do we do this? And how do we model this for others? Transformation comes in layers. It's not just about me or you but it's about me AND you and it's not just about me or you or you and me but it's also about me and you and how these transforming connections involve others. It's like asking the question..."are you a thermometer or a thermostat?" A thermometer only reports the condition... cold, warm or hot or a shift from one to the other. The thermostat adjusts to the cool, warm or hot and changes the condition at hand. Let's look at it this simple way:
- Transformation happens WITHIN! It is the result of God's Holy Spirit at work in and around us as we pray, worship, study, invite, encourage, give and serve as Jesus' disciples. It's God's own doing and as these faith practices are lived out...we are changed...
- Transformation happens BETWEEN! This is the result of two others posed in an arena of change. Husbands and wives; fathers and sons, grandfathers and grandsons find themselves growing and developing a stronger and more intimate partnership and blessing comes to both;
- Transformation happens AMONG! This is really the miracle work of God's Holy Spirit, for as others see transformation in us and in a growing number of others and the good which flows from this change there is a growing sense of "imitation" to be cultivated...and then families are changed, neighborhoods are changed, communities and nations are changed. Even churches can discover the joy of this kind of transformation...we call it "the communion of saints..." and as Martin Luther described it..."the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren..."
Why? Some of us could be dead by now. Some of us have been more fortunate. But, we all know deep down inside ourselves the cries in our own heart and the cries in the hearts of others. They are longstanding and life-long...
- the cries to be loved by our mother and father who will hold us when we are hurt;
- the cries to be loved by a friend, one whom we can share our deepest secrets and trust without fear and whom we can love back;
- the cries of those who are weaker than ourselves who are hungry and thirsty to have God walking in their lives and to be connected with others
We don't have to look any farther than our own mirror to see and recognize the need to walk with God and see the face of Christ standing next to us in that same mirror and to hear him say, "turn around" (repent), "walk with me" (follow) and find someone near to introduce me to so that we might walk together (making disciples)...
That's a vision of men's ministry that requires constant effort, constant oversight and constant evaluation. And I know this one thing...congregations that are working at this are better off than congregations that are not. So, to the KING's men I know...Walk with God...connect with the men around you...
I don't always say things like this; but when I do, I say it on purpose...
Stay faithful my friends,
Brian
