Men's Ministry--"LOVE YOURSELF" --the Year Round Work of Christ!

Men's Ministry-- the Year Round Work of Christ!

To All the KING's Men,

God's peace to you in Christ Jesus!  Thank you for being leaders in your congregations!  Our work is day by day, season by season, year after year!   

Here's a message from Matt Kindsvatter, Director @ Camp Lutherhill...

"Thank you!  We had over 145 people at Lutherhill chainsawing, trimming trees and pulling brush.  We want to thank everyone who was part of the workday for being a blessing to Lutherhill!

 

If you missed your chance to come out don't worry we will be having another workday coming up.  There is still plenty of work to be done on site.  If you would like to get your chainsaw on or just come and help out groups are always welcome at Lutherhill.  Free housing will be provided!"  

If you have any questions please contact Matt via office@lutherhill.org or 888-266-4613.

I'm sorry I was not able to share that time with you in October.  I would love to have been in this photo.  Matt said that there was about a 60-40 split male/female ratio and what a great project all of the folks in our synod helped out with!  Again, if your men would like to schedule a FRI nite /Saturday work day... that works for you... please let Matt know...

Now about the work that goes on year round... here's a short list of clues... 7 is a holy number!

1. Deuteronomy 6:4ff tells us to... 'love the Lord your God with all you heart, strength and mind;  Jesus added to this GREAT COMMANDMENT by saying... 'and love your neighbor as yourself!'
2. So, FYI... loving yourself is an important preface to loving your neighbor!  Love as in not a narcissistic way... to the exclusion of others and feeling superior to others...but none of us will be able to love those around us unless we have a good sense of self already. And THUS, Jesus would be right, that if we don't love ourselves very much... we will have a heck of a time loving others and that we WILL love them like we love ourselves, which might then not be all that much!
3. So how do you go about loving yourself?
1. Remember the value of the 10 Words (Commandments)  These were given to teach, protect and guide us in our relationship with God and neighbor;
2. Pray, worship and study the Word of God.  In short.  Feed you spirit!
1. Prayer is talking to God.  Do it!  Then listen;
2. Worship is the most important thing we do as God's people!  We don't 'go to church'... we ARE the church and the church gathers for worship weekly as was Jesus' custom (see Luke's gospel!)
3. Open your Bible.  Read it.  Find a study group.  Make a plan. Live it.  The Bible is NOT God.  We do not worship our Bibles... but the Bible is God's Living Word and story to us of the God we DO worship!
3. Eat right and exercise.  Call it a 'spiritual' practice and see this as a reflection that our bodies are indeed the 'temple of the Holy Spirit.'  Does the God who lives and dwells in you live in a mansion or garbage can?  Only you can answer that!
4. Encourage and invite others to the font and story of God!  Tell them, "Jesus wants  you to come to dinner with him before the big game!"
5. Give some money.  Serve those around you!  Give some time to your church, your community and be a loyal, honest employee at work!  Time does not replace money and polls show that those who give generously and serve others and above average when it comes to personal joy and attitude toward life.
6. The Cross of Christ deserves our reflection.  Take some time and read about crucifixion.  Jesus was no sissy.  The Romans were brutal.  Compare Jesus' last hours with your work day and weekend.  Be thankful!
7. Jesus gave his church a GREAT COMMISSION to go and tell.  This is urgent work!  The point of church.  Not to get people saved...but to tell them they are.  How would you act if you thought of yourself as just one poor slob only to find out you are the brother of the Son of God!  A prince of the Kingdom who is accompanied by the Prince of Princes and the Prince of Peace?  Now, there's a door open to a different way of looking at life... that life matters... that I matter... that Jesus has opened the gate to an eternal life and has 'renewed' the cosmos...

That's why we can go and tear down a camp that has been devastated by fire.  Jesus is renewing the world...daily... and we pray, Luther once reminded us..."your Kingdom come your will be done" not so that the Kingdom will come and God's will would enter in but that those 2 things are here all by themselves, even before our prayers and that we pray this so we will not miss them and be on the lookout for them and participate in them...  Man, that's good preaching! 

Know that God loves you in Christ Jesus----> so know you are loved----> so you can love the world for Christ's sake... the year round ministry we all do... one by one, two by two, team by team, church by church, synod by synod... and sometimes we just set a date and do it!

Plan ahead for FEB 10-11-12, 2012 in Kenner, LA for the synod's annual meeting... Mark the date.. more coming real soon...

One man @ a time; no man left behind!

      Brian

Gulf Coast Synod Coordinator for Men's Ministry

Men in Mission "WORK DAY @ Camp Lutherhill SET for OCT 29!

To All the KING's Men...

GULF COAST SYNOD

MEN'S MINISTRY NEWS!            FROM MATT KINSVATTER

Saturday, October 29 --- 'CLEAN-UP' DAY @ CAMP LUTHERHILL

On September 4th a fire went through Lutherhill!  We were blessed that not one of our buildings was

 damaged.  There is some work to be done around the site, however. We would like to invite you out


 for a work day to continue the clean up process. There will be work for all ages and skill level. 


Hope to see you at Lutherhill. 

Schedule

Friday      7:00pm- Camp will be open to anyone who would like to come up and spend the night!


Saturday   - 8:00 AM - Breakfast           9:30* AM - Devotion & Orientation

                    10:30 - 12:30 pm    Projects      12:30 - Lunch

     After Lunch more Projects

                    Pool Open- 3:00pm

                    Hamburger Cookout- 5:00pm

        
            Camp will be open to anyone who would like to stay the evening.

*9:30am on Saturday the Texas Forest Service join us to help in the orientation of our work effort!



If you have any of the following to bring with you it would be a great help:

        Work Gloves        Chainsaws        Pole Saws    Shovels         Leads    Loopers        

           Hand Saws          Hats     and    protective eye wear will be helpful as well      

                           OR  anything else that can cut smaller brush.

     

If you don't have any of the above items don't worry we have plenty of tools here.

If you could RSVP to office@lutherhill.org    or 888-266-4613. In your RSVP please let us know when you


 will arriving.

One Man at a Time.  No Man Left Behind!

        Brian

CAMP LUTHERHILL, COLUMBUS, BASTROP, WALLER, MAGNOLIA and BEYOND!

To all the KING's Men...      This will be a time remembered with words like... "Remember the Alamo," "Remember Pearl Harbor," "Remember 9/11" and in a window of time where we remember 9/11 ten years out we will come to remember the Texas fires of 2011.  This is not just Channel 2 news from afar.  This is news in our front yard... it is people we know...they attend our churches... we know their names... we've had meals in each others homes...  And so the burn hurts a bit more. It lasts longer. Personal does that.

I drove to Bastrop and La Grange yesterday( 9/12).  I tried to bring some help.  As I drove down the hill from Alum Creek to the east edge of Bastrop, I knew immediately that what I had in the back seat of my car was microscopic in comparison the burn trail I entered.  And the greater destruction zone was the miles long stretch up HWY 21 north and east of the city.  But, you know the story.  You read the news.  People were asked to leave.  "Leave.  Now," was the two-word warning many people heard.  A 5 mile stretch of land and all that was on in was consumed in 45 minutes. It's more than a mess.  But, that's what nature will do.  We can prepare to some degree in advance.  We can't control the weather.  But, we can control how we respond to the destruction, hurt and heartache of our very own.  I hear people say, "we should take care of things at home before we go helping someone across the ocean," and whether you believe that or not, now would be a good time to help our very own.  And the good news?  We already are.

That's one of things I really like about being in our synod and in the ELCA.  Not the hurricanes (someone suggested that if our ELCA churchwide office is in Chigago, the 'windy city,' then after all the storms we've had in TX and LA we should be called, the "Windy Synod!") and not the fires but that fact that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  Bigger than me.  Bigger than you.  Bigger than the gas and gift cards, cases of water, toiletries and baby items I had in the back of my Honda.  Bigger than any one congregation or any corner of our synod.  Therefore, getting info out and being ready to help becomes a key piece in what will happen in the days ahead. 

So, as I recieve phone calls and emails from others, this is what I can share...

• Pray.  Keep praying. Our prayers remind US of other's needs;
• Be a blessing.  Life is harsh.  Some days and in some places life is harsher.  We have been blessed to 'bless' others. Do it; practice it; own it.
• Be patient.  We are part of a team of people.  Immediate needs response, assessment and action are all part of a process.  In fact, it's part of the 'creation' theology we cling to as life has seasons, hours and chapters or life and death and re-birth.
• Be ready.  Everyone has a role.  And like our brothers and sisters in New Orelans, south LA and Galveston who continue to 're-build' (lives, familiels, houses, churches & communities) after the storms, there will be ongoing work in Bastrop, La Grange, Columbus, Waller and Magnolia.  Like many a fight... we didn't start it...but we can help end it!
• Map out a response---one that is personal and one that your congregation can take part in;
• Recruit others.  There will be "manual labor" projects to tend to once those directives comes from the staff at Camp Lutherhill and the bishop's office.  Buy some chain saws, face masks, gloves, etc and set aside some clothes you'll want to throw away when the work day comes.
• Make a gift.  The synod office has set up a 'Fire Fund.'  We've been told not to send any more clothes or water to Bastrop.  May our response to the Fire Fund be just like that!

Many years ago I heard a lecture from Dr. James Fowler (the one @ Emory U in GA and not our Dr. Jim @ Lakeside Church in League City!) and he spoke of the stages of adult faith life and likened them to this simple system...

1. Life is full of "normal beginnings and endings"... the things that are common to us... i.e. learning to ride a bike, going to school, playing in the band, winning the Little League championship, getting a job, etc... the things that people in our culture do as routine... and in each of the beginnings and endings we learn something about God and this impacts our faith.  But, life can be more complicated than this and so we learn about God and our faith is deepened when we experience...
2. "Crises moments"... they rock our world and set us back on our heels.  Sometimes they knock us down, but not out.  We get back up.  They are temporary and we go on... things like having a job, losing a job and getting a new one, or having someone hit your car in the parking lot, then you get it fixed, or you fall off the ladder and break your arm, then your arm gets better and you hire someone else to paint your house so they can fall off the ladder... 'crises moments,' temporary setbacks and in each one we learn about God, ourselves and our faith is transformed once again...and then again... and yet there are times when life is much more harsh and we find ourselves eperiencing an...
3. "Intrusive life marking"... where at that moment, everything changes and everything is different.  And there's no going back to the way it was...only a path that leads to the way it has not ever been.  These moments draw us into a depth of darkness that challenges the very core of our faith and yet shows us the tenacity of the human spirit and psyche that is driven by the Gospel's message of grace and hope and purpose.... "intrusive life markings" like when a couple gets married and then sees that marriage crumble and die; or watching a parent fade from your very eyes, or losing a child for any reason or having someone tell you 'leave now' only to return 2-3-4 days later to a heap of smoldering ash that once was a family's home...  Life is never the same... and even in these moments we learn of God and of ourselves and the deep truths that bring us from the darkness to wonderful light and life that is eternal...

So, thank you... Bishop Rinehart, our synod staff, pastors and laymen who have already responded... there will be more to do...and remember...EVERY man in every one of our congregations is part of Lutheran Men in Mission... We are the KING's men....

     Know Christ...

       Invite others to know him too...

         Nurture those friendships...

           Grow your faith via, prayer, worship and study....

              ' ... remember to whom you now belong...

                Serve the Lord via your time, talent and wallet...

In the end, our lives are not ultimately defined by the common beginnings and endings we experience, nor the crises moments we encounter and endure nor by the life changes that are permanent... as Lutheran Christian men, our lives are defined by the primacy of Jesus, the Christ, the son of the living God.  His life, death, resurrection and ascension, coupled with a command to love God, ourselves and neighbor with all our heart, strength and mind as well as to make disciples of all peoples demonstrates the model of the Godly life... showing us that Christ does make all things new... Do it; practice it; own it...in our corner of the kingdom and beyond...

One man at a time; no man left behind,

    Brian

Rev. Dr. Brian K Gigee, Gulf Coast Synod Men's Ministry Co-ordinator

                                                                             

 'WHAT'S NEXT?'

                                                -- an honest and rite question

To all the KING's men...
   + The man said the church was 'culpable' for the failure of his family.  "What's next?"
     + My friend tried to take his own life when he got fired at work.  "What's next?"
     + My nephew told me his girlfriend's pregnant.  He wants to know, "what's next?"
     + The young man just finished college.  The job market is thin.  "What's next?"
     + The men from our church just returned from a 'mission trip.'  "What's next?"

"What's next?"  It's always the right question to ask!  Whether it be asked in the AM on Monday after a restful holiday weekend, on Thursday at 4:45 PM with one more work day to go or at 10:30 PM on Friday as you climb into bed... "What's next?" is ALWAYS the question Lutheran Christian men ask in the middle of being servant-minded or as a new project, event or opportunity arises...

"What's next?"   I write this just about 10 days after returning from the National Lutheran Men in Mission Gathering in Denver, Colorado.  I'm encouraged by what I experienced, what I saw and heard and by remains in my heart now that I'm home and in my corner of God's kingdom...  So, "what's next?" is the nagging question in my head and heart and so I am asking you, too... 'what's next?"   NEXT for the Men in Mission in your congregation, NEXT for the men in your cluster of congregations and NEXT for the men in our synod...

In a recent memo to our men's ministry leaders in all three TX and LA synods I shared the following information and want all the men of our synod to know as well... pastors, AiMs, Youth & Family Ministry leaders, etc... what just happened and WHAT's NEXT!

  National LMM News

    A. Denver was fantastic... perhaps the best effort LMM has given us in a 12 years

            1.  Numbers were down 30% from previous 2 gatherings, but...

            2.  The average age of the assembly was lower also due to the work of the LMM Young Men's Council

            3.  We now have Bishop Hanson's ear... he stayed the whole time and preached us out on Sunday AM

            4. Almost 400 men were there... less than 20 pastors and only 3 bishops.  There needs to be a change in approach here...

                  NOTE: 2 years ago Saddleback Church (Rick Warren) 'cancelled a               men's ministry training for lack of registrants and this year the UMC               wanted to gather  500 men for their national gathering but cancelled it         when less than 75 registrations were received. ASTOUNDING NEWS!)

               

    B.  Emphasis for the "ONE YEAR to LIVE" retreat ...changing men's lives! More soon!

    C.  A site for 2014 has not been set; however talks of two gatherings (east and west) are          in the making.  We would be 'West.' This would be more work on planning teams but would reach more men overall.

II. Region 4 News

    A.  Region 4 has representation from all synods except OK-ARK and Central States 

            1.  Thanksgiving for the work of Henry Howe was acknowledged (more than once)

            2.  Tom Ness (from NTNL Synod) was elected our new Region 4 LMM REP over              another candidate from NE.  Both are committed to the ongoing work of LMM           

     B.  The three synods for TX-LA had young and older men in attendance;

            1.  From TX-LA Gulf Coast was me and Kenneth Peterson from New Life/Pearland; 

                   Chaplain Richard Brunk/Ft. Hood; Richard Baker/Christ. Brenham; Mark Dentler/Advent. Houston

            2.  Kyle Pederson (LMM Young Men's Ministry Specialist) sought out Kenneth Peterson @ New Life about reaching out to congregations in our synod re: LMM and seeking out the age 19-30 men.  Kenneth currently lives in NW Houston and will reach out to Pastor Brad Otto (Messiah/Cypress) as a first step. Then he can reach out to Celebration and connect w/ the men at Covenant & Living Word.

            3. A brief conversation was held in Denver at the Region 4 Caucus to consider having a REGION 4 gathering in Spring of 2013 as a 'pre-gathering to the Nat'l Gathering

III.  Gulf Coast LMM News

        A.  We continue to reach out to each other

            1.  Pastor, AiMs and Youth and Family ministers will need to keep talking... L M M!

        B. Facebook page needs some energy... we need to have a national LMM/FB push... where men all over the country log on to the local congregation/synod/national FB pages/groups

        C.  We have a weekend blocked off for a Men's Weekend @ Camp Lutherhill in LaGrange.  I spoke to Matt Kindsvatter and there is no program per/se so we have an opportunity here to promote and go... nice time of year to be there...

                1.  OR we could use Denver men to come here to lead a "One Year to Live" retreat;

                2.  But, Spring 2012 after Easter may work best

        D.  2012 Synod Meeting on the calendar!  EJ Hanhart has secured Christ the King LC/Kenner  LA for THRS - SUN FEB 9-12 for our annual synod gathering

                1.  In Brenham we spoke of doing it this way:

                    a. pre-gathering on THRS nite and leave early in the AM for a day's fishing trip for those who desired it

                    b. Friday nite gathering for all synod me @ CtK  (NOTE: this is also Mardi Gras season so we will need to stay on top of housing and airfare)

                    c.  This gathering has the intention of putting TX and LA men in the same room to build friendships for a return in July 2012 for the ELCA Youth Gathering.  Jessica Noonan in our synod is in charge of "service projects"

                2.  I met Rev. Jay Gamelin (campus pastor @ Ohio St) in Denver and he and I are talking about him coming to NOLA that weekend.  The best part of this event is to have the TX men stay in south LA to worship and have a lunch to talk about how we get back together in July.  Jay gave a great sermon in Denver and I think he is a classmate or knows Pastor Barb Simmers in Slidell.  Maybe he could preach there on Sunday?

                3. Evan Moilan could also come from LWR Malaria Initiative and bring more men in on this great opportunity!

That is what I know about where we are... KING's Men... "What's next for you?"  Please fill in the blanks... what are you doing in your congregation?  Your cluster?.... please drop me a note and I will forward it to those who need to know... 

Remember... if Lutheran Men in Mission in each congregation were 'a baseball' team ...only one of our 9 men would have a clear understanding of how we are, what we do and why... that's not good news...but it's the place we start...

One man @ a time; no man left behind,

     Brian

Coordinator, TX - LA Gulf Coast Synod Men's Ministry

"I'm OUT---You're OUT--We're All OUT!"

To all the KING'S men,

I've been thinking about this for a while...

The paradox of life and faith in God and we hold up the ways of the world and the ways of God...they don't always overlap and fall into place like those old plastic page overlays in the HUMAN BODY section of the Encyclopedia Brittanica...

Our thoughts and actions are challenged everyday...  what we do and what we say... and how we say it and the 'meanings' that accompany...

Like... 'good' is 'bad' and "hi, how are you?" is "Sup?" and 'chillin' has nothin' to do with the weather outside... and you can call someone 'Einstein' and most likely you're not referring to an IQ but rather...lack of one... and ... well you get the point...

Same goes for "I'm out"... and "You're out"... what this may mean for a game of Texas Hold 'Em or baseball...does not mean the same in Jesus' kingdom...
Consider John's gospel in the 10th chapter to see what I mean...  Jesus said to his friends...

"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

How many times have I read this before? How many times have you heard John's retelling of Jesus' insight shared with his friends?

Well, this is what I've been muddling over for days... in the midst of life and death and births and weddings, baptisms and burials and school years beginning and ending as well as hanging around with the Bishop at Synod Assembly ... putting  this 'listening' to Jesus and 'following' Jesus into a perspective that takes on meaningful-ness and bears fruit and... well... keep reading...

It's the verse 3 of John 10 that grabbed my heart in the public reading a Sunday ago... and it was just one word that poked me in the eye... and got wrapped around my heart...

v. 3  "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

And ... you got it... the word that poked me in the eye is the word "OUT!" Jesus calls his sheep by name and then leads then "OUT!"  Wow!  This is the exact opposite of how so many men in the world "see" and "view" CHURCH... a boring place to go in... so they never hear about the OUT-ness of God's kingdom work we share...

Imagine that???  ... being "called out" and it being a really good thing... being 'called out' and in order to make a difference...

But that's how the gospel is... it's above and against as well as that thing of God which challenges our culture...the gospel supports and yet is contrary to the life that we call 'real life.' When I fold a hand in a game of Texas Hold 'Em I throw down my cards and say, "I'm out." It is a sign of defeat... a loss... at least for that round... or if I hit a sharp grounder to the 2nd baseman in a softball game...my old legs won't get me to the base faster than the throw and 99 chances out of 100 the umpire will call me OUT!... And again... I go down in flames... head hanging discouraged and quietly sulking in the dugout...

But, when Jesus leads us OUT and calls us by name and calls us OUT...it is a sign of victory and a 'branding' that we belong to him and he goes ahead of us to prepare the way and what that means he is pointing us out to others as we follow to serve...

It's what is said often in my congregation @ New Life... "This is God's house (the sheep pen) and we are God's people (named and known by the shepherd) claimed, gathered and sent (called out by the shepherd's voice) into the world (not gathered to stay in the church nave) with God's amazing grace..." (what the world needs and more than enough has been given to us!)

So, if you hear me say..."I'm OUT" or if you hear me say to you..."You're OUT"...then know it is a good thing... as it is at the heart of what work as Lutheran Men in Mission is all about... it is the reality that we can't sit still as we follow the shepherd who has gone ahead of us...

But, let the sheep beware... we will need to keep listening for his familiar voice as Jesus reminded his disciples that there will be other voices who will seek our time and attention and our loyalty...our very heart and soul and mind... maybe you have heard these other voices...maybe you have let them drown out the voice of Jesus and maybe you have even followed them... but that's where the 'beware' comes in...the 'other' voices will trick us...they will seduce us and they will invite us away from the voice and the life and the mission of Jesus and lead us away from the one who offers grace upon grace and lead us to sin, death and destruction... they will dress up 'selfishness' and they will lift up 'greed' and 'self-indulgence' only to make us full of ourselves and in the end find that life has been sucked out of us and snatched away... and we will feel LEFT OUT and we will die...

However, the voice of the shepherd will keep calling...calling our names...your name...my name... and when we hear it... we will remember to whom we belong and what our purpose in life is all about... and we will be OUT with good cause and we will make a difference in each day via the name of Jesus'...the one who makes ALL the difference in the world...

Now, I hope to have you thinking about this for a while... and thinking that you may want to talk to the men in your congregation about the OUT-ness we are all part of...

So, what is there to do?

1. Pray--be specific;
2. Talk to some men around you...find out what they need...respond;
3. Seek out some HS grads or college grads--find out who is starting a new job;
4. Look around your facilities.  Ask--- "are men 'welcome' here?"
5. Call all the 'dads' in your congregation and ask them to be at worship JUNE 19;
6. Plan a "men's day" Sunday this Fall;
7. How will you honor the military vets in your congregtation this NOV?
8. Do you have a men's study year round plan?  Why?  Why not?

Blessings to you these Summer months...and do let me know what is happening with men's ministry in your corner of the Kingdom...

     Brian

MAN HOLES--- "Danger Zone --Menwork in Progress"

WHAT IS GOING ON IN A MAN’S LIFE?
(Part 1)

Comments for 50+ years old OR Asking ‘How is a man defined?’ and "What are the danger zones?"

If Lent is that season of the church year where a man gets to take a second or third look in the mirror, then perhaps this post is timely as the time of Lent 2011 is closing in on Holy week. These are comments that flow from a conversation I had at the Dixie Chicken in College Station with my good friend Steve, whom I’ve known since I was a college freshman at Texas Lutheran University. I was 18; he was 19 and now we are in our late 50’s. Perhaps we may have 15-20 good years left in us; perhaps not. We are not consumed with our past nor fearful of the future so these comments are about the here and now as ‘faithfulness’ is only reviewed in the present! A second post will address the lives of men age 20 -40.

So, what is going on the life of a man 57 or 67 or 80? How are we defined?  Are there danger zones...'man holes' left uncovered that when not paying attention to the way or faith and the road of life we can fall in to ?

Here's our list....

• Family (of origin AND current circumstance)
• We are raised a certain way and all we know is what we know.  Is it enough?
• When we leave home all we know about family is either affirmed or challenged. This is both a good and creative time to accept and nurture
• As we grow older we seek to pass on the best our families have given
• Work (top tier of earning power)
• Older men are often amazed at the ‘entitled’ attitudes of younger men who desire to have everything their fathers and grandfathers spent a lifetime working toward.
• There comes a time in a man’s life when he arrives at this upper tier that he desires to do the things in life he enjoys…the things he is very passionate about and allow others to do the things he has done effectively and can be done well by others; and
• Someone suggests he ‘find a hobby,’ and create a ‘bucket list!’
• Value System (intact/corrupted/adapted)
• Men do not often really know what they believe and what is truly faithful and important until confronted with a choice that challenges their value system already living inside;
• Some men make choices they regret and spend the latter years of their lives trying to unravel a messy life;
• Other men trust their mentors…stay on a narrow path and reap a harvest in their later years for just plain doing the right thing.  There is a certain 'contentment that lives in a man's heart here which can and does breed confidence to others.
• Physical Condition (Aging/declining + brain body issues)
• With each day we get closer to death. This reality cannot be halted;
• Men can, however, make healthy choices about food, alcohol and tobacco use to add days to life; and
• Good friends will be on the lookout for one another throughout the seasons of a man’s life and offering both challenge and support along the way.
• Finitude (redeeming 'wasted time' vs. ending well)
• We have the promise of an abundant life as we walk in the path of Jesus;
• Even though few of us live to 100 or older, our fear of death has a huge impact on our quality of daily life and the life we choices we make;
• A man’s grasp of ‘grace’ and ‘forgiveness’ or lack of will have a great impact on trying to redeem wasted time or end that life well.
• Friends (How many? Where?)
• The older a man gets the more he realizes how blessed he has been by having faith-filled and genuine friends;
• Deeper friendships are few but cherished and bring a greater quality of life vs. having many friends of little substance;
• Friendship should never be about the last man standing. A man may lose other friends prior to his own death; but hopefully there will be younger men who grieve at the time of his death.
• Legacy (how will I be remembered?—Spouse, children, family, friends, God?)
• Most men will not have a road or building name in their honor;
• Most men will, however, leave a life-time of love and witness to many;
• In the cemetery in Columbus, TX a tombstone stands with this epitaph: “Here lies the body of Ike Towell—no hope of heaven and no fear of hell.” What will others say about you?
• What has God already promised you? Is that enough?

For further conversation and consideration...

MAN HOLES (dangerous circumstances for aging men and not in any particular order)

1. Living in a “culture of youth” vs. seeing ‘aging’ as a natural journey of life;

2. The ‘Denial of Death’ complicates participation/surviving this culture of youth;

3. Distortion of Priorities/Values causing of sense of “uprooting” from past;

4. Fear of other’s opinions—lack of self-definition and “needing approval”

5. Lack of integrity is characteristic of a non-integrated person;

6. Lack of desire to grow and become strong and remain “well;”

7. Unclear as to the value of “grace” and forgiveness;”

        a. Lack of “ritual” and “community” are key contributors to this lack

8. Unclear how to deal with “guilt and shame;”

9. Unresolved GRIEF is a key factor in the “troubling” behavior a man;

10. There is a high lack of any sense of “blessedness” in the American male;

11. As a man grows older he is more aware of his own “failure;”

        a. “We don’t fear failure; we fear success because it forces us to be responsible”

12. Most men are uncertain how and why “change” is a critical part of life’s journey;

        a. “We don’t think ourselves into a new behavior; we behave our way into a new way of thinking.”
                                                                                                                                   -Fr. Richard Rohr
13. How many friends does a man have by age 6o?

What will the men in your church and at your office coffee pot talk about today?  Tomorrow?  After Easter?

 

A blessed Holy Week to all of you.  Jesus went into Jerusalem with purpose.  He felt that anquish of having one last meal with his closest friends.  He sweat drops of blood trying to be faithful to his father.  And his way of being king and savior was to give in to the power and glory of God.  Here is THE example and model of the Godly life---Jesus of Nazareth the one who points to the man holes of life...walks over and around them and says to us..."follow me."

 

   Brian