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