You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2010.
Alright, we didn’t get to finish our current study. That’s alright. next week we will be wrapping up the “Peace with God” study. It has been such a rewarding study for me as all these studies seem to be. Pastor Kenny once said that when you study for a class or session, as a facilitator, you seem to get so much more out of the study because of the research you are doing. He was so right. This study has caused me to really re- examine my life and the example I am setting for you, my brothers, and also for the people around me. I have been forced to ask myself how well I am doing in witnessing to my own family and friends. But more importantly, can they see the impact Christ has had on my life. Or do they see the same old person that I used to be? I like to think that the Lord has done an amazing work in my life. But I can only hope that my example is one that will be rewarded one day when I get to Heaven. How I would love to hear him say, “well done, my son, well done.” If you are reading this and you don’t attend our Wednesday night bible study, I encourage you to get plugged in. God wants nothing more than for us to study His word as a body of believers. It’s called fellowship and it’s part of the growing process. If you are a man in the church, you are already part of the Men’s ministry, it’s your job to choose to get involved. No one needs to call you. Just show up.
In other news: let’s keep Chuck Witwam and Jane in our prayers. As we all know, Chuck has been a tremendous warrior for Christ and is suffering with cancer. Let’s ask the Lord to do a might work in Chuck’s life. But if the Lord should choose to take him home, then let’s be ready for the party that Chuck is going to throw!!
See you next week; may you have a great week in Him!
If you would like to view photos from our retreat weekend you may go to http://kingdomvision.snapfish.com/snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=WCR
You can order your own prints or just share them with the family.
The new file is ready to be viewed on the Discipleship page. Sorry for the delay in getting it out. Please take a look at it as this will be the last week of this current study.
Whew….what an amazing weekend we had. Well in this years installment of our men’s annual retreat, we had many more first timers than in the past. We didn’t end up having snow, unless you consider a fire extinguisher issue that left white residue all over the place. The food was great, as it always is. I distinctly remember telling Rodney and Sue Thomas that I was going to adopt them as parents, just so that I could go to their house for dinner! That woman can COOK!
Like years past, we had men that shared openly, men that decided to remain silent and then pull us aside one by one and share privately. We had men in tears, men laughing and overall, men just enjoying each others company. If you look closely at the photo you will notice that we had young men, middle-aged men and senior statesmen. It just seemed like this year, we really ended up having something for everyone.
Pastor Tim Iocoangeli served as our retreat pastor and did a wonderful job bringing a message that tied the entire weekend together. The sessions were great and we received a lot of wonderful feedback.
If you missed it, Lord willing we will be able to do this again next year.
What a great time we had this morning. If you missed it, you missed some great food, great fellowship and a fantastic message. There were about 40 men that showed up including 6 men from Carleton Assembly of God who were invited by Hollywood. Please mark your calendars for next months breakfast, for more details please click on the Events tab.
For a file of the current study please click on the Discipleship paage to either save a PDF file of the study or to simply read through it and take notes. This file will be moved to the Archive section on Thursday 1/14/2010.
In an effort to communicate better and to give everyone a chance to jump in to our normal Wednesday night bible studies, all future studies will be posted week by week on the Discipleship page.
Thank you,
Tino
Key Bible Verse: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8, NIV). Bonus Reading: Proverbs 2:6-9, 15:22
It seems to me that this idea of “finding God’s will for my life” has been somehow turned into a kind of get-it-right-or-else process, when actually God’s will is simply God’s desire.
And if we want to know what that is, he already told us in Matthew 22:37-39: love God and love your neighbor.
That’s no surprise. We get it.
The problem is that we confuse the idea of “finding God’s will” with making a godly decision. And the difference is important.
God’s will is already revealed.
Figuring out how to make it happen is something else entirely.
And for that we need to explore a different question: How do I find wisdom?
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously … and it will be given to him” (James 1:5, NASB).
Now, I’m not one for formulas, but I have found three things to do that have been helpful in my (sometimes poor) decision-making process over the years:
- Pray for wisdom.
- Seek the counsel of others I trust.
- Seek the guidance of the Scriptures.
In doing so, I’m able to abandon my fears.
—C. D. Baker in 40 Loaves
