Geneva Men for Christ

“How excellent are the Lord’s faithful people! My greatest pleasure is to be with them. ” Psalms 16:3 (GNT)

Think About It

In our different walks in life we have many friends, but none compare to our fellow believers, our church family. Being a part of ministry like GMC is a wonderful way to strengthen our faith. Nothing can replace the Christian friendship, prayers and support of our brothers in Christ. However it is a two-way street. Are you consistent in your prayers for your brothers. Give your effort to it and reap the rewards! Think about it.

CONSIDER

“If you find yourself loving any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of God, any table better than the Lord’s table, any person better than Christ, any indulgence better than the hope of heaven- take alarm!” Thomas Guthrie

OVERCOMING FEAR: A LESSON FROM THE ZUGSPITZE

by Jeff Campbell

The fear of failure is the enemy of manhood. Two years ago my son Jacob and I began to talk about climbing the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. There are several ways up this mass of granite and ice. Most are simply long, uphill marches that eventually lead to the golden cross at the top. But the “Klettersteig” — the historic iron ladder — is more direct. It’s a cabled and bolted route labeled “difficult” in guidebooks and requiring mountaineering experience. Since this was designed to be an event that inaugurated my son’s trek toward manhood, it seemed best to choose the more challenging route.

Our culture is frighteningly ignorant of the need for young men to experience rites of passage that build confidence and mark the emergence of manhood. Maybe that is why so many young men look for deviant ways to test their own mettle and why others opt to disappear, avoiding any test altogether.

That’s what led us to this weekend, a way to move Jacob forward on his march toward godly manhood by meeting his need for challenge, struggle and conquest. I was not prepared for God’s agenda to challenge me in a similar fashion.

A godly man rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, loves selflessly and expects future reward. So went our training mantra for the weekend, adapted from the book Raising a Modern Day Knight. I had Jacob memorize it, but how could I look at my face in the mirror of those phrases and not “man up” to the need to grow?…. Read this in full athttp://newmanmag.com/e-magazine/102208/story2.php

VERSE TO PONDER

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6, 7 (NIV)

CONSIDER

“Our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and “manyness,” he will rest satisfied.” Richard J. Foster

BEST INDICATOR OF MY BELIEFS

“I have three different kinds of convictions. We might think of them in this way: what I say I believe; what I think I believe; and what I reveal I really do believe by my actions. The best indicator of my true beliefs and my true purposes are my actions. They always flow out of my mental map about the way things really are. What I say I believe might be bogus. What I think I believe might be fickle. But I never violate my idea about the way things are. I always live in a way that reflects my mental map. I live at the mercy of my ideas about the way things really are. Always. And so do you.” John Ortberg, Faith & Doubt

ON MERCY

“The seven works of bodily mercy be these: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and the needy, harbor the houseless, comfort the sick, visit prisoners, bury the dead. The seven works of spiritual mercy be these: teach men the truth, counsel men to hold with Christ’s law, chastise sinners by moderate reproving in charity, comfort sorrowful men by Christ’s passion, forgive wrongs, suffer meekly reproofs for the right of God’s law, pray heartily for friend and for foe.” Middle English Sermons [1940]

ON PRAYER

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name.” Nehemiah 1:11

LESSONS FROM JAMES MACDONALD

Doing Life Together

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

We have a commitment within our church family to “do life together.” It’s now an 18-year experiment which asks, “Is there a group of people who will love one another no matter what and keep on going together for God?” That’s the vision God has given to us—to love, forbear with, and forgive each other, growing together in Christ year after year. As you would expect, it takes a lot of sweat and tears.

Ephesians 4:2-3 hits the bull’s-eye of how this commitment works. “Walk . . . with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Eager to maintain means I am willing to work hard at unity—no matter what it costs me. This kind of sacrifice isn’t about money or time, it drills down to the core of who you are. The strength behind this pledge is in the sacrifice of yourself.

Your opinions, your entitlements, your injured feelings—these are what you give up for the sake of unity. This is how far you will go to “do life” with your brother and sister in Christ. Always caring, always trying to work it out, always helping. Why, because you like the person? Not always. You do it because you want to honor God.

This concept of sacrificing yourself for the good of your brother was so foreign to the Greek and Roman culture at the time Ephesians was written that Paul had to coin a new word to describe it. He called this attitude humility—the choice to carry a weight rather than inflict a wrong. You may say, “But his opinion is wrong!” Perhaps. But if it’s not a doctrinal issue or in conflict with what the Bible clearly teaches, swallow your argument and agree to disagree. What clearer evidence could there be that God is at work in you?

But what if someone disappoints you again after years of patience and love? You may say in frustration, “Do I still have to put up with this?” The answer is, “Yes, you do.” God is watching how we treat each other and honors every time we roll up our sleeves to do the hard thing.

That’s what we’ve signed up for in our church body. Though it’s easier to tap dance out of relationships as soon as our weaknesses begin to show, we’ve decided to be followers of Christ who love each other anyway. We don’t always get it right, but we’re working hard at unity. Why? Because our eyes are on Christ and we want the One who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death to get the greater glory.

LAST OUT

November 16 is our last week in the Spiritual Disciplines book. On December 7th we will have a steak cookout and introduce our new study of the bible. I have a couple requests.

If you have not been attending GMC, you are missing a great opportunity to grow in your faith. What’s holding you back?
If you have been attending GMC and your walk with the Lord has grown, why would you not want others to gain from the ministry as well. If you plan to come to the steak cookout, please pray for the ministry and ask the Lord to provide you someone to invite (not just for steaks, but to come and grow in their walk). Evangelism is one of the Spiritual Disciplines!.
If you want to invite someone who is new believer or a non-believer, please do so, we will have tables just for them.
Upcoming dates. November 16, December 7 (6:30 start) & 21.

Press on, for the upward call….

Raymond