jfmen.com

God sent a man

2010-03-08T13:37:00Z

This past Thursday night at Man Church we had the honor of hearing from God through the words of Raymond Berry. I want to encourage you at the start of this week with his words to us.

Throughout scripture we see examples of God sending a man for specific purposes on specific assignments. For example, John the Baptist is introduced this way in John 1 verse 6 "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John." It is time each of us gains this perspective on our own lives. This week, live as one sent from God, because ultimately you are. Who has He sent you to touch and influence for eternity this week?

Raymond also highlighted the apostle Paul's sense of being on a royal assignment from God. Paul described his call to ministry this way, "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. 'Get up', the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.'" (Acts 22:10)

You too have a royal assignment to fulfill. The King of Kings has worthy work for you to accomplish. Who has He assigned you to speak to on His behalf this week? What is your assignment? Before you get swept up in the rat race of another week, stop and ask God to reveal to you your assignment for the week.

In The Trenches

2010-02-25T19:55:00Z

Men

Click on the link here to view my teaching "In The Trenches". I hope it will help motivate you to live today in light of "that day", when we'll be with Jesus. Your part in this life matters greatly!

http://www.vimeo.com/9682146

Two Pirates and a Princess

2010-02-19T17:40:00Z

Last night at Man Church I was inspired on many levels. God spoke to me and I trust all who were present in many ways. I include a couple of my take aways in this blog in the hope that it will refresh your memory concerning what God spoke to you about and/or will serve to encourage you not to miss our next Man Church March 4th.

As we heard from Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. during the interview time - I'm taking away inspiration to pour more intentionally into my three children - like Paul Sr., I've got two pirates and a princess. The examples of Paul Sr.'s laying down in the bed each night with his children to talk to them about their day even when he was exhausted, is convicting and motivating to me. His admonition to love their mother well is a big reminder-type take away for me as well.

From Paul's talk, some of my key take aways are:
1. Your character is your calling card - this is the first and best form of witness in our spheres of influence.
2. "Be, Know, Do" - the simple leadership model the army uses is a great and concise way to remember our calling to be witnesses and influences whether it is to our own families or the other people He gives us the privilege of influencing for Him.
3. Pray for opportunities. As I ask God for discernment in seeing opportunities to speak the gospel, He opens those opportunities and gives me wisdom to know what to say and how to say it. God will empower me to do what He has commanded me to do.

We have designed Man Church to be "a gathering to inspire revolutionary manhood". Our next Man Church is right around the corner, March 4th, and registration is open right now at www.johnsonferry.org. Our special speaker is Hall-of-Fame wide receiver and Super Bowl Head Coach Raymond Berry. I'm including a link to a video segment ESPN did on Raymond Berry and his QB, Johnny Unitas as a promo. I hope you'll make a point to come on the 4th and bring others with you.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-top-ten/09000d5d8074cc9c/Top-Ten-Pass-Combos-Johnny-Unitas-and-Raymond-Berry

"He's Going to Wish He Never Met Me"

2010-02-02T12:10:00Z

1 Kings 3:7-9 “"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Genesis 41:16 “"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

On my nine-year-old football team this past Fall, one of the many funny things that happened came from my left tackle. He is a wonderful boy, but in this one particular game he was way in over his head. We were playing the best team in the league. The young man he had to try to block was a lot bigger, a lot faster, and a lot meaner than him. I had spent all week trying to prepare him for the challenge. I tried to reduce his task down to diving into the shins of the guy across from him, trying my best to convince him he could do it and we had to have him succeed to have a chance. All week he reassured me with great braggadocio, “Coach, he’s going to wish he never met me!” etc… During the game, his man beat him terribly every play. (Now I know you football guys are asking yourselves why I didn’t double-team that kid. The problem was that the other team had five defensive linemen that needed to be double-teamed. We only made one first down the whole game; and that was because of a penalty on them.) The funny thing (in a tragic way J) was that my left tackle kept trash talking/bragging about what he was going to do to that guy every time he came back to the huddle.

I see that same ridiculous posture in men all the time. We pose, strut and boast out of a tragically hilarious attempt to cover pitiful insecurity and weakness.

My simple encouragement to you is to be honest. Don’t be afraid to say you’re weak and need God’s help. This ultimately turns out to be the only legitimate position of strength. Listen to two of the world’s greatest leaders: Solomon, upon his coronation as King and Joseph before Pharaoh when his life and future were on the line. Both of those contexts would be optimal times to strut, brag, and trash talk for most men. These great men were honest, real, and therefore, ultimately strong. Be the same way!

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

See the End of The Read Through

2010-01-24T14:29:00Z

Men

What a glorious effort! Thank you to every man who formed the unbroken chain of readers. We read God's Word from beginning to end over our church in 75 hours. What a powerful relay team you were and will continue to be for His glory. Click on the link to view the video of the end of the Read Through. Also, I would love to hear from you. If you have a little testimonial about how God used this effort in your life, I'd love to hear about it to share with the other men and give God the glory. You can e-mail your testimonial to me at tom.gray@jfbc.org

http://www.vimeo.com/8945812

The Conclusion

2010-01-24T02:26:00Z

Men - if you are wanting to be here for the finish, you'd better come now - as of 9:20 pm, we're in Revelation chapter 8.

8:20 PM Update, Saturday

2010-01-24T01:22:00Z

Men, we just started 1st Peter - we'll be done before midnight! I hope I can get my children home and run back over in time to see the finish!

4:00 PM Saturday updated

2010-01-23T21:04:00Z

Men - as of 4:00 PM we're in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. According to my calculations (which up to this point have been like forecasting the weather - no offense Rich) we'll finish between midnight and 1:30 in the morning. So, if any of you want to be on hand for it, plan on being here sometime in the 11:30 pm - 1:30 am range. I'll send out another blog after dinner to update our progress.

11:00 AM Saturday

2010-01-23T16:25:00Z

Wow men, we're getting to the end much quicker than I thought. As of 11:00 AM we are in John chapter 10. Stay tuned for the final laps and crossing the finish line some time this evening. If your time is scheduled after we finish, obviously you won't need to come in. Great job guys!

9:00 PM Friday

2010-01-23T02:16:00Z

First, reminder for the Men who are coming to read Saturday morning: You will need to park across Johnson Ferry Road from the church because of the Polar Bear Run. You may want to give yourself a few extra minutes to navigate the traffic.

As of 9:00 Friday night we're in Jeremiah chapter 50

Noon 30 Update

2010-01-22T17:34:00Z

Men

as of 12:30 p.m. Friday we're in Proverbs 15 - our pace has quickened

As Sure As Sparks Fly Upward

2010-01-22T11:04:00Z

As of 6:00 a.m. Friday, we just entered Job chapter 6. If you're coming to read over the next couple of days, we need to pick up our pace a bit to make sure we finish in plenty of time before the service begins Sunday morning. One tip: don't labor over pronouncing some of the difficult names, quickly give them your best shot and keep moving.
Ask God to speak to you each time you're here, reading or listening. Have a great day!

the latest

2010-01-22T03:07:00Z

Men

As of 10:00 Thursday night we're in 2 Kings 18

Choo Choo on the Read Through

2010-01-21T21:17:00Z

Men

As of Thursday afternoon at 4:15, we're in 2 Samuel chapter 3.

Olivia Mahon, Bryant's assistant asked me to pass on that there may be lots of people passing through the sanctuary Saturday morning in conjunction with the Polar Bear Run. Bryant's admonition is to read on, read loud and clear.

Chugging Along Mightily

2010-01-21T14:53:00Z

As of 10:00 a.m. Thursday, JFMighty Men of Valor are at Joshua chapter 1 -fitting, "Be strong and courageous!" Josh 1:9

Read Through Update

2010-01-21T08:07:00Z

Men - as of 3:00 a.m. Thursday, we're in Leviticus chapter 16. Many faithful, mighty warriors are covering the church with the Word!

Progress update: At our current rate we won't finish until just before 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning - pass the word, we want to read for meaning, but if we can, we want to pick up the pace a bit also.

Read Through Under Way

2010-01-21T03:06:00Z

Men, our cooperative effort to bathe His Bride with the Word is under way. As of the time I'm posting this, the tenth man, the tenth mighty man of valor, the tenth link in our chain, is reading in Genesis chapter 43. Click on the link here to see how it kicked off. For Him!

http://www.vimeo.com/8878361

What Am I Going to Do With My Life?

2010-01-12T15:40:00Z

The more I have the privilege of working with men of all ages, the more I've been struck with the fact that it's not just younger men who wrestle with this question. Men at all ages and stages of their lives struggle through this. I am discovering that grappling with this question is an ongoing part of every man's journey.
I want to encourage you with a challenge from Bart Newman's book, "Because of Baghdad". Bart is our speaker this Thursday night at Man Church.
"I returned to my original question - what am I going to do with my life? At that moment, I realized I had been asking the wrong question. The reason I could never get a satisfactory answer was because I had the wrong focus. I was focused on myself. I was focused on what I was going to do with MY life. Who I would become. How much money I might earn. Without intending to, I had put myself before God.
From that day forward, I trained myself to ask a different question - How will eternity be different because of me? This question forces me to focus on God. It fixes my mind on God's hopes and dreams, instead of my own. . . ." (Because of Baghdad, p. 133)

Building Project

2010-01-07T16:33:00Z

Men, I want to give you a simple New Year's challenge to contemplate and act on in whatever way the Lord leads you. There is an amazing contrast from the last phrase of 1 Kings 6:38 and the very next verse, 7:1. It contrasts Solomon's building of God's temple and Solomon's building of his own house.
It says, ". . . So he was seven years in building it. (God's house) Now Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house." He took almost twice as long to build his own house as he took to build God's.
How many of us do the same thing? What might happen in our lives, our families, our world if we spent at least as much time building God's kingdom as we spend building our own?
How much time will you spend on financial planning this year? Would you spend an equal amount of time planning and hosting evangelistic-type get-togethers with your neighbors who don't know Christ.
How much time will you spend on lawn maintenance, home improvements, or decorating? Would you spend an equal amount of time praying for revival and awakening in our land?
How much money will you spend on eating out or entertainment this year? Would you invest an equal amount on sending missionaries for the gospel around the world?

Can We Survive?

2010-01-04T16:42:00Z

I begin with a quote from Pat Buchanan's article today summarizing the first decade of this century:

"We have a government that cannot balance its books, defend its borders or win its wars. And what is it now doing? Drafting another entitlement program as we are informed that the Social Security and Medicare trust funds have unfunded liabilities in the trillions.

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the question is not whether we will preside over the creation of a New World Order, but whether America's decline is irreversible."

Is America's decline reversible? The answer to that question is yes! As men of God live revolutionary lives, building His Kingdom one day at a time; through a spiritual awakening and revival, our country can see better days.

Each "Man Church" gathering is designed to inspire the kind of revolutionary manhood our country is in desperate need of. On January 14, Bart Newman, a young revolutionary, will speak to us on the subject of living as an Everyday Warrior. Please register online by January 6th to guarantee your meal at www.johnsonferry.org.

You can check out Bart at www.BartNewman.com.

In the days leading up to our next Man Church I want to give you a sample of quotes and insights from Bart's book, "Because of Baghdad".

Bart gives us the Five Facets of Lasting Leaders in Chapter 4 (these represent solid direction for revolutionary men leading in their homes and other environments)

1. Lasting leaders deny themselves privilege
2. Lasting leaders take care of their people
3. Lasting leaders listen to their people
4. Lasting leaders make decisive decisions
5. Lasting leaders praise in public and counsel in private