Advancing The Battle

Chattanooga Area Men's Ministry leaders and pastors attended dinner and a Skype session with Pat Morley of Man in the Mirror on Tuesday night at Tyner Methodist Church.
The MacClellan Foundation and Men's Ministry Network along with some good grub from Gollywhoppers Sandwich Shop made for an excellent evening of community and learning.
Doug Daughtery and Bernie Ritterbush hosted the evening and the spotlight was Pat Morley as he joined the group thru Skype from his home in Orlando.
Doug introduced Pat and stated that only 10% of churches across America have active men's ministries. (I think MIM has stated that only 7% have a men's ministry pastoral position in America)
Pat opened with some humor with this group by saying that today was a good hair day for him and at his age, each hair has a purpose.
He started with a story about four couples and how each of the four men in this group had issues around pornography, another woman etc and when all this shook up, did we know what the difference was? He said two marriages made it because the men had relationships in groups with men that stayed by their side.
Pat stated today that evangelism without discipleship is cruel. We have men today that don't understand Matthew 22-29..of knowing scripture and the power of the Lord.

Pat then asked what is discipleship and he used the definition he has for several years that a disciple is called, equipped and sent.
Called to to live in Christ, equipped to live like Christ and Sent to live for Christ (Serving)

Pat then quoted from his new book No Man Left Behind:
Why do many men's ministries succeed or fail ?
1) The Sr. Pastor has to have a heart and a have a vision to disciple men. This is where I love this part from NMLB. Pat says you see, you must have an all inclusive mindset. The men's ministry in your church is every man in the church. Later Pat explained this by using an example of an usher that catches this vision. As a leader in his area he should understand that he has one of the most important jobs on Sunday mornings. They can come in early before the service for about five minutes and share a brief scripture and then remember that each man ushering is helping people feel welcomed with the reason we want to help them become disciples of Christ.

2) the second thing must be determination.. It must be said by leaders that men's ministry will be important here
3) You must have a sustainable strategy. Think of how to utilize small or growth groups, have the right next step planned for each man, and tie it together.

Questions from the audience were very good, such as how do you encourage pastors to have a men's ministry? Pat had a good answer here that you must built your case thru leading and showing your calling in that area. You must ask your pastor-How can I help you? serve you? to come along side him and begin to build this.
NMLB points out that you really need a team of men to work on this so it is not all on one man's shoulders. Pat pointed out here that if the man in charge gets a promotion and leaves town, there goes the men's ministry! With a team this can be less of issue.
*Pat talked about the fact that leaders need to resemble shepherds and not teachers today. Men aren't looking for another boss, they are looking for someone to come along side them. A Shepherd does this by asking questions and communicating that they care.

Pat says the war is ongoing against this world giving a story around pornography's pull as he attended a Christian conference where they asked the men to turn in how many of them battled this and the answer was 60% of those attending the conference!
It is a real problem today. So available and so easy once a man is isolated away from friends and family. Isn't it. I always remember David Lawson's teaching on this from the Precept Men's Conference a couple of years ago where he said just flee from it! Kill it! Don't give it a chance!


-Local Ministry Resource------------Sue Moore locally has been called locally to start a ministry around this for women but is also wanting to begin men's groups in this area. Her website is www.forgivenmuch.net

It was a great evening, good to see friends there. The next meeting for CACMM will be on Thursday, July 16th @ Tyner and the guest will be David Murrow, author of the book, Why Men Hate Going to Church. This promises to be a great subject and even gives guys time to get the book and read it before David arrives. Please invite brothers that you know would be interested in this and you can contact the Men's Ministry Network @ bernie@mensministry.org

Pat's group Man in the Mirror is @ www.maninthemirror.org
Book's referenced in the meeting were Pastoring Men and No Man Left Behind

I urge men to get MIM's daily devotion guide, Equipping the Man in the Mirror, great daily devotional that I enjoy. Here is a link for that with more information:

http://www.maninthemirror.org/equippingthemaninthemirror/

Noteworthy and upcoming:

*Tom Kitsmiller mentioned at the dinner Tuesday that Brainerd Baptist Church is going to have a Discipleship Conference this fall which will feature Bill Hull. The dates are October 9th and 10th. Mark that down.

*Lee Atchley talked about CBMC and its monthly outreach luncheon. There are a number of small groups all around Chattanooga that meet. On the left under Cool Sites you will see a link you can click on for Chattanooga CBMC

*Woodland Park will be offering the Perspectives course on Sunday Nights this fall. Lots of excitement about this and also all the different teachers that will be in Chattanooga to teach at this. More information at this link for those interested in learning more about world Christian movement by attending this, especially college students for credit:

http://www.woodlandpark.org/featured/perspectives.asp

Notes from the last meeting with Bill Hull can be found below on March 22nd's blog . Note too in a follow up from that March 22nd blog that this week Ann Mulchay of Zerox has announced she is retiring. Wonder what she will do next? Run for office? If you like leadership make sure you read that Corner Office interview with her from the Superb comments she made back in March of this year.

May you have a blessed week this week.

The Future of Media and the Impact

Several days ago I was walking back from a meeting and this thought hit me and I jotted it down: Could the media's attack on marriage ( i.e. television shows) and how it is to look ....a plan by those in Hollywood to promote homosexual marriage by demeaning the current man/wife relationship?

Let me explain more. First, tell me one show on right now where the dad, husband or father figure is seen in a positive light? Now, you can probably come up with many when you think of the other side of the coin. You may say, Hank- these are comedies, they are fun. You see that is what Hollywood wants you to see. An example would be Will and Grace's show about how normal and funny homosexuals are.

There are men and women that deeply love each other all across America. Many Americans can identify with that. But, not in a sexual way. I believe the love angle is being misconstrued. There are brothers and sisters in Christ I love very much but my relationship is not of a sexual nature. God set up the hierarchy and authority angle in Genesis and it has made sense for many years. Man, has struggled with this since He is sinful. Homosexuality was addressed by Paul because it was in the culture then, Jesus didn't say anything about it because He taught off marriage between a man and woman and was talking to Jewish people who knew homosexuality was a sin and had been thru some interesting things with the McAbees to get back in alignment.

Let's look at another area in Hollywood where writers who really have no moral compass in their own lives probably much less children are to take things another step further- after all that is what you want as Americans isn't it? Reality tv?
TV Land was once a staple of programming that you could watch with your family. Not anymore. We have had the Bachelor and the Bachelorette now they are going to bring an older woman on to find a younger man and they are calling the show, The Cougar. We are about four shows away from total reality debauchery and yes, I know we are already there on some channels such as MTV and have been since Real World started and HBO is really a soft porn channel. (and they are proud of their programming)

It is hard to see any show like Cosby, Little House on the Prarie, etc. that did really well rating wise and are not showing up on the screen. Part of this probably has to do with a lot of writer's in Hollywood that are "boys' in men's clothing that haven't really grown up yet to become men. They also see it as funny to demean everyone and everything. Comedies are getting grosser more degrading, very rarily are they smarter.

Man's greed is evident too. Money is in front of any since of decency and that is sad.

There is not a single show on any station that promotes a healthy marriage between a man and woman. Not a show where the man is seen as noble, normal and that my friends I believe is part of a plan to really make it even harder for a man to see what a real man looks like. Especially impossible for younger men unless they see it around them and that can be hard as most men today are passive and not really sure what a man looks like and should act like.

You see if I can't see what that looks like I can't actually do that.

That is why this generation of men have a opportunity before them that is chance to push against what the media is pushing.

1) The first step is to make sure you aren't watching trash. Trash in/Trash out. Program the televisions in your house to block inappropraie content for you and your family.
2) Police the amount of time your kids are on media and make sure it is mixed with reading and writing. So they can actually put thoughts into words. Love what John Maxwell did with his son by rewarding him financially with $20 when he finished reading classic books and books that would help him with life.
3) Keep bringing the bible to life. Make sure your kids can see Christ in you. Make sure they see you apologize when you are wrong and that they see you love your wife and them. Remember they are not seeing this on television. On tv you are charactericatured as a kind of jokster, no too smart. Spend time with the family at the dinner table, we have family meetings usually weekly and they can be different-like last night Sarah debuted a new dance for us that was beautiful. Devotions are good to tie into life and current event assigenments are good where they have to research a current issue and talk about it.
4) Read and apply the bible in your life. Dwell on the word, ask the Lord to reveal to you more of Him. Looking for books around a subject matter? Click on this link and scroll down to the bottom for a good list to start off on

http://www.woodlandpark.org/ministries/men/resources.asp

5) Read good books that will help you in areas you want to learn. 85% of Americans don't read a book a year. You can get good books at your local library or you can get a Kindle. It doesn't matter as long you are using it to be profitable for teaching for your life.

Paul, the apostle didn't always talk about biblical things. We know he was a tent maker and probably had some good discussions on the best way to make the tents, looked at different styles and had to find materials to make them so we know he was looking for ways to improve himself. Needless to say, Jesus had to have spent some serious time on woodworking with his dad to learn the trade. (That had to be very interesting- I mean think about it-----his dad is showing him how to do this and He really already knew) but Jesus probably had some pretty good wood working going on by the time He was 33.

6) Write letters to your leaders in politics and to Hollywood leaders about what you want to see on television. Let them know how you feel. They should appreciate some feedback from their declining ratings.

7) Pray for our nation. Pray for the Lord to forgive us for forsaking Him. Pray for wisdom.

8) Last but not least disciple other men that will in turn turn around and disciple other men. One step at a time. Proverbs 27:17 lived out. Make sure you are leaving a legacy on your life that will "ripple" thru others for years to come.

***New Radio Station flips the switch in Chattanooga and begins to compete in Newstalk. 95.3 The Pulse. Brewere Broadcasting is behind this venture. First day was extremely shaky. Afternoon drive time, they may have a nitch in offering local news, weather and traffic from 4pm on. We will see, but Friday was not impressive. New Sports Station starts in June taking Alive 105's spot and will be ESPN programming. Not sure what that means for 1370 AM.

http://chattanoogapulse.com/radio/



I saw this story in the print edition of the Wall Street Journal and was floored. I had not heard anything about this, have you?


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104549891270585.html







The future of GM, Ford and Chrysler are right there in that article!



Don't Ask Don't Tell changed and the media didn't even tell you:



http://www.propublica.org/article/comments/whitehouse.gov-backs-down-on-repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-501