Men's Group

I have been fortunate to be a part of a men's discipleship group for the past several months.  The group also has a component of it which focuses more on accountability, and I will likely write about that aspect of this in the near future.  This larger discipleship group currently is comprised of 10 men.  We meet every Saturday and it is organized through the church I attend.  We have been working through the Men With No Regrets workbook series.  I was very reluctant to participate in this group, however I was encouraged to make the commitment to it by my pastor, who was organizing the group, and by a good friend who would also be participating.

Looking back, I think my reluctance to jump into this group was brought on by a couple of factors.  One of them was certainly my past experiences when in groups of heterosexual men (church or otherwise); be it a group of 3 or 50.  When I find myself in some type of group or gathering of men, I have a tendency to focus on the ways that I am different from them rather than seeing all of the ways that we are similar.  This usually leaves me with a sense of feeling that I don't really fit in or belong with them.  In all honesty, I don't really have an interest in many of the things that these guys tend to talk about.  I like sports, especially football, but I don't feel the need to be up on every aspect of it or to know every stat.  I enjoy participating in sports such as football, softball, etc., but I'm really not all that good so I tend to shy away from them.  I like family and kids, however not having a spouse or children, I feel like their is only so much that I can add to conversations of this type.  In addition, I just get a sense of not being considered "one of the guys" on some level.

Fight the Good Fight

"Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..."

(1 Timothy 6:12 NASB)

A hard lesson learned over this past few weeks:

• Faith is something we must constantly fight for
• It is a good fight

After a period of several months of very real transformation, I let down my guard.  In a sense, I became comfortable with where I was at and even overly confident in ways.  Things seemed to be going real well.  I felt that I was growing in my love of God, as well as my love of other people.  I spent time in the Word, in prayer, and in service to others.  But something was lacking.  I certainly wasn't as thankful as I should have been for the great things that God was doing in my life.  Pride crept in and rather than giving all of the glory to God, I think in some ways I was reserving some for myself.  I felt that I had things under control.

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like 

a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

(1 Peter 5:8 NASB)

Sin can creep in unnoticed.  It can spread like an infection.  In my complacency and attitude of having everything under control, I was not as quick to address things occurring in my thought life as I should have been.  After all, I had everything under control.

Barnabas, Paul & John Mark

"Barnabas, Son of Encouragement and Comfort"

"When he came to Jerusalem, [Paul] was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.  But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus."

(Acts 9:26-27 NASB)

Barnabas, whose birth name was Joses (Joseph) first appears in the New Testament in Acts 4:36.  After selling all he owned and giving the proceeds to the Apostles, they gave him a new name: Barnabas, meaning "son of encouragement" or "son of consolation" (comfort).  From this initial mention in Scripture, the word encouragement would be forever associated with Barnabas.

In Acts 9:26-28, we see Paul attempting to join with the Apostles in Jerusalem shortly after his conversion.  Well known to the Apostles, Paul (Saul) had spent years being "the persecutor of the Church" (Acts 9:1).  They were understandably skeptical of believing in Paul's conversion and instead chose to reject him out of fear.  But Barnabas reacted differently.  Rather than rejecting Paul as the Apostles had just done, Barnabas actually takes him back before the Apostles and declares his conviction that Paul is a true believer in Christ.  He vouches for Paul at great risk to his own reputation.  Upon being confronted by Barnabas, we see in the very next verse that they immediately accept him because of Barnabas' convictions as to the truth of Paul's faith.