SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER: Archie Jenkins

Greetings readers and followers, 

Today, I begin a series of guest blogger postings by men excited about the Bethany 2012 event you've read about on occasion on this blogspot.  The posting comes from the pages of the General Conference of Disciples Men newsletter, 'The Voice'.  Today's post is from my good friend, GCDM President, Archie Jenkins who talks about putting faith into action.  Enjoy!  

Peace,

-Ray

PS- Men, don't forget...you're invited! Join us at Bethany, next July 13-15.  Log on and register today! http://www.gathering2012.org/

"This past July, those of us who attended General Assembly in Nashville, TN received a blessing from all the opportunities to fellowship with other Christian men. We are now back in our normal routines. I hope that the sparkwe received at the GA is still burning somewhere inside us.  I also hope a spark is burning inside of those of you who were unable to attend.  

That spark is the Holy Spirit leading us men to do the things that show our love and compassion for all of God’s children. In showing love and compassion to others we enable them to see God’s love and compassion through us.  

Since becoming President of the General Conference of Disciples Men, I have had the pleasure of meeting Disciples Men from all over the United States. So many of the men I have met are what I would call Everyday Heroes. Men, who through mission work in their communities, region, or state, let me know that the spark is burning inside many. Let us all commit to fan the spark inside ourselves and let the Holy Spirit lead us to where a helping hand is needed. One way to fan the spark is by making plans to attend The Gathering. A lot of information concerning the Extreme Faith Bold Action Gathering is in this issue of the Voice.  

The General Conference would like to know what is happening with your Disciples Men. Let Kelly Harris know through photos and notes what you are doing in your men’s groups. We would love to use these photos and stories in future issues of The Voice. 

http://www.discipleshomemissions.org/files/The_Voice_Fall_2011.pdf 

 You can send these to Kelly by email at kharris@dhm.diciples.org.  

I look forward to meeting even more of the wonderful Disciples Men that make up our Church. If you have questions or comments concerning the General Conference of Disciples Men or any other issues please feel free to contact me.  You may contact me by email at acjenk@yahoo.com."

Sincerely,

Archie Jenkins

President, General Conference of Disciples Men

The Priority of Dadhood

A little over a year ago, I started this blog with the intention of posting every Tuesday.  Well, that worked out for a while and is still my intention, but when it comes to posting on the blog or rolling around in the floor with Gabe...need I say which one wins.  That being said, I do intend to get back to posting thoughts on Dadhood and the excitement of my passion for men's ministry.  So, I've been thinking about how fast my son has grown and how he's changed over the past year.  He was born on September 14, 2010.  Here's a photo per month to give you a feel for how he's grown from the little infant in the hospital to the growing little boy enjoying his first football game this month.  Enjoy!

Sep 2010

Oct 2010

Nov 2010

Dec 2010

Jan 2011

Feb 2011

Mar 2011

Apr 2011

May 2011

Jun 2011

                   

Jul 2010 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 2011

Sep 2011

Oct 2011

There's much that's been going on over the last few weeks.  Hope to get back on track with regular posting soon.  You'll have to excuse me while I watch my son grow.
Peace,
Ray

We're Ready, Are You?!

 Xtreme Faith-Bold Action, we’re ready, are you!? That’s the question the event planning team and many other men throughout the hosting regions have for men all across the country.  This new concept for men’s ministry has something for everyone: great speakers, diverse and interesting workshops, plenty of recreation, historic mission work options, uplifting worship, exciting music, spirit-filled fellowship and lots of other surprises.

We expect men to depart from this experience with a new sense for the future of men’s ministry.  This experience is our first step toward engaging with men of all ages, faiths and backgrounds in dialogue and understanding of what it means to be a man in the 21^st century.  This event will give men the unique and wonderful opportunity to take with them a spiritual renewal that can transfer into their own men’s group activities and daily lives. 

We’re actively praying for you all, as we work to create a fun and exciting experience for everyone.  It has taken ‘extreme faith’ to get to where we are.  The weekend of July 13-15, 2012 the ‘bold action’ we’re preparing to share with you will be unveiled. 

We confidently expect a successful event like none other that will be remembered and talked about for some time.  Men, let’s get rid of our spiritual laziness!  Let’s renew ourselves together and grow into the spiritually active men we’re being called to be!   

With that in mind here’s list of things we’d like you, D-I-S-C-P-L-E-S  M-E-N to remember:

-DISCERN the call to attend!

-INTEND on being spiritually motivated!

-STOP making excuses why you can’t attend!

-CHALLENGE a friend to attend with you!

-IMMERSE your self in the Holy Spirit!

-PRAY men will be motivated to attend!

-LIVE life like you mean it!*

-EXPECT the unexpected!

-STOP making more excuses why you can’t attend!

-MAKE a personal commitment to build on this experience!

-EARLY bird registration ends January 9th!

X-treme Faith-Bold Action Planning Team at Brush Run Site

-NOTE to self...register today!

(*-ask our keynoter, Derek Maul about this one.  Better yet, attend the event to find out!)

 

Sincerely,

Ray Gryder

Event, Co-chair

This piece will appear in the Disciples Men newsletter (fall issue), 'The Voice'.

www.gathering2012.org

9/11 Remembrance-God is Love

1 John 4:4, 7-8, 11-12, 17-18 & 21

(T)he one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (NIV)

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God.  Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. 

No one has seen God, ever.  But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

God is love.  When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.  

There is no room in love for fear.  Well-formed love banishes fear.  Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

Loving God includes loving people.  You’ve got to love both.  

(Verse 4, NIV.  All other verses, The Message)

On Sunday, people around the world will take time to remember the 10^th anniversary of, what to a generation, is now known simply as 9/11.

This week the 1 John 4:4 scripture came across in a short devotional and so I took the opportunity to dig deeper into that chapter.  John is writing to possibly one of his churches and addressing those individuals who are having difficulty with love and with God.

As I think about the September 11, 2001 tragedy, the many lost lives and still grieving and disbelieving family members, I venture to say that many have had and still have difficulty with love and with God.

Astounding to me today as it was then, the fact that men claiming to be agents of God would perpetrate such heinous acts.  But then throughout history men have claimed God’s authority to initiate atrocities of war. 

As we mark 10 years since, I reflect upon where I was that morning: at work.  What I felt was disbelief and a strange inevitability of it all, as people gathered around televisions realizing at the second planes impact I sensed a collective need for retribution, but mostly I felt an utter sadness for those dying before my very eyes.

Later that afternoon after my wife and I had come together at home we sat on our front porch and remarked at how blue and eerily quiet the empty the sky was.  If you remember all air traffic was suspended for some time after the attack.

The first decade of the 21^st century has been forever marked with the indelible mark of violence because of the events of September 11.

It is my hope and prayer that now, 10 years removed, our nation can begin to heal.  It is time to move away from the continuous ways of war and fear that we have so easily adopted as the new normal.   It is time for our brave men and women in uniform to come home.

So what else is there to really say about 9/11 that hasn't already been said, but to remember and never forget those who died.  We either begin to move in the direction of love or we slide into the abyss of hate and revenge that those who attacked that day would have us ever so joyously do.  We must take up that permanent residence in a life of love. 

We must abolish and banish the constant crippling fear that grips us in all we do.  We must realize that when we say we love God we must recognize we love people, all people.  Again, we must love both because God is love.

Be a light to someone in need this coming week as we take time to remember how precious life and love truly is.  Make the difficulties of life and love meaningless.  Seek out God's loving face in all you do.  

Peace,

Ray

Here's the great Springsteen tribute from the 2001 benefit event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zld2cSIVUO4

 

I Care

As an advocate for positive language, respectful discourse and compassion for others, it is certainly difficult to find any redeeming value in all that is going on lately.   Cynicism of politics, government and religion is rampant and understandably so, but I refuse to give up on humanity because, I am a Jesus Follower and I care.   

As a good friend pointed out, we need only look to the prophet Micah (6: 8 NIV) for words of consolation and restoration.

He has shown you, O mortal, 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.

In the days following all the partisan bickering in Washington, the unfavorable reaction of global investors and the populace’s opinion that politicians have become totally inept and ineffective to essentially govern, I heard the term ‘reset’.   The term was used to describe a possible coming societal shift and an ever deepening divide among people.  I also had a friend of mine say, “None of it matters; no ones opinion matters. Who cares?” I care.  

I care that since 2008 the world’s been suffering effects of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  Now, almost 4 years on, economies worldwide are on very shaky ground.  Some European nations are dealing with the inability to pay their debts and America inches closer by the day to becoming known as the United States of Austerity.  Our financial house is, without a doubt, in desperate need of attention, but as any train engineer will tell you, you can’t suddenly brake a speeding train without many cars derailing from the tracks.

I care that since the end of World War II the western world has prospered, but we seem to be taking it for granted.  People in the industrialized world have, for the most part, never had to worry about where their next meal was going to come from or whether the water would flow out of the faucet or if the lights would come on at the flick of a switch.  We are a spoiled society in relation to what individuals endured during the Great Depression and the Second World War.  Economic despair in Europe led to war and plunged that continent into destruction because of, almost exclusively, an evil deranged despot who seized on the fears and vulnerabilities of a desperate populace. 

I care that America has forgotten how to solve its problems.  We have become a consumer based nation with no drive to create, erect or build.  We’re very efficient at making weaponry, fast food and basic consumer products.  Real industrialization has vanished from our shores.  Collective growth and prosperity for all is a thing of the past.  Without a doubt our roads, our bridges, our schools, our public works systems, our power grid are all virtually crumbling before our eyes and we don’t seem to be bothered by it in the slightest.  

I care that the mentality of “I’ve got mine and to hell with everyone else” is not just driving us into a ditch, but off a cliff.  People need work and to feel a sense of worth again.  Not to mention, soldiers are beginning to return home and they too are in many cases looking for work.  Why are we not interested in putting people to work? Why are politicians on the right and the left only worried about themselves and their next election cycle?  What happened to the ability of those with differing views being able to come together with a realistic and sensible consensus?  Why can’t we talk to one another and listen; respectfully listen and seek to learn something to better ourselves? 

I care because as a student of politics and history I realize that economic chaos can serve as the opportune moment for fringe elements of society and extremist political ideologies to pounce on the naïve and the downtrodden.   Sadly, religion, all too often is used to foster extremism for political expediency. 

I care that so many people don’t recognize our vulnerability to acts of evil by those among us claiming allegiances in God’s name.  These fiendish opportunists and those who set them alight with their words claim fervently they are something that in reality they are not.  We saw this most recently in Norway with a violent outburst and loss of life at the hands of a deranged individual feeding off vitriolic hate speech.  In his mind the Christian world is under threat from non-Christian undesirables and they’re the reason for the world’s problems.  This is an insane echo of the not too distant past.

So yes, ‘reset’ is coming and I pray it will come from those who care.  There are good positive people among us who care.   We must be aware of the history that tends to repeat itself again and again and recognize that voices of reason, of real meaningful compromise, of respectful discourse, of truth, of compassion, and of love will ALWAYS prevail.  This is what I believe. As a Jesus Follower this is what I care about.   We must tune out the voices of discontent, the voices of hate, the voices of cynicism, the voices of ‘my way or the highway’, the voices of exploitative opportunism, the voices of disrespect, the voices of charlatans and the voices that do not speak the truth.   

So to close, I will answer my friend’s claim, by saying that in the face of it all, opinions do matter.  Those of us who do care must speak out with truth and positive optimism for all walking humbly with God.  It will make a difference. 

I care.  Do you?

   

Peace,
Ray

Who Was The Centurion?

MATTHEW 8: 5-13

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”  Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

This past Sunday's sermon was about the faith of the Roman centurion.  I thought afterwards about the interesting question: 

Who was this centurion?

I did some easy research on Wikipedia and found out that in the army of Rome, a centurion was a professional soldier; a commander of usually around 100 men.  Men were sometimes promoted, elected or appointed to the position of centurion; a very commanding rank.  They were known to be literate individuals who had established themselves very well within the ranks.  These respected men were usually battle tested as they led their men not from the rear, but from the front.  They had a reputation for being hard-nosed ruthless disciplinarians. 

Why did this man of Rome beg for Jesus’ help?  What caused him to be so humble in Jesus' presence and call him, Lord?  What was this man's religious upbringing?  In the Roman world the emperor was God; Lord.  What had he heard or seen that caused him to reach out to this Jewish man?  The centurion was surely knowledgeable enough of the goings on within the community that he recognized the radical nature of Jesus and his politically charged actions and message.

The centurion must have been keen enough to know the repercussions of his actions.  He must have been aware that seeking the help of a man openly ridiculed and criticized by the Jewish religious leaders was indeed a very risky prospect.  He surely knew his reputation within the Roman community would be called into question once word of his actions reached his superior officers, not to mention the leaders in Rome.  What caused this Roman to take such a high risk and do it, in what is presented in the scripture, as a very open and more importantly, faithful appeal?  What caused him to risk his military career and place in Roman society by reaching out to Jesus and calling him Lord?  The centurion had effectively denounced the lord of Rome, his leader, his emperor. 

Did the centurion see Jesus perform a miracle?  Had he heard of his deeds through word of mouth; rumblings from within the community?  Perhaps something happened to him on the battlefield.  Had he seen him interacting with the disciples or did he have some other connection or knowledge of Jesus unknown to us?  It's truly an intriguing question as to the reason why the Roman centurion would profess such profound faith in a man who was his complete societal opposite.  A man of war and ruthlessness was reaching out for Jesus, a man of peace and compassion.  

Recognizing Jesus as Lord is the most important element of this encounter.  I wonder what happened to the centurion when he returned to his duty post?  Did he resign his position, become a Jesus Follower at that very moment and spread the news of what had happened to him because of his faith?  Did he carry his faith back to Rome and continue on as a centurion bringing other Roman men to recognize the one true Lord?

All of these are questions we don't know the answers to, but it is interesting to contemplate the rest of the story and relate it to our daily lives.  Sometimes we're faced with situations where only our faith will get us through.  Knowing that someone as powerful and important as the Roman centurion was able to reach out to Jesus and, for whatever reason, recognize him as his Lord is very reassuring for us in today's modern world.  

Would you have been willing to risk your position, your reputation, your freedom and who knows what else just as the centurion did?  I pray that I would have the courage and the faith to do so.

Peace,

Ray