Men's Fraternity Week 23

Men’s Fraternity
Week #23 – Practical Step of Manhood



Introduction:

Malachi 4:6
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.

Four week focus:

To take action by leaving a godly legacy of faith, hope and love through the art of letter writing.

Our definition of the word “Blessing”: It is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God.

Four Biblical Principles Concerning the Blessings of God

2 Timothy 1:2-3
I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace. Timothy, I thank God for you – the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

1. We are to ask for the blessings of God.
1. His favor.
2. His power.
3. His protection.
2. We are to recognize the blessings of God.
1. Cultivate a thankful heart.
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Proverbs 18:22 The man who finds a wife finds treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. Proverbs 1:8-9 My son, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck.
3. We are to receive the blessings of God.
Three prerequisites to do this are:
1. Fear and revere God.
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
2. Trust God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.

3. Obey God.
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance
• God wants us to give Him [trust Him with] our:
• Time
• Talent
• Treasure [money]
4. We are to give the blessings to others.
Proverbs 11:25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Exercise: 15 min.
Take the time we have left and use the fill in blanks and write why you are blessed to have your wife as your wife. If you are not married, write this letter to your oldest child, a sibling, mentor, teacher, pastor, etc…

”I am blessed because…

Sharing: 5 min.
I want each of you men to share 3 reasons why you are blessed to have your wife as your wife, or sibling, friend, etc…

Before next week

By next week I want you to set up a time with your wife or whoever you wrote the letter to. If you ave the courage, take that letter and read it out loud. Then pray a prayer of blessing over the moment. See what God does in that moment.

Finding Your Purpose

In our second Men’s Fraternity meeting, Pastor Brian challenged each of us to develop a life purpose statement for ourselves and also to choose a life verse from the bible. In our third meeting a couple of days ago Brian asked us if anyone had done that yet. I don’t think anybody raised his hand. Then he asked us if anyone had no idea where to even start in developing a purpose statement. A few of us, including myself, raised our hands. Brian said he suspected that might be the case so he told us he had some handouts for us that might help us with and that we could pick one up after the meeting if we wanted. So on my way out that day I picked one up.

Now, in case you’re not familiar with what a life purpose statement is, as I was not, it is basically a statement that tells people who you are and what you are all about. Businesses always have one but they call it a mission statement. For instance, a mission statement for the United States Post Office might be something like “We will deliver letters and parcels to our customers in a friendly and timely manner.” Nothing in-depth really, just something for them to shoot for as a business; a target to keep their eye on.

Okay, so I took the handout and headed on up to work. I had almost an hour to kill so I just sat in my truck and began reading the handout, ”Finding Your Purpose: How to Know Why You Are Here” by Regi Campbell. In it, Mr. Campbell shares the process by which he came up with his own personal statement and I found it to be very helpful in developing my own.

Most helpful of all was the section in which Regi says to pinpoint your strengths, the things that you are particularly good at, and think about how you can use those things to glorify God. I began to really think about that and I came up with a few things that I can do well. God blessed me with a healthy body and the willingness to work hard when the situation calls for it, and He also gave me a positive mental attitude, and He gave me a good memory. So I began forming my purpose statement around that and came up with this:

I will glorify God by working hard at whatever task He gives me while maintaining a positive attitude and I will remember to give Him the glory in all things.

As Regi Campbell says in his short book, this statement will probably changed and evolve over time but I think it’s a pretty good starting point.

Now, Pastor Brian also encouraged us to choose a life verse from the Bible. A few verses came to mind, verses that have helped me through some difficult times, most especially when I was blind. One was Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Another was Isaiah 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. But as I was working on my purpose statement, another verse came to mind. It was a verse I first came across a long time ago when I was involved with the AWANA group at the church in Gibbon and one that God brought my attention to again only recently. It is 2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. I think that goes along with my purpose statement pretty well and may even serve to refine it a bit. Not only will I work hard, but I will work with honesty and integrity so that I never need to feel ashamed about the job I have done.

I think this was a good exercise and recommend it to everyone. One of the most common questions we as humans always ask is, “What is my purpose?” As Christians, we know the answer to that questions is “To glorify God.” But sometimes we get a little mixed up on how exactly to do that, or perhaps we don’t quite know where to begin. Developing a purpose statement for yourself can help you figure out where your place is in God’s plan and what you can do to further His Kingdom. We can’t all be preachers or ministers, and we can’t all go on missions to Africa, but we all have abilities that we can use to glorify Him. Work on a purpose statement for yourself, and choose a life verse as well. You don’t have to go around telling everyone what it is, but it might just help you find some focus in your life when you feel yourself drifting.

You can view or print Regi Campbell’s book “Finding Your Purpose” here.

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ESV

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. ESV

Journal - Blessings

God just continues to shower blessings on us! On Saturday, we had a nice visit from Mom and Brenna. They brought out some Valentine cookies that they made that afternoon. We enjoyed the visit and the cookies, and I think Sassie made a new best friend. On Tuesday night, we are going up to Kearney High School for Brenna’s swing choir program, and she also has an orchestra concert later this month. I’m looking forward to that.
Audiobook-Heaven continues to be showered with blessings as well. Last week I received six new audiobooks from Blackstone, and 2 from Susan Dunman. I also made a couple of new contacts. I emailed AudioGo, formerly known as BBC Audiobooks America, and they agreed to send me some audiobooks. I picked out three books and just received them yesterday. I was also contacted by an author, who wanted to know if I would review the audio version of his book. I’ve never heard of this author before, but it’s pretty cool that he went looking for a reviewer and found me. He sent me a link and I downloaded his book. I started listening to that one today, but I had to write back to him and tell him I couldn’t do it. The language was pretty strong.
But wait, there’s more! Also today, I received the books from Galaxy Press. It was about three weeks ago that they mailed them, so I was beginning to think they had changed their minds, but here they are. Galaxy Press, if you remember, is creating audio versions of some of L Ron Hubbard’s older works. I’ve really been looking forward to those. Did you know that L Ron Hubbard was born in Nebraska?
Wait, wait, there’s still more! Also today, I got a response from another publisher that I’ve been emailing, HighBridge Audio. They have also agreed to send me audiobooks. That won’t be quite like the Blackstone deal. With Blackstone, I can pretty much pick anything I want out of their extensive catalog, but with HighBridge, I can only pick from the periodic press releases that they email out. Still a good deal, though, and very exciting.
Business is booming, as you might say. If I had any money I would probably hire an assistant or something. God has been so good to me, and I just can’t wait to see what happens next.
In other news, I’ve finally made the decision to play my sax at church sometime. I have felt God urging me to do this for quite a while now, but as usual I have been dragging my feet. I had a hard time deciding what to play. I couldn’t find karaoke versions of the first couple of songs that came to mind. So I decided to keep it simple and just play Amazing Grace. I found a nice accompaniment track at Amazon.com and downloaded it, and have been working on that for about a week now. I also emailed the music director at our church and we’re trying to nail down a time when I can come in and have a little audition. It’s a busy time for him because they are just beginning to set up the audio-video-lighting in our new sanctuary, which is nearing completion. We may have to wait until that’s all done, but I’m determined. God has been so good to me and it’s about time I started giving something back. I don’t have much money to give, but I can sure use the talent that God gave me to contribute something.
Umm, what else? It’s only a couple more weeks until my Medicare becomes effective. Starting in March they’ll be deducting $115 from my social security to pay for that. That will make it even harder to cover the bills each month, but I have to trust that God will take care of it. He’s never let me down before. Speaking of which, our church really came through for us again and paid our propane bill. Actually they paid our last two. Our energy assistance from the state was drastically cut this year. Last year we got about $1100, but this year it was only $200. They said there were a lot more applicants this year.

1 Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. NIV

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV

Journal - May Wrap-up

Well, May is over already. I had a few things that I wanted to write about during the month but I kept putting it off. Now I’m not sure if I can remember what they were.

I’m pretty sure I already mentioned Brenna’s violin recital back in April. In May she had a singing concert at the school. I’m trying to remember what day that was, but I can’t. I think it was on a Monday. Brenna didn’t sing a solo so I couldn't really pick out her voice from the others, but I'm willing to bet she sounded great. This summer she is playing softball. Two games so far and her team won both. I haven’t been able to go to one of her games yet, but I’ll make it to some before she’s done. She said that she plays catcher sometimes. I wish I could see that. In a couple of weeks she will be in a play over in Amherst. She’s supposed to sing a solo and play a solo on her violin so I’m really looking forward to that.

On Sunday we all got together at Bobbi and Mike’s house. Uncle Marvin from Dallas, Uncle Butch from Crete, and Aunt LeeDel from Sioux Falls are all here for Memorial weekend. Brenna got to come for the day too. I was glad she could come because I don’t think she's seen any of the aunts and uncles for a long time. We’re all getting together again on Tuesday. Brenna can't come this time, but Brad and his family will be there. Oh, Kylie won’t be there because her school band is taking a trip to Chicago and they leave that morning. Maybe the rest of us will get some cucumbers for a change!

A couple of weeks ago, Joni and I bought a ceiling fan to put in our bedroom. We had one in our apartment in Carrollton and I’ve sure been missing that. We were going to have Mike put it up for us since he’s very handy with just about everything, but he works in the agriculture industry and is super-busy this time of year. So we decided to try hanging the fan ourselves. It actually wasn’t very hard to do. We got it up without too much trouble, and it actually works! We put it up just in time because we’ve had some very warm nights recently.

And that’s about all I can think of right now.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Journal - Sunday

Sunday was a pretty good day. We went to church as usual and had kind of a special treat. We had a minister from the African Congo visiting. Our church is very active in the Congo, sending money to support missionary efforts over there, and also sending people from our own church to volunteer. Anyway, that minister, who’s name I cannot pronounce, gave us a short sermon in his native language while his interpreter translated for us. It was interesting, and it really drove home the fact that people are really the same all over the world. His sermon was no different than what you might hear in your own church.

After church, we came home for a quick lunch of bacon and French toast, one of our favorites, and then it was off to the new school in Gibbon for a play. Bobbi’s stepson Elliott had one of the leading roles in “Oklahoma", and he really did a great job. That was my second play as a blind man and sometimes it's hard to follow the story, but I enjoy the music. The new school has a nice little auditorium, which we never had at the old school. We always had to use the cafegymatorium for everything.

It was about 4:30 when we got home. It was a really beautiful day. I’m not sure what the temperature was but it was the first time I really enjoyed going outside since last fall. When we got home I actually opened up a couple of windows in the house and the air and sunshine coming in felt wonderful. We grabbed a bite to eat, then I took my shower and started waiting for the game to come on.

It was the big game between Nebraska and Kentucky in the sweet sixteen round of the playoffs. It was the last basketball game of the day and wasn’t schedule to start until 8:30, but the previous game between Oklahoma and Notre Dame went into overtime, so Nebraska started late. It was a little after nine when it finally tipped off.

Well, it was another exciting game. I have to admit, I didn’t really think theLady Huskers would have too much trouble with Kentucky, but Kentucky really came out fighting. The score was pretty much even through the first half, but then Kentucky rallied and finished the half with a ten point lead.

The second half was all downhill, with Kentucky pretty much controlling the game. They extended their lead to nineteen points an the Huskers just couldn't seem to do anything. I began to lose hope. With just a few minutes left in the game, with nothing to lose, Nebraska began to fight. Kentucky's nineteen point lead dwindled down to seven. But the rally came too late. The final score was Kentucky 76 and Nebraska 67. I never really got the impression that Kentucky was the better team, itt just wasn’t Nebraska's night. All of Kentucky's shots seemed to fall in, and all of Nebraska's seemed to fall out.

And so, the magical season ends. It’s a bitter disappointment after coming so close, but I'm really proud of our basketball team, as I'm sure all Nebraskans are. Good luck next year!

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Journal - BCBS Blues, NCAA Pinks

Well.

On Monday I got a letter from BCBS saying that they have denied my application for insurance. Last week, they had asked for records from Doctor Hargrave. We mailed a copy of that request to her office in Dallas on Friday the 19th. The denial letter I got on Monday was dated the 19th. They asked for the records but didn’t wait to get them. They didn’t even mention the records, they said I was denied because of my pre-existing conditions which they have known about all along. Is it a coincidence that their denial letter was dated just two days before Barrack Obama signed the new health bill? No, I don’t believe in coincidences, as I have mentioned before. I don't really think there is anything in the new health bill that would have a direct effect on my case, but BCBS wasn’t taking any chances I suppose. Well, I kept saying that I wished they would make a decision, one way or the other and I got my wish. What's next? I have no idea. More waiting. I'll just have to wait and see where God leads me next.

That was the bad news. Now for the good news! Nebraska won their second round game against UCLA on Tuesday night! It was a pretty exciting game too. Well, the first half was, anyway.

UCLA struck like lightning in the opening minutes of the game and took a 13 to 4 lead very quickly. The Lady Huskers battled back, though, and tied it up at 15 before going on to take a ten point lead. The first half ended with a five point lead for Nebraska. UCLA came out fighting again in the second half and came to within one point, but it was all Nebraska after that. UCLA never gave up, they kept scoring points, but Nebraska was just too much for them. The final score was 82 to 70 or something like that.. Nebraska was hitting the three pointers again. They struggled with that in the first half, but started hitting them almost at will in the second. And not just one or two players, either, I think seven or eight different players hit three point shots.

With this win, Nebraska advances to the sweet sixteen, which is just a fancy way of saying there are only sixteen teams left playing for the national championship. Those sixteen teams come together in Kansas City this weekend. Nebraska is supposed to play Sunday night against Kentucky, but no time was set yet. This marks the first time a Nebraska basketball team, men’s or women’s, has made it to the sweet sixteen. Pretty amazing. Wouldn’t it be great if they won the national championship? Even if they don’t, I hope they can keep having this kind of success for many years to come. What a boon to the University and to Nebraska sports. Seeing any Husker team do that well really leaves me feeling in the pink. Wasn’t that a clever tie-in to my title?

For those of you who don’t live around here, my hometown of Gibbon, which I live very close to now, built a new school and began using it this year. Gibbon is a small town so they only need one school for all grades. The old school, where my siblings and I attended, and also where my parents and their siblings attended, and where my sister's kids have attended, has been standing vacant this year. I know they really neded a new building, but it’s sad to think of the old school just sitting there empty.

Now it sounds like someone may be interested in doing something with it, though. There is an email going around to everyone in Gibbon and the neighboring towns with a link to an online survey. The survey asks several questions about what kinds of activities or services the people around here might be interested in. Maybe they are thinking of using the old school for a community center or something like that. That would be awesome if they can pull it off, although it honestly doesn’t seem like there are enough people around here to support something like that. I sure wish them lots of luck in their venture though!

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

News - Olympic Gold

Most of you probably know by now that the U S bobsled team won the gold medal just a few days ago at the Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. If you haven’t heard this yet, you must have been hiding under a rock; it's pretty big news. I must confess that I don't typically pay a lot of attention to the olympics, I've mentioned before that football is really the only sport I care about, and this year was no different. The U S bobsled team caught my attention this year for a couple of reasons, aside from winning the gold medal, I mean.

The captain and driver of the team, Steven Holcomb, was born in Park City Utah. He began as a downhill skier, an event he competed in for eight years before switching to the bobsled. What interests me about Holcomb, is that he suffered from keratoconus, the condition that began my eye problems fifteen years ago. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll recall that keratoconus affects the cornea of the eye, making it cone shaped instead of round which seriously deteriorates vision. Holcomb’s vision was 20/500 which almost caused him to retire from the bobsled team in 2007. Instead of letting him quit, his coach found a doctor to perform a special surgery on Holcomb. The surgery had not been approved by the FDA yet and involved implanting lenses behind the iris of the eye. After the surgery, Holcomb’s vision was 20/20. The doctor who performed the surgery was also a retired bobsledder.

Also on the team is Curt Tomasevicz. Hope I spelled that right. Curt is a native of Shelby, Nebraska. He went to college at the University in Lincoln and is a former Huskers football player. I was listening to the basketball game, which they won 77 to 52, Wednsday night, Nebraska vs Kansas, and Tomasevicz was there, wearing his gold medal according to the announcer. When they announced that he was there, the large crowd gave him an enthusiastic cheer. That’s one thing I love about being a Nebraskan. There just aren’t that many celebrities out there who are native Nebraskans. When we do get one, it makes it all the more special.

The other two members of the team are Justin Olsen from San Antonio, Texas, and Steve Mesler who was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Let us not forget their contribution to the first U S bobsled team to win an Olympic gold medal since 1948. Apparently Germany has dominated the sport for several decades. It’s a proud moment in American history, and a proud day for Nebraskans as well.

2 Timothy 2:5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.

Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.