The Brotherhood

Wednesday nights

2010-10-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hey studs,

Wednesday nights 7PM - 8:30PM upstairs above the coffee shop is a video series put on by Men's Fraternity. You should come ... if you dare.

Contact Pastor Steve for more information.

Bible reading ...

2009-01-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

I got this email from Rick today and with his permission wanted to display it out here.

=======

Hi Randy,

Just a note to say what a blessing it has been for me to be reading through the Old Testament this time. You know all those sacrifices and everything that use to be so boring to read have suddenly come alive!! I am now learning about the holiness and majesty of our God. What use to be ho hum is now blossoming into something that I wish I would have experienced in my earlier experiences of the Old Testament.

I used to have such a hard time reading the bible, but I asked the Lord to help me to find the time to read His word and now I can't put it down!! Thank-you Jesus.

What was is no more and what is is something more valuable then gold...a deeper relationship with God and His word.

Yours in Christ,

Rick Davis

Men's Conference - Salem

2009-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

For more information go here --> http://tinyurl.com/82ncv4

Anyone interested in going?

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Mid Valley Men’s Conference is in its fifth year of bringing Christian men together to be challenged by God’s Word! Straight-talking, Bible-based teaching has been the hallmark of past Mid-Valley Conference speakers. Past conferences keynote speakers have been Stu Weber, Mike Silva, and Steve Farrar. In 2009, one of the conference’s all-time favorites is returning….Rev. H.B. London of Focus on the Family of Colorado Springs, CO. The February 20-21, 2009 conference promises to be unforgettable as Rev. London communicates with inspiring real life stories about God’s work. The conference aims to bring together men (ages 12 and older) to be encouraged, challenged and motivated to live as men of God in our homes, at work, in our state and nation. Please take time to register for this GREAT event! You won’t regret it

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
We will begin Friday evening and extend through noon on Saturday. Come join us for a weekend of worship, Biblical teaching and fellowship with other men as we strive to become the leaders that God calls us to be in our families, churches and communities.

CONFERENCE LOCATION
Salem Evangelical Church
455 Locust Street NE, Salem, 503-581-0102
www.salemec.com FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 7:00pm – 9:30pm (registration begins at 6:00pm) Conference sessions 1 & 2 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Full breakfast starts at 7:30am 9:00am – 12:30pm Conference sessions 3 & 4
COST (Includes special gift):
$25 for early registration (before February 9) $30 after February 9 Youth 12-16 years, $15

deep words from an athiest

2008-12-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

You need to see this ...

There is some truth here ... what are your thoughts?

"Everyone is Digory sometimes" by Dan R

2008-12-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

There’s a part in the Narnia series I think about sometimes. I always find it encouraging, but especially when things are difficult. From The Magician’s Nephew, it the part just after Aslan creates everything. Digory is a kid who’s mother back home is sick and dying. And of course, Aslan is Narnia’s representation of Christ:

But when he had said “Yes”, he thought of his Mother, and he thought of the great hopes he had had, and how they were all dying away, and a lump came in his throat and tears in his eyes, and he blurted out:

“But please, please – won’t you – can’t you give me something that will cure Mother?” Up till then he had been looking at the Lion’s great feet and the huge claws on them; now in his despair, he looked up at it’s face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lions eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.

“My son, my son,” said Aslan, “I know. Grief is great. Only you and I know that in this land yet. Let us be good to one another.”

I always love C.S. Lewis’ work. Genius. It might sound pathetic, but I honestly find it difficult not to cry whenever I read this part.

It reminds of a couple things. First, I remember that when things are difficult and even when the worst seems inevitable… I’m not alone. Not only is He is there with me; but He understand the struggle even more than I do, and feels it along with me.

The second it reminds of is that we don’t always get the answers or solutions we’re looking for. Or sometimes not right away. After this bit, Aslan encourages Digory with a Lion’s kiss, and sends him on a task that takes most of the rest of the book to complete. That whole time, Digory never got the answer he was looking for; he didn’t have an answer at all. But he did what he was asked to do. Personally, I find it difficult to do. Just blindly going forward not knowing what will happen or how to do what’s asked? But Digory… he carried on. At that point, all he had was Aslan’s encouragement. Digory just knew he had to do it. And he did.

To me, the two things go hand in hand. God is always with us and knows what we deal with better than we do. But he also wants us to trust Him. The encouragement is welcome. The trusting.. I know I don’t have it. I’m working on it. I’m trying.
----------------
Dan Rapoza, a brother in the Brotherhood

if Starbucks was like church

2008-11-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

Family man

2008-10-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

music video: how to take care of your wife

2008-10-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Gospel connections ...

2008-10-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to share the Gospel in a conversation, but it kind of came out "abrupt"? Like the Cell phone salesman who was "admiring" my phone asked if he could see and then practically hijacked it to get me to come to his kiosk for better phones ... we don't want to do the same thing. The sharing of the Gospel should be a very natural part of our life.

A pastor/blogger named Joe Thorn collaborates on a web site called "sub-text" on '8 topics that can naturally connect to the Christian faith'

Let me know your thoughts.

Man questions

2008-09-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

Men!

We should know by now how important it is to be in connection with each other. I know I have brought it up quite a few times at each one of our Man-events. And our pastor has discussed it recently in our church service (Inter-connection). So you may be ready to "engage" with other guys ... but what do you say?

I think some of the easiest ways to connect with other guys are as follows:
1) hang out with other guys doing activities like playing games, sports, hobbies, house building, etc.
2) get involved in a bible study (that actually goes through the Bible)
3) get with another guy and ask each other these questions

I will be training some of our men soon on how to lead a bible study, if you are interested in being trained or to just participate in a bible study, please let me know.

Thank you!

Randy

Spanked

2008-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hey men,

Nobody likes a spankin' particularly dads (ok, we know the kids don't like it as well). I find myself regularly reading through the Bible and being severely spanked/confronted by what God has to say about me and my life.

Recently I was reading through the Gospels - look on the side of the page for a link for a year long plan. Perfect for guys in my opinion as they are very short passages that can be looked at and thought upon.

As I was saying, I was reading through the Gospels and came across a passage that made me stop reading, and think about how I was really acting in my own life.

The passage was in Luke chapter 14 and the verses were specifically 13 and 14. "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." It was in the context of Jesus talking about giving banquets and not just inviting your friends and family because they would just pay you back. This was talking about doing things for those that can not pay you back.

Why is that so important? Because God does it with us!

There is no way in heaven, earth or hell that we could possibly pay back even a percentage of what God has paid for us to have that relationship with him. That is GRACE!

So how was I confronted? By the people I choose to hang out with and minister to. I have to evaluate why I spend my time with certain people and not with other "certain" people. Do I go out of my way to only spend time with those I enjoy spending time with? Do I give so that I can get? Do I avoid people because they only take? Is there a balancing act to be played out?

I am still stinging a little from this spankin' but as it comes more in to focus, I will be able to understand better what God has in store for me to learn.

Fight club ...

2008-08-21T22:02:00.001-07:00

Hey men!

I know that our fight club is over, but I ran across this article and TOTALLY liked the idea of what was going on.

Read it and let me know your thoughts.

Randy

Gospel impact

2008-08-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Watch these videos to see the impact of the Gospel!

Overcoming A Friend's Barriers To Belief

2008-07-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

(emailed from Bill Perkins)

Here's the situation: You want to talk to a friend, but you're not sure how you should approach him. For years I pretty much shared the message with friends in the same way--of course, I adapted the illustrations to fit their background. I felt that was the most effective thing I could do. And then I discovered three fundamental barriers men have to spiritual truth. Understanding which barrier a man has enabled me to adapt what I say to what a man most needs. I fear that without an understanding of these barriers, you or I could share the message and actually push a friend away from God.

With that possibility in mind--here are the three barriers and how you can overcome them:

Barrier One: The emotional barrier. This barrier is erected by a man who has been wounded by a Christian or another religious person in the past. Someone with this barrier tends to be argumentative. They are more interested in proving you wrong than learning truth. How do you identify this barrier? If you're talking to a friend and he's exceptionally argumentative and defensive about spiritual truth, he may have been wounded in the past. If I sense the barrier may be emotional I'll say, "You seem to have strong feelings about this. What's your spiritual background? Have you had a bad experience with a Christian in the past?" If I'm right, and they have an emotional barrier, he'll describe something that happened which deeply hurt him.

Barrier Two: Intellectual. This man is a serious seeker and wants more information so he can make an intelligent decision about Jesus Christ. While he may ask tough questions, he's non-defensive and sincere in his approach.

Barrier Three: Lifestyle. This is a man who is living in a way that he knows would have to change for him to get serious about God--or at least he feels that way.

Okay, so those are the barriers. Here's how to you deal with them. Men with an emotional barrier must be loved into the kingdom of God. If you dump information on them, it will reinforce their negative feelings. Demonstrate a genuine concern for them and when the time is right, share with them the hope you have in Christ. But remember--it may take years of love before they're ready to trust a Christian. If a man has an intellectual barrier, answer his questions as well as you can. Suggest he read a good book like Lee Strobel's book, The Case for Christ, C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity, or Francis Schaffer's book, The God Who is There. Read the book yourself and then discuss it with him. Don't feel like you have to know all of his answers. They're there and you may both learn if you search for them together. The man with a lifestyle barrier isn't ready for truth. But--share it with him anyway and then pray for him. He probably won't show much interest until he reaches a point of despair. But if you're there as a friend, when his need is great enough, you may have the privilege of leading him to Christ.

Remember, men don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

MAN CAMP '08 - we fight, we serve

2008-07-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

What Every American Should Know About the Middle East

2008-07-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

What Every American Should Know About the Middle East

By Daniel Miessler on March 30th, 2008: Tagged as America | Civilization | Education | Politics

Most in the United States don’t know much about the Middle East or the people that live there. This lack of knowledge hurts our ability to understand world events and, consequently, our ability to hold intelligent opinions about those events.

For example, frighteningly few know the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and most think the words “Arab” and “Muslim” are pretty much interchangeable. They aren’t. So here’s a very brief primer aimed at raising the level of knowledge about the region to an absolute minimum.

Basics

Arabs are part of an ethnic group, not a religion. Arabs were around long before Islam, and there have been (and still are) Arab Christians and Arab Jews. In general, you’re an Arab if you 1) are of Arab descent (blood), or 2) speak the main Arab language (Arabic).
Not all Arabs are Muslim. There are significant populations of Arab Christians throughout the world, including in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Northern Africa and Palestine/Israel.
Islam is a religion. A Muslim (roughly pronounced MOOSE-lihm) is someone who follows the religion. So you wouldn’t say someone follows Muslim or is an Islam, just as you wouldn’t say someone follows Christian or is a Christianity.
Shia Muslims are similar to Roman Catholics in Christianity. They have a strong clerical presence via Imams and promote the idea of going through them to practice the religion correctly. Sunni Muslims are more like Protestant Christians. They don’t really focus on Imams and believe in maintaining a more direct line to God than the Shia.
People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.
Arabs are Semites. We’ve all heard the term anti-Semitism being used — often to describe Arabs. While antisemitism does specifically indicate hatred for Jews, the word “Semite” comes from the Bible and referred originally to anyone who spoke one of the Semitic Languages.
According to the Bible, Jews and Arabs are related [Genesis 25]. Jews descended from Abraham’s son Isaac, and Arabs descended from Abraham’s son Ishmael. So not only are both groups Semitic, but they’re also family.
Sunni Muslims make up most of the Muslim world (roughly 90%). ¹
The country with the world’s largest Muslim population is Indonesia. ²
The rift between the Shia and Sunni started right after Muhammad’s death and originally reduced to a power struggle regarding who was going to become the authoritative group for continuing the faith.

The Shia believed Muhammad’s second cousin Ali should have taken over (the family/cleric model). The Sunni believed that the best person for the job should be chosen by the followers (the merit model) and that’s how the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, was appointed.

Although the conflict began as a political struggle it now mostly considered a religious and class conflict, with political conflict emanating from those rifts.

Sunni vs. Shia | Arab vs. Non-Arab

Here’s how the various Middle Eastern countries break down in terms of Sunni vs. Shia and whether or not they are predominantly Arab. Keep in mind that these are generalizations; significant diversity exists in many of the countries listed.

Iraq Mostly Shia (roughly 60%), but under Saddam the Shia were oppressed and the Sunni were in power despite being only 20% of the population. Arab.
Iran Shia. NOT Arab.
Palestine Sunni. Arab.
Egypt Sunni. Arab.
Saudi Arabia Sunni. Arab.
Syria Sunni. Arab.
Jordan Sunni. Arab.
Gulf States Sunni. Arab.

Conclusion

What’s depressing is the fact that this only took me 30 minutes to write, and you 2 minutes to read. Yet most people in the United States, including those in the media, the house of representatives, and probably even the Pentagon, lack even this cursory level of knowledge about the region.:

References

¹The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing - Religions

²The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing - Indonesia

Wikipedia | Sunni Muslims

Wikipedia | Shia Muslims

Wikipedia | Arabs

2008-06-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Picked from a web site of Relevant Magazine.

Christian Ministry and Testosterone

By Scott Bessenecker

I got my hair cut recently. It was an experience in masculinity.

First off, there were two chairs both tended by male barbers. As I entered, a man was leaving. "Hopefully I'll see ya when turkey season comes 'round," he called out to one barber. "You betcha," came the reply. The feng shui of the interior was heavily influenced by the '70s-style paneling that lined the walls, and while there were no mounted deer heads, there were several posters of Wisconsin sports teams, and one poster of about 20 "modern haircuts." All of the pictures were headshots of men, and nearly all sported very short haircuts (with several variations on the "flat top"). There was, however, one long-haired "radical" cut. It was a '80s-style, super-spiked mohawk.

ESPN blared from the TV. A newsman pontificated over Brett Favre's retirement as I settled into the chair (part of the cost of living in Wisconsin). Tucked into a corner of the mirror was a photo of my barber holding up a large fish.

We chatted a bit. Small talk, mostly, but it felt like gruff, manly small talk. Cars and sports and the like.

"You just gettin' off work?" He asked. I told him I was, and then he asked where I worked. That was when the whole tenor of our manly conversation changed. When I told him I worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and explained what I did, his demeanor seemed to soften. He became a kinder, gentler barber. Instead of talking loudly about fishing with buddies or his son's car, my barber spoke quietly about the hospital-visitation program of one client's church, and how nice it was that those church people did that for the poor, sick patients.

Why is it that Christian ministry seems so unmasculine? Is it the strong nurture orientation of the Church? Is caring for widows and orphans unmanly? Does church work so lack action, adventure and life-threatening risk that ministry has become an operation for pansies? Jesus was anything but a pansy, and following Him was indeed life-threatening for the original followers. It is today, too, for converts in some countries.

Christianity Today published an article in April by Brandon O'Brian titled, "A Jesus for Real Men." He celebrates the corrective which the masculinity movement has brought to the Church, but O'Brian rightly criticizes the movement for having exalted the masculine sins and excesses in their response to the feminization of Christ and the Church. He points out that the fruits of the Spirit (fruits which are to be borne by men and women alike) include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What's more, he chides the men's movement for selectively holding up Jesus' anger-laced flipping of the money-changers' tables, while conveniently leaving out Jesus weeping for Jerusalem and longing to gather the people as a mother hen gathers her chicks.

Still, there is something to the wide perception of unmanliness in ministry. My job at InterVarsity is to help university students explore the possibility of long-term service overseas to the poor, the lost and the broken. Probably two-thirds of those who sign up for our short-term projects are women. There is a resulting dangerous imbalance of women working long term among the poorest of the poor. Many of them live with the unsettling question of whether any guy will ever follow them into ministry and live with them among the poor.

There are probably numerous and diverse reasons that I do not see men enter into missionary service among the poor at the same rate as women. Men in ministries of compassion or in church service more generally are often viewed as either cowering wimps like Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice, or nasally voiced weaklings like Ned Flanders in The Simpsons. Media profiles of men in ministry are anything but manly.

There must be something beyond describing Christian mission in hairy-chested terms that will attract more men into ministry. And I know it is possible for men in Christian service to live out a form of masculinity without patriarchal dominance. We can seek Kingdom advance without becoming triumphalistic. And we ought to be able to express leadership strength without becoming dictators.

I believe that testosterone has its place in ministry. We need to celebrate and embrace the things about Jesus and His coming Kingdom that appeal to the masculine psyche, but without defining Christian character solely in masculine terms.

When my barber finished cutting my hair he unfolded a single-edged razor, lathered my neck with a brush and scraped that threatening blade across my vulnerable neck. I have to admit, it was more thrilling than the fine-hair electric trimmer I was used to.

I thanked my barber like a gentleman when I left, then squeezed his hand tight in a manly handshake.

Scott Bessenecker is an author and the Director of Global Projects for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Vacation!!

2008-06-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hey men!

I found this great post while surfing!

Click here--> Family Vacations

A well written reminder of that while even on vacation, we can't take a vacation from God and our responsibilities.

Enjoy the summer!

Man-BQ

2008-05-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

June 21st ... noon to two
1512 Raphael Ct N (directions below)

Men will gather and eat.
We will be welcoming our North Salem Brothers!!
Larry P will be sharing about the WORD!
Opportunities for sharing in ministry
We will NOT be sewing dresses, putting scrapbooks together or sharing our feelings.

Have you got the guts to enter our food contests?
Bring your pre-cooked home-made chili and see how it rates against others.
Not into chili, but have a good home-made BBQ sauce? Bring that as well!!

BRING: your own meat to cook on the grill and a chair
We will provide drinks, buns, condiments, and stuff to eat with and on.

NEEDED: We need a couple of guys to bring a BBQ grill

There will be a sign up sheet at the front desk. (or respond back to Randy either by phone 503-851-2766 or by email randy.mooney@gmail.com).

View Larger Map

Are you MAN enough?

30 days with Jesus

2008-04-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Looking for a 30 day challenge?

30 Days with Jesus

Day Theme (Chapter and verse)
1 Jesus Foretold (Isaiah 53)
2 The Birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18–25)
3 John the Baptist Prepares the Way and Baptizes Jesus (Matthew 3:1—4:11)
4 Water to Wine and the Samaritan Woman (John 2:1–11; John 4:1–26)
5 Jesus Rejected in his Hometown (Luke 4:14–30)
6 Jesus Calls his Disciples (Luke 5:1–11; Matthew 9:9–13)
7 Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:17–46)
8 A Centurion, a Widow’s Son and a Sinful Woman (Matthew 8:1–13;Luke 7:11–17; 7:36–50)
9 Encounters With the Pharisees (Matthew 12:1–13; 22–45)
10 Parable of the Sower, Weeds and Seeds (Matthew 13:1–43)
11 Jesus Calms the Storm and Later Walks on Water (Luke 8:22–25; Mark 6:45–56)
12 Jesus Heals a Man, Woman and Girl (Mark 5:1–43)
13 Feeding of the 5000 (John 6:1–14)
14 Peter Identifies the Christ and the Transfiguration (Luke 9:18–27; Luke 17:1–8)
15 Healing by Faith (Mark 9: 14–32)
16 Teachings and Parables (Matthew 17:24—18:20)
17 Teachings and Parables (Matthew 18:21—19:15)
18 The Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17–31)
19 Disciples Sent Out (Luke 10:1–24)
20 The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)
21 Jesus Teaches how to Pray (Luke 11:1–13)
22 Jesus Revives Lazarus (John 11:1–44)
23 Jesus Comes to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–27)
24 The Last Supper (John 13:1–17; Matthew 26:17–35)
25 Comfort for the Disciples (John 14–15)
26 Jesus Arrested and Disowned (Matthew 26:36–75)
27 Jesus’ Trial (John 18:19—19:16)
28 Jesus Crucifixion and Death (John 19:17–42)
29 Jesus’ Resurrection and Appearances (John 20–21)
30 The Great Commission and the Ascension of Jesus (Matthew 28:16–20; Luke 24:50–53)

Expelled

2008-04-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if you guys have heard about the movie "expelled" by Ben Stein. It comes out in theaters here tomorrow. Creation vs. Science stuff.

Here is a trailer in connection with it ... hillarious. If you have followed the (not quite so age old) debate, you will like this.

Thoughts and Ponders

2008-03-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

Now that Easter’s over, it’s time to breathe a long sigh of relief and get back to normal.

Or is it? Does Easter roll off our back so easily? Is there any sort of stirring still rumbling in our soul? Did the sacrifice of Jesus become any more real to us this year? Did the truth of the resurrection deepen in our souls just that much more?

I realize I’m asking a lot of questions; I call it cogno-exercise! In fact, I probably ask hundreds of questions – sometimes in prayer, sometimes in my journal, sometimes in my growth group and there are a lot of questions in my current book manuscript. But sometimes asking ourselves such tough questions motivates us to truly explore what’s really going on in the depths our hearts and minds. Sometimes it’s easy to just drift along in the swift currents of our busyness with little to no thought for the deeper realities of life; realities such as Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But asking ourselves questions, especially tough ones, disrupts these currents, allowing us to steer our own thinking rather than just letting it drift with no direction and no rudder.

Other questions to ponder occur to me during our worship services. When I sing the phrase “wholly surrendered” to the Lord, do I mean it? Do you mean it? Do we even know what it means? What does being wholly surrendered look like? What does it feel like? Do you know anyone who is wholly surrendered? Sometimes I think I get it and other times it totally eludes my comprehension. Does that mean I’m only partially surrendered?

What about a phrase like “I will give my all to Him”? Just because I sing it does that mean it’s true? Do I really give my all? Do you? What about in our finances? What anxieties do we continually cling to? In what areas of life do we insist on doing it our way rather than His way? Do we guard our minds from alluring distractions to stay focused on Jesus? Do we always exhibit Jesus, even in rush hour traffic? Do our children really know Jesus? Do we treat our wives and families as Jesus would?

Before reading too much into this, please don’t misunderstand me, I am NOT saying we shouldn’t sing these songs; in fact, these songs are beautiful and inspiring, being performed with heart and talent. But what goes on in our thinking as we sing them? Maybe it’s okay we can’t guarantee 100% that we live these songs, but maybe that’s part of the point, maybe the songs themselves are encouraging us to ask these tough questions, to hear and accept the challenge they pose of growing deeper in Christ. Then maybe asking ourselves questions isn’t such a bad thing after all! And even if we have to honestly say ‘no’ now and then to our own questions, don’t get discouraged, all that means is we’re still a work in progress that God’s not giving up on, so we shouldn’t give up either!

Well, back to Easter. Now that it’s over, maybe it’s not time to get back to normal, but to begin a new normal, a normal that has Jesus even more at the center of our lives. And maybe asking questions will help us get there. But don’t be surprised if many questions remain unanswered or if answers do come, they just generate more questions. Maybe, just maybe, our growing and maturing in Christ lies more in our questions, that is, in our quest, rather than our arrival.

So my brothers, ask on!

Craig Kuhn, fellow sojourner.
craig@newharvestch.org

Question to ponder

2008-03-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

I ran across a question recently while reading a book. It has kept with me quite a bit and forced me to think through a few things.

"Would you enjoy heaven if Jesus were not there?"

I will let this question sink for a while and post some thoughts later. I would be curious to hear from you your thoughts on this question.

Hey Martha

2008-02-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

I know this isn't a "guy" kind of thing to talk about women ....

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Some would look at the first half of this story and say "Go Martha! Rip into Mary!" as we identify with all the hard work that had been done. The word used for what Martha does in the original language sounds like the word 'deacon' (and in fact it is the word we get the English word from) - ultimately it means to serve or to work. I have gotten bothered by others who "aren't pulling their weight like >>I<< am!". And because of my workaholic tendencies I begin to put more value on my work and serving than there should be.

Based on this story what alternative would there be?

The alternative is with Mary. Mary spent time doing what is "better".

At the end of the day, week, month, quarter or year ... what have you done that will be "better"?

Do you spend lots of time fretting over what needs to be done and the time lines that accompany them?

Does the serving/working that you do consume so much of your time, that you do not do the better thing of sitting at the feet of Jesus, "listening to what he said"?

Martha got upset because in many ways she thought the "better" thing to do was to serve. She got upset because no one else was as committed to serving like she was. No one else picked up after the mess others left! No one else had to study so long! No one else was concerned over others! It is an easy mentality to get into. What happened though? She crossed over that fuzzy little line that I have been guilty of often ... the line between honoring/loving/adoring Jesus with the outpouring of service from it and serving with the hope to gain recognition as to being in the right.

But Mary spent time doing the "better". She spent time with Jesus.

I know too many people (particularly men) who spend an extraordinary amount of time on their jobs, or even serving in the church more than would be necessary. They do so for a lot of "good" reasons. For the job it usually is to take care of the family financially, for service in the church it is (like Martha) because we need to serve people or even God. But what good is all of that if you fail to spend any time with God? I am still guilty of being over-busy to the point of not spending time growing in my relationship with Jesus.

Where are you at?

Are you more like Martha or Mary?

What will you do about it?

30 day sex challenge

2008-02-20T21:54:00.001-08:00

Here's an interesting tidbit about a church campaign to promote, well, sexuality and um, effective sexual habits. (And their current series, of course.) Here's the skinny:

Married couples: Have sex daily for 30 days.
Singles: No sex for you. Not even in a committed relationship. At least for 30 days.
Everyone: Follow with Relevant Church in their series and study guide for a month.

Obviously, this is generating attention like crazy. At times the campaign has flopped, like when they proposed a billboard with the challenge web site and the phrase, "Are you up for it?" and the billboard censors said no (they revised the slogan and it got the OK). Or the fact that the web site is currently showing a bandwidth limit exceeded error (that's both good news and bad news).

Some couples are extremely excited about the campaign. The St. Petersburg Times covered the campaign and spoke with Doug and Lorena Webber about the challenge.

"At first I was like, 'Oh - okay,' " said Lorena, 28. "But I think it's going to be really good. You get so busy with life. Life gets in the way."
Doug, 38, didn't hesitate. What guy would, he asked?

Dig further and he explains that, sex aside, it's an opportunity for them to reconnect as a couple emotionally and spiritually.

It's certainly an interesting marketing strategy, but some will certainly argue for a separation of church and bedroom. For naysayers to consider, however, is the campaign's strong focus on sexual needs beyond merely the physical. Understanding your partner's needs, effective communication and selflessness are key points of the campaign, focusing on intimacy in all aspects.

Even if it does push the envelope, I think people want to feel that churches care about them, and if a church can help their intimacy, then go for it! It's never a bad marketing strategy to let folks know you can improve the quality of their life.

The best news of all? If you're interested, you can download the guide (PDF), follow the blog and join the challenge!

(and all the married men said AMEN!)

"Don't exasperate your children"

2008-02-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

So, how are you at demanding respect?

2008-02-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

The following post is from Dan Rapoza, one of the Brotherhood!

I’m still learning about Grace. From something in Pastor Steve’s message yesterday, a thought occured to me: with all the things that my kids’ mom and her family has done and continues to do to me and the kids… I wonder if God is allowing it all in order to help me learn grace? I mean, I think I’ve had a good head knowledge of grace for some time, but I haven’t had (and still don’t have) that working, personal understanding of what it is that only comes from having practiced it or giving it to others.
I’ll admit I’m not ready. In my logical style of thinking, I can’t grasp why they continue to do what they do. Sometimes, I’m tempted to call over thre and say something, “Why are you all doing this? You know it hurts me. And if you don’t care about that, you KNOW it hurts the kids and doesn’t do right by them.” But I know it’d be a waste of time. That’s been the case every time I’ve tried. As a result, I’m still struggling with the anger and bitterness and all that. But it was encouraging to me when Steve said at the end that when we learn and grow in things, it doesn’t necessarily happen overnight. He was talking about boldness, but I think it applies to anything. You don’t just arrive, or “level up” when it comes to your walk. Some things come slowly - or painfully even - but there can still be growth. Randy said something like that the other day too. And I think it’s consistent with the way God works in general. I think of it in the same vein as Romans 5:8 where it says Christ died for us while we were still in our sins. He meets us where we’re at, and brings us along from there.
I look forward to when I’m able to forgive easier. I look forward to when I have a greater understanding for God’s grace to us. To me.
Somewhat unrelated: another thing I thought after church was that I want to write a song. Too bad I’m not very good at it! But there’s the part in the Narnia series, in The Magician’s Nephew when Digory is upset and crying because he’s worried about his mom back home who was sick and dying. Lewis writes,

“Up till then he had been looking at the Lion’s great front feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion’s eyes. They were such big, bright tears compaed with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.
“My son, my son,” said Alan. “I know…”

When I read that recently, and every time I’ve thought of it since, I’ve felt like Digory. Scrawnly little kid Digory who had still so much to learn. Anyway, I wish there was a song that goes through that. Maybe I can write it. Maybe I’ll even be able to play it.

What makes a man?

2008-02-10T02:08:00.000-08:00

Is this what really makes a man?

This is also a good reminder to really look into scripture to make sure we are seeing what is intended to be there, and not making something bigger than it should be.

Any thoughts?

Workshop 012608 Afterthoughts

2008-01-28T23:02:00.000-08:00

Hey men!

What a great time to have almost 25 of us come together to eat, compete, listen, interact and pray!

Eat: Bob W, cooked up some Eggs Benedict IN the hallway!

Competition: You bet ... we discovered that Les had the worst car and Dave had the best car! (ask them to find out what that means!)

Listen: Clark W shared about what God has been showing him in regards to being a husband and father, giving us a "top 10" list of various tools to go home with.

Interact: We were able to at our tables share a little bit of our life with each other and interact with the topic.

Pray: We talked to God on behalf of the men at our table.

Thanks men for participating! Within the next week, some of our new groups will meet with the purpose of interacting with the topic for the next 6 weeks. I look forward to hearing about how God uses these.

Pray for each other as we as the Brotherhood of New Harvest, will connect with God and each other! Will you think about reaching out to another brother?

Workshop

2008-01-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hey men,

The next workshop is coming up on Saturday the 26th.

If you haven't responded to me by email, please either call or respond to me here.

Our topic is : "How to be a good husband and dad" and we will be focusing on the interaction afterwards. You will be challenged to get into a group of 2-3 men who will go over some topics ahead of time.

Are you man enough?!

Randy

So far ...

2008-01-04T22:02:00.000-08:00

Hey men!

How did your first week of reading go?

Some of you have done well and are not only reading, but interacting with the Scriptures.

Some of you are hit and miss.

Some of you had other things get in the way.

Where do you WANT to be?

Hey ... don't forget, Pastor Barry has a reading plan as well ... here is the link http://www.newharvestch.org/2008-bible-reading-schedule/
Also HERE

Keep at it ... get in the word!!!

I know for me, I have enjoyed going through the life of Jesus. To me it is amazing that God knew we needed someone to identify with us, and having sent Jesus down to earth to not only communicate to use, but also live with us is incredible. I was also impressed where in Luke 1:1-5 we see that Luke is going through the thing he knows about Jesus and writing them down. I started writing my thoughts and interactions with the scripture in a journal (again). As I was doing so, I thought about how I was interacting in a similar way with Luke.

As men we have a challenge before us to make sure that we live out the faith-life with our wives and children. We do this by reading His Word and living it out.

As you read the scriptures, as these simple questions (to name a few).
1) What is this demonstrating about Who God is or What he has done?
2) Who am I really because of what God has done?

Then teach it simply to your children or share it with your wife, they need you.

Press on - Dare to be different!

Q&A for Jesus Reading

2007-12-31T14:58:00.000-08:00

Weekly, I will be willing to attempt to answer any of your questions for the week. If you would like to pose a question, send it to me via email at randy.mooneygmail.com (you will have to update the address to show correctly, I did it differently to prevent spammers from grabbing my real email) OR you can post a comment.

I will try to answer any questions by the following Sunday PM (it gives me time to find any answers). I also will try to post some questions to help you reflect back on the reading you did.

Please, seriously, let me know if you are doing this reading.

12-31-07 update

2007-12-31T14:53:00.000-08:00

Hey men,

I wanted to challenge you for this new year. DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!

Different = changed, not normal, unique ...

Statistically men stink at reading the Bible. Below is a reading plan I think any guy can do.

==========
Life of Jesus
==========
I have put together a reading plan that is VERY attainable. Going through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in one year. The study will have you go through the life of Jesus in a chronological order. If you don't already have a reading plan, I would dare you to take the journey with me. Go to our website at New Harvest and scroll down to the bottom and select our men's ministry page ... or go directly here Brotherhood blog (if you are reading this ... just look over to the right) or Randy's web page or Brotherhood reading calendar.

I can also even provide every month an older style of technology called 'paper', just let me know in advance and I can see if I can find one of those things. :) Just remember to bookmark the page in your web browser (let me know if you don't know how), this will help you go regularly.

... and men, this is something you can EASILY read to your children at night. You could even read through with your spouse or buddies.

============
Men's workshop
============
January 26th - Saturday
Clark Williams will be sharing his story with us of what he has learned to be a good husband and dad.

Bob Wild will be hosting our breakfast and I am working at bringing in a new MANly competition between us.

With all of our workshops, we want to provide you with a tool that will help you be different. The tools we will be focusing on being a good husband and dad, and to do so will provide opportunities for 2-3 men to gather weekly to sharpen one new "tool" each week. For those of you not in a group already, please join one of these groups.

We will also share some of the other ideas that we have coming up.

====
Misc.
====

Do you know anyone who is not receiving these emails either because they do not have a computer access or they may simply be left off the list, could you let me know. I want to make sure I get as many of our men being contacted as we can ... unsure of who is on the list, ask your buddies if they are or not.

Looking forward to this new year, for new changes.

In His grip,

Randy Mooney

Jesus

2007-12-26T03:13:00.000-08:00

Hey men!

I am thinking about having a year long calendar to walk through the gospels in chronological order. I am specifically targeting men, but really ... who couldn't benefit from this?

If you are interested, please contact me ... I am also attempting to make it easy for you to see the schedule online. (like a calendar set up that will have the passage of the day).

I also don't want to just read it, I want to get involved in it. If I had either some kind of forum, or even here on this site, set up to interact with each other, would you participate?

The best way to keep everyone informed is via either email or this page. Stay tuned regularly.

What our men do for Christmas ...

2007-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

See the comments below for what our men are doing/do for Christmas

What is a blog?

2007-12-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a fairly short video explaining what a blog is.

If you are interested in getting a blog for yourself, there are two places that GIVE them away.

Currently, this blog you are reading is being ran through http://www.blogspot.com/. My own personal blog is run through http://www.wordpress.com/. Both sites are decent, the wordpress one has a lot more versatility in it whereas blogspot is pretty cut and dried.

THE HUNT

2007-12-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

This December 16th SUNDAY - Right after first service until 4:30

We will be traveling North to what is known as a "mall" (the one off of I-205) and hunt down gifts for our families. We will eat lunch when we arrive, scatter for hunting the best and most elusive of gifts, gather to share our stories of the hunt and travel home.

Cost: a couple of dollars for gas and whatever you yourself want to spend on food and the hunt.

Purpose: to let your women know that you did better at finding a gift than some lame last minute gift at Circle K. AND to hang out with the brothers.

If you are planning on going ... you must contact Randy (randy.mooney@gmail.com or 503-851-2766), there is only so much room on this expedition.

Let the hunt begin

Pray day!

2007-11-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

Hi Men!

Thank you all for signing up for the email list. We have almost doubled in size (for those that do thing electronically)!!!

Can I share a little about myself for a minute? I will just share a brief statement that I wrote in my journal (most call it a blog, and I have no idea why it is called a blog, but it is online and there is a link on our own website if you care to see it). My own quote was this "There are simply times in my life where I know that I need God. But there are times when I neither want nor pursue Him. I hate that."

Without polling anyone else, I know that many of us have been there. Have you?

This coming Saturday from 9AM-11AM, I have reserved one of our prayer rooms for just the men. Please pray about it this week and if you have the time, please join me during this time. I will guide us in moving our thoughts to God during this time.

We will have two sessions ... 9AM and 10AM, each one may be slightly different. So if you desire, please come to both.

Also, I want to thank some of our mighty men out there who have stepped up to the plate this last week. We have some who volunteered to help a single mom with children out by deconstructing part of her home that was in bad need. We have a couple guys wiling to pick up another guy for the second service. There was another willing to help out a single lady with yard work to help sell her home. Men stepping up! I love it! Please don't forget our orphans and widows!

Upcoming opportunities:
**Prayer. Since we will be praying this Saturday, it will be a good time to bring to God some of our own needs. If you would like some of your brothers to help lift your needs up to the Builder, please respond back to me with your requests and I will pass these along to our men for Saturday.

**Families of prisoners. We will have an oppotunity as a church soon to spend some time with some families of prisoners during the holiday season by hosting a part either at our church or elsewhere.

**Prisoners. There is also an opportunity to be penpals with some male prisoners. Think about that opportunity! These guys are in desperate need of a Jesus-follower (even if they don't know it). some of you may have the ability to write (shocking for men I know, as I tend to like pictures over words) and would be willing to do this kind of long term ministry. Pray about this.

That's it for now.

Be strong, but not in your best strength, but His.

Brother Randy

Seeking out muscle UPDATES

2007-11-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

EVEN MORE UPDATES
See all updates in red below from previous

=========
Prayer day
=========
Our prayer day is now being moved to coincide with the same time as our church's prayer time. Stay tuned for exact details. November 17th two hours are set aside just for our men ... 9AM and 10AM ... come to either one, I will be at both and will help guide us through some prayer time together.

=========
Name
=========
We are still looking for a name for our men to call ourselves ... something, quite frankly, we can be proud of, but ... we need your help to decide.

Please respond back to your best choice from below:
1) Peaceful Warriors <<<<---- tying for first
2) The Tribe
3) The Brotherhood <<<<---- tying for first
4) The Brothers
5) Band of Brothers

=========
Muscles?
=========
We have the opportunity to help some people out.

1) Destructioning (probably not a word) a home - we have a single mom in our church who needs some help to destroy part of her home and rebuild it. I will be contacting Chuck soon to find out what is going on and will post things here. This coming Saturday Nov 11th ... we have three guys who are willing to De-construct. PRAISE GOD!

2) Single lady needs yardwork done <<<<--- This should be taking care of! PRAISE GOD!
3) Single man needs picked up and dropped for 2nd services. He lives on Fisher behind Walmart on Lancaster. Randy B is helping now, but we need to share the load. Is anyone willing to help a new guy? <<<<----- this also seems to have been taken care of! PRAISE GOD!

You MEN are awesome!!! Thanks guys!!!

=============
Men's Workshop
=============
Stay tuned: our next Men's Workshop is in January and we have some cool things lined up for that

PK:ADVENTURE

2007-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hey men,

Check this out!

This fall Promise Keepers moves its outreach to men from arenas into your local movie theater with a new production and community service outreach called PKAdventure.

Set for 8:00am local time, Saturday morning, November 10, 2007 at movie theaters nationwide (our nearest area is in Portland), the day will begin with a 90-minute production featuring an up close and personal interview with world champion pro football coach Tony Dungy. The production also includes highlights from past conferences including emcee Reggie Dabbs, music from PK7 and “mockumentary” of a men’s small group from LA-based drama troupe Awaken.

After the digital video runs, teams of men will disperse to community service projects for a few hours.

I am looking into seeing if this is something we might be able to do in Salem (as far as the community outreach aspect - after the "show") I will update you as I get more information.

I like this concept, and if we decide as a group not to go, maybe we could do something similar in town and maybe connect with some brothers in different churches?

Let me know your thoughts.

-Randy

Pray day

2007-10-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hey men ... I am looking towards having a gathering this next month on a Saturday away from the church to just pray and read scripture.

I know that some of you will totally dig this, and others will be tuned out ... but before you make up your mind, let me share with you what it may look like.

We would gather at the church on a saturday morning, then caravan over to YWAM and their special prayer room that they have available. We would circle-up and go through some basic preperations and house keeping items. For the next two hours or so, you would be guided through various scriptures and gathering in various groups to pray, specific and short prayers. There may be times of silence to think (meditate) on what God may be saying, or listening to our heart about our lives and sin that may not even have been taken care of in your life. Depending on the weather, we may do a silent walk through part of their campus.

We will then gather at the end and share some fo what God had taught us that day.

As men, we will raise our voice to the Lord.

We then will go home, love our wives and children and pray for them and tell them the same thing.

As stated at our last workshop, we will try to stick to "manly" prayers, which means short and to the point.

I will post something soon on a date when I can confirm with YWAM.

It's not a witch hunt ...

2007-10-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

... but is a place to make sure that you know who to look for in your neighborhood.

The vision 20/20 <-click here

The Porn Talk

2007-10-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

Now that you saw the title, I bet I got your attention!

It's hard enough to talk to your kids about sex, let alone porn. The Porn Talk is a site that guides parents to talk to their kids about porn. This site is very helpful to parents who feel unprepared, inadequate, even awkward to talk to their children about such a subject. I strongly believe that every Children/Youth Leader or Minister should encourage and help the parents by having good resources available. Encouraging parents to deal with spiritual issues that can greatly effect our children should be of utmost importance. The Porn Talk is one of those sites. They offer a newsletter, video (no porn of course), podcast, a porn in the pocket series (address cell phones & porn) and more.I strongly recommend that you look it over and consider passing it on to parents.

For the Kingdom

2007-10-01T23:25:00.000-07:00

Men!

Have you ever thought about how we are to be connected with our kids spiritually? I know for me, often I regret the actions I have done as a father to my children. My only save is that I am still learning and I am still being saved.

How do you go about connecting with your kids, engaging them in conversation that is meaningful (and even sometimes goofy)?

Here are some questions that you may want to tweek - try out a few on your kids, or some on your wife (that is a whole new topic which I royally screw up on).

What is God teaching you?
How are your devotions or time with God?
In your own words, what is the gospel?
Is there a specific sin you’re aware of that you need my help defeating?
Do you hear me encourage or discourage you more?
What’s daddy most passionate about?
Do I act the same at church as I do when I’m at home?
Do you know how much I love you?
Is there any way I’ve sinned against you that I’ve not repented of?
Do you have any observations for me?
How am I doing as a dad?
How do Sunday sermons impact you?
Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?

Please, if you do ask your kids/spouse any of these questions, let me know how it went.

What's in a name?

2007-09-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

Men ...

We need a name to give us a better distinctness (and to just be plain cooler!)

Here are some of the suggestions that have come in so far ...

Peaceful Warriors
The Tribe
The Brotherhood
The Brothers
Band of Brothers

Take your pick ... email, tell me, phone me, mail me ... you get the picture.

Plus, our pastor has challenged us to memorize a verse ...

Acts: 2:42-47 - Any takers?

Shalom!

Public Prayer

2007-09-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Men!
You may not agree with it all, but chew on this -- an oldie, but a goodie.

by John Newton (yeah, the guy that wrote that little song Amazing Grace)

It is much to be desired, that our hearts might be so affected with a sense of divine things and so closely engaged when we are worshipping God, that it might not be in the power of little circumstances to interrupt and perplex us, and to make us think the service wearisome and the time which we employ in it tedious. But as our infirmities are many and great, and the enemy of our souls is watchful to discompose us, if care is not taken by those who lead in social prayer, the exercise which is approved by the judgment may become a burden and an occasion of sin . . .

Length of Prayers
The chief fault of some good prayers is, that they are too long; not that I think we should pray by the clock, and limit ourselves precisely to a certain number of minutes; but it is better of the two, that the hearers should wish the prayer had been longer, than spend half the time in wishing it was over. This is frequently owing to an unnecessary enlargement upon every circumstance that offers, as well as to the repetition of the same things. If we have been copious in pleading for spiritual blessings, it may be best to be brief and summary in the article of intercession for others, or if the frame of our spirits, or the circumstances of affairs, lead us to be more large and particular in laying the cases of others before the Lord respect should be had to this intention in the former part of the prayer.

There are, doubtless, seasons when the Lord is pleased to favour those who pray with a peculiar liberty: they speak because they feel; they have a wrestling spirit and hardly know how to leave off. When this is the case, those who join with them are seldom wearied, though the prayer should be protracted something beyond the usual limits. But I believe it sometimes happens, both in praying and in preaching, that we are apt to spin out our time to the greatest length, when we have in reality the least to say. Long prayers should in general be avoided, especially where several persons are to pray successively; or else even spiritual hearers will be unable to keep up their attention. And here I would just notice an impropriety we sometimes meet with, that when a person gives expectation that he is just going to conclude his prayer, something not thought of in its proper place occurring that instant to his mind, leads him as it were to begin again. But unless it is a matter of singular importance, it would be better omitted for that time.

Preaching in Prayers
The prayers of some good men are more like preaching than praying. They rather express the Lord's mind to the people, than the desires of the people to the Lord. Indeed this can hardly be called prayer. It might in another place stand for part of a good sermon, but will afford little help to those who desire to pray with their hearts. Prayer should be sententious, and made up of breathings to the Lord, either of confession, petition, or praise. It should be not only Scriptural and evangelical, but experimental, a simple and unstudied expression of the wants and feelings of the soul. It will be so if the heart is lively and affected in the duty, it must be so if the edification of others is the point in view.

Method in Prayer
Several books have been written to assist in the gift and exercise of prayer, and many useful hints may be borrowed from them. But a too close attention to the method therein recommended, gives an air of study and formality, and offends against that simplicity which is so essentially necessary to a good prayer, that no degree of acquired abilities can compensate for the want of it. It is possible to learn to pray mechanically, and by rule; but it is hardly possible to do so with acceptance and benefit to others. When the several parts of invocation, adoration, confession, petition, etc., follow each other in a stated order, the hearer's mind generally goes before the speaker's voice, and we can form a tolerable conjecture what is to come next. On this account we often find that unlettered people who have had little or no help from books, or rather have not been fettered by them, can pray with an unction and savour in an unpremeditated way, while the prayers of persons of much superior abilities, perhaps even of ministers themselves, are, though accurate and regular, so dry and starched, then they afford little either of pleasure or profit to spiritual mind. The spirit of prayer is the fruit and token of the Spirit of adoption.

The studied addresses with which some approach the throne of grace remind us of a stranger's coming to a great man's door; he knocks and waits, sends in his name, and goes through a course of ceremony, before he gains admittance, while a child of the family uses no ceremony at all, but enters freely when he pleases, because he knows he is at home. It is true, we ought always to draw near the Lord with great humiliation of spirit, and a sense of our unworthiness. But this spirit is not always best expressed or promoted by a pompous enumeration of the names and titles of the God with whom we have to do, or by fixing in our minds beforehand the exact order in which we propose to arrange the several parts of our prayer. Some attention to method may be proper, for the prevention of repetitions; and plain people may be a little defective in it sometimes; but this defect will not be half so tiresome and disagreeable as a studied and artificial exactness.

Peculiarities of Manner
Many -- perhaps most -- people who pray in public have some favourite word or expression which recurs too often in their prayers, and is frequently used as a mere expletive, having no necessary connection with the sense of what they are speaking. The most disagreeable of these is when the name of the blessed God, with the addition perhaps of one or more epithets, as Great, Glorious, Holy, Almighty, etc., is introduced so often and without necessity, as seems neither to indicate a due reverence in the person who uses It, nor suited to excite reverence in those who hear. I will not say that this is taking the Name of God in vain, in the usual sense of the phrase: it is, however, a great impropriety, and should be guarded against. It would be well if they who use redundant expressions had a friend to give them a caution so that they might with a little care be retrenched; and hardly any person can be sensible of the little peculiarities he may inadvertently adopt, unless he is told of them.

There are several things likewise respecting the voice and manner of prayer, which a person may with due care correct in himself, and which, if generally corrected, would make meetings for prayer more pleasant than sometimes they are. . . Very loud speaking is a fault, when the size of the place and the number of the hearers do not render it necessary. The end of speaking (in public) is to be heard: and when that end is attained a greater elevation of the voice is frequency hurtful to the speaker, and is more likely to confuse a hearer than fix his attention. I do not deny but allowance must be made for constitution, and the warmth of the passions, which dispose some persons to speak louder than others. Yet such will do well to restrain themselves as much as they can. It may seem indeed to indicate great earnestness, and that the heart is much affected; yet it is often but false fire. It may be thought speaking 'with power', but a person who is favoured with the Lord's presence may pray with power in a moderate voice; and there may be very little of the power of the Spirit, though the voice should be heard in the street and neighbourhood.

The other extreme of speaking too low is not so frequent; but, if we are not heard, we might as well altogether hold our peace. It exhausts the spirits and wearies the attention, to be listening for any length of time to a very low voice. Some words or sentences will be lost, which will render what is heard less intelligible and agreeable. If the speaker can be heard by the person furthest distant from him, the rest will hear of course.

The tone of the voice is likewise to be regarded. Some have a tone in prayer so very different from their usual way of speaking, that their nearest friends, if not accustomed to them, could hardly know them by their voice. Sometimes the tone is changed, perhaps more than once, so that if our eyes did not give us more certain information than our ears, we might think two or three persons had been speaking by turns. It is a pity that when we approve what is spoken we should be so easily disconcerted by an awkwardness of delivery: yet so it often is, and probably so it will be, in the present weak and imperfect state of human nature. It is more to be lamented than wondered at, that sincere Christians are sometimes forced to confess: 'He is a good man, and his prayers as to their substance are spiritual and judicious, but there is something so displeasing in his manner that I am always uneasy when I hear him'.

Informality in Prayer
Contrary to this, and still more offensive, is a custom that some have of talking to the Lord in prayer. It is their natural voice indeed, but it is that expression of it which they use upon the most familiar and trivial occasions. The human voice is capable of so many inflections and variations, that it can adapt itself to the different sensations of the mind, as joy, sorrow, fear, desire, etc. If a man was pleading for his life, or expressing his thanks to the king for a pardon, common sense and decency would teach him a suitableness of manner; and anyone who could not understand his language might know by the sound of his words that he was not making a bargain or telling a story. How much more, when we speak to the King of kings, should the consideration of his glory and our own vileness, and of the important concerns we are engaged in before him, impress us with an air of seriousness and reverence, and prevent us from speaking to him as if he was altogether such an one as ourselves! The liberty to which we are called by the gospel does not at all encourage such a pertness and familiarity as would be unbecoming to use towards a fellow-worm, who was a little advanced above us in worldly dignity.

I shall be glad if these hints may be of any service to those who desire to worship God in spirit and in truth, and who wish that whatever has a tendency to damp the spirit of devotion, either in themselves or in others, might be avoided.

Salem RiverFest

2007-09-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

This came from those that are organizing the Riverfest.... please read and pray about how you may help. If anything, pray for the workers!!
===========
Hey Friends,
Here is an urgent request for help at Riverfest. I am sending it along for you to think about and pass on to your churches. Also, I was wondering if anyone else will be volunteering. It would cool to know where other parents are so we could feel good about letting our kids go around with out us part of the time when we are working. John and I will be at the Riverfest shirt booth on Saturday from 4-6p.m.
and Sunday from 2-4pm. I believe that the kids booths are from 12:30-1:45, Narnia play from 1:45-3pm, and then booths again until 5ish. Our great worship band will be on the kid stage and then the other bands will start at 5 and go until 10pm. Let us know where you will be. Have fun!!!!
Thanks,
Debi
Attention SRF Volunteers:
We are in need of parking attendants and shuttle drivers (a CDL is required). We also need buses. We would like to offer shuttles from various locations for the public. If you are qualified and able to assist us in this specific area, please email our Transportation Volunteer Leader, Garry Pullen, at beav1@comcast.net. Volunteer parking is at the Oregon State Fair Grounds at the south end.
We are also in need of SEVERAL VOLUNTEERS that are willing and physically able to supply time, vehicles and equipment for the following:
1) Wednesday 9/19/07 8 a.m. - We need trucks, flatbed trailers (12' -
20'),
qualified drivers, battery drills and lots of people ready and willing to work hard. We will be assembling the skate surface, stages and other areas, which will require unloading and assembly of 460 sheets of lumber and equipment. We will be working on:
- Getting 1500' of fencing and barriers up.
- Hanging banners and signs around park.
- Pick-up carpeting from two locations; set-up in various tents.
- Pick-up bleachers and benches from designated locations and set-up at park.
- Set-up tents in various areas of park.
- Set-up staging in various areas of park.
2) Thursday 9/20/07 8 a.m. until completed - Continuation of work
needed
for set-up at park.
3) Friday 9/21/07 8 a.m. until completed - Continuation of work needed
for
set-up at park.
- Truck and possible fork lift to pick-up and deliver 5 pallets of bottled water.
4) Monday 9/24/07 - Tear down time! We need SEVERAL VOLUNTEERS to help
with the disassembling of stages, skate surface and other areas.
Again this
will be very physical and we are in need of those willing and able to work hard.
If you are able to help on Wed-Fri and Mon, please contact Paul Diaz 503-949-9720 outwardpastor@gmail.com or Kevin Wood at 503-551-8378.
Kelly Pointer
Administrative Assistant
503-581-7394
All for Jesus!

Stand in the gap

2007-09-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Men!

As you know our brother Tom has now passed.

Almost immediately what had come to my mind was the Scriptures! Specifically the ones that shared about how much God truly cares for the widows (and orphans!). These women have no one to care for them in the "technical" ways that men can. (no one to do those "honey dews" around the house). They are alone.

Though we can not fulfill all of those listed above, we as men ... MUST step up and do what we can.

All of us have various kinds of gifts that we can help contribute towards the widows, to fill in the gaps when their spouse passes on. Some of you can help with car maintenance, some might need to help with budgeting, while others can help with lawn or house maintenance. Obviously right now Joan Drawbaugh is the one on the list who would come immediately to mind, but there must be others. It isn't our job to take care of them the rest of their life, but if there are those needs, we must, through faith, take care of them. If my spouse is without me because of death, I want to know that my brothers will take care of her in my absence.

If you are willing to stand in the gap, please respond back to me with what skills our widows might be able to call on you for.

Tom Drawbaugh

2007-09-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Memorial Service - Sunday 09/16/07 3 PM @ New Harvest
Hi Men,

It is with sad news that I report that Tom Drawbaugh has passed away.

Please be praying for his family and us as a church.

He will be greatly missed.

But we are not thoroughly saddened. Our Father is awaiting his arrival and he is now enjoying a presence with the Lord that we yearn for.

Prepare to gather for his homegoing.

-Randy

Men's Workshop 09/08/07 - RECAP

2007-09-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Almost 20 guys showed up to our first official Men's Workshop - though a lot of guys came to me Sunday morning saying they either forgot or had last minute change of plans, or even sick - not to mention that there were plent of guys out of town. I honestly believe if all who showed an interest in coming would have came, we would have outgrown our room! (Seriously, I can count an additional dozen people!!)

Breakfast was prepared graciously and superbly in an almost Hell's Kitchen sort of way - without most of the cussing and throwing of pans, Bob W and Matt both prepared our meals. We then had our SuperMAN competition of which Rod was the final winner! Congrats Rod - now ask him about what he did with his prize ... it is a cool story.

We then went through a discussion on the Bible and how throughout history amazing things happened when people actually got their hands on a bible and read it! We specifically noted that the Bible has no power in itself, but instead the power comes from Who's word it is and what it reveals. The revelation of God to mankind is strong and significant to us ... teaching everything we NEED to know, but not everything we WANT to know.

We then discovered some people that both lived and worked in our neck of the woods. Afterwards breaking into unit/squads of 2-4 men within one of those groups near home or work. We asked some questions of each other and then prayed for each other.

We are wanting to think of a name to call our group, some names to kick around so far are:
The Brothers
The Brotherhood
Band of Brothers
The Tribe
What are your thoughts?

I handed out some information that was needed for me (which is below). If you were not at the meeting, could you copy and paste (or print, or just respond to me) your answers to the following questions.
===========================
Name, address, phone, email.
Best way to contact you: email, phone, in person
Are you wanting to get involved in a squad/unit of 2-4 men consistently? YES, NO
What will be your main reason for getting involved?
What are the best times you could meet for about an hour? (write down earliest and latest time frames .. and frequency.)
How you want to be more involved in the Man's Ministry of New Harvest.
===========================

We had also discussed that I had assumed most people would respond via email, but really I don't get much response back except from a handful of those tech-savvy guys. So I really wanted to know the best way to get in touch with you for the events that we have.

Also, we discussed how often we should do a workshop or event. My desire is to have a quarterly event where all the dudes gather, but then have the focus on men meeting consistently in squad/units.

I also said, for any man at our church, I would be willing to meet with you for coffee at least once (on me). Just contact me for possible times.

Soon, Thursday mornings at 6:30 - 7:30 and 7:45 - 8:45, I will be leading a discussion through the book of Ephesians. If you are interested, you MUST let me know as there will be limited seating.

If you have any questions, contact me: randy.mooneyATcomcast.net or call me on my cell. 503.851.2766.

In His Grip!

Randy

Men's Workshop: 09/08/07 8:00 - 9:30AM @ the church

2007-08-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

**NEW**

The Bible: is it powerful in our lives

So we have this big book with lots of pages in it, but what do we do with it? Come join the men at New Harvest and see the importance of the Bible and how powerful it can be within our lives.

We also will be talking about some future opportunities as men.

Saturday - September 8th, 8:00 - 9:30AM @ the church

Donation breakfast -
Muffins, coffee and OJ will be available (JUST FOUND OUT THAT - Bob W will be cooking our breakfast ... will give me more details to come as we sort out the menu)

To make sure we have enough food items and a good room size available, please contact me back (randy.mooney@comcast.net) or call me.

- Your Brother in Arms, Randy

TIME TO VOTE

2007-08-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hey men!

Our First Official Men's Workshop is coming up ... no we will not be learning to make birdhouses or doilies. We will learn how to increase in some aspect of our faith or relationship with each other. To let you have a voice in this process, would you please select one of the following three subjects to go over ... the one subjec with the most votes will be the one we go through together.

1) The Bible: Is it powerful in our lives?

2) Prayer: How to talk to God about yourself and others

3) Accountability: How to beat someone up ... in a loving way

Select one by either emailing me or commenting in the comment section below!

Also - for breakfast ... no one has brought any ideas in, what would you think about doing a BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakfast.)

Contact me ... don't leave me hangin'

Your Brother in Arms - Randy

=========

So far the votes are
Bible - 8
Prayer - 4
Accountability/challenge - 3

1 saying - BYOB
1 saying - either
2 saying - make it for me (including sausage egg mcmuffins, OJ and coffee - with donation to cover cost)
1 saying - both

The Challenge for August

2007-08-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hey men ... are you up for a challenge?

Our pastor has encouraged us to read through the Book of Acts by simply taking a chapter a day, for those that are extra brave, also read through Luke (both written by the same author). Are you up for the challenge?

Here is what Barry said
"Reading In preparation for this series I would like to have you read one chapter of the Book of Acts every day leading up to September. There are 28 chapters in Acts , so that will give you almost a month of reading. We are going to study the early church and see what God might want to say to us through this incredible book. If you are really ambitious you could read the Gospel of Luke , which has the same author as the Book of Acts . Luke wrote both the Gospel and the Book of Acts as a narrative of the great things that God did through Jesus and what happened after Jesus died and rose again. A study of Jesus life would be a powerful forerunner to the birthing of the church."

I believe my wife will take the challenge, are any of you going to MAN up?

If you are willing to take the challenge, let me know so I can pray for you.

Your Brother in Arms,
Randy

Comments

2007-08-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hey men!

Did you know that you can leave comments on any of these posts? You can!

Underneath each post is something like a "0 comments" or "3 comments" button that allows you to read other comments, or leave your own. It's easy.

ALSO ... on the left side of the page is a poll. Have you taken it?

Dr. Phil joining the MAN CAMP revolution?

2007-08-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Dr. Phil House: Man Camp

CLICK HERE

--- no guys, this ain't us!

For those wanting some help with meeting together ...

2007-07-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hey men!

I know some of you have started out meeting with each other, but others haven't done it just yet.

To help you along in your time together, I would be willing to give you 4 questions to ask and answer each other. I can change them weekly. However, I need to know if it would be helpful for you.

If this is something you would like, leave a comment, email or phone me.

-Randy

After MAN CAMP - video

2007-07-29T01:51:00.000-07:00

-== Recent video from MAN CAMP 2007 ==-

Activities for Men

2007-07-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the activities that we discussed at MAN CAMP.

Would anyone want to try and organize this list better? Just copy and past, reorganize it and email it back to me. I was thinking of categories like least costly to most costly.

Also if you can add on to the list, that would be awesome!

Trading work jobs at each others houses

Coffee

Meals

Athletics (ultimate frisbee, gym activities: basketball, racquetball, etc)

Online avenues (forums, myspace, blogs)

Bible Studies

Praying

Stop by someones place of business

Camping

Hiking

Boating

Hunting

Back packing

Fishing

Cross Country Skiing

Mission trip

Serving together (under the bridge, day-work trip)

Road trips

Out of town errands

Recreation events (watching basesball games)

Father-son/ big-brother type things

Helping hands: helping to move, house improvement, demolition (with permission of course!)

Growth group and or one-on-one regular times

Family gatherings

Phone call

Workout - classes - walks

Golfing

Play games (electric, board games)

BBQ (have a cook off for best steak!)

Email group

Shooting

Paintball

Biking

Caving - Spelunking

Dog park

Rafting

Boating

After MAN CAMP

2007-07-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

We survived the onslaught of the rain ... because we are MEN!

I have heard repeatedly from almost everyone personally, that you guys had a great time.

We spent some great time making connections with each other, and were challenged to maintain some of those connections beyond just on Sundays at church. Please email me who you guys will be connecting with on a consistent basis - that way I can pray for you.

New pictures have been updated at our Newharvest photo site: http://www.flickr.com/groups/newharvest/

As a reminder ... our main points of our discussions were:

Strengthen our grip: it is not good to be alone
Strengthen our grip: we need to be with each other
Strengthen our grip: we need to confront (sin) and motivate/challenge (for ministry)
Strengthen our grip: (from Esther) we need to control our lives to build others up and not ourselves (Mordecai and Haman)

I am sure we all had some great MAN smells when we came home, so if you are reading this before you took a shower ... what are you thinking!

Our next breakfast should be in the morning of Saturday September 8th (I will update here when it is final).

Coming soon: list of activities we could do with each other, video of some of the things done at MAN CAMP 2007.

Who went to man camp

2007-07-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

MAN CAMP 2007 attendees (24)

Steve Entz
Randy Mooney
Brian Baldwin
Randy Bayley
Bob Wild
Barry Braun
Rod Augee
David Warren
Rick Friesen
Tim Drawbaugh
Chad Harvey
Nic Sonne
Tom Drawbaugh
Gabriel Castillo
Jody Story
Bob Marvell
Randy Weddle
Jeff McClinton
Neal Biledeau
Perry Web
Vin Thomas
Craig Kuhn
Jason Gill
John Sherwood

Video for MAN CAMP

2007-07-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

VIDEO: how to give a man hug

2007-07-08T08:39:00.000-07:00