C&MA Men Living the Adventure

Impact
A man encountered a series of discouraging events and became very depressed. During a mid-week prayer time he asked several men to pray for him. Immediately the depression lifted.

Another man was told that he needed to have $1300 work done on his car. The expense was budget busting. He asked his prayer group to pray about it. The next day he sought a second opinion. The shop put his car back on the road for $216!

A man was in bondage. His addiction was controlling his life. He brought several brothers-in-Christ into his confidence and they began to hold him accountable. He is praising God for the liberation he is experiencing.

God is always at work! What is He doing in your life? Send your testimonies to editor@cmamen.org.

News
Stand in the Gap 2007: The Washington Area Coalition of Men’s Ministries (WACMM) will be hosting a national gathering of men on the National Mall October 6, 2007, the tenth anniversary of the first Stand in the Gap. WACMM will be making the initial public announcement at the April 12-14 National Coalition of Men’s Ministries Spring Conference. Watch for more information.

SPAM: Tom Corcoran, a Washington, DC area men’s ministry leader “SPAMs” fellow leaders in the area. He begins each e-mail with the following announcement: WARNING! This is SPAM – if you do not wish to be a part of building men of God for the glory of God, please reply with “Remove” in the subject line. If you wish to be a part of mobilizing men to pray about men, please provide information about your men's ministry so that men in the DC metro area can be praying for you and the men you serve. SPAM is Sustained Prayer About Men.

Did You Know? Pastors and Prayer: According to Pulpit and Pew, full-time pastors average a 50 hour work week and part-time pastors average working 25.02 hours per week. Of those hours, the full-time pastors spend 8 hours a week in prayer, and the part-time pastors spend 6 hours in prayer. In the new book A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines, Pat Morley talks about “A Man and Prayer.” He points out that one characteristic of men who pray is they believe that prayer is the most powerful use of their time – more powerful than labor. Read more about it here.

Life
Raise A Godly Son: The Corinthian Man-Creed: Crosswalk.com featured an article by Shawn McEvoy in which he explains five principles he shares with his son to live a life of godly manhood. Shawn writes, “I don’t know about the other guys out there, but it definitely helps me to have something to live by, something to recite, something to write on my heart, ponder the meaning of, and connect to other scriptures as I strive to be a man after God’s own heart.” Read more by clicking here.

Men Muscle Their Way into a Faith that Fits: Every Monday night, Victor Correnti works on strangers' cars for free.

About 18 months ago, a fishing buddy invited him to help out at something called a "cars ministry" sponsored by Heartland Community Church in Rockford. "I didn't even know what a `ministry' was," said Correnti, 58. At a volunteer's auto shop, Correnti, who still owns the '55 T-Bird he bought as a high school sophomore, joined about 30 men repairing cars for single moms and needy families. Later, he traveled to Waveland, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina to help maintain generators as Heartland and other churches brought free food, clothing and hot showers to people left homeless by the storm.

It wasn't until weeks later that he first attended a church service at non-denominational Heartland, which has bought and transformed the old Colonial Village shopping mall into its home. (Read more in this article of the month)

Leadership
Learn From Others: A Leader Shares His Strategy for Reaching Men: “We have made a conscious effort to tailor our events and programs with the ‘end user’ (men) in mind along the lines of the open-closed continuum,” writes one leader on the No Man Left Behind Blog. What in the world does he mean by that? Find out when you visit the blog and read more about how he used the

create-capture-sustain model to minister to the men in his church. Add your own comments!

Share Your Best Stuff: Send Us Your Resource Ideas! Have you visited disciplemen.com lately? Already, the site has a “How To” training section, a blog, poll, news and more. We’re currently working on the Leadership Directory and Best Practices & Resources Center. This is where we will help leaders share their best stuff with other leaders!

What kind of events and materials have you used to minister to men in your church? disciplemen.com wants to know! Have you found a great book or curriculum? Maybe you’ve developed your own flyers or logos. Please send us materials you have used in ministry, such as flyers, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, etc., along with your contact information. We accept common files types, as well as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign files. Send an email to resources@disciplemen.com with your resources, ideas, or for additional information. (Ministry/Website of the Month).

Be in the Know: Pat Morley in Your Inbox: Each week Pat writes an inspirational e-mail oriented to leaders engaged in discipling men. The Weekly Briefing is available by subscription by clicking here. Through The Morley Leadership Center, Pat sends out an email with new answers to your questions on leadership, change, and success, “One Great Idea Can Change the World.” Sign up by clicking here.

Reboot (with 1 Samuel 17:55-58) Who Are You?
The Enemy: Gone! Eliminated! Vanquished!

The World: How could a young, inexperienced shepherd boy kill a champion warrior? There had to be a logical explanation. The world views the miraculous with doubt, skepticism, and disbelief.

Saul sought an explanation of the victory through David’s genetic heritage. Where did David’s courage come from? At first, Saul was amazed at David’s courage, then his success. He did not get it. There had to be a genetic reason for the boldness and skill shown by David. Saul was persistent in seeking an explanation. He asked three times about David’s family heritage: “Abner, whose son is that young man?” “Find out whose son this young man is.” And “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. For Saul and Abner there was no logical explanation. It had to be in David’s DNA.

How can we convince a world that does not know the living God that it was God who brought the victory? It has nothing to do with our physical DNA. Instead, it has to do with our spiritual DNA.

The Spiritual Warrior: With Goliath’s head in hand, David stated his heritage. It really does not make any difference who you are when you place your trust in God and allow God to do the heavy lifting. David demonstrated humility in answering Saul’s questions: “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

We have an earthly heritage and a spiritual heritage. For many the earthly heritage is clear in physical appearance and mannerisms. For believers, however, the question is: Is your spiritual heritage showing? Do we live like David?

Summary of 1 Samuel 17: Know God. Depend on God. Let God. Give God the credit.

“Our religion is more a theory than a love affair.”
G.K. Chesterton

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