Is your men’s ministry meeting the needs of your men?
Is it helping your men own their walk with God?

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

NEWS
George Barna’s Latest Report. (taken from Men’s Discipleship Update, January 2009)

• During the past three months, one of the ways that adults have adjusted to their financial hardships has been by reducing their charitable giving.
• About half of Christian church attenders (52%) said that their church had increased the amount of material assistance made available to congregants during the past three months.
• Two out of three families (68%) have been noticeably affected by the financial crunch.
• Overall, more than one quarter of adults (28%) said they had lost at least 20% of the value of their investment and 401k accounts.
• Born again adults were slightly less likely than were others to have sustained such substantial financial losses.

The full report can be found at www.barna.com.

MINISTRY OF THE MONTH
The Men of Blanchard. Blanchard Alliance Church, Wheaton, IL. (www.blanchardalliance.org)

We offer our men at least four different "tracks" for discipleship in small groups mornings on a weekly basis.

We also have seven SWEAT Teams. ,"SWEAT" (Serving with Enthusiasm and Teamwork) is the new platform for the men's ministry at Blanchard. There is a large unmet need in our church for many simple yet critical tasks which require some "SWEAT". Following are key areas of need:

• ESPRIT (single moms ministry). Help entertain kids while their moms attend their support group twice a month.
• Sunday Greeters. Have a smile and a handshake required.
• Sunday Service Ushers.
• Monthly Communion Preparation.
• Sunday Coffee Stewards.
• Movers. We get approximately 6 requests per year for moving assistance.
• Handymen. Respond to requests for help from members of the congregation.

We conduct an annual men’s retreat in mid November, It begins Friday evening and ends at noon on Sunday. For more information about our men's ministry, see our webpage or contact Dave Scavotto at (630) 653-1066.

What is God doing in your men’s ministry?
Let us know at editor@cmamen.org.

PERSONAL TOOLKIT

Tim Tebow: A Real Role Model by editor, New Man. My favorite athlete has always been Danny Wuerffel. I was in sixth grade when he won a national championship for my beloved Gators in 1996, and I never thought I would see such a perfect combination of athleticism, character and faith again, much less in a person that played for my favorite team.

In many ways, he was a role model for me. Interestingly enough, he was also a role model for a certain fourth grader who lived about two hours away from me, a kid named Timmy Tebow. Read more here.

LEADERSHIP TOOLKIT

Tool: Discipling Men. Rev. Cade Christensen, pastor of Living Hope Alliance Church, Huntsville, AL, has built his ministry around intentional friendship evangelism, personal discipleship and small groups. C&MA Men’s Ministry recently interviewed Pastor Christensen regarding his approach to discipling men. Read the Interview. (Article of the Month).

Idea: Helping Men Become Combat Ready. Because we are engaged in spiritual warfare, consider adapting the military’s method of rating the combat readiness of it’s units. This rating system considers the effectiveness of training, the availability of proper equipment for the unit’s mission, awareness of the enemy’s capabilities, demonstrated ability to apply the strategy and tactics for defeating the enemy, and the health and morale of the personnel.

In adapting this approach, you might consider applying the levels of commitment described in the Blueprint workbook (pages 38 and 39) to the men in your church. For example: in the model below, the rating of the least combat ready men is C1 and those with the highest level are rated C5. Read more.

Equipping Leaders (Go to Man in the Mirror for more details)

Equipping Your Men 2009 Iron Sharpens Iron National Men’s Conferences - 36 across the nation in 2009. Check for one near you.