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

NEWS
Hmong District. Sean Her, district coordinator, reports that they have completed 5 out of 7 equipping seminars, including Fresno, Seattle, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Auburn, GA. The response from the men has been very positive and the men are ready to move forward. Several churches are ready to begin the coaching phase.

God is moving in among the Hmong men. Please pray that the district leadership team will be equipped to meet the needs of the leadership teams in local churches.

Study: Mature Believers Wanted. According to a Barna survey of more than 1,000 Christians, more than half of all churchgoers can't describe how their church defines a mature believer. An overwhelming 81 percent believe spiritual maturity correlates to "trying hard to follow the rules described in the Bible," and even among born-again Christians (a small subset of the entire group polled), only 30 percent mentioned having a relationship with Jesus as one of the characteristics of spiritual maturity. Other elements included living a moral lifestyle (14 percent), applying the Bible (12 percent) and sharing your faith with others (6 percent). (Read more.)

MINISTRY OF THE MONTH
(Paradise Alliance Church, Paradise, CA)
(http://www.paradisecma.org/ministries.html)

G³ Men’s Ministries at Paradise Alliance Church began in January 2008 with a small group of guys attending Man in the Mirror’s No Man Left Behind seminar in Florida. Attending that seminar helped us come up with our name, G³: Growing Godly Guys, and the purpose of disciples making disciples.

The core of our ministry is our Men’s Bible Study on Wednesday nights. Bible study consists of a 30-minute teaching by Tim Bolin, our pastor to men, followed by 45-minute round table small group discussions. Typically on a Wednesday night, 80-100 men attend. We have 16 tables set up with each table discussion facilitated by one of our Allies (round table small group leaders).

Events and outreaches we do on an ongoing or annual basis are: Monday Night Football, Clay Shooting Competition, Wilderness Retreat and a Golf Tournament. Also, we have a softball team that participates in our town’s league.

Also within G³ is its own mission’s ministry, Alliance Kingdom Builders, which assists people in need “here, there, and everywhere.” Alliance Kingdom Builders purpose is to advance God’s Kingdom throughout our community, country, and worldwide, by providing spiritual and physical assistance for those in need according to God’s Word. Over the past two years, this group has gone to Mexico to build a 3000 sq ft house (1500 sq ft upstairs used as a home for a pastor’s family in Mexico and the 1500 sq ft downstairs used as storage for Azusa Pacific’s Mexico Outreach), a large commercial-sized kitchen, and a bathroom at sites our youth annually minister at during spring break. This year, a team of men have partnered with the Bostons in Paraguay to build a church and also to help a young widow in our community rebuild her fire-damaged home. For more information about G3, contact Tim Bolin at timb@paradisecma.org.

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

PERSONAL TOOLKIT

Recommended Reading: Letters from a Skeptic by Boyd, Gregory A., and Boyd, Edward K. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008. You may be a mature believer. But do you still have questions about your faith? Letters from a Skeptic captures the questions many non-believers ask about the Christian faith. The book is a dialog between a serious seeker and “intellectual giant” and his theologian son. The son is a former atheist turned believer himself. The younger Boyd addresses 29 questions such as “Why has Christianity done so much harm?” “Why trust the Gospel accounts?” “Why does God make believing in Him so difficult?” “How could an all-loving God torture people in an eternal hell?” In the processes of responding to his father’s questions, Greg Boyd addresses many of the fundamentals of the faith and results in his father surrendering his life to Christ.

LEADERSHIP TOOLKIT

Tool: Man Up Your Event. Have you fallen in a rut with your men’s events? …. Are you doing the same things at your events every year? What are some ways that we can MAN UP your men's events? Here are some fun ways to "Man Up" your event (from Men’s Discipleship Update, May 2009):

• Include some "friendly" competition. This can be done individually or in groups. This could be an athletic competition or even a quiz show type thing...anything fun that creates some manly competition!!
• Share testimonies at your event. Prior to the event, ask a few guys that you know have an impactful testimony to share it at different times throughout your event.
• Use film clips!! They don't necessarily have to be relevant, but typically you can find some great ones that fit your theme or discussion. Humorous ones work too!
• Fill a small toolbox with nuts & candy and place it in the center of each table. Then put a piece of colored tape under one chair at each table. At the end of the event, have everyone check their chair and the one with the colored tape takes the toolbox home.
• Create an adventure retreat that includes white water rafting, hunting or snow skiing...anything adventurous that fits your geographic area and men would enjoy.

Give Every Man in Your Church an All-Time Classic This Father's Day
Project Father's Day - An Affordable Strategy to Reach Every Man

These books are a great tool for your Father's Day service. You can find statistics, sermon ideas, and sermon illustrations on our Project Father's Day Tips page.

SPECIAL! Order 20 or more boxes and get a 20% shipping discount! Call for details. 800-929-2536.

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

Equipping Your Men

• 2009 Iron Sharpens Iron National Men’s Conferences - 41 across the nation in 2009. Check for one near you.
• Man in the Mirror Seminar Calendar