09|2015
The mission of every Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples of Jesus. Unfortunately, the term “discipleship” has come to be associated, in many Christian’s minds, with an optional activity that only certain A-team Christians engage in. The reality, however, is that if you are a follower of Jesus you are a disciple called to make more disciples. The question, though, is how well are we doing at this task?
After a lot of prayer I feel that it is time for us as the men in our church to step up and become more intentional about how we engage in our own discipleship, as well as become more intentional about how we make new disciples of Jesus, how we go about mission in our spheres of influence. So to that end, here’s the plan (because we are men and we like plans)…
Beginning Tuesday, September 15th at 6:00am the men of the church will be gathering every other week (on the weeks that community groups don’t meet) to focus on becoming stronger men of faith and becoming more confident in how we share our faith with others. Notice that I said the “men of the church” will be gathering, because the boys will still be at home sleeping off their video game induced hangovers…
Wow, that sounds offensive! You bet, because we’re men and we like to be challenged, right?! Men need a cause to fight for, and without a worthy cause we become passive, lazy, and lethargic. Satan is pretty good at convincing us that pursuing pleasure is more important than pursuing holiness, that Bible studies are something our wives do, and that if we talk about our faith at work we’ll look like a gigantic weirdo. Meanwhile, God is using, and has always used, men who are aware of their weakness before Him to make a difference in their families, communities, and workplaces. This uncharacteristically abrasive email is hopefully a challenge for all of us to be those men, not the boys who leave the work of discipleship to their wives worried that Jesus might ask us to be less obsessed with football and more obsessed with Him. The reason you are receiving this email is because I know that you are up for the challenge!
We’re calling this morning gathering Boot Camp, because we want to make sure we realize that this training is for the spiritual war we are in, and because those of us who haven’t gone through a real boot camp like to use the phrase to make us feel more masculine than we really are (to all our service men, I sincerely apologize). By signing up for Boot Camp we are committing to a 15 week (8 morning meetings) process where we will read a chapter of the Bible everyday, study in depth the book of Titus to see how it challenges and equips us, commit to praying missionally every day, and look for opportunities to take what we are learning and disciple others.
So if this sounds like something you want to sign up for just let me know by responding to this email or calling me (719.216.2612). I firmly believe that this could be a catalyzing time for us as men and as a church, and am excited to see what God does through those who are humble enough to seek Him and hard working enough to make it a priority. Feel free to pass this on to anyone else outside of our church who may be interested.
