Iron Sharpening Iron

Wow. A great Leadership Event. 27:17 promised men a chance to meet with God for 27 hours. Our group met with God. It was great! Thanks to all the guys who helped put it together. Alan Mock, Mark Meyer, Ted Bryant. Met a lot of great guys: Loren, Eric, Josh, Mike, Lee, and many more.


A pic of the band from 27:17. Alex, Jeff, and Brian: you guys ROCKED.

Had the chance to debut a song that I had written called "We'll Fight". It seemed to be well received. Kind of a rallying cry. Happy to be able to use the gift I've been given.

Here's a quick summary of the sessions:

Mark Beeson -
- Each man needs a Nathan in his life. Someone who can be brutally honest.
- the way David responded to Nathan showed his true, repentant heart
- David then publicly admitted his sin and even wrote a song (Psalm 51) to be sung about it at the temple. Amazing humility. Made me wonder about what it would look like if during the Clinton scandal, if he would have confessed up front, what a difference it would have made.
- This prayer Mark wishes we'd all pray: " Lord, I want what you want. I want to be confronted with truth rather than being safe from the truth."

Dr. Bob (I) -
- It's not what you put in physically, but what you put in spiritually that makes the difference.
- Gave some stats: Women are 2X more likely to be involved in discipleship and/or service in the church.
- It starts with the family
- if a youth comes to know Christ, 6% of their family usually comes to know Christ
- if a woman comes to know Christ, 11% of her family usually come to know Christ
- if a man comes to know Christ, 89% of his family comes to know Christ
- The world is watching what we men will do
1. We live a life opposed - we will suffer for our faith
2. Be real. Be yourself. - we live to impress too often - people looking for authentic men
3. Seek God's approval, not man's. Gal. 1:10 - God tests our hearts each day
4. Be a man of generosity
5. Look out for the meeker ones - our job to stand up for those less fortunate
6. Become a true lover of people. Seek to understand rather than be understood
7. Get a faith that works - get active in our faith
8. What's it take to get angry? A holy discontent. Important to feel what I believe

Pastor Glen Bone:
- "If you hold back your gift, you are robbing not only this world, but eternity."
- Our journey is to make our inside lives and outside match up.
- Men follow men. This became more clear over the time we had together. I realize that that is what we men are looking for. A man to follow. We see it inside and outside of the church. Gangs, etc.
Men don't often get involved in the church because they are B.O.R.E.D.
B - Busyness - too busy for God
O - Obligations - other stuff in our lives that distract us from real purpose
R - Rituals - don't just GO to church, BE the church
E - Education - we shy away from educating ourselves in God's word. We'll study sports stats, but not His word
D - Duty -
- He challenged us to become a spiritual father to someone. Our job, not just the pastor's.

Dr. Bob (II)
- He mostly challenged us to live a life that counts, a life that stands in the gap for our families.
- Highlight was Dr. Bob talking about a young man, Kyle who had a rough night on Friday night in a bar fight. Called his dad Saturday who told him to come down to the event. A few guys surrounded him in love and led him to Christ. Very cool.