Mens Ministry Happenings!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to lead a small group of men, who are sold out for Jesus and yet - still working on our relationships. Every day we come in contact with so many people that Jesus died for -- like everyone - and we are faced with tough decisions in our interactions with each other. If we have made a decision to follow Christ and have branded ourselves with the term "Christian" - we are meant to "love" all. This is so difficult! We need to band together and sharpen each others skills in this area.

Why do we continue to give our best to everyone and yet sometimes forget that our wives, kids and families deserve our best too? I know - man is it difficult or what? If you are like me, I mess up quite a bit in this area and know that Jesus wants me to have a better relationship with HIM, my wife, kids and family - as well as other people too.

I have asked several men to come alongside me to create a fellowship of men throughout our church that will lead to lasting friendships and I hope a deeper connection with my family and with Christ. Currently, we are working together to develop more opportunities for men to come together and share the same goals.

Over the next two weeks, we will be getting together to discuss what this will look like, who will join us in this and how we can drop it down so that others can come aboard. I am looking at several areas that need a focus:

1. men's get togethers: weekly men's groups that will be facilitated by someone who is willing to step up and be used by God to create an atmosphere that we can relate to. These are much like the successful Life Groups that Lamb's has developed.

2. men's breakfasts: Lance Ladd has agreed to continue to develop this program, but we need some guys to step up and come alongside him. These are the first saturday of each month and are designed to provide FOOD, FELLOWSHIP & A MESSAGE.

3. men's outings: whether it is pole position night, golf, running club, mtn. biking excursions, bowling, fishing, hiking, camping -- or something else, we need to get together and have some fun as well!

4. the book shelf: there are so many awesome books out right now that dig deep into what we are all feeling - where is the "abundant life" in Christ. This is not to discount all the Bible has to offer, but may be relatable to a certain situation that we are in. A few that I have read lately that have made a huge impact on me are: Crazy Love, Francis Chan (http://www.crazylovebook.com/) and Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller (http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/searching.php). We need to share these with each other so that we can get away from the things that are negatively affecting our walk and focus on Christ and His Word.

We will be working on this blog, our mens ministry area on the website, launching more men's groups, outings and fellowship opportunities with possible family outings that we will host! The Lamb's family is growing and we need to get connected with each other.

If the statistics about church attendance are correct - about 35 - 40% of church is attended by men and if our weekly service attendance is 500+, this means that there are over 200 men at Lambs. With our two mens groups (~25 men attend each week) + the monthly mens breakfast (30 men attend on average) are not cutting it. We need to offer more opportunities for men to come together.

Keep your eyes pealed and Stay Strong!