Casting Crowns – Courageous [Official Music Vid…, posted with vodpod
Casting Crowns – Courageous (Official Music Video from the Movie)
October 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Real Revolutions Start with Sacrifice
October 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
All true revolutions seem to have started with huge sacrifices, in many cases including martyrdom. I believe it is because we have a sense of justice and rightness. An inherit willingness to die for a cause or for someone we love. This is just one of the ways we were made in God’s image.
A person or a small group of people see an injustice and can no longer keep quiet. They have what Bill Hybels calls a “Popeye moment”. That is they have a moment of holy discontent, they say “I’ve had all I can stand, I can’t stands no more!” They decide that this is a cause worth fighting, a cause worth dying for. They put on the gloves, they take up their cross and get to work. This moment “prompts us not to indifference and not to despair, but a moment that empowers us to rise up and do something about it.”
Pastor and playwright Kay Munk lived in Denmark amid Germany’s occupation during World War II. He drew the attention of the Gestapo because of his outspoken opposition to the persecution of the Jews in Denmark.
In 1941, he preached on the Good Samaritan. In his sermon he stated that “Christ-ians follow Jesus by loving their neighbors as themselves. This is the truth that the Good Samaritan tale puts before us; it calls its hearers to face up to the needs of a flesh and blood neighbor. To have a flesh and blood neighbor,” says Munk, “puts you in an either/or position. Either you may be a help to your neighbor or a burden.” Either you protect the sheep or you are one of the wolves.
Munk insisted on, and showed unflinching honesty about, what is helpful. To name the wolves so that the flock can protect itself better helps the neighbor in Jesus’ name. The wolves must be resisted for the sheep’s sake, and for their own sakes. Munk says: “It was not the task of the Good Samaritan to look up the robbers afterwards and compliment them for work well done. The goodness of God as we see it in Jesus is meek and long-suffering, but never compromises with evil.”
Therefore he called for mercy for the Jews, striking workers, hungry in city and on farms, and for confused children in an unstable world.
He was executed by the Gestapo in January of 1944. His body was found in a ditch by the side of the road, his Bible was next to him, along with this writing:
“What is, therefore, our task today? Shall I answer “Faith, hope and love?” That sounds beautiful. But I would say – courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature…we lack a holy rage – the recklessness which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity.
The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth…a holy anger about the things that are wrong in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God’s earth, and the destruction of God’s world. To rage when little children must die of hunger, when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lies that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction, peace. To rage against complacency. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God.
And remember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish…but never the chameleon.” (As found in Irresistible Revolution pg. 294)
His killers honored Munk’s outspoken resistance to the Nazi occupation by their ruthless but futile determination to silence him. The people heard his message. Despite the danger from the Nazis who had killed Munk, four thousand Danes came to his funeral. They commemorated him with a lively courage and faith like his own, both then and throughout the war.
Good shepherds protect the sheep from the wolves. Munk insisted: “Jesus’ fight against the wolves continues through the church which will allow itself to be torn to pieces rather than let robber or wolf gain entrance to the fold.”
Will you answer the call and stand up for your family, your children, your wife. Saying I see the wolves in our society. The wolves of materialism and selfishness. I choose to sacrifice my time and ambitions for the sake of my family and friends. For “I’ve had all I can stand and I can’t stands no more!”
If your answer is yes, see www.NYMensMinistry.com/MENTOR
Material garnered from some of the following sites:
http://www.pietisten.org/summer99/kajmunk.html
The Demise of Guys?!
October 9, 2011 by 2 Comments
We originally posted a TED talk on the impact of frequent TV, gaming and porn consumption. After further reflection, we believe the talk didn’t make the case strong enough. Please watch this space over the next week – we will share more data on this issue.
We will also share data on the epidemic of fatherless households. Sometimes this is due to the physical absence of the husband/father, and sometimes it is due to the emotional absence. Both, have a huge impact on a child.
In the meanwhile, please support the below MENTOR initiative. Thank you!
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I don’t pretend to have all the answers but this is one of the reasons we have a men’s ministry. We refuse to sit idly by, while our children and grandchildren, our sons and daughters, our friends and family become victims to our society! We are starting a movement! Will you join us?!
The movement is of fathers to sacrifice for their children and become a M – E – N – T – O – R:
M = They Model the behavior. So that their children say ‘I want to be like that!’. Pastor Denny Henderson
said it best when he said his father told him that he could always be confident in ‘doing what I do. saying what I say, watching what I watch, reading what I read’. He would never do anything that he, his son, shouldn’t do.
E = They Engage and Encourage. It’s important to know what your son is interested in, what they are worried about, what they are excited about. As someone said, part of loving someone is caring about what they care about.
N = They Share the Good News. A firm foundation based on the Gospel. As Jesus says in Matthew 7 and Luke 6, you will not be able to stand trials if you do not have a strong foundation. The foundation is Jesus and we build on that foundation through obedience.
T = They Commit their Time. We need to spend time not only with our children but with our wives. How we treat their mothers teaches them a lot about how they should treat women. As Rev. Theodore Hesburgh said ‘The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.’
O = They Expect Obedience. There is a place for respect and displine in parenting. As we are obedient to God, we need to ensure our children our respectful and obedient to us and other people in authority.
R = And They Regulate. As parents we need to regulate the amount and quality of TV, internet and gaming that is consumed by our kids. We need to create boundaries of appropriate behavior. Ironically once they know the boudaries it creates a refuge for them because they know what is appropriate. It’s like the anology that rules in baseball allow us to enjoy the game. We don’t have to worry about someone running to first and hitting the first baseman in the head with the bat before they are tagged.
Are you willing to make this commitment? For your son’s sake, for your sake, I hope so. May God bless you all!
Men’s Retreat with PriorityOne
September 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Great weekend everyone! We had our largest group ever, 16 people. One member of our group, Curtis, was baptized in the lake! We had a great time getting to know each other. It’s great to have good Christian friends. For those that couldn’t join us – we missed you!
Just posted some pictures on our facebook group. http://www.facebook.com/groups/43848377913/ Hope you enjoy. Here are just a few:
Finally, in the spirit of the weekend, here are 10 things I learned:
(1) Alhassan can play a mean game of frisbee golf. After one of my throws he said “you aren’t very athletic are you?” Thank brother!
(2) A letter in Vinny Coniglio’s last name is silent. Do you know which one? Hint: It’s not the ‘C’
(3) John snores
(4) If you take a long time to drink your milkshake … make sure no one is around to continue to bring it up all weekend.
(5) Alhassan once shaved his head and John would for a $1000, any takers?
(6) Robert can’t drive a nail while wearing a blindfold, sunglasses and a funny hat
(7) Although it may have felt like it, we didn’t set a world record for the longest time between sinking a ball (other than the cue ball) in billards.
(8) Yves is fearless – zip line, swing, rope course …. bring it on!
(9) When you get baptized in Lake Champion, the Holy Spirit turns your potbelly into a six pack (Curtis)!
and #10….
(10) Yes Vinny, the water fountain works!
Come join us for one of our small groups this week. Either Thursday evening or Saturday morning. Send a note to learn more.
In Jesus’ Name
August 28, 2011 by 1 Comment
A Prayer from Jesus; He gets the Credit
It isn’t uncommon today for someone to donate money to a cause on another’s behalf. This could be done as a gift or to celebrate / mourn an event. They may have said “I have made a donation to this organization in your name“. Of course you would thank them, especially if you have strong feelings for the organization or its purpose. The fact the money was given in your name means you get the credit for the donation rather than the giver.
I was thinking the other night that this isn’t that different from a prayer said in Jesus’ name. When we say “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer, we’re saying that this prayer should be treated as if it came from Jesus directly. Also He will get the credit for any good thing that comes from it.
Authority
There is a difference though. Unlike donating to a charity, a prayer said in our own name will not be accepted. It’s not because God doesn’t love us but because we aren’t righteous (sinless) and therefore have no ability or authority to ask on our own behalf. Think about it this way, although this isn’t a perfect analogy, if you needed a favor from someone but you recently had a bad argument with them, it isn’t likely that they would go out on a limb to help you. They may not even want to talk to you. You would need someone else who they respect and possible love, to go on your behalf and ask them.
When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are asking Jesus to be the conduit with God. To advocate for us because He is the only one who can. We are also following the direction He gave us in John 14:13-14.
His Will
Now, if we were to take the anology about donations above a little further, we can attempt to explain the last point on this topic. If someone said that they would like to donate money or time to an organization in your name, and the organization had a purpose/mission that you strongly opposed, you would refuse. Or you might recommend a different organization.
In the same way, when we pray in Jesus’ name our prayers must align with God’s will. If we ask for something that doesn’t glorfiy God, than we shouldn’t expect the prayer to be answered. Actually if we are truely open to God’s will, many times we know this before we even complete the prayer. One of the hardest aspects of prayer, is the letting go of our will.
Of course Jesus says in John 14:12 that we must also pray with faith. We must believe. If God is worth praying to, He’s worthy also of our expectations that our prayer will be answered. Isn’t He?
May God bless your reading of this blog entry, in Jesus’ very precious name!
Repentance
August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Heard a great sermon yesterday by James MacDonald on Repentance. Definitely worth a listen. Let us know what you think below!
Pastor James explains, when you get specific about what God wants to change, God provides no shortage of opportunities to work on it. God loves us so much that He doesn’t want to leave us the way we are. Learn the importance of repentance in the process of change.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: COUNTING THE COMMITMENT, NOT THE COST
July 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Commit your way to the LORD. (Psalm 37:5, NIV)
Americans will make a mistake today (sorry, little late), well intended, good hearted, but none-the-less, a mistake. I’ve seen it begin already as June ended and the calendar pressed forward to this day, the Fourth of July.
I’ve seen it mostly in the e-mails, the blogs, the Facebook postings of well-intentioned citizens asking me to take this Holiday and think about what freedom cost, to remember the men and the women of the Armed Forces and their sacrifice as the prime example of the cost of freedom. The suggestion is that if we stop a moment and think about their sacrifice and their suffering then we will have honored the Holiday and made ourselves worthy of it and justified the picnics, the ball games, the BBQs, and the fireworks.
I know this to be true because for years I have done it myself. I figure that I have a leg up on most of you because I didn’t have to conjure up pictures and videos of men and women in uniform, long rows of white crosses and stars of David, heart-warming clips of homecomings. I wish I could say I had a front row seat to America’s sacrifice, but Dover’s mortuary puts one right down on the field, not a picture, not a video, but face to face with the actual ultimate price of liberty.
But America has already given me a Holiday to honor them and the cost they have paid — it’s called Memorial Day. America has given me another holiday to honor those who paid a price and by God’s grace came back alive — it’s called Veteran’s day. Today, Independence day, we make the mistake of trying to squeeze one more day in to honor our brave men and women of the armed forces and while that’s never a bad thing, I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s not the purpose of this Holiday.
This Holiday does not celebrate the cost of our country’s military, but the commitment of its citizenry. We all know the famous lines from the Declaration . . . “We hold these truths to be self-evident” .
. . But what of the last line? . . . “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
This is a day to remember their commitment to the higher ideal of Freedom.
Their commitment was established before the cost was paid.
And pay a cost they did — giving their lives, their families, their health, their homes, their businesses, but that’s no less than they pledged to each other.
What commitment! That’s what I want to remember today — I want to contemplate the deep core of character these men had who committed themselves to giving up life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for themselves in order to give life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to others living and to other generations not yet born. I want to be a man who makes commitments, good and noble commitments and follows through with them even when the cost was more than I imagined when I made the commitment.
When I was sixteen, I committed myself to being a follower of Jesus Christ
— I will keep that commitment to the day I die. When I was twenty-one, I committed myself to a beautiful woman while standing before God and witnesses — I will keep that commitment to the day I die. When I was twenty-eight, I committed myself to defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and though I have been retired from Active Duty, I will honor that commitment until the day I die.
When I was 25, 31 and 33, I made the commitment to be a father to three children, not just to raise them, but to be their father — I will keep that commitment until the day I die.
Costs follow commitment! If I make no commitment, then anything that happens is just a by-product of chance. If I make the commitment, then I am saying, “let cost come — it will not deter me from what I have pledged.”
So, today, I am reminded that I want to be a man of commitment, to God and His people, to my wife, to my children, to my country. I may have not paid the ultimate cost in any of these things yet, but I have made the ultimate commitments and I shall keep them regardless the cost.
To Whom, divine or earthly, are you committed today? To what ideals have you pledged yourself? Do you recognize that those who pledged themselves to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness gave theirs up — can you do no less?
It’s the fourth of July — make it yours . . . Commit!
John Groth
Men’s Retreat – Fall 2011
June 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Westchester Men’s Ministry will be participating in Priority One’s men’s retreat again this fall! Here are the details:
September 15-18
Lake Champion, Glen Spey, NY
If you register early (by June 30th) the cost is only $195 for the whole weekend! Then it’s $215 until July 31st and finally $235.
You can find more information about activities at: priorityone.org. But to sign-up contact us so we can all plan to stay in the same facility.
Hope you can join us!
Here are some pictures of Rob on the Zip line from last year!
Westchester Men's Ministry 