religion – Westchester Men's Ministry

A Father’s Testimony

November 8, 2012 by nymensministry 13 Comments

My daughter lived 780 days (2 years and 2 months) and we often wondered after she died, if she knew Jesus. She Did! We know we will see her again and I hope her story will be a comfort to others who have experienced loss. May God comfort you and bless you!

Emily was born on February 13, 2002 with Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase (CACT) deficiency which is a genetic disorder that prevents the proper breakdown of fats. This leads to excess ammonia in the blood (hyperammonemia), an enlarged liver (hepatomegaly), and a weakened heart muscle (cardiomyopathy). Emily died on April 3, 2004 of cardiomyopathy.

Carolyn and Terence miss Emily very much. We know that she lights up heaven just a little more with her presence but this world is that much dimmer without her.

God Bless!

A Father’s Testimony by Westchester Men’s Ministry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at https://nymensministry.com/2012/11/08/a-fathers-testimony/.

Filed Under: Christ, Christian Fathers, Christian Men, dad, encouragement, Faith, Heaven, Loss, Salvation Tagged With: baby, child, faith, God, health, heaven, In heaven?, infant, Jesus, know Jesus, loss, loss of a child, religion, salvation, saved

The 40 Day Journaling Challenge

November 6, 2012 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

In our men’s Bible study this past Saturday morning we talked about ‘fear and love’ in the Bible. I wondered out loud to the group,

‘Do we truly experience a daily tangible relationship with God?‘.

I said, I’m sure we have all had times where we felt close to Him (and multiple heads shook in agreement) but do we have an intimate connection with him daily? If we did, we probably would better understand what it means to ‘fear’ breaking that relationship with Him.

God, closer, intimacy, journal, walk, relationship

priestlybride.blogspot.com/

I suspect that, despite our efforts, there will always be some days when God feels distant. As He did to David, when he wrote Psalm 22, and to Jesus when he used it while on the cross:

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
²O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.

But these are likely times of trial in which God is teaching us something. The problem I have, is that I bring upon myself a dryness (as Gordon MacDonald described in our last post) and this is something I want to try to address.

You see, I’ve been going through a period of discouragement and I desire a closer walk with God. I want to know His presence more and have a more intimate relationship. I want it to be more tangible as it was with Moses, David and especially Jesus.

I know a closer walk means both more discipline and more actually walking (doing His will). Therefore today, I resolve to journal for 40 days starting this coming Sunday, November 11th, through to Friday, December 22nd. I can’t think of a better way to prepare for the coming of Christ on Christmas!

I have talked to multiple people about this already and some people have agreed to join me, without any prompting. Therefore I wanted to open this challenge up to all of you. To our blog readers, our followers on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. The members of the Westchester Men’s Ministry and the church congregations of Westchester, especially Community Bible Church of Yorktown, NY.

If you would like to join us, make a resolution to do so. You don’t have to make it public but we recommend you do. You can leave a comment on this blog post or you can share it on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NYMensministry

Then keep an eye out for more details on resources to help you during your journaling/quiet time. In order to make it easier, any resource we use will be available free on-line. You can use a simple notebook but if you would like to buy a slightly nicer journal, this one is less than $10. http://www.dayspring.com/cross_leather_christian_journal/

God Bless!

The 40 Day Journaling Challenge by Westchester Men’s Ministry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at https://nymensministry.com/2012/11/06/journaling-challenge/.

Filed Under: communing with God, daily office, journaling, meditation, Prayer Tagged With: closer walk, God, gordon macdonald, intimacy, journal, journaling, meditation, prayer, psalm 22, quiet time, relationship, religion, walk

The Discipline of Journaling

November 4, 2012 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

Why Mapping your Private World can bring your soul into focus – Genesis 35:6-7

by Gordon MacDonald – Reprinted with permission of the Leadership Journal (LeadershipJournal.net)

When I started journaling it was because I needed a “friend,” and I wasn’t doing well with the human kind. I had passed through several weeks of high stress, the kind young pastors are never ready to face. I’d ignored the need for spiritual refreshment; I’d neglected the family; I’d allowed myself to become overwhelmed by the problems of people. There I was, one Saturday morning, crying uncontrollably in the arms of my wife.

It was a scary moment and gave me a taste of the ’empty soul’. This must not happen again, I thought. It came to me that writing each day in a journal would press me to deal more forthrightly with my emotions, with my spiritual state (or lack of same), and with the meaning of my life. I was not disappointed.

Journaling Defined

What was my journal’s purpose? A journal—at least in my book—is a dialogue with the soul. It includes a record of events, but it also attempts to expose the significance of the events. What is God saying through this? What am I learning? How do I feel? What are the principles that ooze from these events?

Beyond that, I wanted the journal to be a story of my own journey and the journey (as much as possible) of those closest to me. The high and low points of my marriage are in the journals. Our children and grandchildren will one day be able to go back and recapture the salient events of their lives as seen through a father’s eyes. They will know how much I have loved them and how proud I am of their life choices. Often I have used my journal to pray and worship. Here and there are the indications of spiritual breakthroughs. And the journal has preserved vivid memories of the most remarkable (good and bad) moments of life.

What Journaling Produces

When journaling is done regularly, several things become possible:

The invisible and the ephemeral are forced into reality. Once feelings, fears, and dreams are named, they can be dealt with, prayed for, and surrendered to God. They come under control, no longer existing in a way that pollutes the soul and the mind.

Learning experiences are preserved. If I record and reflect on the experiences of each day, I add to my base of wisdom. Things usually forgotten or lost in the unconscious now, like books on a library shelf, wait to be tapped when parallel moments arise in the future.

Memories of God’s great and gracious acts are preserved. “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it,” God said to Moses after a great victory. As Israel wandered through the wilderness and experienced God’s providential care, he had them build monuments so they could remember. One day, I realized that my journal writing was a memorial to God’s sufficiency.

I can chart areas where I need most to grow and mature. As I look at journals of 30 years ago, I realize I have struggled with the same knot of issues throughout the years. The good news: the steps I took in the early days as I wrote of these issues turned into disciplines. And today, while issues remain, my “overcoming” rate is substantially higher. I wouldn’t have spotted many of these issues if I’d not written about them day after day.

It brings dreams alive. As ideas have flooded my mind over the years, I have written about them. Putting them into words helped me to discern the foolish ideas and develop the good ones. Many things I’ve done in the last few years had origins I can find in earlier journals.

Discussion:

Have you ever kept a journal? Was it a positive or negative experience?
What appeals to you most about keeping a regular journal? What appeals to you least?
Which of the products of journaling above seem the most beneficial?

Challenge:

We would like to challenge all of our readers and followers to join us in resolving to journal for 40 days starting this coming Sunday, November 11th, through to December 22nd. More details to follow in our next blog on Tuesday, November 6th.

Pictures of journals we found on-line that have inspired us:

Journaling as Spiritual Discipline: How to Set up and Organize a Journal

http://www.aholyexperience.com

http://www.allisonkimball.com

http://www.theredheadedhostess.com

Filed Under: communing with God, daily office, divine office, journaling, meditation, Prayer Tagged With: bible study, closer walk with God, daily office, discipline, divine office, God, journal, journaling, meditation, peace, presence, quiet time, religion

Men on Pinterest? No way?! Way!

October 19, 2012 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

Yes, the Westchester Men’s Ministry has over 500 followers on Pinterest and growing. Although many of those followers are women at the moment. Take a look at our boards and tell us what you think in the comments section of this post?

Do you think we should spend time on Pinterest? How can we better serve you and your ministry? Thanks!

Here are a few of our recent pins, see more at: http://pinterest.com/nymensministry/