Starting Friday: Men's Fellowship Through Accountability

We’re kicking off a new section of the book this week; “Stand Firm in the Faith“.  Our homework this week is to read chapters 17 and 18.  The last section talked about how a quality man watches over his family; “be watchful…“.  However, this week, we’ll see that being watchful can be directed in the wrong areas if that urgency is pointed to the wrong stuff or wrong time.

Are you confused yet?

Fear not!  Here’s where you need to focus this week.  In chapter 17, think about our tendency to pray for what our author calls “easier paths” instead of “stronger shoes (cleats)”.  And in chapter 18, the key message is the discussion on the five most important Gospel words that provide an essential level of clarity for that firmness.

So, standing firm (in our faith) and having clarity (in our convictions) are the key pillars for this week.  Mike leads us this Friday and will drill down a little deeper into those concepts.

See you at The Cornwell Center starting at 7:30 am!

Peace!

We’re slowly edging up to the Christmas celebration but not before we tackle this week’s lesson from “Act Like Men”, chapters 15-16.  John Ramey will lead us this week where the author discusses, among other topics, Jesus’ ability to be the manliest of men by “stepping up” during situations that called for immediate action.

Don’t believe me?  Consider the following actions by Jesus (which the author point out as well):

• Making a whip out of cords to drive charlatans from his Father’s house
• Standing up to an adulteress when others wanted to stone her to death
• Walking on water….I mean, is there anything more manly than that…!!??
• Calming the troubled seas with the sound of his voice

How do we measure up as “manly” men?  Are you rugged enough?

Gather in the front parlor at The Cornwell Center beginning at 7:30 am.  John will kick things into gear at 7:45 am.

See you then!

Peace!

Recognize this week’s title from the line of a famous movie?  The original 1984 Terminator movie pits a robotic cyborg-villain played by Arnold Schwartzenegger on a quest to kill Sarah Connor, played by actress, Linda Hamilton.  The Terminator goes on a terror path of death and destruction in his efforts to destroy Sarah.

Famously, the Terminator enters the police station and tells the desk sergeant that he’s a friend of Sarah Connor.  The dialog goes like this:

The Terminator:
I’m a friend of Sarah Connor. I was told she was here. Could I see her please?

Desk Sergeant:
No, you can’t see her. She’s making a statement.

The Terminator:
Where is she?

Desk Sergeant:
It may take a while. Want to wait? There’s a bench over there.

The Terminator:
[looks around, examining the structural integrity of the room, then looks back at him] I’ll be back.

We all know what happens next….where the cyborg drives a car through the front door of the police station.  Luckily, Sarah escapes!

As I was reading through our homework for this week, Chapter 13-14, there’s an inference to Satan in our lives that reminded me of this movie.  In Chapter 13, our author refers to Satan’s efforts as first a “disguise“, then a “division“, and lastly a “destruction“.  The only difference, perhaps, is that Satan hardly ever comes into our lives as ominous as the Terminator!

Be aware!

Jason Schubert leads us this week and will discuss Chapters 13-14 from our book, “Act Like Men”.  Gather starting at 7:30 am at the Cornwell Center.  Jason will kick things off at 7:45 am.

I hope you’ll all “be back” this week!……

Admittedly, I have a distinct liking to country music; drives my family nuts, especially!  But then again, I drive a pick-up truck so that genre of music goes hand-in-hand with my F-150!

One the singers I used to love is a guy named Toby Keith.  Originally from Oklahoma, but certainly overlaps into Texas.  Either way, just looking at Toby, and you know he’s country!  One of his earlier hits was a song called, “Talk About Me….”.  Reading this week’s homework, chapters 11 and 12, might have you singing the same tune.

Here’s a taste of the lyrics:

I want to talk about me
Want to talk about I
Want to talk about number one
Oh my me my
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see
I like talking about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally
I want to talk about me

Similar to Toby’s song, both chapters this week have a distinct message as it relates to our current section’s theme (“Be Watchful”); and that message centers around “watching me”.  In other words, if we want to start having the conversation about being watchful, then it needs to start by examining the person in the mirror!

Rob Miller steps up to bat this week and will lead us in the discussion.  Looking forward to getting out of the cold (here in Charlotte) and digging into Rob’s review of this week’s lesson!

Gather at 7:30 am.  We’ll start promptly at 7:45 am.  Cornwell Center front parlor room.

Peace!

New section of our study begins this week…..”Be Watchful”…..!  Your homework is to read the (short) chapters, 9 and 10.  Think about how God is reminding us to be “on alert and watchful” in our homes, and other areas of our lives.

What is causing you to be distracted from being watchful?  Are your Spidey-sensors up, watching for harm?  Or are you like our author, on duty but not paying attention?

Meet Friday morning at 7:30 am.  Mike kicks off the lesson and the new section starting at 7:45 am.  Cornwell Center location…..as usual!

Peace!

FMMF Charlotte will not meet this week, given the Thanksgiving holiday.  Enjoy time with family and friends.  Be thankful for all our blessings!

We’ll gather NEXT Friday, NOV 30, and start the next section of our current study, Act Like Men.  If you’re looking to get a jump on next week, then dig into chapters 9 – 10 of the book.

Mike leads next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace!

Ever wonder where that phrase came from….”moved by the spirit”..?

Honestly, for me, it’s one of those phrases that I never stop to think about “where” it started.  But now, after reading this week’s chapter in our study, it’s becoming pretty clear to me of the origin!  Up until this point in our study, our author has been leading us down a path of what WE need to be doing in our lives to “act like men”; to be quality men.

This week, in Chapter 8, you’ll see how God has provided us a partner in our lives to help keep us on track!  I won’t spoil the ending….and hopefully you already know who that partner is in our lives….

Instead, let’s rely on Jon Paschal, this week’s leader, to bring the message to us and share Chapter 8’s key points.  Chapter 8 is your homework as we wrap up the first section of the book:  “Let Your Partner Take the Lead“.  We’ll wrap up section 1, “Act Like Men”, and lean forward towards section 2, “We Watchful”.

Quick reminder that we won’t meet next Friday since it’s Thanksgiving week.  Section 2 will start on Friday, Nov 30th for Chapters 9-10.

See you this Friday for Chapter 8 at The Cornwell Center.  Gather at 7:30 am….Jon will kicks things off at 7:45 am.

Peace!

Leadership Ministries, our “mothership” out of Atlanta, launched a new website earlier this week:

www.leadmin.org

Take some time to go through it…..lots of great information!  Click on the Friday Mornings tab to see the Charlotte Friday Morning Men’s Fellowship (FMMF) as well as the others!

Enjoy!

 

 

Or was he?  Actually, Ford (the company), had a motto years ago that read, “Quality is job one….”.  Even our author this week talks about it, in reference to his father-in-laws actions along an auto plant’s assembly line.  This week, our homework is to continue on in our first section of “Act Like Men” by reading chapters 6 (“Truly As Good As It Gets…“) and 7 (“Disneyland Quality“).  These two chapters fit nicely together as MacDonald discusses “what is perfection” and “what (and who) seem to be perfect” is not always the case.

Jon Pascal will lead this week as we tackle the key points in the chapters.  Short reads, once again, and great questions to consider at the end of each chapter.

See you in Fellowship beginning at 7:30 am this Friday at The Cornwell Center!

Peace!

Whoops!

It’s been one of those weeks!  And having chocolate on the brain from Wednesday night’s Halloween “event”, isn’t helping matters either!

Week 3 of our study…..homework is Chapter 4 (“And the Gold Goes to….”) and Chapter 5 (“What Are You Looking at..?“).

I took a different approach this week in preparing for Friday’s lesson.  I went, first, to the questions at the back of each chapter….then did the reading.  Yes, they’re still short reads…but knowing the questions helped me focus on the author’s message.

I won’t steal Rob Miller’s thunder…..he’s leading us this week.  I’ll see everyone at the Cornwell Center starting at 7:30 am in Fellowship!

Peace!