Boasting About Tommorow

I am sitting at Starbucks right now pondering James and his comments on how our lives are a "mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (4:14) I have been here for a few hours now and just checked the status of my medical school applications online, still waiting. It got me to think about what I am doing, what is really meant by my application process and what not. (Ps. I am not sure if this is the text for this week, so if it isn't then just keep this in mind when we do get to it) When asked how much longer I have till I am a doctor, I respond with a smirk that I have 8 years left. But do I? How do I know I will be a doctor 8 years from now? How do I know I will graduate this program next year? How do I know that I will be alive tomorrow?

"You do not know what tomorrow will bring...you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." (4:14,16) Evil? Really? Yup. To not fully believe that He has a say in what happens to us is a sin, it is putting ourselves ahead of Him. We can say "Oh I know He does," but do we? Do we really make plans, even something as mundane as going to the bathroom,  knowing full well that the Lord can take us before we do it? Yes, be good stewards of what He has given us, but always remember that today could be your last. Remember that serving  your wife, lending an ear to a broken friend, sharing the Gospel with a co-worker is far more important at this moment than planning anything in the future because this is where you are at this second. If you were brought before Christ today will you tell Him that you were planning on serving Him tomorrow? Do life for Him now because rain-checks don't count.

Have a great CHRIST-FILLED day!

In Christ

Christian

Conforming to His Image, Amy Carmichael and JIM Night

This week, pastor mark gave us some great stuff about Amy Carmichael, a dedicated missionary who lived a Christ-centered life by saving the lives of thousands of children in India. More significant though was her personal journey with Christ - we can all learn to be more fearless and to take chances with the holy spirit guiding our actions. I felt Paul's words from Ephesians 6 about declaring the gospel fearlessly ringing through my head when he was talking about the story of how this woman lived for Christ.

Tonight, I am attending JIM night at 6:30 where Nate Irwin will be discussing an important book to those who are interested in missionary work. "Conformed to His Image," by Kenneth Boa is a book about the spiritual tools needs to carry-out mission work in the face of tough challenges. But more importantly he discusses how to first point your life toward Christ so God's purposes can be revealed to you through his wisdom and power and not our own. In reading an excerpt from the book, it is clear how much this can apply to our daily lives right here in Indianapolis or in India.

I don't know what mission work has to do with me yet, but I feel like God is in the process of revealing his plan to me, whether that be supporting missionaries from here or in any other way he might have for me....please pray that I would let God work on my heart in relation to mission work of any kind and that I would be seeking God's path tonight and always.

Also don't forget to vote in the poll down the right hand side of the blog, I have posted a new question.

In Christ,

Todd McCall

PS - for those who are going to the mission weekend, especially the men's ping pong and pancakes on Saturday morning, the Irwin cup is mine!

Being Honest with God

Greg Enas shared a great testimony this morning at basketball regarding honesty with God. His family has been going through various trials actually covering the past few years and he used them to speak of our need to be honest. There are no real 1/2 way measures with God, even though I often try have my own way while still "doing" mostly right things. But if God truly IS God, then only complete honesty with Him and surrender to Him will cut it. None of this partial submittal stuff. God doesn't accept partial committment. Because of His love for me, He will just pull back and let me tossed about on my own. He's waiting for me to admit to myself that I don't trust Him /believe Him/ sumit/ whatver. When I finally surrender in full, He is more than gracious to step in and lead me, just like He always is wanting too. Psalm 119:8 Is David being Honest with God. As I committment to follwing God, He teaches me that I can depend on Him.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob Doster

Thank you

I would like to thank each of you for the prayers and support for my mom over the past few months and in particularly last week. Wednesday was a very emotional and blessed day for us. Going to the church , we drove by the city hall - which the mayor closed so everyone could attend the funeral. The mayor also had the flag lowered to half mast to honor Mom. Obviously that started the tears flowing before we even entered the church.

When we arrived at the church, the family gathered in the meeting hall and at 10:30 the grandsons went to the front of the church to be pallbearers and the rest of the family went through a side door to go to our seats. When I was walking into the church, I felt totally overwhlemed that I would not be able to do the eulogy. It was all I could do to walk with Janice and Natalie to our seats and not trip over anything. As the service got under way I felt more at ease. I was to speak after communion and as we got closer to that time I started to feel God's presence. And once we started communion I was actually smiling! God then reminded me of all the people that were praying for my family and particularly me - that I would have the strength and courage to speak God's Word and honor him and my mom. The eulogy went well. I felt like I was in a trance most of the time. (Later in the day I couldn't remember if I said everything I wanted and had to ask Janice if I said this or that - she said I did).

I can share other stories or my eulogy at another time if interested but wanted to thank each of you for being so faithful in your prayers. I can truely say that I was lifted up by your prayers and could not have gotten through the service them. It is so great to be part of the Body and know that godly men are there to support you through all circumstances of life. You are my brothers and I appreciate each of you.

His servant in Christ.
Tom Cappucci

Be Watchful!

1 Cor.16:13 says "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Do all in love". Choosing to surrender your will! You don't choose with your mind-although you have to understand. You don't choose with your emotions-though it helps to WANT to make the choices. Ultimately you choose with your will. So you have to have a surrendered will.

The surrender of our will always comes down to saying: "Not my will, Lord, but Yours be done!" 1 Cor. 16:13 breaks down into four great challenges to help us in our choices:
1) BE WATCHFUL. Pay attention. Take a stand. Don't compromise, Engage. Participate. When he made these challenges, Paul was wrapping up his first letter to the Corinthian church with what it takes to following Jesus over your lifetime-a long obedience in the same direction.
2) STAND FIRM INTHE FAITH. Be determined. Certian. Resolute in your commitment. There are many ways to fall; one way to stand. Root yourself in Christ.
3) ACT LIKE MEN. The equivalent today might be something like, Don't whine or waver or wallow with excessive emotion. Choose your course and stick to it. Don't let your feelings rule your actions.
4) BE STRONG. Don't be weak or passive. Engage your will. Step up. Don't be indifferent. There's lot on the line here. Life is short. Take a stand. Fly the flag. Live for Jesus!

Thanks to James McDonald for this thought! Your brother, Mark Gayer

The Bible and Revelation

This is a great article on Boundless.org about the reveltion that Jesus Christ is our savior. Check it out by clicking here

Truthfulness the Way God Sees It

At the last meeting, Steve had mentioned that I had put together a document containing some biblical-based tips for improving exaggeration, lying, and dishonesty. This is an area I tend to struggle in and I pray that I will continually receive christ in every word I speak, that nothing that comes from my mouth will be dishonest or not in his truth.

I enourage you to read this over or you can also save it as a file. Click here to view the document.

In him,

Todd

Have You Ever Lied to Get Pity from Someone?

Powerful testomony about honesty:

Gentlemen,

I was thinking about our topic this morning and I thought about one other instance in which we stretch the truth/fib/tell a white lie, or as we should just call it for what it is, lie. Have you ever lied to get pity from someone?

Case in point: Yesterday I was at Starbucks studying and one of the Starbucks people made a bunch of samples of hot chocolate to pass out to people. I had gotten up to do something when they were starting to pass them out and by the time I sat down, all ready to get my free hot chocolate, there was none left. I looked over at another table and saw that a couple had taken four samples instead of two! I was not happy. I had been cheated out of the hot chocolate I deserved! Poor me! (Ps. I am being very sarcastic) Anyways, I was talking to Amber that evening and mentioned the crime that had occurred to me earlier in the day. However, I mentioned to her that they had taken "4-6" samples. She was abhorred by their behavior as well and I felt justified.

In retrospect, I think I "stretched the truth" because if I made them look worse in my story, I looked more victimized and thus gained more pity. Granted, it was not polite of them to do that, but it was hot chocolate, who cares. I let my pride get the best of me and got angry at them and in turn made them look bad so as to gain pity. Pretty pathetic huh? But here is the thing, how many times have we done this and just overlooked it as nothing? "But he cut me off so badly!" or "But I was in line before him!" How can we complain about such things when we don't deserve anything in the first place. I find it interesting that I used the sin of lying to feed my sin of pride. I guess I shouldn't say interesting, but I should rightly say pathetic or despicable.

It is amazing to see how so many respectable sins pervade our lives, and worse yet how we tolerate them so much. Hopefully this has helped you all think more about this stuff as it has implicated me of my ridiculousness.

Hope you all have a great Christ centered day!

In Christ
Christian

Congrats to AMen Member Micah Vincent

Congratulations to Micah for passing his bar exam! That is a great acheivement!

Welcome to Our AMen Blog

Hello and welcome to AMen's bible study blog. We have launched this new blog in order to stay in touch more throughout the week and to be able to continually pray for each other throughout the week.

Each Friday morning, 15 Men meet at College Park Church in Room A5 at 6:30 am. Our goal is to glorify god by supporting and encouraging each other to become mighty men through prayer, scripture study, and simply by being transparent with one another about our daily struggles as sinful men. Through the power of Jesus, each of us hopes to put on truth, integrity, humility, patience, and an unbiased love for all of God's people everyday of this life.

This morning we studied James 3: 1-12. Verses which speak to many of us men who tend to exaggerate, speak falsehoods and how we are called to be truthful, honest, and full of integrity in every thought and action.

We are members of College Park Church and we encourage you to check out their web site to find out more about what our goals are in serving his kingdom. If you are a man seeking to discover the power of Jesus Christ, we would encourage you to check out this week's sermon from our pastor Mark Vroegop and to seek any other men's group opportunities through our church body.

If you would like to join AMen or for more information contact our group leader, Steve Gray.