MENTOR SHOPPING

I know a lot of guys who are looking for a mentor. Some are looking for a spiritual mentor, some are looking for a business mentor, and some just need a life mentor. A lot of guys are looking for a mentor. But most guys don’t know how to start. A recent blog post by Jon Acuff from his “Stuff Christian’s Like” blog gives some helpful advice regarding what not to do when looking for a mentor….

Pics From This Year’s Retreat

Here’s a youtube compilation of some of the highlights of this year’s men’s retreat. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for November 9-11th 2012 for our next one!

LIVE BOLD on Angel’s Landing

Here’s a video that this year’s speaker put together highlighting our very own Jeff Long’s conquest of the incredible Angel’s Landing hike at Zion along with a bunch of our other guys…

TURKEY BOWL

Men, it’s time for the Crossing’s annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl game. This is your one chance to live in the power and glory that can only come from stiff-arming a pastor on the way to the end zone. At the very least, you’ll feel less guilt about the extra helping of mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie you’ll be eating Thursday night!
7:30-9am at Red Ridge Park. For More info, contact Mike: mlee107@cox.net.

New Groups Start Soon!

Okay, I know you’re scared. I know that the idea of joining a men’s group gives you the heebie jeebies. But, how do you expect to become the guy God has created and called you to be if you keep trying to do it on your own? You can’t; you need other guys and they need you. So, bite the bullet, man up and call one of these guys below and, if they sound halfway normal, plug into their group. Or, if you’re ready to start a group of your own, contact Scott at swhaley@thecrossingonline.com.

Study of the book of Romans
Group Leader: Tom Bobo
Meets: Wed/9am
Location: Church Office
Contact Info: (702) 373-8189 or tombobo@cox.net

Study of the book of Genesis
Group Leader: Jim Barickman
Meets:Tue/7pm
Location: Barickman Home/West Sahara
Contact Info: (702) 461-3971 or sellm@mac.com


Real Men Group: Real Men, Real Stories
Group Leaders: Nick Russo/Chris Fenimore
Meets: 2nd Saturday of the month
Location: Church Activity Center or Sheets Home
Contact Info: (702) 528-0029 or ctfenimore@hotmail.com


The Quest for Authentic Manhood Part 1
Group Leaders: Jeff Long
Meets: Tue/6:30am
Location: Church Office
Contact Info: (702) 947-2080 or jclong@thecrossingonline.com


The Quest for Authentic Manhood Part 2 (you don’t have to have completed part 1)
Group Leaders: Aaron Sheets
Meets: Wed/6pm
Location: Sheets home Trop/215
Contact Info: (702) 306-4168 or aaronsheets@gmail.com

The Bible for Men/Study of Mark
Group Leader: Chuck Hiatt
Meets: Thur/7am
Location: i35 Coffee Shop at The Crossing
Contact Info: (702) 947-2080 or chiatt@thecrossingonline.com

Men Will Be Boys

It’ll be hard for you to read this challenging article by William J. Bennett and not want to take action. Here’s an excerpt:

“Movies are filled with stories of men who refuse to grow up and refuse to take responsibility in relationships. Men, some obsessed with sex, treat women as toys to be discarded when things get complicated. Through all these different and conflicting signals, our boys must decipher what it means to be a man, and for many of them it is harder to figure out.”

Check out the whole article here.

God in the Movies: Warrior

I few weeks back we did a “God in the Movies” series at The Crossing. The premise was, that the meta story of God — his redemption and restoration of a broken people finds its way into much of the art that is produced by those very broken people he is in the process of redeeming and restoring. The art isn’t always tied up in a nice “Christian” bow, but, then again, neither are most of the stories that we see lived out in the Bible.

To that point, I recently saw such a film. Warrior is the story of sons and dads and brothers and families and how pain from the past can destroy your present and your future if you don’t come to terms with it. There are themes of courage, redemption, forgiveness and hope. For me, this movie had nuances of Rocky meets Cinderella Man. Good action, great themes. I would say its primarily a guy film because its got some PAINFULLY realistic MMA fight scenes and some language that is offensive, but I took my wife and mother-in-law with me when I saw it, and they both LOVED it. Its rated PG13 and is not a movie for everyone; but if you’re prepared to look past the realistic roughness of the movie and its characters, you’ll see God’s story of faith propelling forgiveness.

So, grab some buddies and check this movie out. Afterwards, grab some coffee or food and discuss some of the themes via this faith guide produced by the studio. Click on this link.to download the companion guide.

GUYS WHO “GET IT”

I’ve recently heard of some guys in our church who are living out the mission of The Pursuit and I wanted to share them with you. A Pursuit guy PURSUES his relationship with God, ENGAGES in spiritual friendships, and CONFRONTS the needs of his community. Here’s some of those guys:

–One guy in our Singles Ministry had a thought while showering (don’t laugh, you know that’s the second place we do our best thinking. The first is another part of the same room.). Anyway, he thought it would be a cool idea if the Singles served the Family Promise homeless that were staying with us by taking them to the movies with the Singles. He got the ball rolling and the movie theater even kicked in some free tickets for the homeless folks! I just love that! When this guy’s mind wandered, it went to the needs of others. How many of us can say that? It also makes me wonder what ever happened to soap-on-a rope?

–Another guy i know who serves in our children’s ministry sent a letter to the parents of all the kids in his small group and let them know that, if they would send their kid to camp, he’d pony up $40 per kid to help with the cost of the camp! This isn’t a wealthy dude, but he’s investing his time AND his money to see boys pursue their relationship with God!

–Finally, I had a guy approach me recently who has had serious struggles with pornography since he was a teenager. He continues the struggle, but has found that, through his relationship with Christ, he has been strengthened. He now wants to lead a group for guys that are going through those same struggles. He doesn’t have all the answers, and stepping out like that is intimidating, but he wants to see other men find the freedom that he has. Porn is silently sniping our guys and blowing up our marriages, but nobody wants to talk about it. Here’s a guy ready to put himself out there for a brother in need. That’s pretty cool!

I love each of these stories, because these guys are just regular guys letting Christ shape them and drive them. They don’t have it all figured out, but they “get it”. They see that being God’s guy isn’t about waiting for heaven when they die, but its about joining God in what He’s doing today: He’s changing hearts and lives, He’s redeeming brokenness and pain, and He’s building a brand new breed of men. These are the men of The Pursuit.

Free to all Men’s Ministry small group leaders!

If you are a men’s ministry small group leader, I’ve got a blue or dark grey hot and cold beverage holder for you! That’s right, as appreciation for all the times  your hot beverage got cold or your cold beverage got warm because you were helping a guy in your group understand the Trinity or talking him through why buying a blender for his wife’s birthday will end badly for him, THIS MUGS FOR YOU!

If you are leading a men’s group, send me an email and I’ll arrange to get your authentic PURSUIT beverage container to you!

If you’re not leading a group, but would really, really like a beverage container of your very own. TOUGH! its only for guys leading groups. HOWEVER, if you would like to lead a group (and receive your awesome beverage container) send me an email and we’ll talk.

The Knight’s Code

I just came across a pretty cool resource for guys. It’s a book called “The Knights Code” by Robert Noland. In this book, Noland uses contemporary examples, struggles and vision to compel men to accept The Knights Code Challenge: a challenge to live pure, speak truth, right wrongs and follow the King. In doing this, he addresses many of the issues that keep guys from being the man that they truly want to be. Each chapter ends with discussion questions that will call you to do more than just mentally agree with what he’s saying.

So, how are you doing with being the man you want to be? Do you have a vision for your life bigger than acquiring things that make life easier? Do you desire to have a clear path to spiritual growth?

From pg 37 of the book,”…answer these [questions]: Who has your back? Who would risk for you? if you went too far, who would go get you? and… Whose back do you have? Who would you risk for? Who would you walk through Hell to get back? As a Christian man, these are vitally important questions to answer.”

I’d love to see groups of guys throughout The Crossing gathering together, reading through this book and asking each other the hard questions that conclude each chapter. I’d love to see our guys get a vision for walking in integrity and nobility. I’d love to see the dads at The Crossing develop a personal code that they’d be able to hand down to their sons and the sons of the church.

Are you willing to be one of those men? If you know a couple of other guys, invite them to take the challenge with you. Get the book, set up a regular meeting time and get to it! Just let me know so i can celebrate this bold act with you and encourage the other men that are stepping up to take the challenge!

If you’re like most of the guys I know — you really don’t know anyone that you could even approach to take the challenge with you. No worries, let me know you’re interested and I’ll help you find a couple of other guys who are tired of living beneath God’s vision for them and who are ready to step up and risk significance.

To order the book through Amazon, click here.

To send me an email to answer questions about mens’ groups, to let me know you’re going to get some guys together, or to get some help getting connected in a group with some other guys, click here.