Finding the Right Friends to Hold on to

Last week I took Ben out on a father/son outing we do every year close to his birthday (which is this Saturday).  I look forward to these fun nights more and more as he grows up, but they're not just for fun - they're intentional.  As Ben grows up he needs me to be intentional in teaching him life's lessons.  

Being a dad is hard work, but our sons/daughters need us to be actively engaging them, teaching them, and doing so in a way that's both creative, compelling, and memorable.

 

Dads - this is your territory! Dennis Rainey says, "if you are a father, this is your assignment. This is your privilege.  no other man on the planet has the same responsibility fore your son."1

Each year it's my goal to have one key thought for my kids (once they hit grade school). This year I'm teaching Ben "You are who you hang with."  He should learn, and learn early, that choosing friends changes your life and how rare and valuable true friendship is. As he begins this long journey called life, one of the greatest treasures I can help him find is true friendship.

To establish some scriptural truth about friends in a way he could remember we ended up at the rock climbing gym (a manly place, but also surprisingly staged well to teach about choosing friends). There he not only heard, but also experienced these truths on choosing the right friends:

Only you get to choose

The thing about friends is you must choose.  Life is not neutral - to move forward a choice is coming.  The same is true of Climbing a Rock wall -- there are many types of holds, some small, some large, some better than others for advancing you to your goal, but to proceed you must choose.  Choosing is a part of life and making the right choice is something that wise men do.

Some will help you climb higher

Some holds when climbing a wall are advantageous to your climb, others are there in proximity but not something that will help make the climb easier.  Just like choosing the right hold, choosing the right friends in life can really add to who you are in character, in integrity, and they will help you be who God has called you to be.

Some will make you fall

Some holds on a rock wall seem like they are there purely to lure you into reaching for them, grabbing them for what may be a moment, only to have you slip off and fall.  Similarly in life we can surround ourselves by those who would hold us back and at times cause us to fall and stumble in becoming who God has called us to be.  The truth is there are certain people to be friendly with but not to befriend.

Closest isn’t always the best

Proximity isn't always a good reason to choose a friend. It's just as true of grown men as young boys - the tendency is to choose those (or fall into a default friendship with those) we are near.  Your co-workers, those who like the same hobbies as you, neighbors.  Reality is those closest to you may not be the best friends for you.  Of course, we should be loving and kind to everyone, but to invite someone to influence you regardless of their character is not wise.  Same is true in climbing.  The temptation is to choose the holds that are closer, easier to reach for, but that doesn't make them the best for you.  be judicious, be choosy, be wise.

 If you fall, get up, learn from your mistakes, and climb again!

It's really not if, typically it's when.  A great lesson in life and @ the rock gym is to keep moving upwards.  Falls are a part of it and you will make a bad choice along the way - just don't stay at the bottom looking up.  At some point you have to learn from your mistakes and climb again.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 NIV)

It's better to build boys than mend men.  - Truett Cathy, CEO Chick-fil-A

  
my compliments to Inspire Rock Gym in Spring, TX - should be a great father/son hangout for years to come!

1 Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood by Dennis Rainey

Divine Valentines (Valentines 2014 post 4/4)

This is my final post on loving well.  Today is Valentines Day and this blog taken from Gary Thomas' blog http://www.garythomas.com/blog/ is perfect for anyone whether you are married, engaged, single, or anywhere else on the love spectrum. Gary will be leading our Building A Sacred Marriage Conference next weekend @ Second - it's my hope you can attend!

 

Divine Valentines

photo: Ashley Campbell Photography, Creative Commons

If you want to make this Valentines’ Day special, in addition to shopping for the lingerie and chocolate, spend some extra time worshipping God.
It’s not that I have anything against chocolate or lingerie (especially lingerie), but nearly three decades of marriage has taught me that personal worship is an absolute must to sustain a strong marriage. It comes down to this: if I stop receiving from God, I start demanding from others. Instead of appreciating and serving others, I become disappointed in them.

But when my heart is filled with God’s love and acceptance, I’m set free to love instead of worrying about being loved.

I’m motivated to serve instead of becoming obsessed about whether I’m being served. I’m moved to cherish instead of feeling unappreciated.
There’s something about Valentine’s Day that, if the relationship is strong, makes romance feel wonderfully intense. But if the marriage is going through a tough patch, Valentine’s Day, with all the expectations, can make it feel even worse. That’s why we need to be spiritually prepared.
I’ve heard women complain about their husbands not being spiritual leaders, and husbands complain about their wives’ lack of sexual initiation, but the reality is, whenever we place our happiness in the hands of another human being, we virtually guarantee some degree of disappointment.

That’s why worship sets us free; it meets our most basic needs

—to rest in the fact that we are known, loved, have a purpose, and our eternal destiny is secure—so that lesser needs serve the role of an occasional dessert rather than our main meal.
If you expect your marriage to make up for your lack of spiritual intimacy and connectedness with God, you’ll bury it with your expectations and disappointment.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found a constant formula at work in my life: the less I receive from God, the more I demand from my spouse. The more I receive from God, the more I am set free to give to my wife.
The best thing you can do for your marriage this Valentine’s Day is to fill your soul with God first. Offer a divine Valentine, revel in God’s love for you, and then watch your earthly relationship take on a new delight.

An Olympic Principle

In the finals of the Men’s Cross Country Skiing event, Russia’s Anton Gafarov crashed halfway down the hill, badly damaging his ski. However, he managed to get up and continue. After skiing a bit further, he fell again, this time breaking his ski. When he got up this time, he worked valiantly to keep his weight off the broken ski, trying to use only his poles. He couldn’t do it, and unfortunately, he fell again. This time, it looked like he’d need to quit the race. But little did he know that help was on the way.

Canadian Coach Justin Wadsworth ran onto the course to support him. He provided a new ski—putting it on for him—and enabled Anton to finish the race. Although he finished a full three minutes behind the leaders, the crowd gave Anton a standing ovation as he crossed the finish line. It was a moment for the Olympic ages.

Justin Wadsworth explained why he ran onto the course in an interview with the Toronto Star: “It was like watching an animal stuck in a trap. You can’t just sit there and do nothing about it… I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line.”

Wow. This is one big reason I love the Olympics. It’s not just the competition, it’s the goodwill.

This reminds me of the Waldorf Principle. It’s one of our Habitudes—Images That Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes. The Waldorf Principle is all about influencing through service. Extravagant, sacrificial service.

The Waldorf Principle

One stormy night, decades ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the rain, the couple approached the front desk, hoping to get some shelter for the night.

“We’d like a room, please,” the husband requested. The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at them and explained that there were three conventions in town. “All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said. “But I can’t send a nice couple like you out in the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the night.”

When the couple declined, the clerk insisted. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll make out just fine,” he told them. So the couple agreed to spend the night in his room. As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, “You’re an exceptional man. Finding people who are both friendly and helpful is rare these days. You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.”

Two years passed. The clerk was still managing the hotel in Philadelphia when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night, and enclosed was a round-trip ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay him a visit.

The old man met him in New York and led him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a palace of reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the sky. “That,” he said, “is the hotel I’d like you to manage.”

The old man’s name was William Waldorf Astor, and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw how his simple act of sacrificial service would lead him to manage one of the world’s most glamorous hotels.

The way to the top is not just through service—it’s through extravagant, sacrificial service. When someone goes out of their way to help you, it makes all the difference in the world:

• It’s the difference between getting a grumpy, inattentive waitress versus a professional, friendly server whom you actually enjoy talking to and who allows a special order.
• It’s the difference between calling customer support and plowing through automated menus versus instantly being connected to a live person who goes out of her way to help.
• It’s the difference between having a professor who just tolerates your questions versus having one who spends extra time and effort to help you really grasp the material.

In our world today, people expect service. What blows them away is when that service is extravagant and sacrificial—service that’s above the call of duty and costs something to the person who provides it. I’d say Coach Justin Wadsworth practiced this well.

Talk It Over

1. Do you know anyone who models servant leadership? Are they more influential because of it? Explain.

 

2. What does it mean to serve sacrificially? How are you doing in this area?

 

3. When you serve others, do you just do the bare minimum, or do you exceed their expectations?

 

Live It Out

True service always costs us something. This week, perform one act of service for someone else. But instead of just doing the bare minimum, go the extra mile. Really sacrifice yourself on someone else’s behalf. Don’t just clean your friend’s room… clean her bathroom as well. Don’t just wish him a happy birthday… organize a surprise party! Don’t just write a nice note… write several notes and post them in unexpected places. Sure, it requires time, energy, and even money, but what makes it extravagent. After finishing, reflect on the experience. What did you discover?

- Blog post adapted from Tim Elmore's Habitudres. See more at: http://growingleaders.com/blog/category/winter-olympics/?inf_contact_key=2150a615b26151f7abb929aa2e76e8d290a92df61dd8f7bdf004d6a88f704c4d#sthash.zKNFBZce.dpuf

Love ________ Anyway this Valentines Day (post 1/4)

 Sometimes Valentines Day can be a reminder for some married couples that the person you are married to isn't who you wish they'd be....then what do you do? This is one of four post heading into Valentines day in hopes to encourage couples to love well and in a godly way this season.  Today's post is taken from Gary Thomas' blog www.garythomas.com 

Gary will be leading our Building a Sacred Marriage Conference on February 22-23rd at Second. Register and/or get more info HERE

Love Anyway

photo: The Kristiano, Creative Commons

Meg and Peter have been married for more than twenty years. On Valentine’s Day, Meg went all out, giving Peter his favorite candy, tickets to an upcoming hockey game, and, later at night, she wrapped herself in a special outfit purchased for just that occasion.

Peter got her a card.

At the grocery store.

That he purchased on the way home from work.

He didn’t add anything to it, either. He just signed it, “Peter.” He even forgot to write the word “love.”

A couple of days later, Meg tried to explain that she felt a little taken for granted. Apparently, Peter misunderstood her intent because when, two months later, they celebrated their 22nd anniversary, Peter didn’t get Meganything.

Meg kept waiting throughout the day, wondering when Peter would bring out the present—but the present never came. Since she had given Peter herpresent—some rather expensive fishing lures—she knew Peter remembered the anniversary. So as they got ready for bed, Meg waited in anticipation, but Peter slipped in beside her and promptly went to sleep.

The next morning, Meg was beside herself.

She fretted all day until Peter came home from work and then she asked, “How could you not get me anything for our anniversary? Especially after our conversation about Valentine’s Day?”

“Well, I thought about getting you something but it didn’t work out,” he replied. “And then I knew not to get you a card because you said you didn’t like that last time.”

“It’s not that I didn’t like the card. It’s that the card alone seemed a little sparse.But even that is better than nothing…”

Several months later, Meg had a birthday.

This time, Peter got her a present—a kitchen tool set. Several weeks before, Meg had asked to borrow Peter’s tape measure and screwdriver. Peter figured that Meg should have her own small set of “kitchen tools” so that she didn’t have to borrow his.

Meg recounted all this, then explained how she had tried to get her husband to read several “how to” books on loving your spouse, but it just didn’t interest him. He’d read the first few pages, lose interest, and never pick the book back up again.

“I’ve realized, this is never going to change,” she confessed. “But I love him anyway.”

That last statement of Meg’s, “But I love him anyway,” is one of the most profound theological statements on marriage I’ve ever heard. Most of us base love on “because,” not on “anyway.” I love you “because” you’re good to me. I’ll love you “because” you’re kind, because you’re considerate, because you keep the romance alive.

But in Luke 6:32-36, Jesus says we shouldn’t love “because,” but “anyway.”

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Luke 6:32-36

If we love someone because they’re good to us, or give back to us, or are kind to us, we’re acting no better than your average, every day, common sinner who lives without the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit. In essence, Jesus is saying, “You don’t need the Holy Spirit to love a man who remembers every anniversary—not just the anniversary of your marriage, but the anniversary of your first date and your first kiss, or who even remembers what you were wearing the first time you saw each other. Any woman could love a man like that. And if you love a husband who is kind and good to you—who lavishes you with gifts, who reciprocates with backrubs, who goes out of his way to get you time off, and who is physically affectionate even when he doesn’t want sex in return—well, you’re doing what any woman would do. There’s no special credit in that!

“But if you love a man who disappoints you, who may forget an anniversary or two, who can be a little selfish or a little self-absorbed—now you’re loving ‘anyway,’ and that’s what I call my followers to do. In doing that, you’re following the model of the Heavenly Father who loves the ungrateful and the wicked.”

Will you love only “because”? Or are you willing to love “anyway”?

Will you love a man or woman who doesn’t appreciate your sacrifice on their behalf? Will you love a husband or wife who takes you for granted? Will you love a spouse who isn’t nearly as kind to you as you are to them?

If you say “No,” then at least admit this: you’re acting just like someone who has never known the Lord. Just about every faithless marriage is based on “because” love. Christians are called to “anyway” love. That’s what makes us different. That’s what gives glory to God. That’s what helps us appreciate God’s love for us, because God loves us “anyway.” He loved us when we rebelled against him. He continues to love us when we continue to sin against him. He gives and he gives and he gives—and we take him for granted. He is eager to meet with us, and we get too busy to slow down and notice him. He is good to us, and we accuse him mercilessly when every little thing doesn’t go just the way we planned it.

But God loves us anyway. To love anyway is to love like God and to learn about God’s love for us.

That’s love, Jesus style.

Let’s love like that.

This blog post is an excerpt from my book Devotions for a Sacred Marriage.You can read more about this book and the options to purchase it here:http://www.garythomas.com/books/devotions-for-a-sacred-marriage/

Romance Reordered (Valentines '14 post 3/4)

Post 3/4 of my post on love headed into Valentines Day (it's Friday gang) is taken from the Village Church's blog www.thevillagechurch.net , enjoy: 

 Remember Jenga—the game that requires you to carefully remove wooden blocks from a tower without causing the structure to tumble? After you set the blocks up on your table, you carefully and strategically pull out blocks, not breathing for fear of toppling the tower.

Now imagine that we sit down to play Jenga, but I suggest playing it on the surface of a block of Jell-O. How do you think that would go? We would never be able to get the game started because the pieces would constantly be shifting.

As a culture, we love the idea of romance—of pursuing someone for the purpose of securing their deep, undying adoration, a soundtrack of violins swelling in the background. But many of us approach romance like playing Jenga on top of Jell-O. We know that the pieces of love, sacrifice, time, affection, communication and intimacy should be there, but we attempt to put these pieces together without a firm foundation. Sin has knocked our loves out of order, and we need a firm foundation to rest on as the Spirit restores our ability to love another.

Romance is an expression of love. It is that particular expression reserved for those who are united together in covenant marriage. It is an intimate expression of love that flourishes between two persons. It has been called eros, Aphrodite, and is considered to be the most physical and vulnerable expression of love. It is commonly associated with courtship, dating, engagement, marriage and sex.

As Augustine notes in On Christian Doctrine I, when our loves are “disordered,” those good things that God has given us will become poisons. Sin has broken our desire for relationship and romance. Instead of desiring to love another person selflessly, to serve them with our love, our broken hearts desire to be served by them. Author and philosophy professor David Naugle notes, “We attach our loves to various things for happiness’ sake in horribly disordered ways.” We might say that if we spurn our first lover, God, then every future romance will be askew.

When our view of love is disordered, our romantic life is broken, and we forget:

1. Romance is Gift, Not God
   In a disordered love, romance is turned from gift to God. We think we can construct a proper foundation for love in and of ourselves. Instead of seeing God as our highest love and the source of all true love and delight, we begin to treat Him as merely one of the many recipients of our love. We forget that “we love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
   When we forget that God’s love is the foundation that reorders our loves, the beauty and self-sacrificial nature of love is lost as our lusts control our sick hearts.
2. Redeemed Romance is Possible
   Romance does not belong exclusively to non-Christians. Christians have the freedom to be romantics. They are free to write poetry, pour red wine, buy flowers, look longingly and enjoy God’s good gift of covenant love and covenant union. The Bible is full of redeemed romance; Song of Solomon represents a paradigm for the kind of romance that is available to the Christian. In this picture of holy romance, the man tells his lover, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves” (Song of Solomon 1:15).
   This statement and others like it are beautiful in the ears of the Lord, but when romance is given our worship it will quickly turn into a demon, laying us bare on its sacrificial altar. When romance is pursued for salvation—from loneliness, from lack of fulfillment, from lust—it will only yield destruction. Don’t believe me? Consider the life of David.
   David and Bathsheba’s story is one of disordered romance. David, governed by his lusts, takes what does not belong to him for selfish purposes and then attempts to cover his error with lies, deception and murder. David abandoned his first love, and subsequently, his concept of love became disordered.
   Redeemed romance is not only possible, but it is better. Christians are free to enjoy the gift of romance within marriage, as their love for each other rests on the steady foundation of God’s love for His people.
3. Earthly Romance Reflects Eternal Romance
   Foundational to the Christian doctrine of salvation is the believer’s union with Christ. It is as we are united with Christ that our identity, deepest desires and delights become rooted in the person and work of God. The Holy Spirit is given to us, assuring us that the Lord has set us apart for Himself and bound us to His love and grace.
   In contrast, a disordered romance promises a union that it cannot deliver. When we make romance a god we worship, we hope in vain that if we could just unite ourselves with another individual, we would be whole. Yet, like all idols, romance is a false god that makes promises it cannot keep.
   Union with Christ enables us to enjoy true union with our spouse, the kind of union where “two become one,” because we understand it to be a reflection of a greater love, an eternal romance between the King and His bride, the Church.

Have you sought to pursue romance without a foundation? Come to Christ and be wooed by the divine Lover. Only then will you be able to see romance as gift, not god.

14 ways to love others this Valentines (post 2/4)

Valentine’s Day is Friday February 14th, (2 days) but who says showing love to others is limited to just that day? Try these ideas to show love to others:

1. Start your spouse's car several minutes before he/she needs to leave. Scrape off the windshield, and leave a mug of hot coffee or a bottled water in the cup holder waiting.

2.  Throw your family’s towels in the dryer while they are bathing so they are nice and toasty when they get out.

3.  Take your neighbor’s trash cans back up to their home.

4.  Have you thanked your children’s Sunday school teachers lately? Write a quick note or send a small gift thanking them for their sacrifice.

5.  Buy extra boxes of valentines (both boy and girl or gender-neutral) and give them to your child’s teacher the week before Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, there are students whose parents forget or neglect to buy them, and the kids feel very left out.

6.  When ordering in a restaurant, look your waiter or waitress in the eye and thank them by name. Tip well.

7.  Compliment or encourage the young, harried parents in the grocery store with something positive you observed.

8.  Have the kids greet their daddy at the door like he’s king of the castle. Take his briefcase, hand him a mug of hot chocolate and his slippers, and give him a big welcome home kiss.

9.  Show your appreciation to the support staff (administrative assistants, school nurse, custodians, bus drivers, cooks, etc.) at your children’s school with a homemade cake or buy several dozen donuts. Make a thank-you card with your children’s photos to put beside the treat.

10. Leave sticky notes (or candy hearts) with sweet messages around the house for your family to find.

11.  Cook dinner for a young family. Let the mom know the night before that she doesn’t need to worry about dinner the next day, or make a meal that can be frozen if she already has her meal planned.

12.  Write a message on the bathroom mirror with a bar of soap to get your spouse or kids’ days started on a positive note.

13.  Find someone without a sweetheart (single mom, widow or widower, single adult) and invite them for a Valentine’s dinner.

14.  February 22-23 is the Building a Sacred Marriage Conference @ Second. Love those closest to you by building your marriage with a solid foundation. When your home is built on a solid foundation your capacity to love those in its walls increases as well. Register or get more info at www.second.org 

Adapted from familylife.com

A Valentines Day Gift Suggestion

What are you getting you wife, husband, or fiancé for Valentines day?? Suggestion: give the gift of a stronger marriage this year!

It's only 7 days away you know! All over the country men and women (mostly men because these things creep up on them as if it's not on the calendar every year) will spend some time over the next 7 days shopping, surfing, or scrambling to find that perfect gift, idea, or gesture that will make them shine on Friday February 14th.

I get it, because I love to give Erin gifts. I love to find the one thing that will excite her, and I love to creatively package and present that thing on a special occasion. I will always strive to be creative and clever in that area, BUT do you notice how those gifts fade over time, lose their excitement, and become old or passé?

BUILDING A SACRED MARRIAGE 

This year go find an awesome gift and give it with love, BUT in addition to that I challenge you to plan to set aside Febraury 22 & 23rd to invest in the future if your marriage, to its health, and to your growth - because those things don't wear out.

On February 22 & 23rd Gary Thomas will be leading a marriage event for couples of all ages and stages on the North Campus of Second Baptist Church Houston in Kingwood, TX. It's my hope you can join in! 

For more info on the Building a Sacred Marriage Conference with Gary Thomas author of Sacred Marriage visit www.second.org or Register Online Here.

 

http://www.garythomas.com/books/sacred-marriage/  

5 Tips for busy people

"Unless you are an hourly worker in America, boundaries between work and leisure are dead. Work bleeds into life, and life bleeds into work. People have the smart phone, aka the “digital leash”. Work will never be the same. It’s already gone."

- Kris Dunn, VP of People, DAXKO, The Blurring Line Between Work and Life

ARE YOU TOO BUSY??
Today as I was reflecting on a sermon we heard recently here at Second Baptist on rest I started researching some very practical tips on fighting busyness in my own life. here is what I found.....
Here are 5 Tips that work for overly busy people in the workplace:

1. Scrutinize Meetings: Look at every invitation skeptically. If there's no clear agenda, stated ending time, or no purpose that involves your own purpose, "no" would be the right response. BTW: A lot of people would rather avoid the "no" and believe they can sit in the back and work unassumingly on something else. Nah, doesn't fly--and, it's not very courteous. PS - some of you don't have the privilege of turning down meetings, if so try to limit them.

2. Learn when to stop: There's a fascinating dynamic at work here: the more pressure we feel the more we tend to hunker down and work even harder and longer. Harder and longer usually lead to working past the point where we're 100% attentive. The result: Reduced, or little, effectiveness. And, it often requires going back and doing the work all over again.

3. Do take time: to accurately convey your thoughts to others. How easy it is to rattle off instructions by phone or email when we're hassled. The result? Discovering (too late) that someone responsible for a key part of your project misunderstood what you said you wanted.
Accurate communication is always a time-saver over the long run.

4. How many ways can you learn to say "No!"? Develop at least a half dozen polite variations until you can say them on cue.. Then use them. A lot.The best way to prevent personal overload is to stop saying "Yes" to requests. Oh, the person requesting your time is your boss? Here's what to do: seriously and politely ask for clear priorities and explain that you need to know what to drop to make room for the new assignment. I think you'll be surprised at how often this will prompt your boss to reconsider the work assignment; and, (s)he will realize that your request has been helpful in clearing up departmental priorities.

5. Consider Consequences. Think ahead, and not just about what you want to see happen.
Business folks are, by nature, results driven. "Driven" can lure us into focusing only on the goal and forgetting about the fact that bad things can happen. Tight deadlines can really be an enemy to ignoring risks. Rushing into action without counting the cost can prove to be the most costly way of operating. What could go wrong and what will you do if it does? An ounce of prevention. . .

Thoughts from Steve Rosler's blog "All Things Workplace"

What do you have planned for Tuesday morning?

Men Stepping Up: a study for Men of all ages starting tommorow morning! (Feb 4 – April 15th)

Men, it’s time to step up! Get up, get ready, and we will have the coffee for YOU! Come experience what Dennis Rainey has been writing and speaking about regarding courageous manhood for over 10 years. Now he, along with Tony Dungy, Matt Chandler, and other renowned ministry leaders, digs deeper into what it means to be a godly, courageous man with this 10-week video series on Tuesday mornings starting tomorrow morning. The Study will include video-based sessions, and small groups as we examine the five stages of manhood, unpack what biblical manhood looks like, and reconnect with our responsibilities as sons, fathers, husbands.
Study Details:

• Begins – February 4th
• Ends – April 15th
• Tuesday mornings from 6:00-7:00am
• Register for Study online @ www.second.org  OR here https://second.wufoo.com/forms/north-2014-stepping-up-a-mens-study/  
• Workbooks will be on sale at the study or in our SBC Bookstore

Weekly Schedule
6AM Video Session

6:30AM Small Group Discussion Time