Grace Point’s Band of Brothers is starting a NEW series this week based on Patrick Morley’s widely-read book called “Man in the Mirror”.  This is an excellent resource to use in a room full of men.  Over the coming weeks, we will be challenging each other to take a probing look at six of the areas that plague us all:  identities, relationships, finances, time, temperament and integrity.

Please consider joining us at one (or both) of this week’s Band of Brothers events:

• Thursday from 6:30 to 7:30am.
• Saturday from 7:30 to 9:00am.

Questions?  Check out the Band of Brothers webpage, email me at tom@gracepoint.cc or call the church office at 740.548.7718.  Hope to see you there!

Why come to the Band of Brothers?  Check out these quotes from some of the men that attend:

“I enjoy the meetings and connecting with men who want to become more and more like Christ.”

"I wanted to drop you a note to tell you that the B.o.B. has really made a difference in my life. I look forward to our studies and fellowship ahead. Work has me away from home sometimes, but I always look forward to getting back to it."

"I do feel a lot more connected at the church as a result of BoB. I know so many men now, which has been really nice."

“Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed the pancake edition of Band of Brothers last Saturday. I know that half of the guys at my table had never been able to attend the Thursday group because of work which makes it well worth all the work. When I pulled into the parking lot and saw all the cars, you can just tell there are a lot of thirsty and hungry men in the church (pun intended), and I believe this will help fill that need.”

A wife says, "Thank you for your friendship with my husband. It has been a very long time since he has had a ‘band of brothers’ to bond with. This is an answer to many years of prayer."

D-Groups are a place where any question can be asked.  In fact, they are a place where every question should be asked.  D-Groups are intended to be a place where you are expected to ask the questions no one else will.  They are also a place where you are expected to answer those same questions. 

D-Groups are a place of true, genuine friendship, where people will ask you things that are difficult to answer and tell you things you don’t want to hear.  They are not easy, but they are invaluable to the Christian that wants to pursue a truly transformed life.  Though they are not easy, they might very well produce your deepest, most intimate friendships.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17 (NLT)

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. Proverbs 27:6 (NLT)

Here are some example questions for you to consider, some of which have been taken from the book “The Man in the Mirror” by Patrick Morley:

Opening question:

• What were your high and low points of the past week?

Questions regarding Spiritual life:

• What have you been reading in the Bible the past week?
• Where have you seen God at work this week?
• Describe your prayers (for yourself, others, praise, confession, thanksgiving)
• How is your relationship with Christ changing?
• Do you feel like you are doing what God wants you to do?
• How have you been tempted this week? How did you respond?
• What are you wrestling with in your thought life? (jealousy, anger, fear, etc.)
• Do you have any unconfessed sin in your life?
• How have you impacted your non-Christian friends this week?

Questions regarding home life:

• How is it going with your spouse (attitudes, time, irritations, disappointments,
  progress, his/her relationship with Christ)?  How have you been praying for him/her?
• How is it going with your kids (quantity and quality of time, values and beliefs,
  education, spiritual welfare)? How have you been praying for them?
• How are your finances doing (debts, saving, stewardship)?

Questions regarding work life:

• How is it going at work (career progress, relationships, temptations, workload,
  stress, problems, working too much)?

Other questions:

• How are you doing in your personal high-risk area? (everyone has something)
• Is the visible you and the real you consistent in this relationship?  In other words, are you lying to me?
• Do you see any blind spots in my life?  Are there any areas of my life that concern you?

Prayer – always, always, always pray!

Do you really want to be transformed?  Are you ready to move toward a life with Christ and the heart of Christ?  Have you taken a GPU class and joined a Life Group?  Perhaps you are ready for a D-Group. 

What are D-Groups?

Discipleship Groups (D-Groups) are part of the overall discipleship strategy of Grace Point Community Church. D-Groups are groups of 2-3 people who commit to helping each other "run the race in such a way as to receive the prize".

• They are relationships that will encourage us, challenge us and equip us.
• They are relationships of mutual accountability where we become regularly answerable for each of the key areas of our lives.
• They are relationships that help us with the three levels of transformation, focusing specifically on a transformed life and heart.

Why are D-Groups important?

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

There is a level of intimacy with 2-3 people that is simply not possible with a larger group. It is also easier for 2-3 people to agree to seek God in an intentional, deep, consistent way than it is to get a group of 10 to do the same.

How Do I Start a D-Group?

Look for someone God has placed in your life who: 1) loves Christ; 2) wants to see you succeed; 3) also senses a need for the relationship; 4) you respect & trust; and 5) is complementary but compatible with you.

More suggestions on starting a D-Group can be found on the resources page.

Tomorrow, I’m planning to post a reminder of the kind of things D-Groups might do…check back then!

I was at a men’s ministry mini-conference recently, and for some reason the discussion prompted me to write down the names of men that I needed to call.  Some were guys I don’t know very well.  Others were guys I knew I could learn something from.  I thought of a few that seemed ready to take some steps in their faith that I might be able to disciple in some way. Still others were guys I hadn’t seen around for a while.

Thought the context was men’s ministry, the concept seems equally applicable in almost every area of life and for everyone in the Kingdom.  So, here is a question for you to think about:

What would happen if just ONE time a week you pursued ONE of these roles with ONE person? How could it affect their lives? How could it affect yours?

• FRIEND (Romans 13:8): One person you don’t know very well…yet.  Someone new from church or your neighborhood or workplace that you know only casually.  Someone that might be waiting for someone to connect with.
• DISCIPLE (Romans 15:14): One person that can disciple you.  Someone that has experienced the successes and failures of life that you are in the middle of or can see coming.  Someone further along in their walk with Christ that could help you with yours.  Someone with a character quality you admire and would like to emulate.
• DISCIPLER (Romans 15:14): One person you can disciple.  Someone with a younger faith, younger kids, a younger career…someone you can help along in some way.
• SHEPHERD (Romans 12:10-13): One person you haven’t seen for a while.  Someone that would feel the power of a shepherd’s concern for his sheep.

I’ve already started calling some of the guys from my list.  Guys who fit in these four circles.  I can’t speak for them, but it has been a rich blessing to me.  What do you think?  Can you think of people?  How could you interact with them?  What are some good ways to initiate the conversation?

This came from a recent discipling email from Bill Mowry (with the Navigators) regarding our concept of "time".  I thought it might be helpful to someone else in addition to me.

Why does it take so long?  Time crawls when we wait for a friend’s salvation or for someone to grow as a disciple. We look for time saving methods and programs to speed up growth. It’s easy to become frustrated if change doesn’t happen according to schedule. Could we have a mistaken view of time?

The New Testament uses two primary words for the Hebrew concept of time, chronos and kairos. Chronos time is chronological time. It refers to quantity of time or the amount of time passed (Matthew 25:19). Kairos time is about the "right" moment (Mark 1:15). In teaching, we talk about the "teachable moment," the time when we’re open to learn. This is kairos time.

Here’s a kairos time example. Dan told me how a friend had moved from an atheist to an agnostic to a genuine seeker. "Do you know what he showed me the other day?" said Dan, "He showed me his ‘proof book.’" Dan’s friend is journaling how God is "proving" Himself in his daily experience.  "This is a divine moment!" I told Dan. Was this time predictable? Was it plotted on a calendar? No, it can only be seized in this moment. This is kairos time, the unpredictable moment when the Holy Spirit intersects with life. God’s timetable may not always be our timetable.

Time for the Hebrews was not only in kairos moments but it was also measured by the rhythms of life. Instead of points on a timeline, the Bible pictures time as a series of constant rhythms:

• seed time and harvest
• cold and heat
• summer and winter (Genesis 8:22)

The New Testament pictures spiritual growth as seasonal rhythms. There’s a time to sow and water, plant and harvest (John 4:35-38; 1 Corinthians 3:6-8). For the Jewish mind, life was wrapped up in these rhythms, rhythms which portray life as a journey rather than a time line.

When we disciple others, we must learn to think in kairos time, spotting the teachable moments, observing the rhythms of the Holy Spirit. We can only do this as we get close enough to people to discern how the Holy Spirit is shaping one’s life story.

When we think in a Hebrew way about time, we learn to:

• Spot the teachable moments in people’s lives. These moments may not be the result of my ministry timetable.
• Pray for wisdom. The time for a penetrating question, an appropriate verse, or a hug are not scheduled like appointments in a Blackberry.
• Hope for a future. If life is like a journey with rhythms of stopping and starting, the final chapter in someone’s life is not written yet.

As you walk alongside people this week, ask God to help you spot a kairos moment in a conversation. Be alert to the rhythms of the Holy Spirit in a friend’s life. This sensitivity to God’s view of time allows us to join in His timetable.

So, let’s say we know better and we live accordingly.  Can we be labeled as "spiritually mature"?  Is the goal to know and to live a certain way?  Some would say yes.  And certainly the Bible calls to us toward increasing in knowledge and living Godly lives.  But it doesn’t stop there.

The final level of transformation involves changing who we are.  While the first two transformations include significant interactions with other people to teach and model, this final transformation is one done primarily through the grace of God and the power of His Word.

Let’s look one more time at Psalm 86:11 and Romans 12:2:

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. Psalm 86:11 (NLT)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NLT)

God is not merely after transforming our minds and lifestyles.  He is after something much, much more important.  Those transformed minds and lifestyles allow Him to change the very nature of who we are.  As our worldview is focused on God and our lifestyles reflect that lifestyle, the very nature of who we are gets transformed more and more into the likeness of Him.  We are transformed into a new person!

The ultimate prize in the Christian race not knowing more about Him, though that is important.  It is not living a Godly life, though that is essential.  No, the ultimate prize in the Christian race is the character of Christ and intimacy with Him! 

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. – 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

We should not rest contented without knowing the transforming power of the gospel, by the working of the Spirit, bringing us to seek to be like the temper and tendency of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and into union with Him. We behold Christ, as in the glass of his word; and as the reflection from a mirror causes the face to shine, the faces of Christians shine also. – from the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3:18

Praise God!  I mean seriously, this is absolutely amazing, and it is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of Christians.  At Grace Point, we try be used by Him to encourage that transformed person.  We encourage every one to spend as much time in the Bible as possible, as it has the power to transform us from the inside out.  Our Discipleship Groups exist to help two or three people walk side-by-side in a close, accountable relationship that is simply not possible when too many people are involved.

So, what are the markers of a spiritually mature person?  How do we know if we are making progress toward prize?  That will be the subject of the final post in this series.

I just had breakfast with a couple of old friends that I haven’t really talked to in months and months.  We used to get together every week for breakfast, but had to stop about 6 months ago for a variety of reasons.  It was great to see them again, and we’ve decided to start meeting again every Monday morning. 

Why?  Glad you asked.  I can’t speak for them, but here are some of the reasons I want to meet with them.

These are just really good guys who love God, their wives, and their kids, and want to love all three more.  Just like me, they are guys that need help getting to be more like Jesus…and together we will continue to try.

If you don’t have anyone in life that you routinely meet with, I would urge you to find someone.  Not sure where to start?  Check out the D-Groups page for some help on finding someone to walk alongside.

Do it.  Trust me…you REALLY need to!