Douglas / Giron

1.27.2010

Karl Talmo / Connor McClain / Gabriel Barbosa / Nathan Ramage / Miguel Castuera

We met at The Hat in Glendora. We discussed the first chapter of Crazy Love. We read the first chapter of Romans in correspondence to chapter 1 of Crazy Love. Then I handed out some resources on Romans (about 25 sermons by John Piper). We took prayer requests, had some confession, and ended with lots of great discussion. The group agreed to help with tear down once a month as apart of their involvement in Co122. The goal is to try and see if they can think more outside the box.

That’s the gist…

11.23.2009

Please forgive the delay in posting on this blog men!! It’s felt like a whirlwind these last couple weeks of just busy-ness and other things going on haha. Anywho, there is reason to celebrate men!! Last Wednesday in place of our small group we accompanied Parker and others to Crossroads church in Corona. It was a great experience. Phil Wickham led worship and Tony delivered a great message. A message that some needed to hear. His main point was keeping our eyes focused on God even when we feel like we are not being used. Sometimes we get caught up in wondering when something great is going to happen, when we are going to be used in a huge impactful way. We need to remember that our timing is not God’s timing. He knows when we are ready and when it is time to do work. As we wait we sometimes wander away. We seek our own glory, our own way of being great. Tony’s call on Wednesday was to come back to living for God and not for ourselves. Wednesday night was a prime example of God’s timing and work. Gabriel Barbossa aka Antwoine, member of Salvadorian Samurai, had not been able to attend the last few weeks due to band practice at APU. This week was his first week back and boy was it perfect. As Tony asked for anyone who wanted to live for God and make it a declaration to step forward Gabe stood up and walked toward the stage!! We of Salvadorian Samurai joined him and layed hands upon him as he prayed for forgiveness and asked the Holy Spirit to enter into his heart!!!! Time to party men!!! God is definitely working both through and in our group!!! I am so excited to know come along side and walk with Antwoine (Gabe) and fight with him!!!!!!!!

With much love, peace and turkey and mashed potatos

The Salvadorian and The Samurai

11.5.2009

Due to the message this previous sunday,  our glorious mexican friend made contact with a widow who needed our assistance.  Our men, of whom i am very proud, rallied together and, with the aid of one, Emily Gann, made some enchiladas for us all to enjoy.  That evening, after a fantastic meal and conversation, we strapped on some gloves, grabbed our clippers and axe’s and proceeded to chop down a small thorny tree. With all of us working together we were able to bless Mrs. Colburn. Bravo to you men.

The Samurai and the Salvadorian

10/29/2009

Sadly it has been a few weeks since we updated but that is behind us. This wednesday was a day of joy and sorrow for our group. Gabe was in an accident that messed him up pretty bad. On the good side, he is recovering and we are all praying for him.  Our group met at the fabulous In-n-out to conversate about the Lord.  We huddled outside in the cold forcing ourselves to draw together for warmth and prayer.  Studying the Arsonist chapters opened our eyes to the reality that we need to address the dark corners of our lives to remove the footholds for the devil and his minions.  That being said we have realized that to change we all need to actually want to change. I am proud to say we are all desiring that change and moving toward that better relationship with our Lord.

The Samurai and The Salvadorian

10/14/2009

Afternoon gentlemen, I hope you all had a wonderful week and an even better Man Group meeting this week! Our group met last night at Chipotle Some of us enjoyed so delicious dinner and others enjoyed their Golden Spoon dessert. Some exciting news, we welcomed TWO more men into our group last night! Gabriel Barbossa and Michael Beisel. It was exciting to see our group grow after the plus one challenge.

After a great time of fellowship and eating, we dove into the book. We went over chapter 4. Kenny spoke about Michael Vick and how one area in his life overtook his life. We took time and examined areas in our lives that are “in darkness.” A number of men were open and vulnerable and willingly shared those areas with the rest of us. We definitely grew closer and learned more about each other. We learned where the other is struggling and came up with ways to not only encourage but also help each other better ourselves in these areas of darkness in our lives. Text messages, phone calls, hang outs. It was definitely an evident “man up and own up” moment and now we’re on the path to overcoming these areas. Much of our conversation came back to the idea that Satan attacks our weak points. We are establishing where our weak points are as a group and as individuals and working towards making them stronger. These past two weeks we each spent one day in fasting and prayer. Through these days we were able to establish weak points in our own lives and also allow God to speak and reveal where we can be used. He gave some of us a clearer purpose or goal. He gave others just an understanding of why they are where they are and others He just reminded of how He loves us.

It was very encouraging to see every single one of my guys not only show but have read and be open to being real with each other. It allows God to really use us within the groups to better each other. It allows iron sharpen iron. I love you all men. Fight on. Peace, love and some good carne asada

The Salvadorian and The Samurai

10/7/2009

Yesterday, we of Salvadorian-Samurai met at a fine establishment known as Round Table Pizza.
Started the evening off chatting and I ate pizza, Ramage chowed on some Del Taco.
As we studied Chapter 3 we realized that we needed to read into the word also, that being said we dove into John to gain a greater context for where Kenny got his info.  After we wrapped up our studies I am proud to say that every member participated in prayer, lifting ourselves up to the Lord.

We then proceeded to honor Him by going to Donut man.

The Salvadorian and The Samurai

9/30/2009

Well our group met last night for the second time at Sergio’s Mexican Restaurant and enjoyed some fantastic food!! Of course it’s the group with the biggest eaters that would find restaurants to meet at We quickly established the fact that none of us had anywhere to be after Man Group for we had all cleared our entire night for this. This was fantastic because it put no time restraint on our meeting. We spent our first hour or so just hanging out, talking about our weeks, enjoying our food, and coming up with ideas to hang out!! One of our ideas was: (Please respond) What if we continue or games like we did after Man Group monday nights? The catch. We do them saturday morning or any other afternoon evening that works. We do Monday group vs. Wednesday group or Tues vs. Mon etc etc. Whatcha guys think???

Well anywho, I was so proud of my men last night for not only did they ALL show but they all READ!! After a great dinner and fellowship we moved into the book Fight. We went over chapters 1 and 2. We went through all sorts of avenues with what we got out of the book. We are excited to see where Kenny is going to take the book from here. We are also all so very excited because we realized that what we are studying in our groups ties into the study of I Timothy at CO122. Fighting the GOOD fight. God’s working men God’s working. I think to sum up our conversation, we decided that in order to fight effectively we need not be alone, know our enemy and know our swords!! At the same time we must know our weaknesses for that’s where we will be attacked the most. It was good conversation. We did move into Catlapp’s Corner that was bridged into a time of prayer requests. It was a good night with the men. We wrote names down on our Plus One cards and are excited to see who God brings in.

I was very encouraged by the other posts that were already up. Our men are as strong as the leadership men!! God’s definitely using us in an amazing way!! Fight on gentlemen. Much love, peace, and steaks

The Salvadorian and The Samurai

9/23/09

What’s up gentlemen??

Forgive the delay in posting about our first meeting this last Wednesday night, I’ve been slightly busy with work and starting school up again yesterday. Our first meeting went rather well. We met at Classic Coffee and really just focused on getting to know each other a bit more. There were a couple of men that we didn’t know or that they didn’t know us. It was good. Laid down some ground rules and expectations and they all seemed very receptive and committed. Our group has already begun to display this committment not only to the night but to each other. Last night we all had Golden Spoon for Ramage’s birthday!!! Wwwwooooooooooooo!! haha.

Now as you all know throughout the week there were some “wierd” happenings to some of our leaders. Our group was no different. Monday my truck died. Tuesday night I didn’t sleep very well due to strange dreams from which i awoke super sore and super sickly feeling. Come Wednesday, both of us leaders were definitely not feeling well at all. We both made it to group, so we had our full expected amount. However, before I went to group I had been talking to my family about what we were studying. My sister was sharing how she was super excited because she’s back in the word not only reading, but digging deeper and actually understanding it. She is definitely on fire. As our man group ended I recieved a phone call from my dad telling me to hurry and get home because my sister was just in an accident. Immediately I rushed home. I am happy to report that she is okay. No major injuries except for the car. The enemy definitely takes no breaks and comes in every direction. My sister’s fine, but this definitely adds to the already stressful financial situation she is in. The enemy doesn’t want any christian moving forward. We are praying for God’s guidance and provision. We know He will be faithful. We’re totally stoked to have such a great group of men! Fight on men!! We’re excited to be right here next to you! :)

The Salvadorian and The Samurai