Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Last week we committed to “spending ourselves” individually in areas we believe God is calling us. This week we opened by sharing where we were at with this action and committed to continue “spending ourselves” this week. We are seeking to make a permanent change in our lives.
Then we discussed chapter 8. What is our response to “Profile of the Obsessed”?
STOP: And Pray.
LISTEN: For what this might look like in your life.
DO: Become fixated on Jesus, live by faith, and focus on the life to come.
Servolution projects and ideas to follow.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Chapter Five Reading
Here’s a suggested daily reading for chapter five (for anyone interested):
Heed the warning on page 83: “Before you discount or ignore what I am about to say, read these passages objectively, without preconceived opinions staunchly in place.”
Wednesday: Read the whole chapter.
Thursday: Read pp 83-87 (stop after paragraph 3) – Read the gospel accounts as a “twelve year old”. This is the challenge for the week. It is a big one. So rather than asking you to read lot’s of verses each day we’ll try and read the gospel accounts instead. If you can’t do all four, perhaps try doing one or two. Do you reach the same conclusion as Chan: that Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing???
Friday: Read pp 87-88 – Have you read a gospel yet? Do it! Then read these two pages. From “I do not want true believers…” to “They were comfortable and proud, sounds familiar doesn’t it?”
Saturday: 88-90 – Start at “poor rich people” and stop at “offering leftovers”. Seek dependence and find joy!
Sunday: 90-94 – Start the “offering leftovers” section. Stop at the end of the first paragraph at the top of page 94. Consider how you treat God and whether you tell Him to “fetch”!!! Pause for a second at the top of page 93 and think about what you are trying to succeed at that doesn’t really matter.
Monday: Read pp 94-98 – starting at: “So God assesses our lives…” Complete the Love is patient / Your name is patient exercise. Consider the challenge on page 97.
This is a tough chapter boys and we would do well to read it patiently, thoughtfully and seeking God throughout. Open your Bibles, read the gospels, and PRAY!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Good Morning Chaps!
I wanted to follow up with you all on some of the things we discussed on Tuesday night. I read through the start of Crazy Love again this morning and made a record of the things Francis asks us to do and the bible references he makes. I discovered 6 requests in chapter one alone, along with 12 bible references.
As you pick up this book I want to remind you that Francis wrote it for those who want more Jesus. For those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. And I join him in praying that as we, as a group and as individuals, read the first three chapters of this book, that our reading would be interrupted by spontaneous and meaningful praise to God. Especially as we open up the word to study the references he makes.
Here are a few things we can do this week:
- Look for the 6 requests / instructions and follow them. It would be really good if we could share what God did through our obedience to praising Him.
- Look for the 12 bible references and highlight them. Consider opening your bible to read them directly from the word.
- Stephen – would you do a short study of Revelation 4 and help the rest of us to put it in context and understand it?
- Jeremy – would you do the same for Isaiah 6? (Perhaps the two of you can do this together?).
- On Tuesday night I think we should read Psalm 102 and 139 together (as well as Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6). I’d like us to start the night with Psalm 102 and stand in awed silence before a mighty and fearsome God and then pray together. We’ll end in a similar fashion as we read Psalm 139.
Does that sound okay? We can review at the end of the night and decide if we want to make a similar approach each week or not. We can also decide if we want to share the responsibility of directing the weekly study – i.e. instead of only Stephen and I sending out a message like this, if you would like to direct the group you can adopt a week / chapter.
Looking forward to Tuesday night!
December 1st, 2009
Boys II Men: Perhaps you’ve heard of the famous R&B group from Philly? The limelight may have faded on their award winning songs, but the name continues to live on in a small group on Tuesday nights.
We finished the book ahead of all y’all in no small part due to Average Chak pulling us from the mire of less than averagedom. But having put Fight to bed last week we decided to resurrect it in spirit with a Cranium battle to the death between the old guys and the young. Now, it would be fitting to inform you that the young beat the old and transformed from boys to men; but to do so would be a gross lie of the most heinous sorts. In fact, the old gave the young a damn good thrashing – and this despite being outnumbered. Alas the spirit of humility didn’t show in these youthful sprites. Instead the mean spirit of bitterness reared its ugly head. Not to worry though, our wise men left quietly with a telling example of humility in the hope that it would serve as a lesson to the boys who are yet to become men.
November 10th, 2009
We did a “public” meeting in downtown Glendora due to the absence of our fearless leader and gracious host: Mr. Stephen Fahey. As if celebrating one year of wedded bliss on a luxury cruise with your beautiful wife is any reason to miss ManGroup…
Anyway, we had a great discussion as we worked through chapters 10-12 and even had a little fun at Kenny’s expense – one really watch one’s language when it is printed. Absolute statements can bite you in the ass! We really got into things on page 148: asking if we can determine salvation for others, whether fruit was required (and all the lovely discussions that go with apostasy), whether we ought to seek persecution in a bid to move forward and have the Spirit rest upon us, and then back to the apostate Christians (or pseudo-Christians) and the requirement for persecution. Which, of course, landed us very nicely on the admin points for the evening including a discussion on our next book / study. Francis Chan speaks rather clearly about Lukewarm Christians and their fate in Crazy Love. And given our interest in the subject that night it was an easy sell for the 10 week Crazy Love series in the new year. We also discussed the small group project on Nov 21 and we WILL be there. And for what its worth, the group unanimously agreed that for outreach purposes a 6:00pm service on Sunday evening would be much better.
All in all, a productive and enjoyable evening. We even got to end it with some public prayer – gotta love the Freedom of Speech Act!
November 3rd, 2009
We were missing a few of our small band of brothers tonight but the four of us were able to make it enjoyed good fellowship and very interesting conversation. We managed to catch the end of the Lakers game; so we started well! Then we launched into chapters 8 and 9. We had some input from one of our guys via text (from his classroom) and managed to work through the reading fairly quickly. Then we followed up on the challenge from last week: who got themselves a wingman. Our elusive classroom attendee passed with flying colors having secured a good friend as a wingman. He was alone in his success, although everyone in the room had made progress. And with the wingman conversation behind us our discussion was directed towards relationships with the wingwomen. And we ended with some focussed prayer. All in all: a good night!
October 27, 2009
Nothing can get in the way of ManGroup on Tuesday nights – not even The Lakers. And we’ll prove it again on Tuesday 3rd November when they try to tempt us away again. We’re up to chapters 8 and 9 now having worked through 5-7. Great discussions on what a wingman looks like. Our call for the week was to reject apathy and find ourselves wingmen.
October 6, 2009
MANGROUP vs. MORMONS
That’s right, last night the spiritual warfare really began with a face-off between Joe Roland and two Mormon missionaries. Read that: two. But the big Joroco wasn’t fazed by the odds. In fact, he welcomed the fight. He drew the predators in with a friendly and innocent smile. He engaged them with a soft and inviting tone. He tempted them with an open posture and welcoming manner. He politely responded to their dialogue. He watched as they became excited about this latest prospect, as their eyes danced upon the thought of another innocent victim brought into the Mormon fold. And as they sent out their first hooks he allowed the predators to think that they had taken hold. That his flesh was caught in the barbs and he was genuinely being pulled into the evil they had planned for him. So the predators began to pull him in, giddy at the swift and easy victory they were enjoying after a long and arduous day on the plains. Joroco had been tossed into the wild, left to pit his wits against the devils fury. It was his initiation to ManGroup. His time in the wild. And he would return to his comrades a MAN…or not at all.
The missionaries began to circle Joroco. Hands of steel and eyes aglow. The two of them now sniffing and savoring the scent of the meal to come. And just as they made their final pull, the boy Joroco steps forward into the battle and draws out his FIGHT. He smiles as he watches their stone countenance immediately crack and a look of terror spreads quickly across their face. They have been outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outfought. Our boy has proved himself a man. And he smiles at his victory as he watches the missionaries begin to retreat. He calls after them to ask how they engage in spiritual warfare and how they take the fight to the devil. But the missionaries only recoil further and begin their flight from this MAN of FIGHT.
- Jon
September 29, 2009
We met at Classic Coffee this week to discuss Chapter 1 of FIGHT. We had 100% attendance! Some men even overcame obstacles to get there. One issue that arose is we discovered that Classic Coffee closes its doors at 8pm. Therefore, we were booted out of our seats before we were finished. That didn’t stop us from standing in the downtown courtyard to share praises and prayer request to finish out the night.
We will be meeting at the Fahey’s Casa at 7pm this week to discuss Chapters 2 and 3. We are excited about the book at looking forward to how Kenny continues to addresses this topic of spiritual warfare. It should be a good night.
-Stephen
September 22, 2009
Group met for the first time at the Fahey Casa to discuss group dynamics and logistics – no FIGHT study for us week 1. Booya suckas!!!
Anyway, the group doubled in size before we even met for the first time so we had to discuss capping it. Naturally Stephen and I didn’t want to turn people away but we have to respect that for group dynamics and accountability there is such a thing as a redundantly large small group. That said, we decided to limit ourselves to 10 max (ideally 8). So it looks like we’re looking for a couple of new leaders to start a new group on Tuesday night already. Good things!
Chapter 1 next week…
Don’t forget that we also consumed some pretty tasty Costco Cheesecake!
I didnt know that showing humility by winning a board game was going around and telling everyone how you gave the young a “damn good thrashing”