Men’s retreat – Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2008

Ridgecrest

Focus was on “God’s Man In The Home”

Keynote speaker was Dr. Mark Liederbach

Guest speaker was Pastor Derwin Gray (the Evangelism Linebacker)

Missionary speaker was Matt Fisher

Friday night – missionary speaker

Matt was talking about the opportunities in Russia and was the Lord was doing through him and his colleagues. He centered his talk around the events of Saul and Jonathan when Jonathan won a great victory for Israel (I Samuel 13-14). Jonathan took his armor bearer and went to the camp of the Philistines and basically said that the Lord could choose to save by many or by few. He also reflected on the call of Isaiah in that when the Lord asked who would go, Isaiah volunteered, in essence saying, here am I Lord, send me.

· Isaiah volunteers for service

· Saul shows inactivity

· Jonathan shows action

· God can choose to save us or can choose not to save us – He is the King!

· God can use small numbers to win large battles

Friday night – main speaker

Mark was talking a lot about the concept of worship as service. He referenced back to Genesis chapters 1-2, and the concept that man is to be the “lead worshipper” in the home. He sets the tone for the rest of the family. His job begins when he gets home, not when he leaves the house.

· Man’s soul is in the image of God as is his body – they are a matched set.

· The female soul and body are also a matched set, also in the image of God.

· These soul/body pairs are designed by God to work together to worship Him and serve Him through our responsiveness to His goodness and mercy towards us.

· Homosexuality is never a viable option because the body/soul pairs were never designed to work in that manner. The methodology of life within homosexuality is all wrong. There is no way to successfully fulfill God’s mandate for us in homosexuality.

Saturday testimony of Brian Graham, who was a missionary pilot for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He talked about the impact that God’s word is having in the remote islands, and villages of the remote places around the globe. The power and impact of God’s word is such that even the troublemakers in the local villages are turning from their sins, and their lives are changed. Some are becoming the next generation of preachers, proclaiming the gospel to others in their villages, and the next villages, etc. God’s Word is being used as a tool to teach other cultures to read – this has the impact of communicating the gospel in a way that makes a lasting impact because the truth of God’s Word is what they are hearing, and why it is so important to continue to do the work of translating it into other languages. Over 2000 language translations still need to be done in remote portions of the globe. But the end picture is one from Revelation 5:9, where every tribe, language, people, and nation will have souls praising God around the throne, and at the marriage supper of the lamb. Tribe = people group. “People” seems to have the connotation of culture or lifestyle of an area. Nation = political or physical boundary.

Saturday morning – guest speaker

Derwin spoke about the lifestyle of personal evangelism. He spent time on what the fears and barriers which we see are, and why we are not responsible for the outcomes. He cited the scriptures where Paul and Apollos planted and watered but God provided the increase or harvest. In essence, the results are up to Him, we just have the privilege of being a part of the process, playing a role as it were.

· We are on mission 24/7

· We are missionaries to our families, our co-workers, or neighborhoods, our church friends, and our contacts during the everyday stuff of life.

· We have to earn the respect of the people we are to speak to, whether it is on our families, jobs, etc. Our lifestyle has to match up with what we believe, or it will never speak loud enough for them to ask us why we live in the radical way that we do.

· We earn the respect through integrity, and not through getting up on the desk and shouting that they are “going to hell” and getting ourselves fired.

· It’s about building relationships. Sometimes it can take days, weeks, months, or years to do this, but we have to walk with God with an intentionality of purpose, and pray that God would open the doors for us to have the opportunity to share and then the boldness to walk through those doors an witness about who God is at the appropriate moment, not in a confrontational way, but in a way that the character of Christ is so compelling that they want to know.

· Our identity is not in who we are in our job, or what sports team we align with, or what award we’ve won, or what great victory we have accomplished. Our identity is in Christ alone, and we get to serve him by being a faithful servant as a programmer, pastor, janitor, etc.

· In a spiritual sense, we have the same righteousness as Billy Graham, or Paul the apostle, or anyone else who is covered by the blood of Christ. We are all equal. This is what God sees when he looks at us – he sees us covered with the blood of Jesus, the same blood which covered the sins which Jesus took upon Himself as He died on the cross. As such, we are viewed the same. Our identity is in Christ, who covered our sins, not in our job or some house we own, or what car we drive, or what team we root for (Carolina, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Penn State, Texas, etc.)

Saturday night – main speaker

Mark again spoke on the connection of our roles as family leaders to the passages in Genesis 1-2. He also piggy-backed on what Derwin spoke about, noting that we are not completed in our spouse, but in God. Our spouse is our help mate, our companion, our encourager, our confidant, our supporter, our champion, our friend, our gift from God.

· We have to lead our families as servant leaders

· Worship (of God) = Service (to our wife) in the aspect of our walk with God. How are we modeling Christ in our actions and attitudes. Are we praying, reading His Word, talking about the things of God in such a way as to make that attractive to our spouse and children and the others who come to visit our home?

· Adam was alone, but he was not lonely. From Genesis, we see that he spent regular time with God before Eve came on the scene. After Adam had named the animals, no suitable partner was found for him, so God took the rib from his side and formed Eve, his perfect compliment, in an earthly sense.

· Adam’s state of being alone was a physical issue, whereas the concept of loneliness is an emotional issue – we can be lonely in a crowd of people if we feel disconnected, and separated from the ones we already know

· What might have happened had they chosen not to sin? Might we all be worshipping as God intended from the beginning? Sinlessly?

· The sin Adam committed was one of inactivity – sitting back and watching as Eve was deceived and doing nothing to prevent the carnal response of eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence according to Genesis, was that they realized they were naked, they were then ashamed, and they tried to cover their nakedness in their own effort. God eventually had to slay the animal, make the sacrifice and cover them with the animal skins, and in a spiritual sense, his atonement.

· Husbands need to be pre-emptive about our service in the homes, not passive.

· Marriage is for the purpose of glorifying God through living unashamed in a way that fulfills the mandate given to Adam to be fruitful and multiply (subdue the earth, etc.)

· This connects to the great commission which Jesus gave to his disciples to be witnesses to the ends of the earth – Jesus has a consistent message to us in Genesis, in His life on earth, and in the future.

· We need to look like Jesus, not ourselves (He must increase, I must decrease).

Sunday Morning – Armed Forces tribute

Song played was “American Soldier” by Toby Keith

Speaker was Captain Aaron White, 82^nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, Fayetteville, NC – Paratrooper

· Spiritual climate is one where the soldiers definitely feel the pressures to perform and to serve their country, and given the choice again, the majority of them would still go to serve. Very few would not have.

· Some of the roles he plays are to comfort the other soldiers in times of loss; to counsel in times where advice is needed; and to be intercessors in times of spiritual need.

· He gave testimony about one Afghan interpreter who became a convert to Christ through the message of the gospel. He asked for a new name and was give the name of Paul Josiah. This convert is now preaching the gospel to his people because of the power of Christ.

· He also gave testimony of taking communion on a mountaintop, as they were getting ready to survey the valley on their assignment. The “sermon on the mount”, as it has been named by those involved. Five guys on a mountaintop together, sharing the Word and the Lord’s supper with a Bible, a machine gun, and the blood of Jesus.

· He also talked about one guy who was about to go out on patrol from a sentry point, called him, and said he had some fear about the mission, and asked to take communion before the assignment. So, in the dead of night, in blackout conditions, he is administering communion at the guard point, in a room not much larger than a maybe a small bathroom, by the light of a heating element and a mini-flashlight, just bright enough to read the words off the page.

Sunday Morning – main speaker

Sunday’s message centered around leaving a legacy

· References back to Genesis, and also Ephesians, abut the main focus was Deuteronomy 6:1-9

· Obeying God

· Following Him

· Teach (train) your children & children’s children to fear the Lord

· No Biblical support for spoiling your grandchildren. Grandparents have the ability and choice to give gifts as they see fit, but there is NOT a Biblical principle of spoiling them. What their responsibilities are involve teaching them the Godly, moral principles found in God’s Word, in support of the parents. This is modeling Christ to them, involving them in the Godly activities in service, etc. It also is a chance to ask questions during the everyday stuff of life to take their spiritual temperature and direct discussions towards how God works in the world through nature, physical laws, spiritual laws, and modeling love at all times.

· Love for God in ALL things with every last ounce of our strength even to our dying breath

· You are always disciplining your children – are you doing it well??

· Be diligent to show yourself approved to God