Sunday, August 24, 2008

Who's your cut man?

Who's your cut man?

photo by hkfuey97

You know, in boxing, the guy who puts the stool down, takes the boxer's mouthpiece out, puts the spit bucket in front of him, fixes his cuts so he can go out and fight another round? Usually there are two or three guys in the boxer's corner, each with a specific task. Not only do they give rest and comfort for his bruised and bleeding body, they give encouragement to keep fighting when he doesn’t feel like it, to push through the pain, to go one more round. They also warn of blind spots, like, “you are dropping your hands and he’s tattooing you with that left jab.”


Wh0 are my cut men? (in life, not boxing!) I’m not naming names here, but I have them. And I have strict requirements. They must be honest. I must trust them. They need to pursue integrity—which means admitting when they make a mistake. Yes, they are allowed to make mistakes. They are even allowed to aggravate or upset me at times—after all, we are all human. But they have proven themselves by providing me support in the past—even when I didn’t ask. They also meet a need or have a skill or have something about them that uplifts me in some way. All of them profess Jesus as their Savior.

Some of my cut men come from my men’s group—but not all the men in my group are my cut men. Some are in my small group at church—but not all the men in my small group are included. Some don’t even go to church—but they speak to my soul in an uplifting way. They are the chosen few, who for whatever reason connect with me and I with them on a level beyond the immediate.

You can’t win the battle alone. You are only fooling yourself. When the round is over, the corner is a lonely place to stand. Find your cut men!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to the vineyardMEN blog!

We're the men's ministry for the Dayton Vineyard in Ohio, and what you'll find on this blog are thoughts and info from the leaders of vineyardMEN. We'll include topics we're discussing as a group as well as whatever is on our minds. Feel free to comment and let us know what's going on!

Our 2008 Fall schedule is coming up. We'll be kicking everything off on September 8, 2008, at 6:30 at the Dayton Vineyard with an open invitation to all the man at the Vineyard to join us for an evening barbecue. This is basically a time to get more information on where the vineyardMEN ministry is heading and to get more detail on the fall curricula.

Starting September 15, 2008, Monday nights will get more interesting! As a group, we'll meet in the main meeting room for opening prayer and thoughts.

The guys will then choose which path they'll be taking for the fall. The first option is Men's Fraternity, the Quest for Authentic Manhood. This is an incredible series that will actually go through the spring of 2009, and gives men very practical tools for growth at home, with the family and at work.

The other path available is Spiritual Leadership, Defining God's Call to Lead. This is an indepth series on not just leadership, but spiritual leadership from a biblical perspective. This is about core leadership at home and in the church.

Then our big annual event, the Bootcamp, is October 24-26, 2008, at Camp Joy. The topic will again be Spiritual Leadership, and we're blessed to have both Doug Roe and Scott Sliver speaking. This is more than a men's 'retreat'. While we have incredible worship and life-changing interaction with our God, we also have a lot of fun. If you haven't experienced a bootcamp at the Vineyard, you're missing out!