11.28.14 A Preview to our launch of M3...

Welcome to M3!

Welcome to an introduction to M3 Coaches Training. We are looking for a few good men to train to coach and multiply MANLY men. You were invited to be a part of this team because we believe you have what it takes to make a G.R.E.A.T. impact on others. (You'll learn the meaning of our G.R.E.A.T. focus as you go forward.) As in war or in sports, and in the army of God, teamwork is essential. (TEAM=Together Everyone Accomplishes More). As we promised in the Youtube presentation and on our website, you will never have to go it alone. You will always have your wingmen on either side of you. This buddy system is the most basic of our team structures. In the military, their smallest groups are called fire teams. Our fire teams will usually be composed of 3 men, so you will always have someone on either side of you. For approximately the next three months of our Officers Training, when you post on our daily blog, these men or others will look to read what you have to say and encourage you. They will pray for you and keep in touch with you. And of course, you will do the same for them. You will develop strong ties, perhaps stronger than you’ve ever had at church. For it is only as men strive together that relationships grow deeply.

You’ve applied and been accepted for a great mission. We think you have the right stuff. We need men who are determined to accomplish the great commission with us. Is that you? Consider the following true story.

Are You Unstoppable?

On June 7^th, 1981 Israeli pilots flew a daring and successful mission to take out an Iraqi nuclear reactor, destined to make nuclear bombs to destroy their country. Afterwards, one of the pilots was interviewed and asked if he feared being shot down. His answer so impressed me. He said that he didn’t fear being shot down. He feared not fulfilling the mission. Wow! The apostle Paul had this same committed and conquering attitude. He declared, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me” Acts 20:24. When the vital mission given to you becomes more important than your life, you become unstoppable. Here’s a thought provoking question- What does it take to stop you?

Think of what stops many people who have no compelling mission, who view life as a playground, not a battleground. Can you imagine the Israeli pilot or the apostle Paul giving such excuses as believers do today for not completing even a simple assignment, such as to daily read their Bibles and keep in touch with their team mates. (That would be a whole lot easier than risking your life to complete a daring mission). They give such excuses as- “I forgot. I didn’t have the time. I was too busy. It was more than I expected. I didn’t like his tone of voice. I didn’t know I had to do that! I wanted to watch the game instead. We had a family thing that went late. I had a lot of other work I had to do. I was planning on doing it later. I needed my sleep. I’d have to get up earlier to have the time. I’d have to stay up late to get it done.” If you were an employer or a military officer or a professional coach, would you accept such excuses?  Many American believers have become couch potatoes. But when men have a great mission and become committed, they turn their back on such excuses. They want something more than their comfort. They want to fulfill the mission and their destiny.

We are at war and we have been given a vital mission- the great commission to multiply Christlike men. What would it take to stop you from carrying it out? Becoming unstoppable begins with a choice. “I will be unstoppable. I am a conqueror, not a quitter.” Note how Paul had this attitude. He declared, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Rom.8:34-37. I taught my son when he was very little to say, “I’m no quitter, I’m a conqueror.” (I just dropped him off at wrestling practice. Last year 10 guys dropped out within the first two weeks- not him.) Are you a quitter or a conqueror? Choose to be true to who God has made you to be- a conqueror- an unstoppable man on a mission. When the wicked adversary plants the thought to give up, declare, I am a conqueror. I am an overcomer. I do my duty. I am unstoppable.

We get the mission done, no matter what. We are “no excuses” men. We are unstoppable. Is that true of you? Someone has said that an excuse is the skin of a “reason” stuffed with a lie. The enemy and our fallen nature are great at making excuses. Sadly, those who are great at making excuses will never become great. To prevent your future proteges from giving you excuses for “quitting in the moment” for not doing their daily blog or calling you back by the following night or not making their mentoring meeting with you, we will use two very effective and biblical motivators- rewards and consequences. Repeatedly, God says that he will give back to each person according to what he has done. God uses both rewards and motivating consequences. Wise parents, teachers, coaches, employers and military leaders do that all the time with those they are seeking to help. So what will we use to help ourselves and our protégés fulfill their mission to grow and multiply godly men? Let’s start with the rewards.

Rewards or Honors for GREAT Service

As you know in M3, we practice the biblical injunction to honor those who set the example for others to follow (Phil.1:29; 3:17; 1 Cor.16:15-18). God himself gives out honors in heaven. Not only will there be times when you are publicly honored for helping your protégés become coaches, but you will be honored far more often for your participation in G.R.E.A.T. pursuits. Jesus wants us to become great servant leaders. He declared, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” Mt.20:26. Jesus is the perfect example of a great man. So we will focus on 5 vital areas of greatness that we will pursue, keep track of, and regularly honor. Today, let’s look at the first two of these 5 key elements of being G.R.E.A.T. in God’s kingdom.

G=God’s word

God’s word is so foundational to living a great life in God’s eyes. Jesus said, “whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” Mt.5:19. And thanks to God for this blog, we can share (teach) what we have been learning with each other. (You’ll also see how this will overflow the banks of this blog, enabling you to teach others as well.) We know God wants to meet and communicate with us through his word on a daily basis. He is not a legalist. He loves us and wants to daily help and bless us. “Listen to my instruction and be wise, do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors…”Prov.8:33-34. This daily time with God in his word is seen in several other passages (see- Psalm 1:3; 119:97; Acts 17:11; 2:46; 19:9). So each day we will study the same Scripture passages and share briefly what we got out of it. Sometimes it may be just a few verses we will focus on. At other times we will study a paragraph or a whole chapter. These M-F "Growing Stronger Together" blog times should never take you more than 15-20 minutes. If you go longer than that, I commend you for digging so deeply, but that’s your choice, not what is necessary. 

Many people have struggled for years to be faithful in meeting daily with God. Many admit they gave up because they weren’t getting much out of it, or they didn’t know where to read (They used a drop and plop approach- I’ll read where the Bible drops open and my finger plops down. Bad approach. We don’t do that with any other book or letter we would read.) Others admit they want to read daily, but they need a holy kick in the pants. If any of these hindrances to daily reading have been true for you, they will all be solved. Not only will we all be reading and responding to the same passage daily, we will also be on teams and keep track of our progress. Those who keep their word and read the word and share each day on our blog prove that they are unstoppable. They are not excuse makers. Thus, at the end of the first month that you have read and posted daily with us, you will be presented with the "Unstoppable" pin. And each month after that you are unstoppable, you will be honored at our monthly meeting. To keep track of our progress, we use our GREAT scoreboard.

Why keep score? Because when you keep score, you always play better. Because it’s the only way to know who is on mission and who needs help. Because it’s the only way we know whom to honor. Because we like to see how well we are doing. Because it makes it more enjoyable. Because we were built for challenges. Because it reveals where we may need to improve. Because it reminds us that there is something on the line. Because God keeps score. Our GREAT scoreboard will help us keep focused on the GREAT things of God’s word and of being Respectable. The letter R in G.R.E.A.T. stands for- 

R=Respectable

Being a man that is respectable is important to God and to our character (1 Tim.3:2). And a crucial aspect of being men of respect is being reliable. It's hard to respect someone who isn't reliable, who can't be trusted. God is so reliable or faithful. He is our faithful Father. He is faithful to forgive us and to care for us. And He wants us to be like him. He commends faithfulness in us. We long to hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” And it is faithful or reliable men that we are to select to mentor and multiply. Notice this emphasis in our theme verse- “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will be able to teach others also” 2 Tim.2:2.

The Marines have a great motto, “Semper Fi!” It’s Latin for “Always Faithful.” We too are looking for a few good men, men who are faithful, reliable. Yet this seems to be a dwindling quality to find these days. Men say they will call you back, but then they don’t. Talk is cheap and so is their character at that point. “Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man, who can find?” Prov.20:6. It is a disrespectful and dishonoring thing for a protégé or a fellow M3 member not to return your call promptly and vice versa. Quick communication is critical on a sports field or battlefield. We too want to be prompt, reliable and respectful in returning calls or emails. Jesus stressed that if a man cannot be faithful in such “little things” he should not be entrusted with the true riches of God’s kingdom- the care of people (see Luke 16:10-31). Men need to make amends if they fail to return your calls promptly (at the latest, by the following night), so they will owe you a coffee or doughnut of your choice. If this happens again, they will also need to email you an apology. You then are to forward his apology to me. I need to know if this man has an ongoing problem being reliable with his team mates. We are committed to helping, not embarrassing people. If a man knows his computer or phone is not working or lost, then he is to simply email me or use another phone and call me. One call takes care of it all. You are joining a great team of encouraging men. Each  day on the blog, you will see men encouraging others. Read the comments of the person who last blogged and pass on a few words of encouragement. 

Consequences

Consequences are powerful motivators. New year’s resolutions fail miserably because usually there are no consequences attached to them. But highly productive people know they can’t depend on “feeling motivated” to go to the gym or such. They get accountability partners and put a huge consequence on themselves if they don’t fulfill their commitment. Here’s an example between two men- “I will give you my rent money if I don’t make it to the gym at least 12 times this month.” With such a big consequence, you can be sure he fulfilled his commitment. So how about this? If you don’t read and post each day with us, you must fork over your month’s rent or mortgage payment:) Just kidding! My wife would shoot me for playing such a high stakes motivational game! So let’s make it small, but big enough to motivate us and our proteges. Five bucks ought to do it. This is due at our monthly meetings. (If five bucks seems too much or little to motivate you to daily blog, then let me know what would work best for you.) If a person fails to blog a second time in the month, then perhaps he needs a bigger refiners fine. We will let the offender decide the amount that would motivate him. Our desire isn’t to fine people, but to refine their character and help them keep their word. 

In conclusion- This was a lot more reading than what we will have on our daily blogs. Nonetheless, it took this slow reader only 12 minutes to read through it. The Monday-Friday blogs should take you only around 15-20 minutes to complete. (It takes me a whole lot longer to write them. Guess what I do with a lot of my free time?:) Saturdays are a day of rest from the blog. Sunday's we just visit the blog to share a verse or a thought from the sermon. We also read the Growing Deeper Projects that our brothers have posted. 

We want to commend you for being an unstoppable team mate with us. Email or call me back as soon as you have finished this reading assignment, so I can credit you appropriately. Just come here to our blog each day M-F anytime that works best for you and read and respond to it. I’d suggest adding it as a Favorite (Ctrl-D). If you have problems with it or questions for me, call me anytime. Here’s my number- 708-543-6544.

Yourstoserve,

dave

PS- Don’t forget to contact me now that you have read through the above introductory info. Also you can hit me with any questions that you may have.