Tues.6.30.15...Never Forsake Your Friend...Prov.27:1-13

Ever had a good time friend? He was there when things were going well for you, but was nowhere to be found when you were really needing a friend. In my BC days, I sure had such friends. Then they were gone for good when I came to Christ. The common bond of getting high was gone and they wanted nothing to do with my Savior and me. In our passage today, we see an emphasis on friends. Loyal friends do not forsake their friends and brothers in arms. A few weeks ago we discovered that gaining and sustaining a good FRIENDSHIP includes the following-

F- Focus on what you have in common. Being on a team can help greatly here.

R- Remember to keep in touch and Return calls promptly. Before we've said that if a man doesn't return a requested call back, he would owe the brother a soft drink or doughnut. Since we are becoming farther spread out, that has become impractical. So now, he will lose the possibility of being Unstoppable for the week until a proper apology has been given. I don't think this has even been an issue for you. You have been so quick to return my calls, and I so appreciate that. You are a breath of fresh air compared to so many others outside of M3.  

I- Include the flair factor- This could include a thoughtful gift. "Everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts" Prov.19:6. 

E- Encourage your friend and Enrich him with what you’ve been learning. Also Empathize. Be a caring friend, especially coming to the aid of an overwhelmed, "Broken Arrow" brother. Be devoted to the brothers on your team. 

N- Never abandon your friend. A man may forsake M3, but we will never forsake a man in M3. No man left behind. You cannot fail in M3; you can only quit trying.  

Do enjoyable things together and Divulge yourself. Let people know who you are- your ups and downs. We are on the same team and pulling for each other.

Strive to listen intently. We may not always understand, but we always will strive to be understanding. Strive to listen intently.

H- Help him out. You already know this and have practiced this numerous times, such as helping friends move. 

I- Intercede for your friend. Friends pray for friends. Pray for your friend and others to be power HOUSE men of God- Hungry, Obedient, Unstoppable, Strong in the Lord and Encouraging. I pray that for you daily. And I pray that the Lord will give you such power HOUSE men to enlist- that you would have a great family tree and be a G.R.E.A.T. MANLY warrior. Attack! Pray such Attack prayers to advance the kingdom of God against the gates of hell.

Speaking of prayer, have you recorded the names and email addresses of your two prayer warriors on the Contacts tab spot? If you haven't, today is the deadline. Thanks. I want to send out our July M3 Prayer Warriors e-letter soon, so I need you help with this. Thanks!

P- Pardon his faults. Friends aren't perfect. They will let us down. "The best of men are men at best." But he who casts off a friend when that friend fails him, will be a lone stranger. If man quits because someone hurt his  feelings, he is a quitter. We are to be Christlike, forgiving one another just as the Lord has forgiven us and has not forsaken us.

In today's passage, we are told, "Do not forsake your friend" 27:10. I'm like you. I want to be a faithful friend and I want friends who will be faithful to me, especially when tough times come knocking. We've noted how teams can create a long term bond, and that's we have available to us in M3. As we are growing weekly, we are encountering growth challenges. How can we create structures that enable us to keep bringing more men in and yet preserve strong bonds? We could use the common method of just dividing teams up as they get over a certain number, but that ends up dividing friendships. So let's create a structure that enables us to grow without limit, without parting friends who want to be together for the long haul. Let's build a joyous band of brothers, comrades in arms.

Here's how it could work. Pick a few brothers that you would want to go the distance together with in M3. These will be your new wing-men. It could be two or more. (With our growth, we need new names. You and your wing-men will be called a fire team and your existing fire team will be called a squad. Your fire team captain will now be called a Squad Captain.) Then as your team continues to recruit and grow, those new men will eventually form their own new fire teams. Squads will be formed of a few fire teams. Squad sizes may start in size from 6-12 men, but grow to several more before deploying out a new squad. During that time one or more assistant squad captains will be sought and nurtured. So imagine your fire team buddies being able to stay together, deepening in friendships and nurturing new men you recruit together. Then imagine seeing those new brothers doing likewise. What a great thing! Imagine all the manly men you will be able to multiply together. (At our next M3 meeting, July 12th, I will reveal another powerful way your fire teams and squads can make a powerful impact.) 

1.- Fire teams should be from 3-5 men. So text me today the names of a few men in M3 that you would like to be on the same fire team together with. They are probably men who are already on your same team. 

I will do my best to make sure you are with at least one of them. Some of you have learned that over time you can become friends with just about anyone who also loves the Lord and wants to advance God's kingdom with others. If that's you or you really don't care who you get placed with, just text me that as well. Once I sort through everyone's requests, I will confer back with you. I'm sure there may be some cases where I will need to place a man on a team he didn't request. Hopefully, he will have no issues with such. If you really don't want to be with a certain person that I will privately announce to you, you can let me know that as well. I doubt that is the case among us, but I'm happy to connect you with people you will enjoy the journey with. I'm also always open to your suggestions. "For waging war you need guidance" Prov.24:6.  

2.- Read Prov.27:1-13 and share a verse and some of your thoughts on it.

3.- How often do you go back and read the comments that others leave under your good words on the blog? If you post late in the evening, do you go back the next day to see what others may have written? 

Speaking of friends today, many of you from New Life know our friend, Jose Carrillo. He and his family recently moved as missionaries to Queretaro, Mexico. When Eddie was down there recently, he talked with Jose about joining M3. I have too. I think it would be so encouraging for him to be a part of this great band of brothers. Today is Jose's birthday, so please send him a birthday text greeting at 708-466-1228. Thanks!   

Also speaking of friends, I especially liked what Armando recently wrote about his reaching out to old friends of his- "Just yesterday I gave one [a greatest minimovies card] to John, an old friend who I continue to ask him if he'll attend church with me... Also last Sunday I gave one to Tony a friend who attended church, his second time and also to another who also attended church for his second time." Way to go Armando! We don't have to turn our backs on our old friends. We may need to decline their invitations to the bar or such. But we can still invite them do things with us. If they refuse, at least we didn't ignore them.

Mon.6.29.15...Without Wood a Fire Goes Out...Prov.26:17-28

The story goes of a man who comes into his North woods cabin from the winter cold. He is shivering and says to the old wood stove, "Give me heat!" To which the stove answers back, "First, give me wood!" Our verse today says, "Without wood the fire goes out." Herein lies an obvious life principle, yet so often people get it backwards. For example, the employee says to his boss, "I'd like a raise." The employer says, "First give me a reason to give you a raise." The student says to the teacher, "I want a better grade than this!" The teacher says, "First give me better answers." The single man says, "I want to marry this wonderful woman I met." The wonderful woman says, "If he was wonderful, I'd gladly marry him." (First be the one to have the one.) The husband says to his wife, "I want more romance in our marriage." She says, "First, give me a reason to feel romantic towards you." The parent says, "I want you to stop whining and throwing temper tantrums. The honest child would say, "First, train and discipline me to do so." The teenager says, "I want more privileges." The parent says, "First, give me more honor and obedience." The guy looks at his pudgy body in the mirror and says, "I want to be in shape." The talking mirror says, "First, give me better food and exercise." The brother says, "I want to be strong spiritually." And you say to him, "Then start getting into a GREAT spiritual workout with us in M3.":) This is known as the "Great Exchange Principle." A lot of people whine over what they don't have, instead of working for what they want. The young man might whine that he is stuck in a low paying job. Instead of whining, he needs to work to develop the knowledge, relational and technical skills to land a better job. 

This "great exchange principle" also works well for eliminating or reducing things you don't want. For example, do you want less conflict in your marriage? Then don't add fuel to the fire of a growing conflict. "Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down" 26:20. We could rightly also say, without a cutting comment a quarrel dies down. Without yelling a quarrel dies down. Without giving excuses and being defensive a quarrel dies down. Without staying in the ring (by taking a time out) a quarrel dies down. As fresh charcoal is to burning embers and as wood kindling is to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife (expanded translation of 26:21). So don't add fuel to the fire; then the quarrel will die down. Just as a tall man overlooks little people, so a big man overlooks little people's insults. "A prudent man overlooks an insult" 12:16. Is that easy to do? Of course not. "Though the tongue weighs very little, it's very hard to hold." That's why taking a time out is so wise. If I stay in the ring, I am apt to give her a piece of my mind, which I can ill afford to lose. Retreat to advance. For lack of wood a fire dies down.

1a.- So what do you want more or less of in your life? (You are among supportive friends, please share.)

1.b.- Now list a few practical steps you could take to have more or less of it. If we don't work at improving such, then remember the definition of insanity- it's doing the same things over and over, yet hoping for different results. 

2.- Read Prov.26:17-28 and share one verse or phrase that grabbed your interest along with some of your thoughts regarding it. 

Announcements
Hey it's Monday, so please remember to go right from the blog to the scoreboard and put up your points for the weekend. Thanks! 

We will also be going to the July tab on the scoreboard, since most of this week in July. 

Notice: We are now combining the MP3 points in the G column. So not only give yourself the point for blogging in the G column, but now add your MP3 points in that same G column. (Now we truly have a GREAT scoreboard, not a G,MP3,REAT scoreboard:)

10 days ago I wrote the following: "Prayer is so important that we have asked each man when he started with M3 to get at least two prayer partners. Some of you have, others have yet to do so. Go to the Contacts tab at the bottom of our Scoreboard sheet and include the name(s) of your prayer warriors and their email addresses. I will be sending out a prayer warriors monthly newsletter the beginning of July, so please have that completed by then. I'm sure you believe that it's important to have people praying for you in this spiritual battle that we are in, so I'm only asking this for your benefit. (You can thank me later:)" Please have this done by the end of tomorrow.

It was so enjoyable reading Friday about how so many of you have been handing out our Greatest Mini-movies cards. Phil shared the following- "After a Narcotics Anonymous meeting I was outside talking to a guy and I handed him one of our mimimovies cards and told him, 'Yo, check it out, there's some super powerful short videos on there.' Well 2 other people overheard me and they both asked for cards as well." Way to go Phil!

Drum roll please! Here are the points from this past week's scoreboard. As you can see, many of you were U= Unstoppable this past week. And most of you scored 25 points or more. Well done! I'm holding my breath that this week will be the one that everyone is unstoppable and scores 25 points or more. Let's have that underwater breath holding competition:) And congratulations to Team 5 for top scoring! Again, the weekly average scores do not include those of your fire team captains. They are focusing on helping each one of you succeed. Please make sure to return their calls promptly as well. Thanks! 

Fire Team 1			0	29.28		Fire Team 4			0	31.66
Eddie Morales	U	R5	56			George Rabiela	U	R1	94
Phil Raymond	U		16			Rich Guardiola	U	R1	48
Alex Dyckman	U		25			Dave Heidekruger	U	R1	30
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	39			Chuy Cervantes			17
Luis Ortiz	U		36			Fire Team 5			0	38.8
Gary Remson		R1	18			Jack Rogers	U	R4	85
James Schmidt	U		36			Andre Vargas	U		30
William Dyckman	U		35			Armando Hernandez	U		60
Fire Team 2			0	33.5		George Doherty	U	R1	28
Sam Vargas	U	R3	41			Jose Billegas	U		18
Oscar Nunez	U		40			Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	58
Israel Fuentes	U	R1	32			Fire Team 6			0	28.8
Flo Juarez	U		16			Dave Garratt	U	R?	86
Lou Ojeda	U		46			Horacio De La Torre	U		55
Fire Team 3			0	37.4		Ed Lake	U		27
Robert Roman	U	R1	132			Dave DeBoer	U		53
Guillermo Baez			61			Mark Estrada			0
Vince Diaz	U	R1	35			Rick Barrera			9
Antonio Palomar		R1	22
Nic Palhegyi	U		23
Osiris Alday	U		46

Fri.6.26.15...Dealing with Fools...Prov.26:1-16

As you read through our passage in Proverbs- 26:1-16, you will notice at least two things that stand out. First, there are several verses that begin with the word "Like." (We noticed that in yesterday's reading as well.) Second, most all of verses are about a particular individual- the fool. (10 times he is singled out in our short passage. Of course the entire book is dominated by foolish versus wise behavior.) So what are some of the ways the fool is described in our passage and throughout Proverbs? Here's an easy way to remember- they are STUPID! Solomon said, "The fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is" Eccles.10:3. Here's why I think a fool is called S.T.U.P.I.D. He is-

Stubborn- The fool has a stubborn and unrepentant heart. There is no use trying to reason with a fool. His motto is, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up." His theme song is, "I did it my way." And he commutes on the my way highway. “The way of a fool seems right to him” 12:15. You can’t get through to him. He just keeps repeating his folly (23:11). Pity the fool for the amount of pain it will take to get through to his stubborn, hard head.

Talk-sick- How do you know if you are facing a fool? Just wait until he opens his mouth; he will remove all doubt. For example, he may use cutting comments, lustful language or disrespectful dialog. And “every fool is quick to quarrel” 20:3. "The mouth of a fool gushes folly" Prov.15:2. “A fool’s mouth is his undoing” 18:7.

Unreliable- If you hire him, you will greatly regret it. "Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool..." 26:10. He will greatly hurt you and your business if you entrust him to communicate your directives. "Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message in the hand of a fool" 23:6.

Proud- He is Mr. Know it All, whose middle name is Proud. He takes after his father, the devil. Pride was his downfall too. If you try to enlighten or correct a fool, he will despise and belittle you. He hates to be corrected. "He who hates correction is stupid" 12:1. The fool proudly refuses to humble himself before the ruler of the world. Why? There is no fear of God before his eyes. 

Indulgent- Speaking of the fool's eyes, he is so short sighted that he sees only the moment and temptations right in front of him, so he lives to indulge his appetites. He can't see the judgment seat and God's wisdom because he is wise in his own eyes. 

Disobedient- That is a good word to summarize the fool. He would rather fight than surrender to God. The fool may even go to church and hear the words of Christ, but he refuses to put them into practice. Jesus divided all mankind into two categories- the wise who hear his words and put them into practice, and the foolish who hear, but do not put them into practice. Great will be his coming destruction (Mt.7:24-27).  

So how do you reason with a fool? You don't. "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments..." 2 Tim.2:23. "Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words" 23:9. So don't get sucked into his deceptive questions or outrageous declarations. He is just baiting you for an argument. "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself" 26:4. It's been aptly said that when a wise man argues with a fool, it's hard to tell them apart. 

But the very next verse says, "Answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes" 26:5. Obviously this is not a contradiction, but perhaps a revelation of hope. We will never be able to reform a fool by mere human wisdom. But the Lord can yet transform him when we share God's wisdom of the cross. Granted, some might think it foolish (1 Cor.1:22-24), but the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Rom.1:16). "At one time we too were foolish and disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy" Titus 3:3-5. If God can save fools as we were, he can surely save the fool you may be dealing with. So give him the gospel. Give him a Greatestminimovies.com card. The nice thing about that is when he is alone and perhaps hurting, he can watch video after video of changed lives and gospel truths that convict and convert sinners. You don't have to stand there and debate him. 

Obviously, not everyone is a hardened fool. It's helpful to think of fools on a continuum. Some are more or less foolish than others. But all need to come to Christ to escape the folly of their self reliance. “He who trusts in himself is a fool” 28:26.

1.- To help fools escape their self-reliance, we need to share the gospel with them. Please watch another greatestminimovies.com video and share briefly about it, including its name. Then be on the lookout to share it with others. Last Friday, Nic mentioned that he showed one of the videos to his son. What a great way to sow gospel seeds in our children's hearts. 

Many of you have already watched the first video listed on  our greatestminimovies.com site, entitled, Smart. It ends with a verse from our reading today- "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him" Prov.26:12. 

2.- Have you given out a Greatest Mini-movies card? If so, share briefly about doing so. 
(What, you don't have any cards yet!? Yes, I have the names of the few of you in front of me and I'm wondering why you have taken me up on my offers to simply text me for those cards. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 
Devoted to you, 
Dave- c.708-543-6544
PS- Ed in Singapore, you'll have to wait a bit longer :)

3.- Read Prov.26:1-16 and write out one verse you liked from it. Then look for opportunities to share it as well.

Please do me and yourself a favor. Please make it a helpful habit to go from the blog to the scoreboard and put your points up. This is especially helpful to me on Fridays. I need all your points up so I can tally them up to determine team averages for Monday morning's blog. Unless you post late at night, Friday's scoreboard is for what you did Thursday. 

Th.6.25.15...Semper Fi!...Prov.25:15-28

What strikes you about these two verses from Proverbs 25?
"Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters" 25:13
"Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble" 25:19
Yes, both start with the word "Like." As a matter of fact, in chapters 25-26, twenty of the verses start with that word of comparison- "Like." (I've underlined them in my Bible.) The original meaning of the word "proverb" meant a "comparison." (Like) You could make up proverbs of comparison like those yourself. "Like nails on a chalk board is a whining child." But the verses above aren't about whining children, but being unfaithful or trustworthy. If you are trustworthy, you are refreshing. If a man is not, then he is a big pain in the tooth or foot or elsewhere:) 

Ever been around someone who was all talk, but not trustworthy? The year before I was to get married, I took in a brother from the church to help him out and for him to help me out with rent. Then another brother needed a place to stay and then another. None ended up holding down their jobs, so I was soon providing free room and board to three grown men. They promised money soon, but it never came. Reminds me of another proverb from today's reading, "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give" 25:14. I ended up loaning one of those guys an accumulation of $300. After he moved out, I politely called him a few times about the money he owed me. "Out of gratitude" he then hired a lawyer who called, telling me to stop threatening his client. When I explained what happened, I think the lawyer was quite embarrassed. (Any story sounds true until you hear the other side. Compare Prov.18:17.)

Another one of those brothers who lived with me went on a singles retreat I was leading. He liked to dress in military fatigues and was fond of saying our Marines motto, "Semper Fi!" (Always faithful.) 

When we were on a group hike, I sent him back to the camp to bring back directions to a spot I wanted to take the group to. We waited and waited. He never showed, so we returned to the camp lounge area, only to find him playing chess. Erg! He gave some weak excuse for not coming back to us, to which I sarcastically said, "Semper fi!" Yes, I was ticked! "Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble" 25:19.

I commend you for being faithful to the team even when you would rather play chess, play a video game or play a movie. I commend you for being unstoppable when you would rather stop reading and go to sleep. I commend you for persevering when you've had a hard day and there's more yet to do. I commend you for promptly returning calls, when so many other people don't do that for you. When it's hardest, that's when to push even harder. My 16 year old son has a word for getting something done when it is really hard, "Beast-mode!" If it's pushing through the pain in wrestling practice or pushing up one more rep of killer weights, then go into "Beast-mode." It is when you would rather not, that tests what you are made of. When you'd rather not have to stay up late to fulfill the mission, go into beast-mode! That is where "glory" and honor is found. Do hard things. Paul said he gloried in his sufferings. Taste it. Be trustworthy no matter what. In special forces training, soldiers are required to stay awake for over 24 hours to accomplish a practice mission. They put the mission above their comfort. They are trustworthy. In a world of unfaithful men, you are so refreshing to me (let me make up a proverb), like jumping into a pool on a really hot day. Best of all you are refreshing to our semper fi Father in heaven. You are reflecting His image! Hoo-rah!

PS- A shout out to the Marines in our midst, Mark Estrada and Dave Heidekrueger and to all our armed forces personnel, such as Andre Vargas (Army) and Sam Vargas (Air Force). Am I missing anyone? You have faithfully served and we salute you.  

1.- Maybe it wasn't because you needed to be faithful to accomplish an important mission, but share a memory of when you stayed up for an extra long stretch, perhaps over 24 hours. You were in beast-mode. You have got what it takes. Semper fi!

2.- Read through Prov.25:15-28 and share a verse you like and what you like about it. 

Thanks for being trustworthy, reliable- even faithfully putting your points on the scoreboard. You also lighten my load and your fire team captain's when we don't have to make reminder calls. Udabest! 

Please remember to fill in your prayer partners names and email addresses within the "Contacts" tab. The deadline for completing this is next Tuesday, June 30th. We need all the prayer support we can get. You have entered into the battle and the enemy does not like it. Pray! 

Announcements
Happy Birthday Greetings to Andre Vargas and Guillermo Baez, who also happens to be celebrating his anniversary today. Congrats men! 

Wed.6.24.15...Unsung Heroes...Prov.25:1-14

Our reading today is from Proverbs 25:1-14. I'd like to do things a bit differently today. Please read that passage through first and pick out your favorite verse before I reveal mine below. Thanks! 

1.- Please share your verse with us and what you liked about it. As always, write down your MP3 and seek to share it with others. 

Okay, I'm guessing that none of you picked the verse that I did- v.1- "These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah." Why that one Dave? Thanks for asking. Hezekiah reigned as king over Judah (715-686 BC) some 250 years after Solomon. Hezekiah was a good king who wanted to preserve more of the wise sayings of Solomon. Aren't you glad for his decision and the diligence of his copyists? Humanly speaking, if it wasn't for those "behind the scenes" workers, we would not have chapters 25-29 in the book of Proverbs. For that matter, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to countless men, down through the ages, who carefully copied the word of God that we have today. 

Bible scholar Kenneth Barker writes the following of those diligent copiers- "The Jewish sopherim, or scribes, held such a high regard for the Scriptures as the Word of God that they regarded the copying of any error as a sin. No imperfection, no matter how small, was tolerated. The successors to this meticulous scribal tradition were Jewish biblical scholars known as the Masoretes...The Masoretes developed a system of checks to ensure that every copy was as nearly perfect as humanly possible. To make certain they had not added or left out even a single letter, they counted the number of times each letter of the alphabet occurred in each book. They noted and recorded the middle letter of the entire Old Testament. They recorded the middle letter on each page and the number of letters and words in each column. They examined every copy of the Old Testament and withdrew from circulation all copies in which any error was discovered. These carefully copied Hebrew texts have remained virtually unchanged since about 600 to 700 AD. In 1947 the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls yielded copies from all the major sections of the Old Testament, except Ruth, dating back more than a century before Christ. When compared to these ancient copies, the Masoretic texts were found to be virtually identical." (This excerpt is from Dr. Barker's excellent online article- http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/5Bible/TransCopyingTheOTNTManuscripts_Barker.aspx. It's well worth the read to help you gain a better understanding of how we got our Bible. There are also some very good videos on this subject in the Resources tab of our greatestminimovies.com site.)
It took special skill and diligence to be a scribe. Not every man qualified.

So kudos to the unnamed men who carefully copied God's word that we have today. They are our unsung heroes. But they are not the only ones. You are such men as well. Your name may never be a household word as King Solomon or King Hezekiah (yet without such careful copiers, few would know the names of those kings today). You also play an important copier role today. You too are copying down God's word on your MP3s and sharing it with others. You are seeking to be a good example of a follower of Christ Jesus for others to copy. It shows in part on the GREAT scoreboard. And the men that you enlist and encourage, are in a sense, a living copy of God's word that you are passing on to others to read. Paul put it this way- "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God" 2 Cor.2:2-3. 

One day we will get to meet those unsung heroes and one day they will get to meet you. May we then hear their names and ours called out by our Lord himself, declaring, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

2.- Thank God for the copiers of the Bible. Share a memory of one of the first times you remember reading the Bible and how it struck you. 

Announcements 
Congratulations for perfect participation on Monday's blog! I'm holding my breath to see if this is going to be the week for 100% participation and each man scoring 25 points by the end of the week. Please get into the helpful habit of going to the scoreboard as soon as you finish typing your good thoughts here.

Due to busy schedules, we will need to reschedule this Sunday's fellowship meal. 

Happy Birthday Ricardo Guardiola! May this year be one of great growth and impact in and through your life. It was just last week that Ricardo graduated from Basic Training, having earned his Unstoppable award pin and earning the rank of R1. Congratulations Ricardo!

Tues.6.23.15...The Sluggard...Prov.24:15-33

Today's passage in Proverbs (24:15-33) deals with the sluggard or lazy man. It's not the first time we've seen him and it won't be the last. He is mentioned 16 times by name throughout Proverbs. We too have plenty of lazy people in our world today. Welfare has helped many get back on their feet, but many lazy people have found a resting place in our tax funded welfare system. We know God's word has much to say about helping the poor and needy. But what does it say if the person is poor because he is lazy? "If a man shall not work, he shall not eat" 2 Th.3:10. 

If you've been around lazy people, you know how they can come up with all kinds of excuses why they can't go to work. Here's a wild one right out of Proverbs-"The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets" Prov.26:13. Again, not all people on welfare are lazy, and certainly not all homeless people are lazy either. But my experiences have led me to believe that a large percentage might be. I've rolled down my car window many times and asked the panhandler with his homeless cardboard sign, "Are you looking for work?" I've always gotten the same answer, "Oh yeah!" So I've given them a card with my name and number on it and asked them to call me. Almost none ever have. One guy did and I lined up a job for him at a thrift store a friend managed. He quit after the first day. A young homeless guy I met years ago took me up on my offer and I generously paid him to help out with simple paperwork and cleaning at our first church building on 44th and Paulina. The next time I just paid him minimum wage. He was angry and said he could make more panhandling on a Friday evening. That was the last I ever saw of him.

I don't think I am a calloused soul. I've given to a Christian relief agency for decades, but I don't give money to those panhandling. Wait a minute; hold your fire. I too know the passages about giving to those who ask of you. But those must be balanced with God's word on not giving to people unwilling to work. What do you say to the person who says he wants the money for food? I've offered to take such men for a meal. Very few have accepted. Perhaps they had other plans for the money. It's refreshing when a panhandler is gut honest with you. 

Here are a few other experiences I've had regarding homeless panhandlers. When I came to Humboldt Park in Chicago, I had to step over the winos passed out in front of the liquor store just to get into the youth center. When they were awake and asked for money, I didn't give to them because I didn't want to further their ruin. While living there, I took in a homeless guy in his early twenties named Frank. He disappeared after a couple of weeks. Nothing was missing except my brand new bike which he loaned out to a teenager, who loaned it out to some gang-banger friends. (Never did get that bike back, but that's a different story.)

When I came to serve at New Life in 1988, I encountered more homeless people panhandling. I decided I would try it...sort of. I dressed up nicely and wrote on a white board, "Not Homeless, Not Hungry, Not Broke- May I give you a quarter?" I had a great time, but the panhandlers did not like me invading their turf. For them I was "bad for business." Once my family and I saw two homeless men after their panhandling shift was over. One took out the pennies he had been given and threw them to the ground. Another time I served in a homeless shelter. It was a winter night and the Super Bowl was on. I was shocked when a few of the men left the facility. I guess they got what they wanted and had some better place to go. News investigation teams have followed "homeless" people to their homes. Is that to say that all homeless people are frauds? Of course not. One homeless man I repeatedly talked to named, Mark* told me he was a former heroin addict. He was a prodigal who had forsaken his family after ripping them off. He also had turned away from the Lord. Sin had reduced him to the streets. He was the one who told me about the other panhandlers working the same corner. "That hunched-over woman is a crack head and is horrible to her daughter. Don't give her a dime." I didn't. As a matter of fact, I never give money anymore to panhandlers. Why? Here a few additional reasons.

-I don't want to contribute to an addiction if that is a problem they are having.

-Homeless shelters can best help such people. Leaders of such have said on Christian radio, not to give to panhandlers. If you want to help them, give to those shelters who can evaluate the person's genuine needs. If they are not lazy, they can best help them.

-Giving to able bodied panhandlers just encourages them to keep panhandling. If no one gave them anything, they would be forced to work to get food. "If a man shall not work, he shall not eat." 

Then where should the homeless turn to for help? Homeless shelters. Or perhaps they should go back home and make things right, if they did their family wrong. The family is supposed to be a safety net to those truly in need and unable to work. "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" 1 Tim.5:8. I know not all unbelievers take care of their families, but it's not my job to enable an able bodied man to live such a lowly life. He needs to come to his senses and go back home. When the prodigal was reduced to nothing, he came to his senses and went back home. It is not the job of the church either to feed lazy people, though a number of suburban churches drive in on a Saturday morning to feed the homeless. I'm sure it makes them feel good. But if they are not understanding each person's situation, they just may be enabling bad behavior. How much longer would the prodigal son have remained far from his father and in his sin if he was provided food and clothing? 

I've seen healthy young men, start to bow their heads and shuffle when they take their place on the street corners to beg. What a horrible thing to do to one's mind, to play the part of a victim. If life kicks you down, get up. Men need to be treated as men. "You are better than this! You can make a better life for yourself than this." As with the prodigal son, moral poverty leads to much financial poverty. At least he was willing to work to feed pigs. 

But what if the panhandler is not lazy but is injured, mentally unstable or just can't find work? Those are good questions. But most of us don't have the time to carefully investigate the background of the panhandler, but a homeless shelter can. Recommend they go to one. (My 16 year old son is working this summer at a great one called, A Safe Haven- 2750 W. Roosevelt Rd.) Sadly, I've talked with homeless people who told me they didn’t want to go to a shelter. They didn't like the requirements and curfew. Sounds like teenage rebellion, which has just continued into adulthood. To such people I don't feel badly for not giving to them.

Having said all this, I do give to people on the street corners raising money for legitimate organizations. And I did give to one panhandler more recently. He was sitting down, smiling with a T-shirt that read, "Billionaire in Training." I gave him a quarter just for making me laugh!:)

1.- Our compassion for people must be combined with wisdom. If you've had a good or bad experience with a homeless person, please share that. Or if you think I've taken a heartless or a helpful view toward the homeless, please feel free to share that too. 

*Mark got help from a few different Christians. He got off the streets and last I knew was starting back to church. I told him he needed to make things right with his parents too. I trust he has. 

2.- Pick a verse from our passage in Proverbs 24:15-33 and write it out and some of your thoughts about it. Then look for opportunities to share it with others.

Thanks for the encouragement you give to your brothers on the blog and texts. Thanks also for remembering to put your points on the board as soon as you're done writing here on the blog. It saves us from having to make reminder calls.

Announcements
Happy Birthday James! Enjoy the the day! 
This is the week for birthdays. We will be wishing birthday greetings to a few other M3 brothers this week also. Bring out the cake!

Mon.6.22.15...Be Like the Good Samaritan...Prov.24:1-14

Today, I've invited Eddie Morales, who recently got back from a mission trip to Queretaro, MX, to share with us his thoughts from our passage in Proverbs 24:1-14. It's good and challenging stuff.

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?" Prov.24:11-12

There is not a lack of people in need of rescue. Today there are so many people on the road to death whom we can aid in a variety of ways; by educating them, taking a stand on their behalf, sharing our resources, opening up our house and so on. I think about the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The men who were supposed to represent righteousness and holiness, passed by. 

Yet, the despised Samaritan, who was expected to walk on by the man in need, was the very one who came to his aid. I think as men of God, we should not be quick to pass to the other side when someone is in need. I do understand that this comes with caution, good judgment, and balance. But what is stopping us from really loving and having mercy on our neighbor, especially when we have the capacity to help?

God put it on the heart of a couple to do exactly this- to reach the lost, have mercy, seek justice, and show compassion. My friends, Jose and Joann Carrillo, recently moved to Queretaro, MX with their two children, to show Christ’s love to some of the neediest people in the world…orphans. They said good-by to their friends and relatives, left their jobs, sacrificed, and fund-raised to help aid the needy and broken. 

Although the physical needs can be more noticeable, we must not limit ourselves to those people just headed for physical death through drugs, alcohol, disease, abortion, hunger or violence. I think most men, while they look healthy on the outside, are facing the danger of spiritual death. People need to hear the life-changing message of the gospel. This is something that has been given to us freely, but as you know, it cost more than we could ever afford. Freely we have received, now freely we are to give. May we be on the lookout to give out this message of life whenever possible. Timely. Appropriately. Salted with grace and love. It could just be our persuasions and examples of the gospel that may be the means of rescuing someone from eternal death.

I understand it's easy to make excuses. “I don’t have the time to stop and help.” “That guy looks scary to approach.” “I don’t know enough to lead someone to Christ.” The second part of the proverb reminds us that even though we can make excuses, nothing can be hidden from God. He searches and weighs of our hearts, and one day we will give an account to him for all of our actions, good and bad.

Again, we need to exercise good judgment when helping others, but I think helping someone in need demonstrates character. And helping someone doesn’t have to be radical, but then again it could be. There are no limits to love at the end of the day. I love Peter and John’s response to a beggar in need in Acts 3. “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.’” They offered the man the greatest gift of love, Jesus.

Here are a few brewing opportunities to think about where you could help. The Convey of Hope is looking for volunteers to assist in their connections tent, praying for people and then following up with them as potential mentors. The Convey of Hope is a faith-based organization that brings groceries and many other resources to communities in need. This year they will be in Chicago on August 22, 2015 and looking to serve over 10,000 people in the Marquette Park area. I will have more information coming soon.

Also, Midway is going to be starting Urban Life Skills- a youth mentoring program for at-risk youth to serve as a way to prevent them from getting involved in gangs and to foster character and leadership development. Imagine leading people in prayer and potentially leading several people to Christ or reconnecting them with the Lord. Imagine mentoring young men in the ways of the Lord!

I know we have responsibilities, families to lead, jobs to work at, and ministries to pour into. These are not excuses per say, they are commitments and responsibilities to tend to. But if at all possible, "do to one what you wish you could to for many." Tell people what Jesus has done for you. Show them a real, authentic gospel. At the end of the day, people are looking for hope. Why not offer them the hope of the world?!

1.- Thanks Eddie! Now let's read our passage today, Prov.24:1-14. Pick out a verse, write it out, and share some of your thoughts regarding it. As always put it also on your MP3 card or phone and then look for opportunities to share it with others. Way to enrich others!

2.- Recently, we did a mini-series on FRIENDSHIP. This is a great group to build and deepen lifelong friends. One of the ingredients for deepening such is being on a team. Some of you are doing that this coming Sunday on a softball team. For those of you who aren't, let's eat together. Yum! That's another great way of building and deepening friendships. As you know, this Sunday at 1:00, we will be having an M3 fellowship meal at Jack's home (10749 Cherrywood Drive, Palos Park). Please indicate here if you are coming and if you are bringing your mate or date. As we mentioned Friday, today is the deadline for signing up. If not enough people are free to come, we will simply reschedule it. 

Announcements
Congratulations Mark Estrada on winning yesterday's MMA competition! I wouldn't want to go in the ring against you. I would need the good Samaritan to come along afterward.

Congratulations Fire Teams! All teams scored over 25 points average for last week. And that's not including your fire team captains who were knocking it out of the park. Again, you will note the U column represents in this case the men who were Unstoppable each day last week. Way to go! Louie Ojeda just started with us last week Monday and was not only Unstoppable, but also put up 30 points on  the board. Excellent Louie! 

Hey, here's a challenge. If for one week, each of you will score 25 points or more and be Unstoppable, I will go in the MMA ring against Mark Estrada. That was a typographical error. I will take on your greatest warrior in an underwater breath holding contest. If I lose, I'm buying free soft drinks for all present. Offer ends the end of this summer. Let the game begin. 

Fire Team 1				28.57		Fire Team 4				31
Eddie Morales	U	R5	43			George Rabiela	U	R1	117
Phil Raymond	U		30			Rich Guardiola	U		46
Alex Dyckman	U		25			Chuy Cervantes			16
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	28			Fire Team 5			0	33.4
Luis Ortiz	U		37			Jack Rogers	U	R4	97
Gary Remson		R1	17			Andre Vargas	U		26
James Schmidt	U		34			Armando Hernandez	U		46
William Dyckman	U		29			George Doherty	U	R1	26
Fire Team 2			0	31.75		Jose Billegas	U		18
Sam Vargas	U	R3	68			Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	61
Oscar Nunez			32			Fire Team 6			0	27.75
Israel Fuentes		R1	31			Dave Garratt	U	R?	73
Flo Juarez	U		34			Horacio De La Torre			35
Lou Ojeda	U		30			Ed Lake			16
Fire Team 3			0	35.2		Dave DeBoer	U		29
Robert Roman	U	R1	123			Mark Estrada			31
Guillermo Baez			34
Vince Diaz	U	R1	40
Antonio Palomar	U	R1	27
Nic Palhegyi			27
Osiris Alday	U		48