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True masculinity isn't measured by strength but by these 20 biblical guidelines drawn from the apostle Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus. (Found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-10.)
Thank you to the Westside staff and members, BAF Students, BAF Men and Janes for all your hard work and selfless use of time! You ARE making a difference in this area of our community!
parking areas where cleaned of grass and dirt
painted swings and monkey bars
removed old basket ball goals and painted goal post
trimmed and removed brush and over grown trees from 2/3s of property
removed stumps from front of building
prepped and painted front steps
built shelves and storage for Jane's Closet and painted
sorted diapers and clothes for Jane's Closet.
BAF is committed to the Westside Campus and the surrounding community. Most men want to be a part of something big and be able to see tangible results for their efforts, and here is the perfect opportunity. The campus is in great need of some improvements and repairs. BAF Men will be taking on a huge part of this.
Show up this Sunday at the Westside Campus (Cesar Chavez Middle Academy at 3701 Mueller in Corpus Christi) immediately after the 1:00pm service and be ready to work.
Click here to see the “Project list” and “Supplies/Tools list”. Bring whatever tools you have. Most importantly, we need AC Units and a stack-able washer and dryer as soon as possible.
We are looking for as many donated and discounted items and services we can get, especially if you can get your hands on 200 acoustic ceiling tiles!
You will be serving, meeting new people, and making a huge difference in the community. Bring the family and spend the day together.
If you have any items to donate or have questions regarding the work to be done, please contact Ray Witherspoon at (361) 533-6651 or David Rotter at (361) 765-2419.
Thanks,
Shawn Albright (361) 728-7521
Director of Men's Ministry
Bay Area Fellowship
PS...We will be grilling up and serving hot dogs on site as well!
This is a series on 11 Leadership Lessons from 12 Disciples, based on the recent sermon Jesus Calls the Twelve, on Luke 6:12-16.
Jesus called his leaders. He didn't get a committee. They didn't take a congregational vote. They didn't do nominations. Jesus called them. Jesus still calls people into ministry. We believe that. Acts 20 says that the Holy Spirit chooses the leaders in the church, he appoints the overseers. So God still picks leaders. Jesus still picks leaders through the indwelling, empowering, calling of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus trained the called. We don't make leaders, God does. We recognize them, and then train them.
Some of you will have a calling, and sometimes your calling will be like mine. Mine was obvious. God spoke to me, "Marry Grace, plant churches, train men, preach the Bible." Okay, that's what I'm doing. For some of you, you'll be reading the Bible, and you'll see something or somebody, and it's all of a sudden like that just leaps out at you, you're like, "That's it. That's what I want to do. That's what I want to give my life to." Or you meet somebody in the Bible, you're like, "I'm like them. I want to do what they're doing. That's what I need to do." That could be your calling. And sometimes it's trial and error, you're like, "I tried that, I'm no good at it. I tried that, I'm no good at it. I tried that. Hey, that actually works. I'm pretty good at that, and I like that. God seems to bless it when I serve in that area."
Calling also can be just that deep-rooted sense of "have to" in your gut. It could be the Holy Spirit. So you say, "I have to help abuse victims. I have to help the poor. I have to help single moms. I have to help kids. I have to help men learn to be fathers." Right, there's something in your gut, and it's there from God. It's the beginning of a calling, and it starts with a real passion. Maybe there are certain things in life, you kind of ebb and flow, and the enthusiasm is hot and cold, but this is something that's consistent.
See, for me, I see it this way: how do you know you're called to something? Well, part of it is God gives you an innate desire. That's why it says in 1 Peter 5, "Don't lead because people made you lead, lead because you desire to, that you want to." That's why Paul says elsewhere, "If anyone desires the office of overseer, it's a noble thing they desire." It's a good thing to have a desire. So I was talking to a new Christian recently and they were unsure about God's calling on their life. "I don't know what God wants me to do. Got all these new decisions to make in life now that I'm a new Christian." And they were very kind of panicked about it, "What do I do?" I said, "Don't worry about God's calling, first worry about God. The Bible says, 'Delight yourself in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart.'" I said, "Are you enjoying the Lord?" They said, "Yeah, I'm reading my Bible. I'm praying. I'm in a community group and reading good books, and I'm repenting of sin, and I'm seeing the ways that I'm not like Jesus, and my life is changing and yeah, I feel like there's momentum, and I'm really excited about Jesus, and I'm growing." "Great."
This person looked at me and said, "Well, what do I do?" I said, "Do whatever you want." They're like, "What? Do whatever I want?" "Yeah, because if you delight yourself in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of your heart. He'll put desires on your heart, so that God's desires become your desires." Augustine said it this way, "Love God and do whatever you please." I said, "Well, what do you like?" They're like, "Well, I like serving people, and I'm pretty extroverted and, you know, I like welcoming people." "So you want to be a greeter?" "Yeah, I'd love to be a greeter. And I love hospitality and I love getting people together." "So someday you'd like to be a community group leader?" "That'd be great. I'm not ready yet, but maybe I could apprentice and get ready." "Yeah, that'd be a great idea. How does that sound?" "That sounds really fun. Should I do it?" "Do you want to?" "Yeah, well, how do I know if it's God will or my will?" "Well, if you're enjoying the Lord, his will becomes your will. He's glorified, you're satisfied, other people are helped. Everybody wins, that's ministry." It's more about our heart enjoying the Lord, and then we'll want to do what he wants us do.
You need to know this: I like my job. I love to preach and teach the Bible. There are, quite frankly, a lot of things that I get excited about, that I lose excitement for; studying the Bible, teaching the Bible, my whole life, ever since I got saved at age nineteen I've been pretty fired up about that. People ask me all the time, they're like, "How do you study that much?" I like it. It helps. Alright, unlike some jobs, which you're like, "I don't like it," that's hard, and maybe God's called you to a hard job, but when it comes to ministry, particularly for those of you who are volunteering, it's a great opportunity to say, "I want to do something that I like and I'm good at, and helps people and glorifies God, and I just get to pick something that fits." That's all.
Jesus trained the called. These twelve were already part of his ministry, they're already serving. They're already following him. They're already responding to him. They're already submitting to him, so he starts training them. "All right, we're going to teach you guys, open your Bibles, we're going to have some discussion. We're going to run some classes. You're going to do some experiences. We're going to let you go out and pray, cast out a few demons, help the sick. You kids are going to get your feet wet now. It's going to be busy time."
He doesn't call the trained, and this is where ministry's gone wrong in the modern era. Jesus didn't go to where they trained the scribes, or up to the temple where they trained the priests. He didn't go to the equivalent of the Bible college or the seminary and say, "Alright, who's head of the class? Alright, who's Pharisee of the month? I want that kid, that's who I want." He didn't do that, because you can be trained but not called. You can go to school for something that God hasn't asked you to do, and you've got all the credentials, but you don't have any of the courage.
And I'm not against training. I've got a master's degree in theology, and I'm not against seminary or Bible college. We've got a school, Re:Train, we love to train people, but calling precedes training. Has God burdened you for something? Do you want to do it? Will you do it? Great, we'll help you do it. But see, people can help train, but only God can call. If God hasn't called you, we can't call you. Many of you need to be careful. You'll think, "I'm going to go get a degree for ministry." Do ministry, volunteer, check it out. Let us then help train you, and find a slot to get you developed, but it may not be your thing. There was a controversial report some years ago that said that upwards of three-fourths of those who graduate from Bible college and seminary go into ministry and leave within the first five years, never to return. It means they spent years training for something that they're not going to do, why? Because there's a difference between calling the trained into ministry, and training the called for ministry. It starts with a calling.
As many of you know we recently did a big event for Easter called “The Ultimate Giveaway.” We gave away millions of dollars worth of “donated” items in hopes of attracting folks far from God to church so they could hear a message of hope and salvation on arguably the most important day we celebrate as Christians.
As you can imagine the Christian critics came out in force! Those that disagreed with us accused us of fostering things like greed and envy. I have a couple of simple questions that I hope will generate some responses!
1) In your opinion, is anything, short of sin, off limits when it comes to reaching those farthest from God? Read the question carefully before commenting because we are not talking about allowing sin for the greater good!
I ask that because we were lambasted by Christians and church leaders who accused us of some ugly things simply because we gave cars and things away at Easter! I guess I just don’t understand how thousands of people giving away their personal stuff to people they don’t know simply because they wanted to them to find Jesus, is somehow a bad thing.
So heres how it went. Our people modeled selflessness and gave, and I am so proud to say they gave like crazy, the things they gave away were given to complete strangers with nothing expected in return, which enticed thousands of people to come to church on Easter that probably never would have otherwise, some clearly for the wrong reasons which was expected, but in-spite of that, 1556 people prayed to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives, and BAF grew significantly as many of those who made that commitment are coming back and worshipping regularly now.
So here’s another question:
2) How does any of any of that dishonor Jesus and the sacrifice He made on the cross?
Are we not called to reach the lost? Isn’t that what going after the one sheep means? If were to go out and make disciples and baptize them as Jesus commanded, doesn’t that mean that to fulfill that command we have to reach people that are not yet baptized or saved? Does taking the Gospel to all nations mean only to saved church attending folks? Obviously we (the Western Church) are not doing a great job of spreading the Gospel as were losing a generation, so wouldn’t doing anything shy of sin be better than surrendering and watching the Gospel die out slowly?
I’m interested to hear what you think, but remember this before you comment, as Christians, how we feel about something certainly matters, but those feelings must also align with the Word of God! Just because your church doesn’t do something a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s wrong!
Please hear my heart, this is not about BAF, this is about a deeper question that we as believers and leaders must ask ourselves, because the world around us is leaving The Church in numbers never before seen! Whats sad is that while this downfall is happening, far too many of us are wasting our time criticizing each other instead of doing what ever it takes to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to very lost and broken world!
Let’s Discuss, and we can disagree, but please do so with respect or your post will not make it on here!
John
Experience God like never before through this study!!
This is an invitation to the Experiencing God Study that will begin at BAY AREA FELLOWSHIP on April 27, 2010 at 7:00pm.
Come and Experience God like never before.
This course is a DVD and book guided course joined with discussion.
This work is not just a book for reading. It is part of a learning system designed to teach the content material and help people move into a deeper relationship with God.
Experiencing God is a study that has been done internationally by hundreds of thousands of Christians over the past since 1990. Several Pastors of Bay Area Fellowship have completed this study including Pastor Bil. It is a standard study for people who would like to be more sensitive to where God is working around them, how to hear the Holy Spirit, and what part of His working He is inviting them to participate in.
Through the biblical principles in this course, God will show you
There is a small cost for a workbook on the course that costs $ 18.00. This 272 page book will be yours to keep and it will include the entire course
If you would like to be a part of this life changing study please sign up as soon as possible. There will be over 100 men in this study so sign up NOW and let me know that you plan to attend so we can reserve your seat as we will purchase the books soon.
Please register by April 17, 2010 to be a part of the Amazing Life study.
Thanks for your time and blessings to you and yours in our Lord Jesus,
Jeff Powell
jpowell@pssd.com
Cell # 361-510-6896
Here is what is needed for Easter:
Thursday: 2 men before the 7pm service and 2 after the service (could be the same 2 guys)
Friday: 3 men before and after for each of the two services, 5pm, 7pm
Saturday: 3 men before and after for each of the three services, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm
Sunday: 3 men before and after for each of the four services, 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm
We will also need men to be train conductors as a regular ministry within B.A. Kidz. Contact Scott Walker for more details on how to get started. Email familywellness.cc@gmail.com or call 361-215-6120.
Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
