Men in Ministry Most Valuable Player

World Series Game 2

Living in San Francisco being more than just a baseball fan. I grew up in Cleveland and still avidly follow the Cleveland Indians. Recently the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. I live close to the park I can walk to the games, which I often do.  The first two and only World Series Games that were in San Francisco this year were on Wednesday and Thursday. We have a terrific service on Wednesday night to refresh and experience the Holy Spirit and this year, on Thursday, we celebrate with Men in Ministry Neighborhood Prayer Groups, all around San Francisco. I would have loved to be at the World Series. On a different night, I would have likely gone to a game.

I did walk over to the AT&T Park before the second game to see the crowd and take a few pictures.  As I was photographing the crowd I thought; tonight there would be 45,000 people in the stadium routing for a baseball team. Routing for people who 99% of the fans never met and do not know.  I related to the coming Sunday when in all of San Francisco there will be less than 45,000 people worshipping our Lord and Savior. Please do not get me wrong; I am excited that 45,000 fans are at the game. That is great. I have been there many times in stadiums across the country. 

Two things came to mind with those thoughts: one, the value of each one us; two, the sadness that Jesus who determined our value receives less attention than 25 men playing a game. The game of baseball is a fantastic game but is meaningless, to anything eternal.

I thought of the stadium full of people yelling and screaming for a team. I transferred that to the same venue same people overly excited for Jesus. This is a vision of what is to come right here in San Francisco. This city will be the light for the Lord.

Each one of us is valuable. We determined the value of everything by what someone will pay for it. Thousands of times each day this happens on EBAY and Wall Street.  On Wall Street, fortunes are determined by an “ask” and a “bid”. The value is quickly set for the largest corporations in the world by an “ask” and a “bid”.  On EBAY, people bid on products. The bidding determines the value of the product. Then I laugh when people who are successful on EBAY say they won. I look at as though they bought something.

Jesus, who bought us out of slavery by dying a brutal death Jesus gave it all for us. Our value was determined that afternoon on Calvary.

If the people entering the stadium for that second World Series Game would truly realize their value, how their value is set and by whom. The stadiums would be filled with worshippers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Men in Ministry take heart the Victory has been won the hard work is done! As Peter said, in Acts 4:20; “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”  We are witnesses to the Victory Jesus has won. Now we need to tell everyone that Jesus loves him.

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Men's Neighborhood Prayer Group Reports

Let us all pray for the city of San Francisco!

The meeting reports are all powerful. The Power of the Holy Spirit with the momentum through years of prayer is making a tremendous difference. God's desire for San Francisco to be the light for the world (the victory has been won), Pastor's leadership, your prayers and leadership, are producing these results. Isaiah prophesied on Wednesday: San Francisco is won he also proclaimed getting together once a week for an hour of prayer.

The leaders are all under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Let us stride forward in the victory!

Tonight's session was amazing, as we ended the session praying "earnestly" for each of the four men's groups, GT leadership, and most importantly, revival in SF!

After reading chapter 4 in the textbook (RA Torrey The Power of Prayer). I realized that my prayer life, at times, has been "profane." In some instances even "taking the name of God in vain." Furthermore, just to quote another excerpt out of chapter 4: "There is so little heart in them (prayer), so little intensity of desire for what is prayed, that there is no reason God should pay attention to them." Ouch! This chapter convicted me. It opened my eyes to the half hearted prayer I've been giving to God. We all know what God does to the "Luke warm" and the "half-hearted".

I want revival in SF, but it starts with me, you, and all the men participating,  being unified in our earnest and fervent prayers. This was the groups take away from this week.

1. We need to recognize what the "blood " had done for us, how it cleanses us! Thank you, Jesus!!!!

2. We need to enter into the presence of God BEFORE we start praying; seek the Holy Spirit to help us enter.

3. When we pray, we need to pray a prayer worthy to be laid at his feet. A prayer that is Whole-hearted, fervent and earnest is what, I believe God desires! We need to remember, that it is a "privilege" to be in the presence of God.

The men in ministry meeting, tonight, was awesome!  In attendance were 5 men (names with held).  We began the night with hot wings that were extremely hot. In fact, everyone’s face was red we were all sweating.  I guess it could be said: we were literally on fire.

The discussion was great there were, good balanced, contributions from everyone.  The first discussion point on “What can prayer do?” This led to Phil sharing a prayer victory when his brother showed up to Church yesterday for the first time.  According to Phil he had been praying for a long time that his brother would return to church.  In addition, Phil also said his sisters were asking for prayer and are rallying around him for strength and support during these difficult family times.

I continue to be spiritually encouraged by having () in the group I can tell it is rubbing off on everyone.  God is up to something in his life he knows it.  He shared that; he decided to come tonight because his girlfriend agreed to go to women’s Bible study at GT.  This was the first time she had gone he was excited about it.  Last week Jacob asked for prayer for more support in his new walk with Christ and more Christian friends.  He can sense the enemy trying to distract him. We lifted him up in prayer.  Even more powerful is his request for prayer, for strength in his personal life.  He knows that he needs to eliminate certain things in his life, as do we all.  This was difficult for him to share at first but felt relieved once he got it off his chest.  Praise God.

My goal is to invite him and his girlfriend to dinner in the next two weeks.

From another group: It is encouraging for the men to be praying their prayer list and experiencing the answer to their prayers.

For more information got to Men in Ministry Neighborhood Prayer Groups



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Men in Ministry, Live in Victory

Every Day is a Good Day

Every day is incredible every thing we put our hands too will be successful. Living in the Lord’s walk and the light raises the level of life. Matthew 7:7; “Ask, an it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Does prayer work? Is the Bible true from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21? Yes! We go from; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

The Bible starts with God creating everything. That means us. Everything God created, He said was very good, that includes us. Everything God created is good that means every day is very good. He ends His book by giving us the grace of the Lord Jesus. This is the grace that Jesus was to the full. This is the grace that the Bible tells us in Acts 4:33-34 “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales.” Accept God’s lovely powerful grace and live in victory, every minute.

Victory is Enjoying Everything

Living in the world the challenge is all around us. The world drags the Men in Ministry down to the world standards. The world is setting the standard for Christian Men. Christian men are letting the world measure success and failure. John1:12: “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to be children of God.” We are children of the living God. Our destiny is to be in the Kingdom of God. I need to tell myself to live every day as a child of the King!

We live in the world but are not of the world. The Christian is an ambassador for Jesus in the world. An ambassador in a country does not become a citizen of that country. The ambassador, is in a foreign country, to represent the home country and deliver the messages from the leadership of the home country. Men in Ministry live as the Ambassador of the King, in a strange and hostile land.

The message is clear.

1. God created us
2. We are exceptional
3. We are children of the King 
4. We are destined to live in the Kingdom forever
5. We live in the victory of Jesus the risen Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father 
6. God created every day so every day is good
7. Pray and grab on to the grace that God has made available 
8. We have the power 
9. The victory has been won! 
10. Take the world into the domain of the Kingdom: “Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God” James 4:2.

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A Disturbing Conversation

Disturbing is not a strong enough word. Devastating may be more in line with the subject and potential outcome. I was sitting in Panera Bread in Marlboro, Massachusetts having coffee after a customer meeting. Working on some email and planning for a meeting later in the day I was pretty much heads down into my work.

A women a few tables away was moving to sit down when she recognized a man and said I have not seen you for a while. The man acknowledged her; he replied that he had been at his mother’s funeral. The woman expressed her condolences. The man answered telling the women that his mother was 90 and lived a good life.

How to react when a person dies, my first reaction is “ I hope they were saved.” My mother died 18 months ago at the age of 89. She lived a good life. That was not all. I was sad to see her go I was happy for her to be in Heaven with Jesus her Lord and Savior. Mom’s last few years were not that kind. She did not have any pain. She was confined to a bed or her wheelchair she could not talk she did smile all the time. She was active all her life, her last day living in the only house she and my dad ever owned, she fell backwards off of a ladder while cleaning her windows. This was only a few years before she died. Mom was active so her state in the nursing home was not appropriate for her.

I then heard the man talk about his mother’s funeral. He said he told the priest to pick verses that related to his mother’s life. He then said the priest did not pick the verses as he had requested. He went on to say; "the priest did not know his mother." Jesus may have been her Lord and Savior I do not know.

When someone asks about my mother, I will always make the comment that she committed her life to the Lord 30 or so years ago, now she was in heaven.

At my funeral, my pastor will select the verses the commentary and the eulogy. He knows me. As I write this I would also say that I could do the same for him. I know my pastor. I know his heart. I pray that I will not be here to prepare for or attend his funeral.

Maybe it is age but more than that it is an appreciation for the price Jesus paid for my soul and the soul of the mother of the man in Panera Bread. The price was so high He valued us so much. I hope she accepted the gift at some point in her life. The decisions and her destiny are made. There are many people, half the world in fact, who have yet to hear the Gospel Message and make their decision.

Men in Ministry this is our mission reaching one man at a time, so that none should perish. 

Holy Spirit, please lead me to whom you have for me to witness today. Please give me the words to say.

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The Victory Has Been Won!

Men in Ministry, tonight was the first night of the Glad Tidings Men’s Neighborhood Groups in San Francisco. This was an incredible night. I had the opportunity to visit each of the 4 groups. The Power of God was so evident as the men studied The Power of Prayer, fellowshipped with Jesus and each other and prayed. They did this all at the same time, between 6:30 and 8:00 PM Thursday evening.

The groups are spread out through out the city. The city is covered in prayer. Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Prayer and the study of the Word are the weapons, which nothing can stand against. Jesus has defeated the devil the battle has been won we need to take hold of the victory through Prayer and the Study of the Word.

The Men’s Neighborhood Groups have been in planning for weeks. Prayer and fasting from all people at Glad Tidings Church began and continues to support the men. Prayer is powerful prayer works miracles. Each group has a leader and host plus the men who attend. The start is with 5 groups, 4 the first night; one added in the second week. In the second week, we will have a 5th location and additional men in fellowship and prayer. The goal is to have a Men’s Neighborhood Group within short walking distance for every man in San Francisco. This, we believe is God’s Plan. We have stepped out in faith the signs and wonders have been following for confirmation.

Look at the miracle in the City of San Francisco with Men’s Neighborhood Groups in Noe Valley, in the Richmond, in Japan Town and South of Market men were together in fellowship praying and learning how to use the Power of Prayer in their lives. An additional location in the Mission will be added in the second week. This will extend the prayer coverage for San Francisco.

As a side note, this follows a night of worship at Glad Tidings where nearly 300 people gathered in the name of Jesus. What is going on? God is not going to do something. God is doing something in San Francisco; we are in the middle of it!

God is doing the extraordinary in the city many refer to as Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus died on the cross so that all of us everywhere would have an opportunity for salvation. San Francisco is soon to be the leading city in the world proclaiming the name of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of our lives.

To join one of the Men’s Neighborhood Groups, in San Francisco, please contact me directly or go to www.gtmmi.com. We would love to have you as part of this ministry.

Men in Ministry

Men in Ministry, What is Going On?

Active is good! Men in Ministry be active with activities that will bring the men closer to God and closer to each other. Through the relationships and building friendships, evangelism of each man's universe begins.

In San Francisco, we have been on a run of activity, which has been powerfully bringing men closer in their relationship with Jesus and into fellowship with each other. New men have entered the groups as they see things that are appealing.

40 Day Fast and Prayer

January, 2012

Each year of the last 8 or 10 years, as a church we have started each year with 40 days of fasting and prayer.

Pastor designs a 40 day fast which will range from 3 days of water only to raw vegetables to broth, to rice to a free day. The regiment varies throughout the 40 days. It is a fast that takes dependence on God and will power.

Prayer then accompanies the fast every weekday morning from 5 AM to 8 AM. That may sound rough. It is organized and varied with song worship, Bible study, personal prayer, and corporate prayer that, as hard as it may be to believe, the time flies. Not everyone can make all three hours with work and other obligations so they come for the time they can come.

This is the foundation and an exciting beginning to each year, from this time; Pastor will alter an existing plan for the year, confirm the existing plan or write a totally new one. This will all be dependent on the Holy Spirit.

Used the Book Face to Face with God

Men’s Bible Study

A different man led the study each week

March, 2012

The Bible Study was on Evangelism, using the book Face to Face with God. It was a 6-week study, each Saturday morning for 90 minutes. Refreshments of coffee, juice, bagels and donuts are provided. A different man led each week. The attendance varied it averaged 30 men each Saturday. It was awesome!

Ecuador Mission Trip

July / August 2012

This was a huge beginning for some and a refresh for others. Sixty people from Glad Tidings, San Francisco and Sequoya Community in Oakland went to work with Jerry and Janice Smith, the missionaries to Ecuador. The mix was about half men and half women. This was the third annual, major, Mission Trip. Each year there are additional trips, which include fewer people and are shorter in length.

A mission trip has a significant impact on all involved. The participants are in constant reminder of the power of God and the absolute immense value of prayer. The experience is one that can be approximated but not duplicated except by another mission trip.

Horseshoes

August 2012

 

This is an annual event that has 50 or 60 men in fellowship on a Sunday Afternoon. We will barbeque and play Horse Shoes in an organized tournament. It is a blast! Very competitive!

New men get plugged in relationships are developed relationships are restored. The event is talked about and referred to all year long, creating anticipation for the next year.

Men’s Retreat

September 2012

In early September, we had a magnificent Men in Ministry Retreat. The speaker, Jim Maxim is the author of Face to Face with God, the book we used for the Bible Study.

Seventy men attended the retreat. Glad Tidings Church in San Francisco is the host site. The retreat started on Friday evening with dinner, song worship, a message and an unbelievable altar call. The men go home each night. Saturday morning begins with a breakfast followed by song worship, message, men’s small group in a short Bible Study, lunch a Prayer Meeting then recreational activities. On Sunday a dinner after second service then a commissioning service.

It was breathtaking!!!

Men in Ministry Car Wash

September 2012

Raising money for missions. The car wash is a good venue. It provides a stage for fellowship, evangelism for the car owners and it raises between $1,200 and $2,000 on a Saturday. 

Men’s Neighborhood Groups

October / November 2012

The groups meet in a leaders home for 90 minutes once per week for 6 weeks. The meetings consist of food and a study. The study in this first period is using R.A. Torrey’s Book, The Power of Prayer. The initial study is on the first 5 chapters In the 6 weeks of the Men's Neighborhoof Groups.

Training for the leaders and host took place using a custom facilitator's guide.

The objective is to reach the men of San Francisco, One Man at a Time.

This is what is going on with Glad Tidings Men’s Ministry International. God is always good He is the rock the access to the Rock is prayer and fasting.

Please pray for the Men’s Ministries all over the world.

Men in Ministry