Reading Time: 5:00
We are in the midst of Man Week here at Calvary. Every year we take the week before Father’s Day and provide several fellowship opportunities for our men, their sons and friends, and their guests from around the community. Monday night we started out with the annual Pastor’s Patio Picnic in the front yard of our parsonage. It includes a Massive Meat Mountain of about every grilled meat you can imagine. Everyone pitches in with a side dish. We eat and talk for hours. It started at 6:30 PM this past Monday and we didn’t start cleaning up until 9:00 PM. My son, Phillip, was able to attend. We are celebrating the completion of his chemo treatments. He is cancer free!
There were nine of us who attended, but the thing I like the most is seeing the new faces each year. Attendance was down because of health concerns, but everyone who came felt confident enough to enjoy our time together.
I took some time at the beginning of the picnic to remember some of the men who loved coming, but have now gone on to that great banquet feast in the sky. We miss them, but we thank God he is adding new young men to our number. Their fellowship blesses us and allows us to pour into the next generation that God is preparing to reach out to our community.
The men who we remembered are: Steve Baker, Howard Collins, Dave Cornell, Dave Hale, Jim Horne, Paul Jessup, Ellis Moore, Randy Moore, and Ovie Tirey. (listed alphabetically, not by date of death) Each of these men had an impact on our lives and I hope we did the same for them. They loved attending our Men’s Fellowship.
Also, we were blessed to get a new grill this year. Steve Burk donated a really nice charcoal grill for our personal use—and for the church. James Mundell was the grill master for the evening. We will use the grill again at our Annual Church Picnic in Harter Park on July 5th. God continues to richly bless our lives.
On Wednesday we will be watching a movie in one of our fellowship halls called The Measure of a Man. We call it our Man Movie Night. The movie is a drama/comedy about how a young man learns to stand up for himself through the mentorship of an older gentleman he works for. It’s on PureFlix if you’d like to stream it. Our men enjoy a variety of movies each year—from the rough and tumble to the heart-warming. Also, there are a multitude of snacks and my “famous” chili cheese dip and chips.
Our Friday night trek to Ft. Wayne for the Tin Caps Baseball Game was cancelled this year because of the shutdown, but we are on schedule with a reserved boxed seating area with all your can eat service during next year’s Man Week.
In place of that we are hosting a Men’s Prayer Breakfast on Saturday morning, June 20th at 8:00 AM, the day before Father’s Day. We were planning four prayer breakfasts this year, but our March breakfast had to be cancelled.
This coming Sunday we will celebrate Father’s Day with a special message entitled “Nuts and Bolts.” We will give out some gifts and celebrate our god-given role as men in the earth. Society’s values may change, but the roles God has defined will never change. Honoring God in these roles is the best way to ensure the safety and well-being of our families. What our nation really needs is a return to biblical family values.
For some pictures of this week’s activities go to our Facebook page @calvaryassembliesofgod and scroll through the posts. If you are a man and desire to team up with us, give me a call at 765-229-4013.
“As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens
the countenance of his friend.”
Proverbs 27:17 KJV
An important saying around Calvary is this: “Everyone needs help, no one makes it alone.” It is important to build relationships that will support you. When times are good, great! Share them with others. When times are bad, you can rely only on the relationships you have truly invested in. Be wise, build up relationships with those who know what they are talking about. How do you know they know? You can see the evidence of their words in their lives.
“Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Proverbs 13:30 NIV
On another note: our Wednesday night Life Groups start again on July 1st at 6:30 PM. It’s a great time of strengthening our relationships and building each other up. Currently we are going through the book of Proverbs verse by verse. There is so much we can learn and apply from the discussions we have about Proverbs.
Well, back to Man Week. I’m loving every minute of it. Men are in greater demand in this world than ever before. Let the church invest heavily in their growth and spirituality. Win and man and you win his whole family!
Pastor Brian Jenkins
Calvary Assemblies of God