Saturday, October 14, 2006

Muscle Fitness or Spiritual Fitness?



Deaf Band of Brothers,

Guess what! I just received the Muscle Fitness magazine for the first time. And long and behold, I read an article covered on 3 deaf brothers who are triplets. They graduated from Gallaudet and are from Illinois School for the Deaf where my wife went there. She knows them. Interesting they have had some good muscle toning but gained weight over years. All 3 have jobs but they excercised\workout together now and then. They submitted request to MF to get a personal trainer to improve their muscle and weight. Sure enough they were assigned a trainer and 3 of the brothers with no distraction worked out well. They were on 12 week strict diet and workout and man wow what a difference. MF showed before and after picture. Their body tone and muscles all over look great. I wouldn't mind doing the 12 week program.

Why did I bother bring this up and how does it apply to us? We this title strikes an idea of how I can convert this to have a better focus for us Men. Instead of Muscle Fitness, we need Spiritual Fitness. In other words we need Spiritual Therapy. I propose we have meeting and discuss what we all men can do for the remainder of the year before we have our 2nd Annual Men Retreat Sept 2007.

My idea is this: we get partnership planned out, and receive 4 lessons a month. First week we will work with the first lesson, the men partnership with each other. They communicate either via email, AIM, VP, or meet in person and discuss lesson and create their journal. Each week they do this "Self Discovery" and discuss with their partner. Then after the 4 weeks is complete, then get a new partner and receive 4 new lessons. This can keep us on our toes by next year. Keep all your journals and during the Men Retreat we can summarize of what this Spiritual Therapy has done to your relationship. This Spiritual Therapy should improve relationship with Jesus Christ, your Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as well as other people around you for evangelism approach. This is a good start.

Read today's reading by Toser below. Have a great day. Will keep you all updated when we will meet for the Spiritual Fitness activity.

/\/\Spark Ministry/\/\- Darrin

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October 13

Failure and Success: True Greatness

Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. --Matthew 20:26-27

The essence of His teaching is that true greatness lies in character, not in ability or position. Men in their blindness had always thought that superior talents made a man great, and so the vast majority believe today. To be endowed with unusual abilities in the field of art or literature or music or statecraft, for instance, is thought to be in itself an evidence of greatness, and the man thus endowed is hailed as a great man. Christ taught, and by His life demonstrated, that greatness lies deeper....

While a few philosophers and religionists of pre-Christian times had seen the fallacy in man's idea of greatness and had exposed it, it was Christ who located true greatness and showed how it could be attained. 'Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.' It is that simple and that easy--and that difficult. Born After Midnight, 50.

"Lord, this truth is indeed contrary to the philosophy of the world-which the church has unfortunately bought into. Stimulate my heart this morning to desire this true greatness-for Your glory. Amen."