Our GMM Theme this year for the Conference was “Activate Your Faith” and my Pastor (Shaun) was talking about Peter Walking on Water – it hit me – What a Way to Activate Your Faith.   Peter gives us a great example of what that means.   When they were in the Boat and the Disciples seen Jesus coming they were somewhat confused as to what was happening – Jesus tells them to “Take Courage”.  So Peter says – Lord if it is you – Tell me to come to you on the water.    Jesus says “Come”.
How many times to you suppose Jesus has said to you “Come”?  I recently made a trip to Denver for work and on my way down there, I prayed about a possibility of a door being opened to heal a broken relationship.   I have had a Big Problem at work with my co-worker in Denver for about 2 years and it has been an area of concern for me as I go forward in what Jesus would have me do.  Well the door was opened and you can say that I either stayed in the Boat or really sank to the Bottom of the Sea.
Shaun during his sermon talked a little about Jesus response to Peter when he began to sink…                   “You of Little Faith”…       How many times do we look at the Waves or the Wind of what life brings and stay in the Boat or really Sink to the Bottom.   We must remember that Jesus is there to pull us up again when we blow the opportunity (So maybe I will get a second chance and not blow it).  Something else that Shaun stated – Having a Little Faith can move Mountains… so it is not a bad thing to have a Little Faith…   Remember 11 of the Disciples stayed in the Boat.  It is only through Jesus that our Faith becomes Bigger….
There is a great Book that I read a while back “If you want to walk on Water – You’ve got to get out of the Boat” by John Ortberg..   This is a great read…     but it reminded me of an article in The Newspaper on Sunday about Life in the Middle Ages and towards the last part of it – it talked about 2 types of People.  Ones that are very nice – but you can not expect any surprises from them.  Then there are the other types who may be considered unstable but are far from it.  These are the Peter’s in life that are going forward and practicing their Faith….   To “Activate Your Faith” – it takes allot of Practice and Obedience when Jesus says “Come”.  If we are to be Alive, Young and Excited in our Faith we must take on these 2 attributes..  “Faith must be Excercised…”
**So guys – do as Peter did and get out of the Boat!!!
 Bobbyg
 

I really enjoy watching Duck Dynasty and Phil Robertson just wrote a book called Happy Happy Happy.   The Robertson’s have become come extremely popular recently and I do not believe it is because of their show – which will make you smile.  This family has been talking to anyone they can about their relationship with Christ and at times when the Network will allow them – you will hear about it on the show.  But Phil’s book about being Happy is what I would like to comment on in this Blog.  How many of us Really enjoy Jesus and our Relationship with him.  If we had the Relationship with Christ as would should then we would be Happy Happy Happy.
My Pastor Bob is retiring and I went to our Men’s retreat to hear him for his final chapter of speaking as an Official Pastor.  One of the Topics was ‘Glorifying God and Enjoying him forever” – (Great message) – Now How do we enjoy Jesus?  As Bob was talking about – Glorifying God is the way to Happiness in Jesus Christ.
As the saying Goes – “Do they see Jesus in Us?”  –  If they did they would see a Happy Person.   As I was pondering this – How do we do that in our daily lives?
Family:  As Christ would do – we would be a servant and love our family as Christ Loved the Church.  One of my best days is when I can do stuff for my Family that will help them accomplish their Happiness.  As Bob Stated – Humility is one of the Greatest things we can do to Glorify Christ.
Church:  This is an Area where we can look at utilizing our Gifts that God has given us –  we need to be looking at areas where we can make things better and enhance others relationships with Christ.   Going back to serving…… **Remember our Greatest Commandment is to Love our God with all our Heart – and this should show in the Church.
Work:  As in some of my Previous Blogs – this is a hard area for me at the Present time – but it is one of the most important areas of Evangelism.  People should see the Happiness in me and want to know how they can get this.  It comes back to “Do they see Jesus in Me?” –  They must if we are to be effective in what Christ would have us do at work.  You know a Great day at work is when I can tell someone about Christ Love…..
**One of the key factors of enjoying Christ and being Happy in our Relationship with him is Obedience.  When we work at pleasing Christ and start enjoying his rewards then we become “Happy Happy Happy”.
Bobbyg
“Activate Your Faith” TODAY

Luke 10:27  –   ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

 
 

Now that we have established my sin, let resend to when God really started to make it clear he wanted me to deal with it on His terms and not on my own. I had just switched churches and though I knew quit a few people I just wanted to be that fly on the wall. You know the type, go in sit in the far back closest to the door, worship hear the message (yeah right) then leave and no one will know I even exist, it’s worked before – stick with what works, right. Well God had other plans, as I was doing my thing I was blindsided where as I was really starting to enjoy this new church, need to admit God will always have His way with me even when I try to resist. So plan A failed, go to plan B DO NOT GET INVOLVED, that will mean you have to let down your guard. So as the summer hit they start to announce we need help in ministries, rats caught again this has always been my weakness, serving. So now plan A gone B gone sorry I’m not that smart to have a plan C. Never got this far. So I just went with it – serving and enjoying all aspects of service, but no one knows the true me.
Winter 2013 New series called Hurts, Habits & Hang-ups, it dealt with all the garbage we deal with in life that we never want to deal with – must be honest this was the longest 8 weeks I ever sat through. That was the start of the Lord using His plan on me. Well that was nice but don’t think I’m changing anything.
Now that that was over I can still be me, right, wrong 2 months after the above mentioned series I am approached to help out with new Ministry called Celebrate Recovery, remember can’t say NO to serving. No big deal I can clean up after everyone. That’s what I said to self. Back track what is Celebrate Recovery well we all have heard of AA, on the same lines but with a huge twist where as AA does a good job helping people recover, CR adds the element of a Christ based recovery program.
So there I was learning not paying much attention and starting to feel very uneasy this night. Well good worship nice message (in my head I was like Time to get out of here), so we leave the sanctuary to break in to small groups men with men women with women. I am like now what do I do this is not for me, but I can leave cause I promised to help clean up, so we are sitting around the tables telling everyone are hurt, habit or hang-up and it’s coming around to me I am saying to myself what in the world have I gotten myself into. I then realize it’s not me but God had this all planned out over a year ago.
End Part ll  –   More to come
JG
 
 

It all started back in October of 2012, when we as a board were trying to come up with a theme for the conference, well I got word that some people wanted to hit some very touchy subjects, you know the ones which are never discussed and certainly not in any type of a church setting. I started calling other members of the board to protest my thoughts, after talking to a few I was reminded it was just a thought and we will not be discussing these matters. Good, I said to myself and anyone who would listen. Three months later we are sitting having another meeting next thing I know we are voting on the same subject we said no to in October. Now my reaction was what the heck is going on. We don’t talk about pornography in a public setting and not at our conference.
Well, I started praying for this conference and the subject matter, not happy at all. God reminded me that it is not about Me, but for His Glory. OK, I can live with it. Awesome 3rd Day Concert I am all pumped for Saturday.
Day of the conference rolls around and I am feeling great new venue new worship team all new beginnings. Then GOD again reminds me Why are you here doing My work, you pray for Me to show up and you don’t want to deal with your own problems. This is at 5 in the morning, 3 hours before the doors open, too late to call and not show up people are counting on me to be there and do whatever it takes to get done.
Get to the Civic Center start to set up again nobody really knows me and my sins – just me and God when I let Him in plus I never told anyone about my one sided talk with God so no one will ever know (until now).
Conference kicks off everything is going great I am staying busy making sure to stay away from the main speakers (keep on hiding no one knows). Then all of a sudden I am asked to help set up the stage for the round table talk, who me I surely can find some else – anyone else but me.
Let say this you may have guessed it but this guy has a porn problem and the last thing I wanted is to have this subject brought up in a Christian setting, NO Lord anything but this, again who am I to tell God what to do.
End of part 1 – More to come………
JG
 
 

I have been doing allot of Pondering lately (just ask my wife) and one topic has been coming to the top of my head.        How do I go forward?        It has been 2 months since the GMM Conference and our Topic of                “Activate Your Faith”    has been in my thoughts….     How am I going to do this?               Well three names came to mind –   Jonathan from the Old Testament   –   Peter from the New Testament –   and Jeremy Camp in the presence.     Here are my thoughts on each one before I put them together…
Jonathan and His Armor Bearer:                 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+14&version=NIV\
Pastor Jeff did a talk on Jonathan at our first GMM Conference and it was a Powerful one.   He had stated that we cannot sit under the Tree with Saul and do nothing.   We have to go forward as Jonathan did – even if it means going forward with uncertainty – but going forward in knowing of God’s promises.   There is one important item in this story – there were 2 men going forward together – Jonathan and the armor bearer (who was protecting Jonathans back).    As men – we have different gifts – but no matter what your gift is – we must go forward together.  As you know the rest of the story – God was with Jonathan and he succeeded in conquering the Philistines.
Peter Walking on Water:    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A22-33&version=NIV
I did a study on a book about Peter:  “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat” – it was a great study in taking that first step of Faith and going to Jesus.   But as the book stated – so many of us choose to stay in the Boat and do not take that first step of Faith.  As we do take that first step – -like Peter we will probably lose our grip on what we are actually doing – but Jesus will pull us up again and again.   But like Peter – we have to keep on going forward and learn from are failures to accomplish what Christ has in store for us.
Reckless – by Jeremy Camp:     http://www.songlyrics.com/jeremy-camp/reckless-lyrics
I listened to a description of why Jeremy wrote this song on KLove one day.  This is my brief version of what I got from it.   So many times when God is asking us to go forward and accomplish what he would have us do – we stop and weigh out what the consequences might be.   Most of the time when we weigh out what might happen – it keeps us from doing what God wants us to do.   Please click on the link and read the Lyrics of Jeremy’s song.   It takes practice to be Obedient and there are times that we will be persecuted and we will fail.  That must not keep us from doing God’s will and we may have to be a little Reckless in going forward no matter what the consequence may be.
OK – are you starting to see the comparison of these three men…   Since the beginning of time – we have all had to choose to go forward in Faith to accomplish what God has in store of us.  If we set back and do nothing – then he cannot accomplish what he wants for us.    My pondering lately has been about where God is taking my wife and me.   We have made some major choices recently in which direction of where God would have us be.   Through it all I am still not sure what that may be – but I have learned that I must go forward to see where it will take me.   The most important thing that I have learned is:  “God really wants to know if we are willing to give him all of us – before he can work through us”.
 
Bobbyg                                              “Activate Your Faith”
 

This is the Last part of my series on “How is your Relationship with Christ”   I would like to share where it has taken me….  And how God is working in my life today.
I would like to list a few areas that have been extremely Enhanced because of getting rid of the junk in my life….

1.  I hear God more Clearly – “Hearing from God doesn’t depend on how old you are, but on your Relationship with him” (Quote from Strong men in tough times).
2. I seem to talk to Christ more now then I have ever done and it keeps growing.
3. I am more open to where Jesus is taking me — I have learned to do a Check on my Comfort Level – it should be on the uncomfortable side to keep me growing…
4. I am seeking more Evangelistic opportunities on sharing the good news.

**My relationship with my Wife and 3 Sons is much better.
**Work is still a Challenge – but I keep asking myself – “Do they see Jesus in me?”  –  This is the one that I am having the  hardest time with today.
**Relationship with my Church is getting better – this one still needs some tweaking.
As you can see – I still have a long ways to go to get where Christ would have me be – but while I am working on all these areas – My Relationship with Christ is growing all the time.
 
Here are some tools that may help you in seeking that dynamic Relationship with Christ.
*Forgive Daily  and   Apply Grace in all that you do.
*Pray ALLOT
*Exercise Your Comfort Level at all times.
*Remember to check Daily and get rid of the Junk – put a reminder in your pocket to help.
This Takes allot of Discipline to keep your Relationship with Christ growing and it will be a daily practice to keep out all the junk that hinders it.    Look for the Areas in your Heart that have been hardened and fix it.
 
Here are some Quotes to Ponder…………………….
What you want is irrelevant to what God wants.
It is your Decisions that matters (Good or Bad) – and they have consequences and will change your life and your relationship with Christ.
What are you going to choose to do today?
Hearing from God and acting on it… (“If we wait on a sign from God, it will probably never happen – if we go forward (As Peter stepping onto the water) then we will see the signs of Christ) (Quotes from Chasing the Wild Goose).
 
“But I’ve come to realize that getting where Christ wants me to go isn’t nearly as important as becoming who he wants me to be in the process.  And Christ seems to be less concerned with where I am going than with who I am becoming.   I think some of us want to know the will of God more than we want to know God”.
  It is all about the Relationship   –     WHERE IS YOU RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST RIGH NOW?
Bobbyg
**Remember this year’s GMM Theme:   “Activate Your Faith”   –   this is a big part in what you need to do Daily…
 
 

This is the 4^th part of my series on “How is your Relationship with Christ” – and it is about getting rid of all the junk in your life that keeps you from having the best relationship you can possibly have with Jesus. 1^st part was getting rid of the junk daily – the 2nd part was developing a network of support – the third part was about Healing Relationships.  Now I would like to visit a little on what Hardens our Heart…
There are times when we harden our hearts about Issues, Politics, and worldly stuff that will definitely keep us from having that great relationship we are seeking with Jesus.  I would like to identify a few that have done that to me.

1.       Politics:  This can be a very Big one for most of us – I am one of those Far Right Republicans that use to think all Democrats were idiots (not any more though).  I use to listen to Rush – Shaun – Glen and just took in everything that they said to heart.  The next thing I knew is that I was just as angry as they were and was preaching the wrong gospel to whoever would listen….    The old saying about what you take into your Heart will probably be what comes out of your Mouth is very true.   It did not take long before my whole focus was on what was wrong with this country instead of How Do I tell people about Jesus…   I finally had to stop listening to all of those guys and get back into my Quiet times and Read the Bible…  Now I am not so angry and my relationship with Jesus has been restored.     If you are where I was – you need to do the same…
2.      Gray Areas:  There can be what I call Gray Areas — here is an example: if Diane (my wife) and I have different opinions – that does not mean mine is always right.  There can be two right answers….    I have been caught up in trying to prove that I am always right – that the next thing I know it makes me extremely angry when my wife cannot see that she is wrong.  Well guess what – I have learned from some great mentors that my wife may be right also (well just sometimes – OK most of the time).   You have heard the women are from Venus and Men are from mars – well that is correct – we see things from a different perspective and it is OK…   So do not spend allot of time trying to prove you are right – focus on what God is telling you through your difference and learn.
3.      The Bible:   There have been major Splits in Churches and we have several Denominations over what we call the truth from our perspective.  I have had the pleasure of visiting several Churches since GMM started.  I have to tell you there are Great churches out there that do not all believe the same way – but we will all be Heaven together.    I have come up with 5 beliefs that I stand on that will unite me with other believers and I am extremely careful on the items that divide us…  Unity is a must in the Kingdom of God if we are going to be The Church that God has created.

If you have noticed one of the key areas that has been discussed in this series is Forgiveness and Grace —  We have to stay focused on this in all that we do if we are going to have that Awesome Relationship with Jesus…  **There is this Quote from Strong Men in Tough Times that I would like to share:  “When men experience tough times, the only way they can forgive as God forgives is by the power of His Holy Spirit.  We don’t have the ability in our natural selves.  Forgiveness is always by Grace.  Forgiveness is always in spirit, not just word.”  — This is a great way to keep your heart from hardening.
So Stay focused on keeping an Open Heart – not a Hardened one and you will achieve that Relationship with Jesus that goes beyond any expectations.
Bobbyg

This is the 3^rd part of my series on “How is your Relationship with Christ” – and it is about getting rid of all the junk in your life that keeps you from having the best relationship you can possibly have with Jesus.   1^st part was getting rid of the junk daily – and the 2^nd part was developing a network of support.
Now I would like to talk some about Healing Your Relationships.
The first area I would like to look at is our relationship with our Wives – for us married guys – if our wife is not happy then no one is happy.

•                *I wrote a blog on “The making of Your Bed – Is this the Real Problem”   if you have time you may want to read it – http://godsmightymen.zocosites.com/?p=152   But it talks about that most of the problems that we have with our wives are really our own problems and not theirs – so just get over it…   well not really but there is allot of insight to this story – it saved my marriage.
•                *Then it is always great to have an accountability partner to share your issues with – most of the time this will clear any heartaches you are having with your wife – pray together about it.
•                *Then find easy ways to eliminate your problems without getting into a heated discussion.  I like to tell the tooth paste story on this one.   My wife would always use my tooth paste instead of hers and leave the lid open all the time – then all the goo would start collecting at the opening.  This was a really big problem for me (not her) – so one day I bought some orange tooth paste because I like orange.  To my astonishment my wife used it and stated that she did not like it….  Guess what, my problems were settled – I bought orange tooth paste from then on…   problem fixed the easy way…

One more relationship with family is Kids….    This one is really easy – find a support group or mentor… and maybe a Pastor you can blame….  Raising kids is no easy task so it is a must to find ways of keeping your battles on the important stuff and making the other issues simple.
Work:  The biggest thing I can say here is always do a self check on yourself and ask “Do they see Jesus in Me?”     I really struggle in this area and have constantly had to remind myself – “this is only a job and my testimony has to be great”.   I had a co-worker ask me one time – “Are you one of those Jesus Freaks?”…   I do not ever want to get asked that again……  Yes I AM.     But please remember work is work – leave it there – do not take your frustrations home (this can be really hard at times).
Church:  This is where people can get hurt…….   Here is an example that I have been taught by a very good friend of mine (Grant).   Relationships inside a Church is like being in Battle side by side with our Swords and fighting the Battle with all our might.   While we are swinging our swords next to each other – there may be a time or two that we nick each other.   Now comes the Big Question – What do I do when my fellow Christian nicks/hurts me….   “Forgiveness and Grace that is what comes to mind… and again it is very hard to do…   Another Blog if you have time – http://godsmightymen.zocosites.com/?p=121
**Healing Relationships is another Daily Discipline and takes allot of Practice –  Keep doing it and watch your Relationship with Jesus grow…………………..
Bobbyg
 

In Part 1 – I wrote about getting rid of the junk in your life on a Daily Basis – this is a must to be able to hear the promptings from the Spirit.  On this Blog I would like to tell you about how I have developed a Support network to help me keep the junk out.
I have three areas of support that are a must for me…

1.  You need a Pastor or Spiritual Leader that you can have a coke with.
2. A couple of guys of accountability.
3. A church family where you can connect with ministry – life group.

This scripture has the best explanation as to why we need a support network.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9>12:  ⁹ Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ¹¹ Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? ¹² A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
I would like to expand how I use each one of my supports.
Pastor:   Pastor Bob and I go out for Cokes at times (that is when you are in trouble) but most of the time we meet for Breakfast or Lunch and just talk about stuff.   One of the examples l like to us is a conversation we had about my eldest son.  My son was missing allot of school and was going to flunk out of 11^th grade – so I met with Pastor Bob.  After a long conversation – one of his great spots of wisdom he gave me was that not everyone is meant to go to school.  So I had a long conversation with my son and we checked him out of school that afternoon.   Long story short – he worked construction that summer and went back to school the next year and graduated with his class.   *One other item – make sure and tell your wife what you are going to do – when she came home I told her what I had done…..  Not a good thing.   I just told her Pastor Bob told me to do it… (Everyone needs a Pastor to Blame – it works).
Accountability Guys:   I call these my 2am guys – someone you can call at 2am and they will come….   These are your best help in keeping all the junk out of your life – someone you can just talk to.   One thing about a 2am guy is that he may tell you some things that you will not like – but remember he is there to Help..
A church Family:  It is important to be surrounded by a church family to keep you Positive.  So many times we surround ourselves with the wrong people and it will keep you from going forward.   Get involved with a Ministry or some type of Life Group – these will help you see where God can use you.
So as I stated in the Beginning – you need a Support Network to help keep out all the junk in your life so that Christ can work through you in some very powerful ways.
Bobbyg
 

      God has equipped each of us with amazing strengths, talents and gifts.   The world may try to dismiss them.      “Nothing special.”      “Won’t amount to anything.”      “Not good enough.”     But hopefully your heart pauses and says,          “Wait a minute.     Let’s call in someone who can truly know my worth.”
        That’s when Jesus enters the picture. He leans over your life and declares,          “Worthy, Priceless!”
         As men we must dare to accept that what Jesus says about you is genuine – that you are a person of great worth, a man of real strength and value. No matter what anyone says.
       No matter what you’ve done. No matter- – –
      When you are down in doubt ask the One who truly knows you from the begining to the end, he will show you what’s real.
God Bless,
Jim