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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ideas For Men’s Discipleship Leaders To Discuss Volume 229 August 19, 2014 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Here’s a digest of 14 articles Pat has written on his blog over at patrickmorley.com. There is a list of linked articles at the top, as well as a short teaser from each one listed below. These are great for all levels of men’s discipleship leaders. So share them with your team. Save this email and read an article per day to keep you thinking about men’s discipleship. Or, use some of them as discussion starters for your next several leadership team meetings. |
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WHY MOST MEN’S MINISTRY DOESN’T WORK
July 21, 2014
Most men’s ministry is doomed to not have much lasting impact because it depends on getting men all amped up, jacked up, fired up, challenged, and inspired to go out and be God’s man in the world… Essentially, they are misled to believe they can earn that which cannot be deserved. So they pour themselves into winning the favor of God. Read more… |
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WHAT MEN WHO FAIL HAVE IN COMMON
…every day I hear from men whose lives, marriages, and families are falling apart or barely hanging on. Often it’s because of emotional neglect–chasing some dream that didn’t include their families. Other times it’s because of mishandling money, substance-abuse, pornography, prostitution, lapses in integrity, and so on. While there is no common denominator for why men fail, most of these men do tend to have one thing in common. Read more… |
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5 REASONS MEN WITHDRAW FROM GOD
Why do men withdraw from God? Why would a man rather go to the office or to the gym than spend devotional time with God? Why do men voluntarily isolate themselves from the only one who can actually help them? Making disciples starts with figuring out why men are stuck. Here are five reasons that jump out. More than one reason may apply. You will think of other reasons we can add to this list. Read more… |
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COLLATERAL DAMAGE FROM THE “MEN PROBLEM” June 19, 2014
When you see a single mom waiting tables, what’s really going on? As recently as 1970, 85% of children lived with two parents (US Census Bureau). By 2009, children living with two married parents had dropped precipitously to only 65%. Today there are 74,000,000 children in the United States under the age of 18. That means 26,000,000 children, 35% of them, do not live with two married parents. And 96% of the time, it’s the dad who is absent. The American family is in deep crisis, and it’s not because of women, and it’s not because of children. Read more… |
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STRONG FAMILIES NEED STRONG MEN
July 26, 2014
I’m not sure why the notion that families don’t need men has traction in some circles, but 100% of scholarly research finds men crucial to family health. Certainly we need more ministries to help broken families, not less. But let’s not forget that a healthy man solves most family problems. If we can get men right then we will get marriages right, if marriages right then families right, if families right then churches right, and if churches right then the world. Read more… |
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WHAT DOES JESUS WANT US TO DO?
Because of our faith, we will do what Jesus was doing. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing” (John 14:12). So what was Jesus doing? Read more… |
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THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING PER JESUS
Jesus was born into a much more difficult world than us – poverty, disease, lack of women’s rights, government oppression, and so on. His solution to solving the problems of the world? It was to gather 12 men, teach them everything he knew, and commission them to go and teach others what they had learned about faith in life… Making disciples is God’s designated way to release the power of his gospel on every problem we face. Read more… |
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ISN’T “DISCIPLESHIP” JUST “MENTORING” BY ANOTHER NAME?
August 7, 2014
There’s certainly an element of mentoring in discipleship, but with a profound and unavoidable difference: Jesus did not say, “Go and make mentees.” If He had wanted us to make “mentees” he could have said so. But He didn’t. Rather, He said, “Go and make disciples.” Read more… |
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HOW WILL PEOPLE KNOW WE ARE HIS DISCIPLES?
July 30, 2014
Jesus came to reveal the Father to the world, and He has delegated the revealing to us. The question is how do we show people we are His disciples? Is it about making sure they have the right information? Theology is precious, but Jesus didn’t say, “All men will know you are my disciples if you perfect your theology.” Read more… |
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July 25, 2014
Some men are out of control. They’ve shipwrecked their relationships, sabotaged their careers, and can no longer anesthetize their pain with money, toys, women, drugs, or whatever. They feel desperate. So when the Holy Spirit puts you together with a man like that, he’s already falling fast and looking to be rescued… Other men, however, are clearly in control. They have great jobs, wives, families, and they are positive people with real integrity. Everything is going their way. They don’t “feel” the “need” for a Lord. They’re doing just fine. Read more… |
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DISCIPLESHIP THE KEY TO A SATISFYING LIFE July 8, 2014
Jesus said, “I came to give you a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). What is a rich and satisfying life? Jesus spent 3 ½ years training his disciples to go and make disciples. That’s a rich and satisfying life. He didn’t spend 3 ½ years training them how to achieve worldly success and prosperity. Of course, there is nothing wrong with worldly success and prosperity if it is the byproduct of being a faithful servant. The main business of God, however, is soul-making not money-making. Read more… |
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TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF REACHING YOUNGER ME June 12, 2014
Reaching younger men – especially Millennials – is a hot topic. The deceiver wants us to think that suddenly, after all these centuries, there is now some new, mysterious, opaque wall between the generations that cannot be described or penetrated. That’s Myth #1 and it’s nonsense. They’re our children for Pete’s sake, not aliens. Myth #2? Read more… |
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WHY & HOW TO GET MEN IN SMALL GROUPS July 15, 2014
In our work at Man in the Mirror, we’ve noticed that a lot of the real transformation in men’s lives takes place in “life-on-life” small groups… If your church isn’t taking full advantage of men’s small groups, here’s an idea to move the ball forward. Read more… |
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DO SOMETHING GREAT WITH YOUR LIFE June 11, 2014
Who among us doesn’t want to do something great with his life? It’s part of our design. For most of us, though, we measure greatness by achievements, accomplishments, accumulation, power, position, prestige, or respect–to name a few. Scripture finds no fault with any of those things. In fact, Jesus inspired his disciples to seek greatness. He even said his disciples will do greater things than He did. Read more…
I hope you enjoyed these articles from the past couples of months at patrickmorley.com. Share them with your likeminded friends. |
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