Christians at the Olympics

Take a look at our list of Christians who shared their faith during the Olympics in London.

http://nymensministry.com/2012/08/13/christian-olympians/

2012 Men's Retreat

Join us for our annual men's retreat at Lake Champion!!

For more information, visit our site:  http://nymensministry.com/2012/07/07/2012-mens-retreat/


God Bless! 

Real Revolutions Start with Sacrifice

http://nymensministry.com/2011/10/15/revolution-sacrifice/


Are you sacrificing for Christ?! If not, who are you living for?

The Demise of Guys

Please read this important post.  Join the movement!

http://nymensministry.com/2011/10/09/the-demise-of-guys/

Bonhoeffer - A Christian Hero

Eric Metaxas' book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a very enjoyable read and very relevant today. Besides it has got rave reviews from the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and many others.

He was recently on the Huckabee show. Watch the short video here:

Do you have Boundaries

   I just heard a sermon and the Holy Spirit convicted me.  The sermon was on Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  In the story the king of Bablon, Nebuchadnezzar, setup a golden statue and told everyone that they must bow down and worship it.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused and they were told that if they didn't comply they would be thrown into the blazing furnace.  Without hesitation this is how they replied:

 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

They didn't have to discuss the matter.  This decision was made a long time ago when they decided who they would follow.  They were thrown into the furnace and God was with them.  Read the story in Daniel 3.

This got me thinking 'do I avoid sinning because God said so, or because of the potential negative consequences.'  Furthermore, have I made a decision that no matter what the consequences, 'I will not' or 'I will' do certain things.  The answer for me was 'no'.  I had not drawn those lines clearly.  Yes, there are some things such as murder that wouldn't require any thought but do I have a clear line that I would not cross?

I decided to create a "Will Do" and "Won't Do" List.   That is, lists that help me define the boundaries of what I will do, and won't do at work, at home, at church and with my neighbors and friends.

I soon realized that it is very important that I be specific.  For example, it's easy to say that 'I will not break the law'. But this statement is much more effective: "I will not pay for any services in cash to avoid taxes."

Have you defined the boundaries in your life.  If you haven't, you might make the wrong decision when put under pressure.  Are you willing to take that risk?!

What's on your list?  We would like to know.

Do you want to be Forgiven or Excused?

I recently read a sermon by C.S. Lewis called "On Forgiveness" (From the Weight of Glory published by HarperCollins).  I thought I would share some of the brilliant insights from Lewis:



Forgive Everyone/Everything or you will not be Forgiven Anything
"We believe (as Christians) that God forgives us our sins; but also that He will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us.  There is no doubt about the second part of this statement.  It is in the Lord's Prayer; it was emphatically stated by our Lord.  If you don't forgive you will not be forgiven.  No part of His teaching is clearer, and there are no exceptions to it.  He doesn't say that we are to forgive other people's sins provided they are not too frightful, or provided there are no extenuating circumstances, or anything of that sort.  We are to forgive them all, however spiteful, however mean, however often they are repeated.  If we don't, we shall be forgiven none of our own."

Forgiven or Excused?
"I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different.  I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me.  But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.  Forgiveness says "Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before."  But excusing says "I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame."  If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive.  In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites."

Please Forgive Me but Understand ...
"...the trouble us that what we call 'asking God's forgiveness' very often really consists in asking God to accept our excuses.  What leads us into this mistake is the fact that there usually is some amount of excuse, some 'extenuating circumstances.'  We are sp very anxious to point these out to God (and to ourselves) that we are apt to forget the really important thing; that is, the bit left over, the bit which the excuses don't cover, the bit which is inexcusable but not, thank God, unforgivable.  And if we forget this, we shall go away imagining that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses.  They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves."

No Excuses
"When you go to a doctor you show him the bit of you that is wrong-say, a broken arm.  It would be a mere waste of time to keep on explaining that your leg and eyes and throat are all right.  You may be mistaken in thinking so, and anyway, if they are really all right, the doctor will know that."

He Forgives!!
"A great deal of our anxiety to make excuses comes from not really believing in it (forgiveness), from thinking that God will not take us to Himself again unless He is satisfied that some sort of case can be made out in our favor.  But that would not be forgiveness at all."

For more on forgiving others, pick up the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Glory-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060653205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270923180&sr=1-1

Good Year for the Westchester Men's Ministry

The WMM had a good year in 2009. We hope to have a breakout year in 2010.

First a look back, in 2009 we...

• had over 10 events including a golf event, hiking, multiple breakfasts and our Christmas dinner.
• had our first breakfast with Grace Fellowship.
• had multiple new people join our small groups or attend one of our events.
• setup a blog, a Facebook group and a Twitter account. We have over 200 followers on Twitter and appear on 6 lists.
• had nearly 2 dozen men for our Christmas dinner, our largest group yet, including a few new people.
• just got started!

In 2010, we have big goals!

1. We feel God is calling us to prepare for the harvest -- so we plan to do leadership training
2. We also feel God wants us to "do" his Word as a group -- so we will be coordinating more outreach events.
3. We will have our first retreat in the early Spring of 2010 (watch for more details)!!
4. I believe we will have a small group of committed people step up in 2010 that will allow WMM to fulfill the role God intends for it. This may include 501c(3) status and a broader reach in Westchester county.
5. The spirit of the Westchester Men's Ministry is to be community based and support multiple churches. So my optimistic goal is to bring leaders from many churches together in 2010 to share our vision to bring hope to the hopeless and strengthen each other!

There are many people to thank for their support in 2009 including Dick Weidenheft, George Holladay, Peter Corfield and Fred Seiler among many others. Thank you guys!

We hope you have a very happy new year. Please pray that God will lead us and protect us because we can do all things through Him who strengthens us and conversely we can do nothing in our own power.