Chaplain’s Corner
June 09, 2016
Brothers in Christ
Good Morning Patriots!
I feel good this morning! I am in a happy mood. I didn't get any more sleep than normal, and work is about the same as always: stressful. However, I think I can say that my mood and attitude today is a direct result of what happened to me last night.
I was invited to a men's bonfire that took place last evening at Valley Mills Christian Church on Kentucky Avenue on the Southwest side of Indianapolis. After I got home from work and ate supper, I headed straight over there. There were a total of 18 who showed up, and there was already a nice fire burning, and chairs set out.
Introductions were made, and handshakes prevailed. There was a nice representation of working-class men from construction, automotive, IT, farming, etc. The pastor of the Church, Bob Beltz, welcomed all of us, and talked briefly, and then asked us to go around the group, one at a time, introducing ourselves and telling a little bit about who we were. I was asked to talk first.
I enjoyed being able to share about myself and my ministry, and found a lot of heads nodding in agreement with many things I said. I talked about the need for us to be Godly men, the need for prayer in our lives, the need to minister to others daily, looking for opportunities to share the love of Christ. I gave some examples from my ministries including the "Take It To The Streets" revival we just had a few weeks ago, to the crosses and the rings that I give away, to the witnessing I do to people at work, or out-and-about in daily life. I talked about how I personally felt pretty strongly that we were in the "Last Days" spoken of in the Bible, and the great need for us to be getting ourselves and our families prepared for the hard times to come. After I finished, the other men took turns speaking, and it seems that since I was willing to take the extra time to be transparent, they also took extra time to speak about their lives and the way God is working on them and through them daily.
I found that I had a LOT in common with these men. We all had similar struggles in our lives, and similar self-doubts, bouts with depression, etc. The key in all of our stories was that we all acknowledged the massive differences in our lives once we surrendered it all to God. Even though we are all imperfect in this flesh, and still struggle with individual issues daily, we all agreed that a real relationship with God and a good prayer life makes all the difference in the world. It was very encouraging to hear others’ stories and some of them even referring to and acknowledging some of the things I had said earlier.
One of the men had been asked beforehand to speak for a bit, and give us some testimony of God's work in his life. This man was very inspiring, and he was very honest about his past faults and sins, and he openly admitted to how he had to go back to God more than once to get situations in his life in order. But the encouraging part was the success stories that came with it all. When men can openly and candidly express how much better their lives are now with God being the center of attention, it inspires all of us to be all we can be, with the help of God and His Holy Spirit working in our hearts daily. These men talked about the better quality of life they experience daily. They spoke of how much happier the home and family life is now. They spoke of how much closer they were to their wives and how their love had been enhanced and the relationships had grown.
When we were done, we broke into small prayer groups and just shared some time of prayer together. One of the men in my small group was going to be having eye surgery today, and we prayed for him to have God's blessings and a wonderful prognosis, all to God's glory. It felt good to touch hands with other men who love the Lord and pray out loud in a field behind a church, with traffic going by, just knowing that we had a real connection. Remember that the Bible says that where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is also...
My takeaway from this is to encourage all of my brothers to seek God in your daily life, and be humble before Him. Literally lay your problems down at the foot of the cross, and stand broken before Him, and let the Great Potter rebuild you into the man of God that He wants you to be. Be the spiritual head of your home, loving and cherishing your wife as Jesus loves and cherishes and provides for His bride. Be a man. Be a great example of being a Godly man. Train up your children to know the Lord. With God in our lives, we may still have outward problems plague us in this flesh, but we can and will have the peace of God that transcends all understanding, spoken of at Philippians 4:6, 7.
God Bless you, every one, and:
God Bless America!
Stephen King
Chaplain@3upi.com
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