Dunamis is within us.

This past monday we met.
we had a new visitor.
we had our regulars. in fact we had 15 men.
this is a new tribal high!!!
praise THEONE.

We spoke about timothy and paul's relationship.
timothy came from some heavy hitters ... his grandma and momma built into him.
then paul came along side and helped developed young timothy.
THATS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IN theSHACK.

We read from 2 timothy 1:5-7

focusing on the concept that we weren't given a spirit of fear, but of POWER.
THE WORD POWER comes from the GREEK, DUNAMIS = from which we get the word DYNA
hence DYNAMITE.

men , we have been given DYNAMITE type POWER. the HOLY SPIRIT dwells within us. HE is the POWER.
its time, way past time, it is time our families XPERIENCED this POWER in our homes.
men, we need to UNLEASH the Power.

BEARTRAPS and GARDENS

galatians 6:1 says

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

Samwise proposed being caught in a sin is much like being trapped in a BEAR TRAP.

YA KNOW, STUCK, HURT, BLEEDING, BROKEN, and unable to get away ... without help.

what are you gonna do when you don't have someone to help you???

We went around the room answering the question: ARE YOU A GOOD COMMUNICATOR?

frodo said, "huh?"

placido said," let me call my wife..."

the consensus was NO. The point here is if we are going to relate , then we need to be able to both listen and then to relay what GOD has called us to do and say.

The idea of the bear trap is based on the fact that so many men find themselves broken and trapped. the last thing they need is someone to point a FINGER. the following verses in galatians 6 tell us to RESTORE him gently. the NCV says GENTLY AND HUMBLY.

The Meaning behind the word, GENTLY, is much like a DOCTOR SETTING A BROKEN BONE or REPAIRING A DISLOCATED LIMB. If we are gonna help men, who are overtaken by sin, if we are gonna help them STOP, RECOVER, and finally REPENT, then We need to do it in such a way that accomplishes these three.

Its NOT enough to reaffirm their sin. It does little good to tell them how to GET OUT OF THE BEAR TRAP, if we don't help them. WE MUST BE AGENTS OF PEACE.

We discussed how the church, overall as an institution, HAS FAILED TO DO THIS. in short, its up to us, to be spiritual FIRST, and rescue agents SECOND. lets be the ones to help our bruthers who are CAUGHT IN THE BEARTRAP.

we DON'T COME OUT OF THE BEAR TRAP THE SAME WAY WE WENT IN.

The only way we can be SPIRITUAL is because we have the HOLY SPIRIT. we are NOT better than the one trapped in sin, but we are not in that sin, and we, ourselves , are not stuck in the same bear trap. it is inconcievable that we could help another bruther if we are dealing with our own TRAP.

If we aren't careful, we too will fall into temptation.

Galatians 6: 7-9 , what we plant is what we will GROW. Our garden will look like WHATEVER we put in it. Time, oh boy, this will determine the appearance of the GARDEN.

the type of things we PLANT, will always show up in its due season.

Samwise mentioned that we need to PUT JESUS IN, SO THAT WE GET JESUS OUT.

very similar to the concept of GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT.

The GARDEN is where WE develop SPIRITUAL FRUIT or where we grow SPIRITUAL DEFEAT.

Immoral Woman & the Path

Proverbs chapter 2

verses 14-22 paint a vivid image of how easily we can lose our way.

Boromir, with his father, richard in the group, opened up a dialogue. He shared that we ARE supposed to be on the path, but more importantly, WE MUST STAY ON THE PATH.

so often we lose focus, we look away, or we find ourselves entertaining the immoral woman who only wants to DESTROY us.

the scripture says join good company on the path and we will find our way to life.

however, if we CHOOSE to listen to the flattery of the immoral woman, OR any voice besides JESUS, then we will LOSE OUR LIVES FOR GOOD.

Samwise asked the question to the other 10 men in theSHACK, he asked if they knew GOD'S VOICE.

simple question, however, less than half indicated that they knew HIS voice.

this led to more discussion centering on the scripture in JOHN chapter 10, where JESUS said HIS sheep knew HIS voice.

So how does discipleship fit into the whole path idea.

well i'm glad you asked ...

First, a disciple is one who has learned what the discipler knows. He has collected and retained the raw data. In most schools, the process stops here. Students are tested for what they remember. Regurgitating facts and figures may be all it takes to secure a good grade.

But for our purposes, the process is incomplete. Information is not enough; Men, performance is essential. Discipleship is not simply a matter of how much you know. It is vitally CONNECTED with how much you can do.

And if the mechanism of discipleship does not move us from information to execution, the process has failed.

Consider the surgeon. He spends years in school learning about all the parts of the body and how they work. He learns what to cut, when to cut it, and how to put it back together after cutting it. But if a medical student proposes to perform surgery on you or a loved one, some further discussion is definitely in order, RIGHT?

Regardless of his grades, he's not ready to be turned loose on LIVING people who want to stay that way. He needs hands- on, supervised training. That's the purpose for a lengthy internship.

It's the seasoning that turns raw information into professional expertise. For thetribe's purposes, discipleship is a spiritual internship.

Specifically defined, it is the process of spiritual development which occurs within an environment of loving accountability, whereby the believer progressively moves from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, ultimately repeating the process with others. It doesn't end with one passing it on to one more guy. We must multiply.

I hope the above paragraphs help explain why discipleship is more than a path, but rather a way of living. Why our core purpose is to DISCIPLE.

by the way,

We had two new visitors!!!

So friend, let me ask ya, do you even know what the path is all about?