Thursday, January 31, 2008

Been Sick...


Hey guys (whoever is helping us avg 13 hits a day), sorry for no posts in so long. I got REALLY sick last week or we would have had a Nehemiah 4 posting.

I was ready to deliver it to the guys and my wife went down...104+ degree fever the whole works. I got it the next day and we were both averaging 102 degree fevers until hers broke on Sunday and mine broke just this last Tuesday. Whatever you do don't get this thing...it's bad!

We have a lot going on over here in KingdomBuilders land. Nesper is planning a great WtS Breakfast coming up not this Saturday but next (Feb 9th I believe is the date). I think you will be blessed with food, fellowship, teaching (our very own James Rey), and hard work as we go bless the community.

The plans are coming along nicely for Spring Training: Playing for Keeps. We rented the park and have an agenda set. We are just looking for some food since we'll be doing Lunch and Dinner together. Oh and trying to figure out some cool handouts other than another T-Shirt!

Hoping to get together with the guys next Wednesday and you'll get the Nehemiah 4 post we've all been waiting for...yeah right!

Take care...seriously don't get this bug, it's bad news.
pz

Thursday, January 10, 2008

2007 Gone; 2008 Here we come...

Calling and equipping men to boldly build God's Kingdom.

That's our mission, it's what we, at CalvarySLO KingdomBuilders, are here to do. We've seen great growth in 2007 and we look forward to God doing even more in 2008, but it's all about building God's Kingdom. First in our hearts so that it will overflow into the lives of those in our sphere of influence; Family, Friends, People we work with, etc.

Let's look at what happened in 2007 and what we are looking forward to in 2008.

BROTHERHOOD
This is the area of Men's Small Groups and MENtoring/Discipleship.

There are a handful of faithful, let me say very faithful, men who lead three Small Groups and those are strong in the Lord. Mostly they are teaching through God's written word, but there are also book discussions. Either way they are all about strengthening Men's knowledge of God's word and their relationships with each other. So thanks Howie/Tim, Rob/Kevin, and Larry!

MENtoring/Discipleship is less strong. Honestly, I'm convicted about this area as I have neglected it. Pastor James has taken the charge and we have 2-3 men matched up with a MENtor and that's about it. But he is too busy to take this on long term.

The KingdomBuilders leaders got together and brainstormed some really cool ideas addressing this and also other parts of the ministry for 2008...look for a blog article about it once it solidifies a little more, but I'm real excited about it. Please pray that God would confirm that this is him and not us.

WtS
Aaron Nesper, our leader over Worship thru Service, has given a great perspective on 2007 as well as a preview for 2008. This is a great area within CalvarySLO KingdomBuilders praise God. It gives men a chance to worship by being handy or worship through using their muscles and sweating. It's great.

We look forward to the Habitat build coming up. I know that you keep hearing about it with nothing tangible, but we are all waiting for permits and stuff like that. Once we get the sign up sheets we will announce it to church and our mailing list.

We look forward to broadening this ministry in 2008...it goes along with the MENtoring comments above so look for a blog/e-mail (if you are on our e-mail list) in the next week.

EVENTS
Part of our calling as leaders of CalvarySLO KingdomBuilders is to hold events that, well, build God's Kingdom. We had some great events this year; the first Super Bowl party, Father/Son campout, Married's vs. Singles Competitions, and of course the Men's Advance.

If you went to any of those events you know they were all special times with other men and God. I especially remember the Men's Advance evening service to this day, when Pastor Steve Stump Calvary Paso brought us God's message and so many of the men responded in a huge way. That is KingdomBuilding!

We have set plans for 2008, which we have given over to the Lord. In those plans are the annual Father/Son campout June 20th-22nd in Big Sur.

The big news is we are planning/praying about doing two Advances in 2008. We would do a mini-Advance in April that we are calling Spring Training and the theme would be Playing for Keeps. It's kind of like the Men's Conference we did a while back with the other Calvarys but we'll just do it with CalvarySLO. More to come on that, but the idea is spending a whole Saturday together. We have an application in to Paloma Creek Park in Atascadero for April 12th or any Saturday in April.

The full Men's Advance would be in the fall, in October (possibly weekend of the 11th). We have an application at Rancho Alegre, which is right off of the San Marcos pass in the Los Padres National Forest. The theme will be Putting Away Childish Things. Of course, more of this to come, but this will be the full weekend Friday night through Sunday morning.

One of the reasons for offering the two, Spring Training and Men's Advance, is to give more diverse opportunities (ie all day format and all weekend format) to grow closer to the Lord and the other men at CalvarySLO.

Josh Krumheuer has been a big help in this area. He has taken any task within events or even a whole event and run with it! He looks to be leaving for Vet school in the Spring so please pray for another helper to take his place in 2008. Thanks Josh and I can't wait to see what the Lord does in your life!

FoM
Aaron Wise has taken the ball and run with this area (pun intended). He too has posted his perspective on this. We've seen Men's basketball and softball teams compete in city leagues. The aim for this ministry is to be a witness to the other men that we'll be playing as well as grow closer to the other men at CalvarySLO on the team.

We look forward to continuing and expanding this ministry next year. I know that Wise wants to get a paintball day going so e-mail him if you are interested. I hope you'll consider joining one of the teams!

Last Word
I had the opportunity to visit a lot of church websites this last year for (mostly to invite them to the Men's Conference that didn't happen). The interesting thing was that Men's Ministry was not represented on most of them. Women's, Children, Youth Ministries they all had web space and prominent links on the main page as well as cool websites and things going on behind those links.

I'm glad the Lord has blessed CalvarySLO with not only a Men's Ministry but one that is strong with leaders that are serving and ministries that are...well ministering. I'm especially glad because I'm the first to admit I need KingdomBuilders more than it needs me!

So for 2008 I feel like God is saying more. He wants to bless us more, he wants more of his Kingdom in our lives, he wants us to bring the Kingdom to SLO and beyond. He wants us to find more ultimate pleasure in him...

I love this old praise song and I'll close with it.

More love, more power
More of You in my life
More love, more power
More of You in my life.

I will worship You with all of my heart
And I will worship You with all of my mind
And I will worship You with all of my strength
For you are my Lord
You are my Lord.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Year in Review 2007: Fishers of Men Sports Ministry

This year we kicked off Fishers of Men, a sports fellowship part of the CalvarySLO men's ministry. Our aim is to create a fun atmosphere of fellowship within the men's ministry where men can meet within the body of Christ, as well as minister to other teams through our words and actions.

We kicked off 2007 with a basketball team that played in the SLO city league. The word "domination" comes to mind when I think of our 10-2 season. Our team, mixed with strangers old and young, meshed well and had the skills to pull off some great wins. Though we didn't claim first place, we're hoping we can repeat the great playing in years to come.

Continuing into 2007, we had back to back softball seasons in the SLO city league. God decided to humble our teams after our great basketball season, with only allowing us to win a few games between the two seasons. Our team improved immensely as the season went on as we became more comfortable up to bat and out in the field. Regardless, we had a blast out there. These teams birthed new friendships between some men, and rekindled some old friendships with others.

This inaugural year for Fishers of Men will be a great stepping stone to many years of competition, fellowship, and fun. I encourage everyone out there to consider joining one of these teams in the future, regardless of how athletic you are. Come meet more men, be competitive, have fun, and sweat a little bit. As we begin 2008, I'm excited to see what God wants to do with this ministry. I'm aiming to have multiple teams per season, and maybe even add some new sports/events to the Fishers of Men line up.

Please let me know if you have any ideas for this ministry or if would like to get involved with Fishers of Men.

God Bless! See you in '08!

Aaron Wise
aywise@gmail.com