Tues.6.30.15...Never Forsake Your Friend...Prov.27:1-13

Ever had a good time friend? He was there when things were going well for you, but was nowhere to be found when you were really needing a friend. In my BC days, I sure had such friends. Then they were gone for good when I came to Christ. The common bond of getting high was gone and they wanted nothing to do with my Savior and me. In our passage today, we see an emphasis on friends. Loyal friends do not forsake their friends and brothers in arms. A few weeks ago we discovered that gaining and sustaining a good FRIENDSHIP includes the following-

F- Focus on what you have in common. Being on a team can help greatly here.

R- Remember to keep in touch and Return calls promptly. Before we've said that if a man doesn't return a requested call back, he would owe the brother a soft drink or doughnut. Since we are becoming farther spread out, that has become impractical. So now, he will lose the possibility of being Unstoppable for the week until a proper apology has been given. I don't think this has even been an issue for you. You have been so quick to return my calls, and I so appreciate that. You are a breath of fresh air compared to so many others outside of M3.  

I- Include the flair factor- This could include a thoughtful gift. "Everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts" Prov.19:6. 

E- Encourage your friend and Enrich him with what you’ve been learning. Also Empathize. Be a caring friend, especially coming to the aid of an overwhelmed, "Broken Arrow" brother. Be devoted to the brothers on your team. 

N- Never abandon your friend. A man may forsake M3, but we will never forsake a man in M3. No man left behind. You cannot fail in M3; you can only quit trying.  

Do enjoyable things together and Divulge yourself. Let people know who you are- your ups and downs. We are on the same team and pulling for each other.

Strive to listen intently. We may not always understand, but we always will strive to be understanding. Strive to listen intently.

H- Help him out. You already know this and have practiced this numerous times, such as helping friends move. 

I- Intercede for your friend. Friends pray for friends. Pray for your friend and others to be power HOUSE men of God- Hungry, Obedient, Unstoppable, Strong in the Lord and Encouraging. I pray that for you daily. And I pray that the Lord will give you such power HOUSE men to enlist- that you would have a great family tree and be a G.R.E.A.T. MANLY warrior. Attack! Pray such Attack prayers to advance the kingdom of God against the gates of hell.

Speaking of prayer, have you recorded the names and email addresses of your two prayer warriors on the Contacts tab spot? If you haven't, today is the deadline. Thanks. I want to send out our July M3 Prayer Warriors e-letter soon, so I need you help with this. Thanks!

P- Pardon his faults. Friends aren't perfect. They will let us down. "The best of men are men at best." But he who casts off a friend when that friend fails him, will be a lone stranger. If man quits because someone hurt his  feelings, he is a quitter. We are to be Christlike, forgiving one another just as the Lord has forgiven us and has not forsaken us.

In today's passage, we are told, "Do not forsake your friend" 27:10. I'm like you. I want to be a faithful friend and I want friends who will be faithful to me, especially when tough times come knocking. We've noted how teams can create a long term bond, and that's we have available to us in M3. As we are growing weekly, we are encountering growth challenges. How can we create structures that enable us to keep bringing more men in and yet preserve strong bonds? We could use the common method of just dividing teams up as they get over a certain number, but that ends up dividing friendships. So let's create a structure that enables us to grow without limit, without parting friends who want to be together for the long haul. Let's build a joyous band of brothers, comrades in arms.

Here's how it could work. Pick a few brothers that you would want to go the distance together with in M3. These will be your new wing-men. It could be two or more. (With our growth, we need new names. You and your wing-men will be called a fire team and your existing fire team will be called a squad. Your fire team captain will now be called a Squad Captain.) Then as your team continues to recruit and grow, those new men will eventually form their own new fire teams. Squads will be formed of a few fire teams. Squad sizes may start in size from 6-12 men, but grow to several more before deploying out a new squad. During that time one or more assistant squad captains will be sought and nurtured. So imagine your fire team buddies being able to stay together, deepening in friendships and nurturing new men you recruit together. Then imagine seeing those new brothers doing likewise. What a great thing! Imagine all the manly men you will be able to multiply together. (At our next M3 meeting, July 12th, I will reveal another powerful way your fire teams and squads can make a powerful impact.) 

1.- Fire teams should be from 3-5 men. So text me today the names of a few men in M3 that you would like to be on the same fire team together with. They are probably men who are already on your same team. 

I will do my best to make sure you are with at least one of them. Some of you have learned that over time you can become friends with just about anyone who also loves the Lord and wants to advance God's kingdom with others. If that's you or you really don't care who you get placed with, just text me that as well. Once I sort through everyone's requests, I will confer back with you. I'm sure there may be some cases where I will need to place a man on a team he didn't request. Hopefully, he will have no issues with such. If you really don't want to be with a certain person that I will privately announce to you, you can let me know that as well. I doubt that is the case among us, but I'm happy to connect you with people you will enjoy the journey with. I'm also always open to your suggestions. "For waging war you need guidance" Prov.24:6.  

2.- Read Prov.27:1-13 and share a verse and some of your thoughts on it.

3.- How often do you go back and read the comments that others leave under your good words on the blog? If you post late in the evening, do you go back the next day to see what others may have written? 

Speaking of friends today, many of you from New Life know our friend, Jose Carrillo. He and his family recently moved as missionaries to Queretaro, Mexico. When Eddie was down there recently, he talked with Jose about joining M3. I have too. I think it would be so encouraging for him to be a part of this great band of brothers. Today is Jose's birthday, so please send him a birthday text greeting at 708-466-1228. Thanks!   

Also speaking of friends, I especially liked what Armando recently wrote about his reaching out to old friends of his- "Just yesterday I gave one [a greatest minimovies card] to John, an old friend who I continue to ask him if he'll attend church with me... Also last Sunday I gave one to Tony a friend who attended church, his second time and also to another who also attended church for his second time." Way to go Armando! We don't have to turn our backs on our old friends. We may need to decline their invitations to the bar or such. But we can still invite them do things with us. If they refuse, at least we didn't ignore them.

Mon.6.29.15...Without Wood a Fire Goes Out...Prov.26:17-28

The story goes of a man who comes into his North woods cabin from the winter cold. He is shivering and says to the old wood stove, "Give me heat!" To which the stove answers back, "First, give me wood!" Our verse today says, "Without wood the fire goes out." Herein lies an obvious life principle, yet so often people get it backwards. For example, the employee says to his boss, "I'd like a raise." The employer says, "First give me a reason to give you a raise." The student says to the teacher, "I want a better grade than this!" The teacher says, "First give me better answers." The single man says, "I want to marry this wonderful woman I met." The wonderful woman says, "If he was wonderful, I'd gladly marry him." (First be the one to have the one.) The husband says to his wife, "I want more romance in our marriage." She says, "First, give me a reason to feel romantic towards you." The parent says, "I want you to stop whining and throwing temper tantrums. The honest child would say, "First, train and discipline me to do so." The teenager says, "I want more privileges." The parent says, "First, give me more honor and obedience." The guy looks at his pudgy body in the mirror and says, "I want to be in shape." The talking mirror says, "First, give me better food and exercise." The brother says, "I want to be strong spiritually." And you say to him, "Then start getting into a GREAT spiritual workout with us in M3.":) This is known as the "Great Exchange Principle." A lot of people whine over what they don't have, instead of working for what they want. The young man might whine that he is stuck in a low paying job. Instead of whining, he needs to work to develop the knowledge, relational and technical skills to land a better job. 

This "great exchange principle" also works well for eliminating or reducing things you don't want. For example, do you want less conflict in your marriage? Then don't add fuel to the fire of a growing conflict. "Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down" 26:20. We could rightly also say, without a cutting comment a quarrel dies down. Without yelling a quarrel dies down. Without giving excuses and being defensive a quarrel dies down. Without staying in the ring (by taking a time out) a quarrel dies down. As fresh charcoal is to burning embers and as wood kindling is to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife (expanded translation of 26:21). So don't add fuel to the fire; then the quarrel will die down. Just as a tall man overlooks little people, so a big man overlooks little people's insults. "A prudent man overlooks an insult" 12:16. Is that easy to do? Of course not. "Though the tongue weighs very little, it's very hard to hold." That's why taking a time out is so wise. If I stay in the ring, I am apt to give her a piece of my mind, which I can ill afford to lose. Retreat to advance. For lack of wood a fire dies down.

1a.- So what do you want more or less of in your life? (You are among supportive friends, please share.)

1.b.- Now list a few practical steps you could take to have more or less of it. If we don't work at improving such, then remember the definition of insanity- it's doing the same things over and over, yet hoping for different results. 

2.- Read Prov.26:17-28 and share one verse or phrase that grabbed your interest along with some of your thoughts regarding it. 

Announcements
Hey it's Monday, so please remember to go right from the blog to the scoreboard and put up your points for the weekend. Thanks! 

We will also be going to the July tab on the scoreboard, since most of this week in July. 

Notice: We are now combining the MP3 points in the G column. So not only give yourself the point for blogging in the G column, but now add your MP3 points in that same G column. (Now we truly have a GREAT scoreboard, not a G,MP3,REAT scoreboard:)

10 days ago I wrote the following: "Prayer is so important that we have asked each man when he started with M3 to get at least two prayer partners. Some of you have, others have yet to do so. Go to the Contacts tab at the bottom of our Scoreboard sheet and include the name(s) of your prayer warriors and their email addresses. I will be sending out a prayer warriors monthly newsletter the beginning of July, so please have that completed by then. I'm sure you believe that it's important to have people praying for you in this spiritual battle that we are in, so I'm only asking this for your benefit. (You can thank me later:)" Please have this done by the end of tomorrow.

It was so enjoyable reading Friday about how so many of you have been handing out our Greatest Mini-movies cards. Phil shared the following- "After a Narcotics Anonymous meeting I was outside talking to a guy and I handed him one of our mimimovies cards and told him, 'Yo, check it out, there's some super powerful short videos on there.' Well 2 other people overheard me and they both asked for cards as well." Way to go Phil!

Drum roll please! Here are the points from this past week's scoreboard. As you can see, many of you were U= Unstoppable this past week. And most of you scored 25 points or more. Well done! I'm holding my breath that this week will be the one that everyone is unstoppable and scores 25 points or more. Let's have that underwater breath holding competition:) And congratulations to Team 5 for top scoring! Again, the weekly average scores do not include those of your fire team captains. They are focusing on helping each one of you succeed. Please make sure to return their calls promptly as well. Thanks! 

Fire Team 1			0	29.28		Fire Team 4			0	31.66
Eddie Morales	U	R5	56			George Rabiela	U	R1	94
Phil Raymond	U		16			Rich Guardiola	U	R1	48
Alex Dyckman	U		25			Dave Heidekruger	U	R1	30
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	39			Chuy Cervantes			17
Luis Ortiz	U		36			Fire Team 5			0	38.8
Gary Remson		R1	18			Jack Rogers	U	R4	85
James Schmidt	U		36			Andre Vargas	U		30
William Dyckman	U		35			Armando Hernandez	U		60
Fire Team 2			0	33.5		George Doherty	U	R1	28
Sam Vargas	U	R3	41			Jose Billegas	U		18
Oscar Nunez	U		40			Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	58
Israel Fuentes	U	R1	32			Fire Team 6			0	28.8
Flo Juarez	U		16			Dave Garratt	U	R?	86
Lou Ojeda	U		46			Horacio De La Torre	U		55
Fire Team 3			0	37.4		Ed Lake	U		27
Robert Roman	U	R1	132			Dave DeBoer	U		53
Guillermo Baez			61			Mark Estrada			0
Vince Diaz	U	R1	35			Rick Barrera			9
Antonio Palomar		R1	22
Nic Palhegyi	U		23
Osiris Alday	U		46

Fri.6.26.15...Dealing with Fools...Prov.26:1-16

Th.6.25.15...Semper Fi!...Prov.25:15-28

What strikes you about these two verses from Proverbs 25?
"Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters" 25:13
"Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble" 25:19
Yes, both start with the word "Like." As a matter of fact, in chapters 25-26, twenty of the verses start with that word of comparison- "Like." (I've underlined them in my Bible.) The original meaning of the word "proverb" meant a "comparison." (Like) You could make up proverbs of comparison like those yourself. "Like nails on a chalk board is a whining child." But the verses above aren't about whining children, but being unfaithful or trustworthy. If you are trustworthy, you are refreshing. If a man is not, then he is a big pain in the tooth or foot or elsewhere:) 

Ever been around someone who was all talk, but not trustworthy? The year before I was to get married, I took in a brother from the church to help him out and for him to help me out with rent. Then another brother needed a place to stay and then another. None ended up holding down their jobs, so I was soon providing free room and board to three grown men. They promised money soon, but it never came. Reminds me of another proverb from today's reading, "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give" 25:14. I ended up loaning one of those guys an accumulation of $300. After he moved out, I politely called him a few times about the money he owed me. "Out of gratitude" he then hired a lawyer who called, telling me to stop threatening his client. When I explained what happened, I think the lawyer was quite embarrassed. (Any story sounds true until you hear the other side. Compare Prov.18:17.)

Another one of those brothers who lived with me went on a singles retreat I was leading. He liked to dress in military fatigues and was fond of saying our Marines motto, "Semper Fi!" (Always faithful.) 

When we were on a group hike, I sent him back to the camp to bring back directions to a spot I wanted to take the group to. We waited and waited. He never showed, so we returned to the camp lounge area, only to find him playing chess. Erg! He gave some weak excuse for not coming back to us, to which I sarcastically said, "Semper fi!" Yes, I was ticked! "Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble" 25:19.

I commend you for being faithful to the team even when you would rather play chess, play a video game or play a movie. I commend you for being unstoppable when you would rather stop reading and go to sleep. I commend you for persevering when you've had a hard day and there's more yet to do. I commend you for promptly returning calls, when so many other people don't do that for you. When it's hardest, that's when to push even harder. My 16 year old son has a word for getting something done when it is really hard, "Beast-mode!" If it's pushing through the pain in wrestling practice or pushing up one more rep of killer weights, then go into "Beast-mode." It is when you would rather not, that tests what you are made of. When you'd rather not have to stay up late to fulfill the mission, go into beast-mode! That is where "glory" and honor is found. Do hard things. Paul said he gloried in his sufferings. Taste it. Be trustworthy no matter what. In special forces training, soldiers are required to stay awake for over 24 hours to accomplish a practice mission. They put the mission above their comfort. They are trustworthy. In a world of unfaithful men, you are so refreshing to me (let me make up a proverb), like jumping into a pool on a really hot day. Best of all you are refreshing to our semper fi Father in heaven. You are reflecting His image! Hoo-rah!

PS- A shout out to the Marines in our midst, Mark Estrada and Dave Heidekrueger and to all our armed forces personnel, such as Andre Vargas (Army) and Sam Vargas (Air Force). Am I missing anyone? You have faithfully served and we salute you.  

1.- Maybe it wasn't because you needed to be faithful to accomplish an important mission, but share a memory of when you stayed up for an extra long stretch, perhaps over 24 hours. You were in beast-mode. You have got what it takes. Semper fi!

2.- Read through Prov.25:15-28 and share a verse you like and what you like about it. 

Thanks for being trustworthy, reliable- even faithfully putting your points on the scoreboard. You also lighten my load and your fire team captain's when we don't have to make reminder calls. Udabest! 

Please remember to fill in your prayer partners names and email addresses within the "Contacts" tab. The deadline for completing this is next Tuesday, June 30th. We need all the prayer support we can get. You have entered into the battle and the enemy does not like it. Pray!  

Wed.6.24.15...Unsung Heroes...Prov.25:1-14

Our reading today is from Proverbs 25:1-14. I'd like to do things a bit differently today. Please read that passage through first and pick out your favorite verse before I reveal mine below. Thanks! 

1.- Please share your verse with us and what you liked about it. As always, write down your MP3 and seek to share it with others. 

Okay, I'm guessing that none of you picked the verse that I did- v.1- "These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah." Why that one Dave? Thanks for asking. Hezekiah reigned as king over Judah (715-686 BC) some 250 years after Solomon. Hezekiah was a good king who wanted to preserve more of the wise sayings of Solomon. Aren't you glad for his decision and the diligence of his copyists? Humanly speaking, if it wasn't for those "behind the scenes" workers, we would not have chapters 25-29 in the book of Proverbs. For that matter, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to countless men, down through the ages, who carefully copied the word of God that we have today. 

Bible scholar Kenneth Barker writes the following of those diligent copiers- "The Jewish sopherim, or scribes, held such a high regard for the Scriptures as the Word of God that they regarded the copying of any error as a sin. No imperfection, no matter how small, was tolerated. The successors to this meticulous scribal tradition were Jewish biblical scholars known as the Masoretes...The Masoretes developed a system of checks to ensure that every copy was as nearly perfect as humanly possible. To make certain they had not added or left out even a single letter, they counted the number of times each letter of the alphabet occurred in each book. They noted and recorded the middle letter of the entire Old Testament. They recorded the middle letter on each page and the number of letters and words in each column. They examined every copy of the Old Testament and withdrew from circulation all copies in which any error was discovered. These carefully copied Hebrew texts have remained virtually unchanged since about 600 to 700 AD. In 1947 the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls yielded copies from all the major sections of the Old Testament, except Ruth, dating back more than a century before Christ. When compared to these ancient copies, the Masoretic texts were found to be virtually identical." (This excerpt is from Dr. Barker's excellent online article- http://ift.tt/1BA7Shz. It's well worth the read to help you gain a better understanding of how we got our Bible. There are also some very good videos on this subject in the Resources tab of our greatestminimovies.com site.)
It took special skill and diligence to be a scribe. Not every man qualified.

So kudos to the unnamed men who carefully copied God's word that we have today. They are our unsung heroes. But they are not the only ones. You are such men as well. Your name may never be a household word as King Solomon or King Hezekiah (yet without such careful copiers, few would know the names of those kings today). You also play an important copier role today. You too are copying down God's word on your MP3s and sharing it with others. You are seeking to be a good example of a follower of Christ Jesus for others to copy. It shows in part on the GREAT scoreboard. And the men that you enlist and encourage, are in a sense, a living copy of God's word that you are passing on to others to read. Paul put it this way- "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God" 2 Cor.2:2-3. 

One day we will get to meet those unsung heroes and one day they will get to meet you. May we then hear their names and ours called out by our Lord himself, declaring, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

2.- Thank God for the copiers of the Bible. Share a memory of one of the first times you remember reading the Bible and how it struck you. 

Announcements 
Congratulations for perfect participation on Monday's blog! I'm holding my breath to see if this is going to be the week for 100% participation and each man scoring 25 points by the end of the week. Please get into the helpful habit of going to the scoreboard as soon as you finish typing your good thoughts here.

Due to busy schedules, we will need to reschedule this Sunday's fellowship meal. 

Happy Birthday Ricardo Guardiola! May this year be one of great growth and impact in and through your life. It was just last week that Ricardo graduated from Basic Training, having earned his Unstoppable award pin and earning the rank of R1. Congratulations Ricardo!

Tues.6.23.15...The Sluggard...Prov.24:15-33

Mon.6.22.15...Be Like the Good Samaritan...Prov.24:1-14

Today, I've invited Eddie Morales, who recently got back from a mission trip to Queretaro, MX, to share with us his thoughts from our passage in Proverbs 24:1-14. It's good and challenging stuff.

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?" Prov.24:11-12

There is not a lack of people in need of rescue. Today there are so many people on the road to death whom we can aid in a variety of ways; by educating them, taking a stand on their behalf, sharing our resources, opening up our house and so on. I think about the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The men who were supposed to represent righteousness and holiness, passed by. 

Yet, the despised Samaritan, who was expected to walk on by the man in need, was the very one who came to his aid. I think as men of God, we should not be quick to pass to the other side when someone is in need. I do understand that this comes with caution, good judgment, and balance. But what is stopping us from really loving and having mercy on our neighbor, especially when we have the capacity to help?

God put it on the heart of a couple to do exactly this- to reach the lost, have mercy, seek justice, and show compassion. My friends, Jose and Joann Carrillo, recently moved to Queretaro, MX with their two children, to show Christ’s love to some of the neediest people in the world…orphans. They said good-by to their friends and relatives, left their jobs, sacrificed, and fund-raised to help aid the needy and broken. 

Although the physical needs can be more noticeable, we must not limit ourselves to those people just headed for physical death through drugs, alcohol, disease, abortion, hunger or violence. I think most men, while they look healthy on the outside, are facing the danger of spiritual death. People need to hear the life-changing message of the gospel. This is something that has been given to us freely, but as you know, it cost more than we could ever afford. Freely we have received, now freely we are to give. May we be on the lookout to give out this message of life whenever possible. Timely. Appropriately. Salted with grace and love. It could just be our persuasions and examples of the gospel that may be the means of rescuing someone from eternal death.

I understand it's easy to make excuses. “I don’t have the time to stop and help.” “That guy looks scary to approach.” “I don’t know enough to lead someone to Christ.” The second part of the proverb reminds us that even though we can make excuses, nothing can be hidden from God. He searches and weighs of our hearts, and one day we will give an account to him for all of our actions, good and bad.

Again, we need to exercise good judgment when helping others, but I think helping someone in need demonstrates character. And helping someone doesn’t have to be radical, but then again it could be. There are no limits to love at the end of the day. I love Peter and John’s response to a beggar in need in Acts 3. “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.’” They offered the man the greatest gift of love, Jesus.

Here are a few brewing opportunities to think about where you could help. The Convey of Hope is looking for volunteers to assist in their connections tent, praying for people and then following up with them as potential mentors. The Convey of Hope is a faith-based organization that brings groceries and many other resources to communities in need. This year they will be in Chicago on August 22, 2015 and looking to serve over 10,000 people in the Marquette Park area. I will have more information coming soon.

Also, Midway is going to be starting Urban Life Skills- a youth mentoring program for at-risk youth to serve as a way to prevent them from getting involved in gangs and to foster character and leadership development. Imagine leading people in prayer and potentially leading several people to Christ or reconnecting them with the Lord. Imagine mentoring young men in the ways of the Lord!

I know we have responsibilities, families to lead, jobs to work at, and ministries to pour into. These are not excuses per say, they are commitments and responsibilities to tend to. But if at all possible, "do to one what you wish you could to for many." Tell people what Jesus has done for you. Show them a real, authentic gospel. At the end of the day, people are looking for hope. Why not offer them the hope of the world?!

1.- Thanks Eddie! Now let's read our passage today, Prov.24:1-14. Pick out a verse, write it out, and share some of your thoughts regarding it. As always put it also on your MP3 card or phone and then look for opportunities to share it with others. Way to enrich others!

2.- Recently, we did a mini-series on FRIENDSHIP. This is a great group to build and deepen lifelong friends. One of the ingredients for deepening such is being on a team. Some of you are doing that this coming Sunday on a softball team. For those of you who aren't, let's eat together. Yum! That's another great way of building and deepening friendships. As you know, this Sunday at 1:00, we will be having an M3 fellowship meal at Jack's home (10749 Cherrywood Drive, Palos Park). Please indicate here if you are coming and if you are bringing your mate or date. As we mentioned Friday, today is the deadline for signing up. If not enough people are free to come, we will simply reschedule it. 

Announcements
Congratulations Mark Estrada on winning yesterday's MMA competition! I wouldn't want to go in the ring against you. I would need the good Samaritan to come along afterward.

Congratulations Fire Teams! All teams scored over 25 points average for last week. And that's not including your fire team captains who were knocking it out of the park. Again, you will note the U column represents in this case the men who were Unstoppable each day last week. Way to go! Louie Ojeda just started with us last week Monday and was not only Unstoppable, but also put up 30 points on  the board. Excellent Louie! 

Hey, here's a challenge. If for one week, each of you will score 25 points or more and be Unstoppable, I will go in the MMA ring against Mark Estrada. That was a typographical error. I will take on your greatest warrior in an underwater breath holding contest. If I lose, I'm buying free soft drinks for all present. Offer ends the end of this summer. Let the game begin. 

Fire Team 1				28.57		Fire Team 4				31
Eddie Morales	U	R5	43			George Rabiela	U	R1	117
Phil Raymond	U		30			Rich Guardiola	U		46
Alex Dyckman	U		25			Chuy Cervantes			16
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	28			Fire Team 5			0	33.4
Luis Ortiz	U		37			Jack Rogers	U	R4	97
Gary Remson		R1	17			Andre Vargas	U		26
James Schmidt	U		34			Armando Hernandez	U		46
William Dyckman	U		29			George Doherty	U	R1	26
Fire Team 2			0	31.75		Jose Billegas	U		18
Sam Vargas	U	R3	68			Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	61
Oscar Nunez			32			Fire Team 6			0	27.75
Israel Fuentes		R1	31			Dave Garratt	U	R?	73
Flo Juarez	U		34			Horacio De La Torre			35
Lou Ojeda	U		30			Ed Lake			16
Fire Team 3			0	35.2		Dave DeBoer	U		29
Robert Roman	U	R1	123			Mark Estrada			31
Guillermo Baez			34
Vince Diaz	U	R1	40
Antonio Palomar	U	R1	27
Nic Palhegyi			27
Osiris Alday	U		48

Fri.6.19.15...Happy Father's Day weekend!...Prov.23:15-35

Th.6.18.15...What Do You Love?...Prov.23:1-14

Wed.6.17.15...Pay Attention...Prov.22:17-29

When was the last time you were in a car accident or ran out of gas while driving? Hopefully, it's been a while. When was the last time you missed an exit? Since I drive a lot, that happens from time to time. Why? It's often the same reason people run out of gas- not paying attention soon enough. Many accidents happen because of distracted driving. People weren't paying attention to the road. In today's passage (Prov. 22:17-29) it begins by calling us to pay attention to something far more important than the road, our gas gauge or the exit signs. We are called by our Mentor and Father to pay attention to his wise words. This is so important that he goes on for five verses talking about the importance and benefits of paying attention to God's word. This is not the first time our Father has called us to pay attention to his words-
"Listen my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding" 4:1.
"My son, pay attention to what I say, listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them" 4:20-22.
"My son, pay attention to my wisdom" 5:1.
"Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say" 7:24.

Here is a portion of our Father's exhortation to us today-
"Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips" 22:17-18. This reminds me of what you are doing. You're not just reading the Bible and quickly forgetting what you read. You are writing down your MP3 verses, reviewing them and passing them on to others. This is no small thing to God. Jesus declared in his Sermon on the Mount, "Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" Mt.5:19. You are practicing that and other GREAT things and it shows on the GREAT scoreboard. As you share the word with your family you are fulfilling God's great mandate for fathers- "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" Dt.6:6-7. I know a lot of Father's Day messages include that exhortation, and I'm sure there are a lot of men who hang their heads, having failed to do that. But now you can do that so naturally. "Hey, check out this powerful verse I got today. Why do you think this is so important?" (That's just one of many discussion starter questions you could use. Here's a couple others- What would it be like if no one followed this? How could we better live this out?) 

Paying attention to the word of God is not easy; we have an enemy who seeks to distract us. Did you ever think that might be part of our struggle at times to be unstoppable in God's word? Such distractions from giving our attention to the priority of God's word is nothing new. Consider the plea of a famous preacher who lived in the mid 300s. "Please listen to me, you are not paying attention. I am talking to you about the Holy Scriptures, and you are looking at the lamps and the people lighting them. It is very frivolous to be more interested in what the lamplighters are doing...After all, I am lighting a lamp too, the lamp of God's word." John Chrysostom. His words remind me of Peter's- "we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place--until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts" 2 Pet.1:19.

Why is it that some Christians drift away from God and God's people? They don't keep paying careful attention to the word. "We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away" Heb.2:1. By God's grace, so long as you are in M3, that won't happen to you. You will get ongoing encouragement to pay attention to God's word. And we will call the brother who starts to drift. We will "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" Heb.3:13. It's been said, "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book." But we are reminded by that previous verse and others that we also need to be with a group of people who will encourage us to hold firmly to the trustworthy message. The Christian life was never designed by God to be a Sunday morning spectator sport. That's why I'm so glad you are on the field, in the action, advancing the ball, advancing God's kingdom. You are paying attention! 

Here's a picture I took recently of a car accident near my house. The police officer said he had to be doing over 50 miles an hour down Western Ave. He must have not been paying attention. 

There were no other cars that caused him to drift from the other side of the street. The light pole stopped him from crashing through the windows of a building a few yards away. 

1.- I've been in a few bad car accidents. (One was my fault. I was not paying attention.) How about you? What happened? Anybody not paying attention?

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my grandfather did– in his sleep. Not yelling and screaming like the passengers in his car.”

2.- Read through Prov.22:17-29 and pick out a verse that grabs your attention and then share it and some of your thoughts with us. Write it down on your MP3 and look for opportunities to share it with others. ("Have all of them ready on your lips" Prov.22:18.)

I have never had anyone refuse one of our beautiful Greatest Minimovies cards until yesterday. It was all my fault. I didn't begin with any small talk. The dude was grooving to music under his headphones while waiting for the bus. Then once I started trying to signal that I wanted to give him the card, I realized he was mentally impaired. Only a dummy would have tried to pass out a card in that situation. (You can learn a lot from a dummy:) Slow down and pay attention Dave.