Mon.6.8.15...FRIENDSHIP...Prov.19:1-14

FRIENDSHIP- How to build and sustain a friendship 

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. 

I- Include the flair factor- This means that occasionally you include surprises, or you do things with an extra touch of class, or you give a thoughtful gift. "Everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts" Prov.19:6. My daughter turned on the friendship faucet when she heard I was planning to go to Dunkin Donuts to get my wife a coffee.  

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 your wingmen and your fire team. 

Now let's discover a few more key ingredients for gaining and sustaining a lasting FRIENDSHIP-

N- Never abandon your friend and Never speak ill of your friend to others. 
In our passage in Proverbs 19:1-14 today, we see that wealth brings many "friends" but a poor man's "friend" deserts him" 19:4. I put those words in quotes because such friends are only good time buddies. The prodigal son had such, until his money ran out. Some of you have had "friends" who were with you in the sunshine, but were gone with the wind in your storm. Ouch! Friday, we confirmed our loyalty to each other and that we will respond to broken arrow texts when sent out by a brother who is overwhelmed. Sadly, I've seen some of the people New Life has helped the most have turned around and bad mouthed us the most. Those who slander and belittle must be little indeed. Never speak ill of your friend to others. That's called gossip or slander and it has no place in the mouth of a Christian and certainly not in M3. "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" Prov.16:28. A few days ago, Robert shared an acronym that is quite fitting here and will make you THINK-

Is it True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind? 

Never speak ill of your friend to others, instead Nurture that friendship with loyalty.

Do enjoyable things together. When I was younger, so much younger than today, my friends and I played basketball together. Now at my age, I'm happy to take a walk together or eat together. (Hope you'll be free to join us for good eating at Jack's on Sunday, June 28th:) The key is to find things that you both enjoy doing. 

Here's another D word that is key to sustaining friendships. Divulge yourself. Some people who hide behind a wall of self-protection, fearing that others might reject them if they knew their past or present struggles. Unfortunately, those walls keep people at a distance. I'm not suggesting that we 'tell all' to people we just meet, but it is crucial to open up and share to have genuine friends. I've been drawn closer to you as you have shared stories from your past- the good, the bad and the funny. What a great group to make new friends!  

Strive to listen intently. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to miss what someone just said? Parents tend to tune out their children. I was in a store last week and the toddler said five times, "Mommy, I have to go potty." But moms aren't the only ones who are hard of hearing. I had a good laugh when I read these words on a man's T-shirt- "My wife says I don't listen to her...or something like that." As we seek to listen to our wives, I know it can be hard to understand them. A pastor friend and I walk together every Wednesday morning. He told me this funny one on understanding women. This man was walking along a southern California beech when he came across a lamp. He couldn't resist rubbing it. Lo and behold, out popped a genie who said, "I can grant you one wish, just name it."
"Wow! Let's see...I've always thought it would be great to be able to drive to Hawaii, since I hate to fly. So build me a highway to Hawaii."
"Now that is a very difficult request. How about another?"
"Well...I've always wanted to understand my wife. That would be good."
To which the genie, replied, "Did you want that to be a 2 or a 4 lane highway?"

Yes, wives (husbands too) don't always say what they mean or mean what they say. But the following verse comes to mind- 1 Peter 3:7 NASB says to husbands, "live with your wives in an understanding way," I have told my wife, "I may not always understand, but I always want to be understanding." I wish I could say that I always succeed, but it's a good goal.  

1.-Read Prov.19:1-14 now and share one verse or phrase that grabbed your attention and why. Then put that Scripture on your MP3 card and seek to sow that good seed in other's lives.

2.- We've been focusing on gaining and sustaining friends. We've likened it to gaining the most rare and remarkable collectors item. For a man to have friends he must show himself friendly. So share about a significant conversation you've had recently with a man about his life or joining M3. 

Laughing together is another great way to strengthen friendships. I'm so glad I'm with a bunch of brothers who also like to laugh. A sign of good emotional health is the ability to laugh at oneself. So grin and bear it with the following sequel video! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYMGl48ADBk

Announcements
Please welcome our newest brother to M3- Luis Ortiz. Luis is a friend of Ismael, Eddie and William. He used to attend New Life, but now is involved at City Church Chicago. I'm sure he will end up having a great impact there in multiplying manly men. Welcome Luis!   

Here are the total points you posted last week. Look at how many of you scored 25 or more points. Wow! Way to go and grow! Again, the U on this list represents those who were unstoppable last week. To be fair, if you are late a day or more, that won't qualify anymore for being unstoppable. (Plus, it's a lot of work on Sunday nights for me to go back and check if you made up dates. Thanks!:) As you put your points on the board today, remember that you can include all the good work you did over the weekend. 

Fire Team 1					Fire Team 4
Eddie Morales	U	R5	48		George Rabiela	U	R2	90
Phil Raymond	U		32		Mike Pagan	U	R2	26
Alex Dyckman	U		26		Rich Guardiola	U		29
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	53		Dave Heidekruger	U	R1	27
Gary Remson	U	R1	23		Chuy Cervantes	U		19
James Schmidt	U		33		Fire Team 5
William Dyckman	U		41		Jack Rogers	U	R4	83
Fire Team 2					Andre Vargas	U		25
Sam Vargas	U	R2	67		Armando Hernandez	U		31
Oscar Nunez	U		35		George Doherty	U	R1	27
Marcos Rico			0		Jose Billegas	U		3
Israel Fuentes	U		42		Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	65
Flo Juarez	U		29		Fire Team 6
Fire Team 3					Dave Garratt	U		51
Robert Roman	U	R1	110		Horacio De La Torre	U		35
Guillermo Baez	U		45		Ed Lake	U		20
Vince Diaz	U	R1	33		Dave DeBoer	U		17
Antonio Palomar	U	R1	34		Mark Estrada			1
Nic Palhegyi	U		15
Osiris Alday	U		39

I'm on the board now as the temporary fire team 6 leader, until we have a replacement. We are looking for men who are faithful and encouraging and have graduated from basic training. That is accomplished by receiving your Unstoppable award (4 weeks in a row of being unstoppable on the blog) and by recruiting at least one other brother to M3. (For fun, I'm not giving myself points for comments I give to others on the blog:) Lastly, Jose Billegas and Mark Estrada were new with us this past week, so their first week doesn't count. Welcome to the game this week men.

As we announced last week,we would post the weekly team average scores, not including the fire team captains for now. So here they are and wow! Excellent!
Fire Team 1- 34.6
Fire Team 2- 26.5
Fire Team 3- 33.2
Fire Team 4- 25.2
Fire Team 5- 37
Fire Team 6- 24