With the turn of the year and the prospect of moving toward spring, there's a definite sound of service in the air. You know the sweet strain: the crackle and crunch of raked leaves put into trash bags; the splash of sudsy water tossed onto concrete surfaces to be cleaned; even the wispy sound (evident only to specially trained service ears) of paintbrushes laying down another coat to spruce up that garage or aging fence.
What do you have in mind as you set out in 2017 for service projects -- either for yourself or for your neighbor? The rationale behind the question is twofold: one, we're already amping up for the 2017 Men's NetWork WORK DAY and, two, we'll soon be releasing a new video Bible study focusing explicitly on the service we render as Christians -- and how we can do more of it. The study is called Live the Six: Living Life as an Everyday Missionary. The "six" in this case represents the six days of the week beyond Sunday: most people's standard church day.
From the responses we've received over the years from WORK DAY volunteers and from the interview comments you'll soon be hearing in Live the Six, doing stuff for others is a blessed thing, with plenty of benefits going to the doer as well as the receiver. And isn't that the way it is with God? After utilizing our meager service in the aid of another, He takes what we offer and turns the blessing back our way, filling us with all those wonderful intangibles such service-work brings: deep satisfaction at the wise use of our time; a sense of being vital in the life of another; a pleasant awareness that we're just plain doing the right thing, and an abiding happiness at knowing we're part of the solution to somebody's dilemma.
As 2017 unfolds before you, be sure to take time to help out -- around the house, around your workplace, around your neighborhood. After all, doesn't such real-time service speak the love and care of God to others in way that our words sometimes lack?
What is there about our doing that's so much louder than our speaking? Perhaps it's the tangible work we leave behind. Perhaps it's our willingness to step into people's lives.
You know what we're talking about.
Tell us about your experience(s) helping others and how good it makes feel. Send your comments to us by clicking here and sharing your thoughts.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Big Stage, Big Speech, Big Deal
Before you read the next Men's NetWork blog, there will be the no-small-matter of the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. On January 20, Donald John Trump -- real estate mogul, television reality star, and come-lately presidential candidate -- will take a solemn oath as our nation's chief executive at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Undoubtedly, Trump will have a few words to say.
Here are a few opening day remarks from days gone by:
"Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America" (Barack Obama, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009).
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world" (George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 2005).
"Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America" (Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, January 21, 1993).
"The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man" (John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961).
"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance" (Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933).
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations" (Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865).
"And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people" (George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789).
Words ... each and every one ... delivered at a time of hopeful anticipation that renews every four years in our nation's history. No matter the person in office, God is in charge. No matter the circumstances of our country or the world we live in, God is in control. Let us remember that as we move forward -- whether the candidate who assumes the Office of the Presidency on January 20 is your man or not.
Well, one thing's for sure. The days of overblown political hyperbole are behind us -- at least for a while. Let us know what you think about this passing of the baton. You can do so by clicking here.
Undoubtedly, Trump will have a few words to say.
Here are a few opening day remarks from days gone by:
"Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America" (Barack Obama, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009).
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world" (George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 2005).
"Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America" (Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, January 21, 1993).
"The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man" (John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961).
"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance" (Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933).
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations" (Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865).
"And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people" (George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789).
Words ... each and every one ... delivered at a time of hopeful anticipation that renews every four years in our nation's history. No matter the person in office, God is in charge. No matter the circumstances of our country or the world we live in, God is in control. Let us remember that as we move forward -- whether the candidate who assumes the Office of the Presidency on January 20 is your man or not.
Well, one thing's for sure. The days of overblown political hyperbole are behind us -- at least for a while. Let us know what you think about this passing of the baton. You can do so by clicking here.
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