Monday, August 11, 2008

The Quest for Authentic Manhood

Men of The Connection Church, Kyle Texas and the surrounding area. Are you lost and unsure what it means to be a authentic man. Have you at times wondered if you are getting it right in the eyes of your wife, children or your God. Do you feel like you have the tools to raise you boys successfully, helping them to become the men god intended them to be?

I am super psyched about a a new Men's Group studying we are going to be launching soon at The Connection Church. It is called Men's Fraternity. This is a 3 year study designed to walk you through 3 separate classes starting with The Quest of Authentic Manhood, Winning at Work and Home, and finally it ends up with, The Great Adventure.

I believe that we as men, have a great responsibility to not only our Church and family but the Community around us to find within us the Man that God intended us to be. To use that Man to be a beacon of Truth in these very troubling times.

I am calling out to you to join me in committing to attend this study, renew our faith in Christ Jesus, Shine the light on our Community and Lead others to our Lord and Savior. If you are interested in attending this study (date is not set yet) please let me know by email at bryan@theconnectionchurch.org.

God bless

Monday, April 28, 2008

Attitude will always make the Difference.

Wow, time as gotten away from me. The past two weeks have been lightening fast and very slow at the same time. You know what I am talking about; your so excited about something that you just cant wait for it to arrive and time seems to slooooooooow doooooown, but at the same time there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done you need to get done.

THE PAC is awesome!!!! I do have to confess and say that I was very stressed out the week before the move, I just didn't feel like we were ready. But everyone rocked the house, it was awesome.

After it was over, I felt numb, all I could do was concentrate on the negative things that happened and that some volunteers were saying. It was not the experience I was looking for.

Fast forward to this past Sunday, we were up 60 people in attendance and the experience was spot on. What was different? Why did it go so well this week?

I believe it was all about perception and attitude. The week before I was to caught up in the details to enjoy GOD and I needed to let it go and let the Lord do his thing.

I recently purchased a book from John Maxwell called "Developing the Leader with in you", Chapter Six is about Attitude. In this chapter there is a quote from Walt Emerson "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us."

After I read this last week , I realized that my attitude was not only bringing me down but those around me as well. I decided right then I was going to go into the Sunday with a renewed vigor and be the leader I know I can be. I asked God to give me the strength to be the man of God I should be and the result was a 180 degree turn around from the Sunday before.

God is great, he is the almighty savior. I am so happy to be a part of the Connection Church. God is doing awesome things here and I know there is some much more to come.

God is the reason for the success, but he did it through solid leadership and a willing body of volunteers who have committed their lives to his work. Great job all of you.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Are You Committed

Commitment; some say that very word has ended many relationships, Others say that committing yourself to something is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. I say that commitment is about your character; are your actions as good as your words.

In relationships at some point you have to decide that it is worth investing yourself in, this goes beyond the emotions you associate with the relationship. Once you have decided that it is worth the price, you open yourself to the growing the relationship. Now you own the relationship and therefore committed to seeing it grow. Your ability to stay caring, loyal and devoted is what "makes" the relationship work.

If you put yourself out there for your team and tell them your goal is their success, you have made a commitment that will ride on your willingness to follow through. If you fail to do the things you have said you will do, you will lose trust and respect, without these two things your team will crash and burn.

It is easy to say that you are committed to something, but the real test to your commitment will happen in the middle of a crisis when you are least expecting it. Can you stay committed to the cause through this adversity? Your "skills", knowledge and abilities have nothing to do with your level of commitment and can not save you from your true character. Because at the heart of your committment you have a choice to make and no matter the situation or circumstances your choice is a direct reflection of who you really are.

We are only a few weeks away from our move to the PAC and I know that God has wonderful things in store for us. God has truly blessed our Church with right people to lead and develop us into the Team we need to be to met our mission in Kyle. We all have the emotion we need get things started, but lets not forget the Commitments we made to get us all the way.

Remember we aren't doing all of this to buy some land and build a church, We are doing this to bring lives to Jesus Christ, we are doing this to change the lives of everyone we meet. That is the real mission, Jesus Christ ask us for a commitment, Are you committed to HIM.

If your life is ground in Jesus Christ, if you values are Christ like, if you truly are a servant leader then there is no choice to make; You will stand by your convictions and commitments through all adversity.

God Bless

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

New Book


I am so psyched, I have been waiting for this book to show up. I will follow up in a few days once I am finished reading it.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Best of the Best

I was listening to the bible CD on my way to work and in James 2:23, he is talking about Abraham and refers to Gen 15:6 "the friend of God" and it goes on to say that faith without works is dead. As I was listing to this I was reminded of a acronym John Maxwell used in his book Developing the leaders Around You and I thought I would share that with you today.

I have on several occasions written about adding value to those around you. It is about doing everything you can to bring out the best in someone through your actions. John Maxwell used the word BEST to create this acronym.

Believe in them
Encourage them
Share with them
Trust them

The Lord asked Abraham to do something that many of us would probably have a very hard time doing. In Genesis 22 God asked Abraham to sacrifice is on son as a burnt offering and without complaint or question Abraham did as the Lord asked of him. For Abraham's faith and obedience, a ram was provided for him to offer instead and his son was spared. Because of this faith God blessed his family and his descendants.

Abraham believed in the Lord and trusted him with all that he had; even his son and for this God blessed him and his family. Do we believe in Jesus Christ with the same measure of faith and trust?

You will hear many times that you should be willing to pay the same price you asked your followers to pay. Well, God did just that, He sent his son Jesus to pay the price for our sins. He will never asked us to pay for our sins again, instead he is asking that you bring out the Best in your family, small group, employees and everyone you meet. He will never ask you to sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering, but he is asking you to lead them in the way, they truth, and the light; that they will willing give their own lives to Christ Jesus.

Our goal should be to feed and guide those around us, give of yourselves, invest our lives in theirs and they will see Christ light through our lives. They will feel secure and their faith will grow.

A strong foundational relationship is built on trust and nurturing. If we can use this tools to bring out the best in those around us, we will be able to raise up new leaders that will surpass our own vision and dreams.

God bless