NOVEMBER 2016 EDITION

In order to be a good steward of limited resources, this newsletter will combine our November newsletter with our traditional year-end letter.

For the last twenty-four years, Net Work Ministries has sought to minister to men and their families.  As we pause to recount our many blessings, we thank our Lord that He has chosen to use this ministry in the lives of countless men and their families.  Let’s look back on some of the ways Net Work has been used by Him.

We began our ministry to men in 1992 with a Wednesday Morning group meeting for breakfast at Shoney’s.  During that same time, we were serving as chaplain and volunteer football coach at Marietta High School. We conducted a weekly meeting with the team called “Be Somebody.”  We brought in speakers that ranged from professional athletes to former players from Marietta High that were successful in their fields of endeavor to speak on how their relationship with Christ had made a difference in their lives. In addition, we conducted a morning Bible study for men who were educators at the school.

In 1995, a group of men who were involved with the tennis program at Marietta Country Club began meeting on Friday mornings at the Marietta High School Stadium Conference Room to explore the Christian faith as it related to their personal life. That group, though the faces have changed over the years, continues to this present day.  Another group of men that we facilitated  met on a Thursday mornings for Bible study; however, that group lasted for a brief time because some members moved away. The men who were left were assimilated into the Friday morning group.

Now, on an individual level, the impact on men’s lives has been even greater.  We have ministered to men in prisons and jails, and to men whose lives have been scarred by addictions, not only chemical but also sexual in nature. Other men, whose marriages have been wounded by adultery or whose marriages ended in divorce have received our counsel and support.  Men who were facing unemployment found meaningful work through our ministry, counseling them during the difficult times when no work seemed available and they were in despair. We have ministered to men who have lost loved ones. There to answer their calls in the middle of the night, Net Work was available to help when a family member has been arrested , lending our presence, comfort and support during that difficult time.  We have helped a gentleman who was disabled work through the maze of the Social Security and Medicaid processes in order to assist him with his financial, health and housing arrangements. Additionally, we were able to arrange for a lawyer to do pro bono work to sue someone successfully, resulting in recovering thousands of dollars that had been swindled from the man we were helping.

All this and more has been done because of the generosity of people like yourself.  We look forward to continuing this work for many years to come, but we need your help to continue.  Won’t you please consider a year-end gift to Net Work Ministries?

MINISTRY NEWS

For your holiday gifts, please remember Net Work Ministries when purchasing items on Amazon.

If you will simply go to Amazon Smiles site (smile.amazon.com/ch/58-2009795 ) They donate ½ of 1% of all purchases.  It does make a difference!

In addition to my volunteer duties as pastor to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast Region, I have been asked to be a sabbatical coach for a staff member that will be taking their rest this year. I am looking forward to this new role and have thoroughly enjoyed my responsibility as pastor to the staff.

My ministry to men on an individual level continues to be fruitful by ministering to their needs and offering counsel where sought.

The Friday Morning continues meeting in its twenty-first year. We have decided to pursue a new format in the coming months by watching Christian videos by folks like Andy Stanley as a springboard for discussion in our group.

As always, I am so very grateful for your continued friendship, encouragement, prayers and financial partnership in ministry.

OCTOBER 2016

IN MEMORIAM

Very few times in one’s life do you come across a person that is so very  unique that he leaves an indelible imprint on your life. Klay Shorthouse was such a man. Let me introduce you to Klay K. Shorthouse  (1961-2016). Please note It is the dash between those two numbers that is important. How Klay filled that time in the dash makes for a beautiful story.

Klay came to Atlanta after graduating from Ball State University.  He went to work for Turner Broadcasting and CNN. He was new to Atlanta and had found a church, the newly founded Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. He met with the pastor to confide that he had no friends in the area and needed a place to live. The pastor put him in touch with Mark Springfield who was on staff with Young Life of Marietta/Cobb County. Mark invited him to become his roommate at what was known as the Young Life House where several single young men, affiliated with Young Life, lived. That led Klay to become involved as a volunteer. His ministry spanned some thirty years.  During those years, Klay’s life and ministry impacted the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands of people.

Klay worked  in the television industry as a producer and videographer for many outdoor shows, including The Orlando Wilson show as well as Roland Martin, O’Neill Williams shows and “The Best and Worst of Tred Barta Show”. Klay would share with us the many adventures that he experienced while filming these shows

To say that Klay was a unique individual would be a gross understatement.  He had a most unusual sense of humor. Klay relished sharing jokes so unfunny that they became funny! (Example: A horse walked into the bar, the bartender asked, ”Why the long face?”.

Klay’s passion was fishing and teaching others how to fish. My grandchildren were grateful recipients of this teaching. Also, because he was a swimmer in college, he helped my grandchildren  learn the finer points of competitive swimming, spending hours poolside with them.  He had a servant’s heart.

Klay loved kids, though he never had his own. He invested himself in the lives of high school kids, spending enormous amounts of time with them, always with the desire for them to come to know the Jesus, whom he loved and served.  He loved kids, all kids, not just the popular ones.  He walked alongside the unlovely and unlovable also.  Here is one quote from one of Klay’s high school friends that typifies Klay’s ministry.

 “Many moons ago I walked into my first Young Life club and met Klay Shorthouse and he was different than anyone I had ever met and was a part of introducing me to this guy named Jesus that I didn't know existed. He showed up weekly and continued to check on me even as I left high school. He was a good friend. He passed away last night- and the world is missing a world class knucklehead who continued to point people to the Jesus who cared about people and the best places to fish. He made a significant impact in my life and will never be forgotten. I know Harrison High School was different because of Klay Shorthouse.”

Four years ago, after he had moved back to his hometown of Elkhart, Klay experienced a severe shortness of breath one day. He was rushed to the hospital where they discovered he only had five percent heart function! He was not expected to live. He spent the next six months in the hospital undergoing several surgeries that resulted in having a device that assisted his heart in functioning. Soon thereafter, Klay was back on the lakes fishing and enjoying some sense of normalcy.   A week or so ago, the doctors found that the heart device was failing and they immediately moved him up to the top of the transplant list. Friday  a week ago, we received an email from Klay saying that he was on the way to the hospital. They had a new heart for him! All his friends were so excited for him. We anticipated seeing him do all of the things he used to enjoy before having the heart machine.  Then, as the surgeons began the surgery, they found so much scar tissue that his heart basically just fell apart and he passed away before they could put the new heart into his body. We were all devastated. However, we came to realize that now, Klay had a new heart and a new body and he was face-to-face with the Jesus that he loved and served.  I picture Jesus standing, welcoming Klay and saying ”Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your rest. ” Let’s go fishing. I know some  great spots on this lake.”

His favorite quote was:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention

of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved

body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly  proclaiming:

WOW-- What a Ride!"

His Life Bible Verse was John 10:10.

“I have come that you might have life and have it to the full

Klay Shorthouse lived this to the very end.

SEPTEMBER 2016

In September of 1978, Peggy, our 2 young girls and I, began a great adventure.  That is when we moved to Marietta to begin full-time ministry as the founding area director of Young Life of Marietta/Cobb County.  Prior to that, I had never been out of Atlanta except for, as my parents put it, “a two –year paid vacation in Athens” where I matriculated (theoretically) at The University of Georgia.  Atlanta was all I knew. It was familiar. It was safe. It was comfortable.  What I knew of Marietta was very little. The only reference I had was the local Atlanta television station advertising wrestling matches at the Larry Bell Auditorium in Marietta!  Prior to our move, we had lived in an apartment on busy Roswell Road in Buckhead for ten years we came to Marietta with an attitude of both excitement and apprehension.

After a summer in seminary in Colorado, we moved into our house on a quiet street in West Cobb. Note: Our Atlanta friends said it felt like we had moved to Alabama. Even our new friends who lived in the city of Marietta thought the same.  To say our street was quiet would be an understatement!  Our dog would sleep in the middle of the street in the middle of the day!  The silence at night was deafening and there were no streetlights so the nights were extremely dark, especially after moving from busy Roswell Road, so we put night-lights everywhere.  We learned very quickly to allow extra time at the grocery store because everyone was so friendly and wanted to engage you in conversation.  We loved the fact that Marietta had a small town feel to it.  Football was king on Friday nights. Everybody knew each other.  People were so welcoming and kind to us. We quickly learned to love living here.

Fast-forward thirty-eight years. We have now lived here longer that we lived in Atlanta. Someone asked if we would ever like to move back to Atlanta. My response has been,”Only if the Lord clearly called us back there.”  We are still living at 2671 Old Hickory Drive. We have remodeled our house in order to make it compatible to reside here as long as we are able. It is now our family’s “home place.”   Our children grew up here. Their children are also growing up here, for the most part. Young Life is still here. Our granddaughter went to summer camp last summer and, along with her younger brother, is involved with Young Life.  I have reconnected with the ministry as the volunteer pastor to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast Region.

Of course, things change. Instead of our dog sleeping in the street in the middle of the day, our street has speed bumps to slow traffic! We have streetlights and an alarm system. We have shopping centers going up all around us. Now, we have senior living facilities sprouting up all over the place. Hopefully we can avoid those!

I have told folks my next move would be horizontal…out the front door.  You know, I have a good feeling I know where our next home will be…I believe it will be our true home. It is the home we have had glimpses of; in the places, we have lived and visited. It is the home our heart of hearts has longed for all our lives.  That home will be where Jesus is. I hope that I will see you there someday.  Do you know, for sure, that you will be there too?

If you are not sure…let’s talk!

MINISTRY NEWS

Please remember Net Work Ministries when purchasing items on Amazon. If you will simply go to Amazon Smiles site once for your purchases and register Net Work Ministries (Marietta, Georgia) as your preferred charitable organization, from then on all your purchases from Amazon will be credited to us. They donate ½ of 1% of all purchases.  It does make a difference!

September is a special month:

In September of 1975, I began ministry as a volunteer with Young Life in the North Perimeter area of Atlanta.

In September of 1978, we moved to Marietta to live and continue the work with Young Life in Marietta/Cobb County, which we began in 1977.  We are still in the same house and continue to be involved with Young Life as pastor to the staff of the Southeast Region as a volunteer.

In September of 1992, Net Work Ministries incorporated and received our official I.R.S. designation as a 501 c-3 charitable organization. We remain true to our original calling to minister to men and their families, offering counsel and encouragement through both group and individual meetings with men.  It is my desire to continue to follow this call for the rest of my life, Lord willing. Many of you have been with us since that beginning and we are grateful for those of you who have continued to support Net Work with your prayers, encouragement and financial resources, all of which are desperately needed.

Blessings to each one of you!

AUGUST 2016 EDITION

Our yard is a source of both pride and headaches. In the early Spring, our yard is magnificent, if I do say so myself. Actually, I have very little to do with it. I am the “mow, edge and blow” guy. Peggy is the real reason our yard is quite beautiful. She has filled it with azaleas and multiple varieties of hydrangeas as well as other ornamental plants and seasonal flowers. In addition, she also plants a successful vegetable garden each year. All this requires a great deal of work to properly manage and develop a beautiful yard.

The source of headaches is a different story. Our yard is plagued with weeds and vines. Our azaleas and camellia bushes can quickly be entangled and overrun by creeping vines. The English Ivy I once planted as ground cover in our small side yard now occupies more than one third of our entire front yard. It is said of ivy that it ”sleeps, then creeps, then leaps”! It is a constant battle to keep it at bay! Left to its own devices our lawn quickly becomes host to a variety of weeds. It can also be assaulted by fungus and brown spot disease. Our yard is planted in fescue grass, which is a cool season grass so when our southern sun reaches the apex of its heat, our grass begins to go dormant and goes brown. In order to keep the grass as green as possible, it requires constant watering, preferably the Lord provides, instead of the water I provide which is much more expensive. This year we are experiencing a drought. Our water bills have gone through the roof!

 I find it interesting that weeds, vines, fungus and mold do not require much in the way of cultivation to flourish. They thrive on neglect. The difficulty lies in ridding the yard of these nuisances. It requires constant vigilance and not a small amount of chemicals to either keep them at bay or eliminate them altogether.

 Isn’t our Christian life like this? It does not require much for the harmful elements to creep into our lives… a chance image on the computer gives the vines of pornography a foothold, an ”innocent” lunch with an associate of the opposite sex can lead to an adulterous affair, a “hit’ on a joint can lead to a lifetime of addiction or death. A neglect of our family relationships can lead to alienation, separation and even divorce. A neglect of our spiritual life can lead to a cynical, hardened heart or an attitude of self-reliance.

 Let us not be complacent or neglectful of our relationship with Christ. We must be proactive in guarding the garden of our hearts. This should be a labor of love. We must cultivate the soil of our hearts to break up the hardness of our hearts. We must weed out any impurities in our thoughts, speech and actions. We should fertilize it with faith. Prune with accountability relationships with other believers and water it with prayer. Ultimately, we must remember, however, that God gives the growth with His shining Son so as not to rely solely on our own abilities. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 MINISTRY NEWS
I am thoroughly enjoying my role as pastor to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast Region in Georgia and Alabama. There are now over 100 staff involved. I meet regularly with some of the staff and make myself available to others as needed. I am privileged to pray daily for them. I feel very blessed to work with such gifted, attractive, but above all, deeply committed to following Christ and making him know to middle school kids through Wyld Life, to high school kids through Young Life, to college students through College Life, to physical and mentally challenged young people through Caperneum and to teen moms through Young Lives. Young Life is thoroughly committed to taking the Gospel to all kids everywhere, urban, suburban, rural and international.

 My ministry to individual men continues to keep me busy meeting with them over the breakfast or lunch table.

 Our Friday Men’s group continues for its twenty-second year. All this is made possible by your faithful support of Net Work Ministries though financial and prayer support. I am truly grateful.

JULY 2016 EDITION

Last Friday night, after dining with friends at a restaurant on the Marietta Square, we decided to walk around the Square. In Marietta, there is a park in the middle of town known as the Square. It has the traditional bandstand, a gazebo and a large fountain in the center. It is usually filled with people on the weekend nights, much like the piazzas in Italy with its wonderful old town flavor to it. Once a month, in the summer, they have concerts. The city closes all but one road around the Square and people gather with their decorated picnic tables and dance the night away. There are literally thousands of people in attendance!

On this particular evening there was no concert, only a young lady performing some sort of dance routine with a number of hula hoops to recorded music in front of the bandstand and, in another area of the park, a young musician playing a guitar.

As we drew nearer the park, we noticed something very unusual. It looked like a scene from the T.V. show, The Walking Dead”! There were scores of people walking slowly around the park, their heads were down and their eyes completely focused on something they were holding in their hands.. I would say, out of the hundreds of people on the Square that night, 75% of them were engrossed in this activity. It was almost frightening. They were truly like Zombies. As we came close to one couple, we found that they were looking at their smartphones. It dawned on me what all these people were doing. They were playing “POKEMON GO” Coincidentally, while having lunch on the Square a couple of days before with one of the staff of Young Life , who works with the Wyld Life Middle School Program in Atlanta, he related that he and four of his middle school friends had come to the Square. They spent two hours playing “POKEMON GO” and said there were nine locations around Marietta where you could play!

Here’s the thing. I still have no concept of how to play POKEMON GO. We did stop three young men who were playing asking them to explain the game. The only thing I could ascertain is that they were chasing some character that was represented as moving on an actual real-time Google map of that location on their phones. It is now my understanding that this is a huge phenomenon. It seems that the success of the game is based on the old notion of the “thrill of the chase”

I wonder…. What are the things you and I might be chasing after? Is it wealth, success, popularity, peace, acceptance, recognition, possessions, power, love, approval, or beauty, to name a few? Where can these things be found? Which ones are important?

 Oh, I have chased most everything I just mentioned but when it all comes down to it, many of the things I considered important in my early years became “chasing after the wind” to quote from Ecclesiastes. It is my contention, however, that the really important things, the things with lasting value, can only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. At least, this has been my experience in my seventy years of life. Have you grown tired of “chasing after the wind”? Let’s talk.

MINISTRY NEWS:

 On the same Friday night I mentioned above, I experienced a real sense of joy when, by what I believe was a divine appointment. While in the park, I “ran into” a former Young Life friend, who had been involved with Young Life at Marietta High School as both a student, then later, after graduating from Princeton, as a volunteer leader. It had been almost 30 years since we had seen each other! He is now living in Jakarta, Indonesia, working with the World Bank and is married with kids. He has had some involvement with Young Life there. The fun part of our connection was that he was only in Marietta for another few hours before he returned to Jakarta to prepare for a move to Kuala Lampur in Malaysia. He shared that he had just that day looked at a Bible I had given him as a student. We promised to keep in touch and prayed together right there on the Square. What a joy to see someone I had the privilege of ministering to in high school going on with Christ!

 I had a chance to go to the Young Life camp, Sharptop Cove, in Jasper, Georgia, for a day, to visit several of the staff from the Southeast Region, who were on a month-long assignment there. What a joy to see over 500 high school kids have the time of their lives for a week. I marveled at them as they enjoyed an evening of an old time 19th century county fair, complete with square dancing, lemonade, popcorn and cotton candy booths, throwing pie in their leaders faces, soaking their leaders with water guns, and singing such old favorites as “I’ve Been Workin On The Railroad” and “Oh, My Darlin’ Clementine” and the likes at the top of their voices. They were dressed in period costumes, which they created. For a time, they were kids without pretense, just being kids!

I continue to minister to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast Region both with in-person visits and social media.

 Our Friday Morning Men’s Group continues to meet as it has for twenty-one years.

I continue to meet individually with men for counsel and encouragement.

 I am so very grateful for you making it possible to minister by your prayer, encouragement and financial support.