Christ - The ReeseSource: January 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Christ - The Reese Source - January 2008

What a year 2007 was! One of the things that were of great concern to us here in Georgia was the drought, which is still with us. We are about twenty inches below normal. Our lakes are at a critical level for supplying our water and power needs. Yesterday, I drove by Lake Allatoona. It was just a small creek running through the middle of the lake bed. The ground is not saturated so there is no run-off into the streams that feed the lakes. In addition, our lakes are part of the water system for neighboring states. The U.S. Corps of Engineers controls the flow out of the lakes for power generation and water consumption as well as regulating the needs of the environment for the states.

In my personal life, there have been times of drought also. They have been of a different nature. I have experienced times of spiritual drought. The problem has been man-made, not by natural causes, however. I had not been filling up my reservoir with the necessary “living water” Jesus talks about in John 4:10. I had not saturated my spirit with his Word. Consequently there had been no run-off into the reservoir. I had not sensed the filling of the Holy Spirit’s presence. There was no “outflow”. My ability to help others “downstream” had been affected. I had no resources to draw on for others.

In times of spiritual drought, I did not have a sense of God’s presence. I did not feel close to God. Well, duh….guess who moved! I was not placing myself near Him by reading His word. I did not communicate with Him through prayer. Nor did I experience His presence by being with others in the fellowship of believers, His body.

Are you going through a time of “spiritual drought”? The solution would seem simple enough. “All I have to do is just work harder at being more spiritual. If I just pray more, read the Bible more, go to church every Sunday, I will feel closer to God.” You might think this. All those things are good and necessary for spiritual growth. Generally, however, I find that this line of thinking leads to frustration and guilt. There are some steps before these other things that have helped me to overcome spiritual dryness in the past.

1. Remember the times of His blessing and provision in times of need. Recall the times you felt close to Him.

2. Focus on God’s unconditional love for you. There is nothing you can do to get God to live you anymore, nor is there anything you can do to make God love you any less. His love is the same... yesterday, today and tomorrow.

3. Soak in His loving presence. Like a warm bath, let His love flood over you and surround you. God is present with you always. Just acknowledge His presence.

4. Relax. As Corrie Ten Boom, author of “The Hiding Place” said, “Don’t wrestle, nestle.” Self-effort is like “picking yourself up by your own bootstraps” (What a ridiculous visual that is!)

MINISTRY NEWS:

SPOKE AT BARTOW CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH’S MEN’S DINNER.

OFFICIATED A FUNERAL FOR A YOUNG MAN WHO DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE. I WAS ASKED TO FILL IN FOR A PASTOR FRIEND WHO LIVES IN CINCINNATI WHO COULD NOT COME TO TOWN FOR SERVICES.

FACILITATED TWO WEEKLY LUNCHTIME GROUPS FOR GOSHEN TRADING COMPANY.

FACILITATED WEEKLY FRIDAY MORNING MEN’S GROUP.

MET INDIVIDUALLY WITH MEN FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND COUNSEL

POSTPONED TRIP TO GUATEMALA UNTIL A LATER TIME DUE TO SCHEDULING DIFFICULTIES FOR PARTICIPANTS.

MINISTRY NEEDS:
Suggestions on how I might come under a group health insurance policy. Our health insurance costs are running about $1000 per month with a $5000 deductible.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Christ - The Reese Source - December 2007

Have you seen the commercial about fantastic finishes? As is the case with so many commercials, I cannot recall what the product was they were trying to sell. However, it shows several clips from sporting events where the team won on an amazing play at the end. One such play is Boston College quarterback, Doug Flutie’s last second, game winning sixty five yard touchdown pass against football powerhouse Miami. Another is the Cal-Stanford football game that ended with the ball carrier (I forget which team) running the last twenty yards through the opposition’s band, who thought the game had ended earlier and had come on the field, to cross the goal line as time ran out to score the winning points.

Each of us should strive to have fantastic finishes. Many of us are in the last quarter of our “games.” Some have climbed the ladder of success. Others have faced bitter disappointments. The question is…“What am I going to do with whatever time I have remaining?” We can win the last quarter! Bob Buford, in his great book, Half Time, talks about moving from success to significance. You may or may not have experienced the success you pursued, but the game is not over yet!

For men, the name of the game is significance. That is our driving force. What will we do that will have eternal significance? That is a great question to ask ourselves. When we stand before the Lord, will He say to us,”Well done, good and faithful servant”? Those are the words we should long to hear from Him. Telling people about our relationship with Jesus and demonstrating, by our lives, what that relationship means to us is one way to have eternal significance. Teaching our children and grandchildren about Jesus is a great place to start. Knowing that they will be with you in eternity is the greatest joy a man can have. To quote III John 9, “I have no greater joy than to know that my children (and their spouses and my grandchildren) are walking in the truth.”

Men, let’s give our best effort to win the last quarter. Don’t hold back. Play to win. Let us all strive for fantastic finishes!

One final note: Thanks to so many of you, Net Work Ministries had a fantastic finish to the year! At the end of October, we were approximately $25,000 behind. No, we did not completely erase the deficit; but we actually ended up less than $4,000 short. Considering where we came from, I think that qualifies as a “fantastic finish.” Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

MINISTRY NEWS:

On December 8th, fifty members of our Friday Morning Group and significant others celebrated the Christmas season at the home of Jack and Brenda Lyle with a fabulous dinner party and carol sing, accompanied by the two great keyboardists, Neal Sisson and Pat Head. Of note were the special group, The Five Golden Ringers, made up of Bob Mitchell, Peggy Reese, Jack and Brenda Lyle, Patti Pearlberg, and Marshall Dye. A guest appearance by Santa Pearlberg livened up the evening. There were 50 of us in attendance that evening.

The Goshen Trading corporate office study on Wednesdays at noon, as well as The Goshen Trading warehouse group that meets on Fridays at noon continue to develop and are looking forward to a new year together.

The Friday Morning Group finished studying the book “Prayer” by Phillip Yancey and will begin the book “The Language of God” by Francis Collins in January. Attendance has stayed strong.

MINISTRY NEEDS:

We would like to make up the deficit going into the New Year.

I would like to facilitate another men’s group in the morning other than Friday mornings.

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Net Work Ministries, Inc. Purpose Statement

The purpose of Net Work Ministries is to bring hope and healing to men and their families by exposing them to the love of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Net Work also encourages men in living out their Christian faith in their day-to-day lives.

Net Work Ministries, Inc. is a pastoral counseling and resource networking ministry that brings God's people together for mutual support and enables them to use the abundant resources He provides. It is directed towards men, to bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to help them use the power of this relationship to become the men God intended them to be. This ministry helps men deal with issues that affect their everyday lives. It is a faith ministry that depends entirely on the Lord for resources and does not charge for its services. It is a fully accredited 501c3 I.R.S. organization.

Net Work Ministries was begun 1991 by a group of men who knew Buck Reese's giftedness in the areas of pastoral counseling and resource networking. Buck, who is a native of Atlanta, has been in ministry since 1975 and is an ordained minister. He was responsible for starting the Young Life high school ministry in Cobb County in 1977 and served as Area Director for 12 years. Buck was the Director of Church Relations for Rapha, Inc., a Christian counseling program, as well as serving as a pastoral counseling intern at Wesley Woods Geriatric Center. For 20 years Buck served as chaplain and assistant coach of the Marietta High School football team. Buck was selected to be a member of the 1998 class of Leadership Cobb and the 1999 class of the Honorary Commanders, programs of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

Buck's full-time commitment is to Net Work Ministries. He is in contact with men of all ages and walks of life. A typical routine would include: Having breakfast or lunch with a businessman to offer counsel and encouragement to strengthen their commitment to Christ and to enjoy each other's fellowship and support. In all these situations, Buck offers a listening ear and a caring heart and shares Scripture and wisdom given by the Holy Spirit. The goal in all of this activity is to bring those who do not know Christ into a saving relationship with Him. To those who are committed to Christ, but are dealing with issues of day-to-day living, he gives loving and effective counsel, encouragement and support.

Recently, I have added a new role to my ministry. I have accepted the role as volunteer Chaplain to the Staff of Young Life Southeast Region, which consists of the states of Georgia and Alabama. There are currently 50 local area ministries with staff. I will be the"minister to the ministers."

The Concept of Net Work Ministries

From Henri Nouwen’s book “Gracias”:

“It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

From "The Hole In Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision:

It is rare that a simple recitation of the gospel will cause people to instantly change their minds. It usually takes much more than that. Our own narrative typically involves a journey of discovery marked by relationships with respected friends and loved ones, reading, discussions, learning about the basis for Christian faith, seeing the difference faith made in the lives of people we know, and witnessing genuine faith demonstrated through acts of love and kindness towards others.

I Stand At The Door - My Calling To Men's Ministry

I Stand at the Door

By Sam Shoemaker (from the Oxford Group)

I stand by the door.
I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.
The door is the most important door in the world -
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my going way inside and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where the door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door - the door to God.
The most important thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man's own touch.

Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him.
So I stand by the door.

Go in great saints; go all the way in -
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in.
Sometimes venture in a little farther,
But my place seems closer to the opening.
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get out. 'Let me out!' they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life, they have seen too much:
One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door -
Thousands of them. Millions of them.
But - more important for me -
One of them, two of them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.

'I had rather be a door-keeper
So I stand by the door.

Net Work Ministries Testimonials

Quotes

“I have been involved in Net Work Ministries for almost six years. I am privileged to serve on the Board of Directors and work with Buck on a variety of projects i.e.: Young Life, Good Samaritan Health Clinic, P.A.C.E., working with the poor and indigent, and supporting the men who attend Buck’s groups.

Buck and Peggy have been there for my wife Rita and I through our most difficult times. They are always loving, always supportive. Buck and his ministry are a wonderful example of what it means to serve. It’s what the love of Christ encourages all of us to do for each other.”

Dwayne Lambing,
Regional Vice President
Nordco, Inc.

The Friday group began as an opportunity for me to have in depth conversation about subject matter that I was not totally comfortable with i.e. formal religion and my personal relationship with God. I believed intellectually that the universe was not an accidental explosion, but it demonstrated a purpose that only a Creator could know. I felt a part of that universe and was comfortable with my life and the roles I played in it. But I still asked myself, is that all there is to life.

Through a series of very diverse and interesting books it became increasingly apparent that no growth in self is possible without the "pains" of self examination. Sometimes this would occur during the course of "intense" discussions and other times would occur in moments of quiet reflection on these conversations. I began to notice that in this crucible of frank and honest discourse that I could find a voice for my beliefs and at the same time be intellectually true to my beliefs in science.

As it has turned out for me, the books have been less important than the comfort and strength that I find in the relationship of men willing to discuss matters that are not in their comfort zones , and that require an intellectual and emotional honesty that are not found alone on an island.
Thank you for your role in making all of this possible,

Dr. Peter Re’,

Neurologist

Tuesday, January 29, 2008