CHRIST - THE REESE SOURCE
THE NEWSLETTER OF NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC.
JUNE 2010 EDITION
A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Father’s Day. We gathered at one of my daughter’s house for a cookout. My two sons-in-law were also celebrating being fathers. I might add that they are great fathers.
Let me ask you several questions for you to ponder about your father:
What was your father like? Was he a great father, a good father, or a poor one? Was he there for you? Did he show love and affection? Or, was he physically or emotionally absent? Was he physically or emotionally abusive? Was he a spiritual leader in the family? Or did he abdicate that role to your mother? Was he a sober, honest man? Or did he have addiction problems? Was he faithful to your mother? Was he present in the home or did death or divorce remove him from there while you were growing up? Do you know what shaped his formative years? How was his dad? Ladies, here’s an important question for you. Did he show you warmth and physical affection particularly in your formative years? By that, I mean hugs and kisses…Daddy love. Guys, here’s one for you…Did your father give you the vote? By that I mean, did he communicate to you that he knew you had what it takes?
In reference to that last question about getting the vote from your dad, guys, I feel that
we, as men, spend our lives seeking to either prove our fathers right, if they “gave us the vote” or wrong, if they didn’t.
As an illustration, in the television show, “E.R.”, a hospital drama, there is a scene where one of the young doctors is sitting on the steps outside the hospital, head in hands. One of the nurses walks up and asks him what is wrong. He responds, “My Dad died.” She asks if he had been sick, he says he didn’t know. He says, “Did my Dad say ‘Call my son. I want him by my side?’ No. The young doctor then says, “Everything I ever did was to prove him wrong. He said he was wasting money on my med school because I would never pass, but I did! He said I would never work in a good hospital, here I am! I had a plan. I was going to pass the boards in a few weeks and go see him and say, ‘Look dummy, I did it. I am a specialist!’ But it is too late. He is still laughing at me!”
Father wounds run deep. Father wounds last a long time. Father wounds can shape the course of a person’s life. But there is a flip side to this. Healing of those father wounds is possible. You have a heavenly father who can and will help you. The first step is to recognize that those wounds are there. Then you can ask your Father in heaven to help you forgive your earthly father for the hurt he inflicted. If your father is still alive and available, you can, with God’s help go to him and tell him you forgive him, understanding that his response is between him and God. You will have done your part. You must also know that God is for you. He loves you just the way you are. Ask God to fill the emptiness that you feel with His presence, peace, and love.
Now, let us go back to those questions about your father. Men, if you are a father, and realize you have failed in some or all of the areas addressed by those questions and desire
for a different outcome in your children’s lives, there is hope. In the Bible in the Old Testament, the prophet Joel says this in chapter two verse twenty-five, “ The Lord will restore the years the locusts have eaten.”, meaning the God can repair the damage done and restore relationships. (CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE)
Ask the Lord to give you the strength, the will, and the courage to go to your child or children and ask for their forgiveness. Tell them you love them. Then, seek the Lord’s help in changing the behaviors that drove them away or drove a wedge between you. I am not saying that your children will forgive you or that the relationship will be restored, but
that God can do this if He wills it, but we must ask without doubting and trust the results to Him. You will have done your part.
On the positive side of this issue, guys, seek to affirm your child in all the ways you can. Tell and show them that you treasure them. Always look to catch them in the act of doing something good and affirm it. Be sure to major on the majors, not on the minors. Spend both quality and quantity time with them. As Lee Iacocca, former chairman of the Chrysler Corporation said, “No man, at the end of his life says, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office!’ Fathers with daughters, tell them how beautiful they are, tell them what a treasure they are. Hug them and hold them often. If they don’t get this kind of physical Daddy love from you, they may seek it elsewhere.
In summation, it is not too late to be a great father. With God’s help, you can begin now to be the kind of father He intended you to be. Confess your shortcomings to Him and to your kids. Ask Him, without doubting (James 1:6), for the wisdom to make the changes necessary.
It is not too late to receive father love, even if you no longer have the physical presence of your father. Your Father in Heaven is waiting to take you in his arms and give you the ultimate in Father love, if you will only ask him. He is waiting!
MINISTRY NEWS AND NEEDS:
Our ministry continues to flourish; however, we have been running at a deficit for some time now. We are unable to meet the full payroll this month. We are meeting our other monthly financial obligations.
Bless each one of you for your friendship, encouragement, and support!
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC. EXISTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING TOGETHER GOD’S PEOPLE AND HIS RESOURCES TO PRESENT THE HEALING MESSAGE OF CHRIST’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, THROUGH WORD AND DEED, TO A HURTING AND LOST WORLD.
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC.
2671 OLD HICKORY DRIVE, N.W.
MARIETTA, GA., 30064-1833
678-986-4814
E-mail address – peggyandbuck@yahoo.com
Website: www.networkministries.blogspot.com
Christ - The ReeseSource - The Newsletter of Net Work Ministries, Inc.
Monday, June 28, 2010
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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.
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.
“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.
About Me
- Buck Reese
- Marietta, Georgia, United States
- Buck is a native of Atlanta. He graduated from Georgia State University with a business degree. He spent 10 years in the restaurant business prior to going into the ministry in 1976. He is an ordained minister. Buck has been married to Peggy for 52 years. He has two married daughters and seven grandchildren ranging in age from six to twenty-five years old . Peggy and Buck have lived in West Cobb for forty years.
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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
“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