APRIL 2015 EDITION

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

APRIL 2015 EDITION

Please forgive the lateness of this newsletter as my computer hard drive crashed last Wednesday morning while I was out of town and had to purchase a new computer (ouch!).

As some of you who follow me on Facebook have already read, last Wednesday night at around 8:00 p.m. I celebrated the fact that forty years ago, at that time, I surrendered my heart and my life to Christ, thus beginning a great adventure that will stretch into eternity.

The back-story to that night bears telling. At the time of my “conversion”, I was general manager working long hours at a popular Atlanta restaurant. My free time, what little there was of it, was spent on things I generally wanted to do, with little regard for my family. Church was rarely an option as I was usually arriving home from the restaurant in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I will say I was often moved, deep inside, by Christmas and Easter services at my church. Peggy should be nominated for sainthood for putting up with my foolishness during the ten years I spent in the restaurant business.

On the Sunday evening before that Tuesday night, April 29^th, 1975, Peggy and I got into an intense discussion about Christianity. I did not understand what happened to good people if they did not accept Jesus as their Savior. What about those who had never heard of Jesus? What about Jewish people who were very religious? Peggy said she could not answer those questions. The “trap” was set! “Well”, she said, “I can’t answer that but some of my friends are having a covered dish dinner Tuesday night and the husbands are invited. Why don’t you come? Dan Hayes, the local Campus Crusade area director and our neighbor, is going to be speaking to the group and you can ask him those questions.” Well, I love a good meal and I guess I could put up with some “religious guy” for a little while. You might say, in this case, the way to a man’s soul is through his stomach!

As Dan shared his story, I came to see him in a different light. He was funny, real and enthusiastic about his faith. At the end of his talk, he shared two verses of Scripture. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.”(John 14:6) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him.” (Revelations 3:20) Dan invited anyone who wanted to receive Christ’s love and forgiveness could ask God to come into their life and He would give them eternal life. I wasn’t looking for a relationship with Christ, could have cared less but God had other plans for me. At that moment, God’s Spirit moved in my spirit, and I knew that what Dan shared was the truth and I needed to commit my life to Christ. Some of my buddies looked at me like I had grown another head or that I had lost my mind, but I told them that I was “all in.”

O.K., so life was great now, no problems, right? The next Saturday, I was called into the restaurant office by one of the owner’s and was told that “my services were no longer needed.” An ownership battle between the two principals finally came to a head and my friend who had hired me was bought out and the other owner wanted his own people in place. I left the restaurant and went home and announced to Peggy that I no longer had a job but was not worried for I knew now that God was in control and He would care for us.

Here’s the thing. I did not know it but Peggy and her Bible study friends had been praying for me for a long time. Also, in the month preceding my coming to Christ, Peggy received a clear message from the Lord to surrender me to Himself, which she did over the kitchen sink one day! Several things come to mind about my “conversion.” Many people were praying for me. Peggy quit trying to convert me herself and surrendered me to the Lord. She, like Andrew in the New Testament, brought me to a place where I could meet Jesus. I quit using my “concern” for other lost people as a “smoke screen” and dealt with my own relationship with Jesus Christ.

What about you, are you avoiding the central issue of your own relationship with God? Are you missing out on the greatest adventure of all? If you are interested in talking more about this, give me a call.

MINISTRY NEWS AND NEEDS

Exciting news! I have taken on an additional new role in my ministry. I have been asked to be the Chaplain to the Staff of the Georgia/Alabama Region of Young Life. This is strictly a volunteer position with no line authority.. We feel that this role is a continuation of the pastoral ministry that I already have with men. I would be very grateful if you would consider partnering with me in this new endeavor through your prayers . I attended the end of the year Staff Conference last week at SharpTop Cove and met with the staff. What an amazingly talented group people people they are!

I held a retreat for men in my Friday Morning Group at a farm in central Georgia. Eight of us had a wonderful time of fellowship together. We looked at the concept of humility in leadership on Saturday morning and Tony Harris led our Sunday Morning Devotional on the need to pursue wisdom.

Individual ministry is still a very important facet of my work and I continue to meet with men over the breakfast and lunch table.

Our Friday Group has started a new study. We will discuss Josh McDowell’s book,

“Evidence For The Resurrection” to follow our study of Bill O’Reilly’s book, “Killing Jesus.”

No comments:

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, May 12, 2015