Christ - The ReeseSource: March 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

MARCH 2016 EDITION

I turned seventy last December. When I was younger, I thought people that were seventy were geezers. Now I “are” one! I do not feel like a geezer, however, except for the occasional pain in the joints when rising from a chair etc. Someone once posed the question to me that was thought provoking, “How old would you be if you did not know how old you are?” I think the question goes to state of mind. I certainly do not feel seventy most of the time. I would say I was about forty to forty-five with hair bleached white by the sun!

As I think about being seventy, I think about how much time I have left before I get to stand face-to-face with Jesus. It could be today or, possibly, I could live another twenty-five years or so. Advancements in modern science being what they are, it could be even longer. A physician friend of mine told me that the body without the effects of cancer and heart disease could function to one hundred and twenty! I am not sure I would like to hang around that long, but I will stay as long as He lets me and not a second more.

Coach Mark Richt, the former head football coach at the University of Georgia, had a motto for his teams…”Finish The Drill” It originated in his pre-season Winter workouts that were notoriously brutal. He used it all season long as a battle cry. His challenge to his players was to give it all you can give for the entire sixty minutes of the game and finish strong. I take that thought as a personal challenge. I want to finish strong. I want to finish well. I have a little saying that I keep on my desk. Here it is:

“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!”

Sure, after forty years in ministry, I am a bit weary but as Paul says in his letter to the people of the church at Phillipi in chapter four, verse thirteen, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I want to be able to say like Paul says in his second letter to Timothy, chapter four, verse seven, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, but at the end of each day we can have the thought, “Today, with God’s help, I finished the drill, I finished well, I finished strong.” If we do that, at the end of our days, we can hope to hear our Lord say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.”

MINISTRY NEWS

§ Continued Friday Morning Bible Study studying Proverbs.

§ Met with members of Young Life staff in the

Southeast Region.

§ Met with individual men for counseling and encouragement.

§ Attended Young Life Reunion Weekend for the 28^th year.

§ Taking online course from Hillsdale College on C.S. Lewis.

No matter how much longer we have, may we all say:

We finished the drill. We finished well. We finished strong. “We have fought the good fight, we have finished the race, and we have kept the faith.”

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

FEBRUARY EDITION

FEBRUARY 2016 EDITION

“Hope and change”, those were buzzwords in the mid-2000’s. They motivated many who were struggling with their life situations. They propelled a candidate to our nation’s highest office. Yet, here we are over a decade later and we are still looking to someone or something to give us hope, to help our situations change.

We look to our county’s leaders in hopes that, if we elect just the right people, our situations will improve. Yet, each time we think we have it right, our leaders, seduced by prestige, power and money, disappoint us. They are much too busy trying to be re-elected to actually consider what is best for our country. Our Congress is so much more divided than almost at any time in our history. Where is the hope for change in all of this? Where is a leader who can unite us? Is he a Republican or a Democrat?

When I choose a leader, as our state is doing today in the primary, I place my hope and trust in the one, I feel, can do the job he is chosen to do. The one in whom I have chosen to place my hope and trust in is eminently qualified. He has all the tools. He has “the right stuff”. He is an Independent. He has great wisdom, has demonstrated leadership ability, he has sacrificed more than anyone else for our good, he is compassionate, kind and humble. He understands both justice and mercy. He is a healer who can bring all parties together. He has years of experience. He has great name recognition. He is patient and he is kind, he does not envy, nor does he boast. He is not proud and is not rude. He is not self-seeking, nor is he easily angered. He keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.

He is worthy of our trust. Got any idea who I am talking about?

My hope is that you too will choose Him as your leader. He is waiting for you to place your trust in Him. Today is the day!

As Nike says, “Just Do It!”

MINISTRY NEWS

Our Friday Men’s Group has been enjoying or discussion on the book of James.

I have had several meeting this month with Young Life staff members for encouragement and counsel. I have been so impressed with the talented people that God has called to minister to high school and middle school kids in the Southeast Region.

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

I cannot begin to thank you enough for your prayer, words of counsel and encouragement and financial support over the almost 25 years that Net Work Ministries has been ministering to men and their families. Blessings to you all!

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