Christ - The ReeseSource: August 2017

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

AUGUST 2017 EDITION

Charles Spurgeon, the English preacher, once issued this great challenge concerning daily devotionals:

“Never come face-to-face with man until you have come face-to-face with God,” and “Give God the cream of the day.”

For many years, in my walk with Christ, I struggled with having consistent “Quiet Times” or daily devotionals. I understood that this was the way to be a “good" Christian. This was something I should do. I started by trying to read the Bible on a daily basis using different methods. I tried reading the entire Bible from beginning to end straight through, non-stop, for as long as it took, I also tried different plans of reading the whole Bible in one year. I also had daily devotional pamphlets that I would theoretically use. Oh, and prayer times, that is another issue. I made up charts and lists. Whom would I pray for on what day? There are all kinds of ways to “organize” your prayer life so that your prayers would be “effective.” (L.O.L. belongs here!) You read things like Martin Luther, who said something to the effect that when he had a busy day ahead, he would rise three hours earlier to pray. Boy, after reading that from a spiritual giant, I felt like a spiritual midget!

Usually, after a couple of months of trying to be spiritually disciplined, I would “flame out.” I would become discouraged and feel that I wasn’t doing what “good” Christians do. I had tried my hardest to have a life of spiritual discipline.

Several things changed the way I approached my devotional life.

The Christian author and speaker, Brennan Manning, spoke at several Staff Conferences for Young Life. His major theme in most of his talks was “Grace.” His book, “The Ragamuffin Gospel” had a profound impact on me. In it, he writes, “He (God) loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain of your life.” In addition, in another place, he relates a visit to the Mother Superior of a convent. On the wall behind her desk, hung a banner with the inscription, “Today, I will not should on myself.” Over time I came to realize that I was trying to win God’s approval, me being an approval addict, by performing for Him, by doing what I “should” “do” to be a “good” Christian.

Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian author, has a book called, “Don’t Wrestle, Just Nestle.” It finally dawned on me to relax, quit trying to perform for God, and learn to accept God’s belovedness of me. Seek Him, not out of a sense of obligation but of love and gratitude for all the He has done for me in the Finished Work of The Cross of Christ. “Be Still and Know That I Am God” is an exhortation to be quiet and still to enter into and experience His presence.

Oddly enough, another thing that changed my devotional life, in the irony of ironies, is the computer! Me, Buck Reese, who can barely turn on a computer, found a program called “Word Search”. It has several features that helped me. It has a Bible Reading program that lets you choose what you want to read and how long you want to take reading it. In addition, it has a visual calendar, which is colored on the day that you are due to read the chosen passages. It is yellow to begin the day, and when you successfully read the passage and check the box, it will turn green, if you miss the day, it will turn red. This is, for me, a type of a behavior modification technique. It also has several daily devotionals to choose from and several versions of the Bible.

It is said that if you do something every day for twenty-three days in a row, it becomes a habit. I am not sure how long it took but now every day, I have developed a routine. I have set my computer to the day’s Bible reading to be the first thing on my screen when I turn it on. First, I go downstairs, get my coffee and graham cracker with peanut butter, come back to my office and sit down and begin to experience His presence through The Word.

Please hear me on this, I am not claiming to be a Martin Luther in my devotional life, but I found out what works for me.It is also liberating to me to be freed from the “should” of performing for God. It is no longer about performance. It is just a wonderful way to start the day!

BLESSINGS, DEAR FRIENDS!

Saturday, August 5, 2017

AN ADDENDUM TO THE JULY EDITION

I feel the need to clarify what I have written in the July newsletter.

My intention was to be as honest as possible with my supporters as possible. From time-to-time, I have reported in my newsletters what things with which I am involved. The main thing I was reporting in this newsletter was the dissolving the Friday Morning Group as a weekly meeting and changing it to an every other week breakfast meeting. This was a difficult decision but, after twenty-two years, the time had come. I think I may have been a little too melodramatic in the wording of the newsletter! This was a cause for concern to some of my friends.

Let me be clear, I am not retiring. I am still very much involved with my ministry to individual men for counsel and encouragement. My ministry now includes my role as volunteer pastor to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast Region. I am just as busy as before , if not more so. I am just as excited about my call to ministry to men and their families as ever. I have always been open to new forms of ministry as the Lord directs and am open to leading another men's group. Any input for my ministry is greatly appreciated as I cherish your opinions.

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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