ATΩ Gathering
Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity
Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)
Hi Men:
I pray this week that the eyes of your understanding were enlightened and you know and enjoyed the riches freely given us “in” Christ. [Paraphrased from Hudson Taylor’s letter below]
I have been thinking a great deal concerning how many distractions we all have right now. Reading the current statistics, an adult person can easily spend 5+ hours on their phone/tablet (not mentioning the time in front of the TV). Young adults can be on their smart phones 6-7 hours/day. Remember the chart I included in a past Friday letter:
If we practiced a musical instrument as many hours as we scroll our phones, we’d be virtuosos. If we gave that same time to the Lord: Praying, Scripture reading, memorization and meditation – what would it do in our walk with Christ? One thing I do know, you would have a greater understanding of God’s Sovereignty. And when a man understands God’s sovereignty, he walks in what Isaiah calls “perfect peace,” even in a world of wars, rumors of wars, cartels, anger, lawlessness, and bloodshed.
Isaiah 26:3
“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
PHOTO ABOVE
On Tuesday I attended a small gathering of fraternity brothers. It was organized by one of the local members with a volunteer development director that flew in from Nashville. When I was a member in the 70’s, the ATO’s @ the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) were a far cry from what the founder’s intent was. Read this……..
Alpha Tau Omega was born in the ashes of the Civil War at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1865. Its founder, Otis Allan Glazebrook, envisioned a brotherhood anchored in Jesus Christ. Even the badge declares it: Alpha and Omega – the Beginning and the End w/ Tau, symbolizing the Cross. It was created to unite young men in character, conviction, brotherhood and Christ-centered leadership.
I was encouraged that night because ATO’s national leadership recognizes the crisis facing young men – isolation, confusion, and a loss of identity. Their aim is not simply to maintain tradition, but to use the fraternity to cultivate real brotherhood, restore interpersonal strength, and point young men back to Christ-centered conviction.
I had praying about this gathering and Matt 10:32-33 came to mind. I asked the Lord if He would be gracious enough to give me the opportunity to share my faith and what Christ did in my life. With a few men around a table, God allowed me to do just that. From my wild days as president of the ATO Fraternity to surrendering my life to Jesus under a tree in my backyard. I’m praying we can have a larger gathering in the days ahead. Thanks be to you Lord God Almighty.
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Today we head to Scottsdale, Arizona, where a dear brother in Christ, Tom Rhue, shared the following: Tom was on the phone with a GoDaddy representative, resolving a website URL issue. Once the matter was settled, he gently asked the young woman helping him, her name was Stephanie, a question most people would never ask:
“Where are you going to spend eternity when you die? Heaven?”
She replied, “I don’t know.”
Tom asked, “Would you like to know?”
And with that, he shared his testimony of how Christ invaded his life 49 years ago. He then walked her through key truths from Steps to Peace with God, including Ephesians 2:8–9, explaining salvation by grace through faith.
When he asked her if she would like to receive Christ, she said yes.
Tom led her in a prayer of repentance and faith, receiving Christ as her Lord and Savior.
Afterward, she said something simple but powerful:
“You made my day.”
Tom encouraged her to tell someone that very day what she had done. Even though she works from home and lives somewhat isolated, she agreed. He reminded her that when someone comes to Christ, the enemy takes notice – so she would need to stay alert and grounded.
Then came another surprise……
When Tom asked where she lived, she said, “Las Vegas”
He asked if she would be willing to share her email so he could connect her with someone who could help her grow in her new walk with Christ.
She gladly agreed.
Tom forwarded her contact information to me. I reached out, and she responded with her full name and a desire to connect. Lord willing, Jane and I will be able to meet her soon and hopefully bring her four-year-old daughter to our house. Then we can begin helping her get connected and discipled properly.
Please keep Stephanie in your prayers.
And thank you, Tom Rhue, for turning a routine customer service call into an eternal appointment.
Guys…… Where is your Stephanie?
Resting in His sovereignty,
Dan
(Galatians 2:20)
Men: This is so good! Things we need to ponder…………
Believing – Part One – Red Book Day 58
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
Download and Send this devotional to a buddy
CRUCIBLE
Men: My wife is the one that found this movie. We watched it 2 nights ago. Find a time to watch it (57 Minutes). Profound & Touching !!
“Crucible” is about a man who gave up his family and friends for God, and eventually even his life. This movie is about Nabeel’s faith journey from Islam to Christianity and his struggle with stomach cancer.
Nabeel Asif Qureshi (1983-2017) was raised as a devout Ahmadi Muslim. After spending several years examining the evidence for Christianity and Islam with his friend David Wood, Nabeel became a Christian while attending Eastern Virginia Medical School. He wrote the very popular book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus”
WATCH THE TRAILER (YouTube 2:30 min)
WATCH THE MOVIE (YouTube 57 Minutes)
🔹This is one you can send to your Muslim friends🔹
Prov. 17:3: A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the Lord is the tester of hearts.
James 1:2-4: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
1 Pet. 1: 6-7: In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Exchanged Life
By J. Hudson Taylor (1832 – 1905)
Hudson Taylor was founder of the China Inland Mission (present-day OMF International). This article is from a letter written to his sister in Britain in 1869 (he would have been 37 yrs old)
Men: Here are two paragraphs from Hudson Taylor’s letter to his sister (see PDF below). It has to do with the Vine & the Branch from John 15. The question is, “Are we abiding in the Vine? I would encourage you to read his letter and reflect on it
Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me. I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I began the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment; but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions apt to be so wearing, often caused me to forget Him. Then one’s nerves get so fretted in this climate (in China) that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Every day brought its register of sin and failure, of lack of power. To will was indeed present with me, but how to perform I found not.
The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine.
Read A PDF Of The Exchanged Life
HOW TO SHARE YOUR FAITH
THIS IS A GREAT VIDEO (YouTube 8:14 MIN)
Three Great Quotes:
George Müller
“There was a day when I died, utterly died; died to George Müller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.”
Charles Spurgeon
“I am no preacher of the old legal Sabbath. I am a preacher of the gospel. The Sabbath of the Jew was to him a task; the Lord’s Day of the Christian is to him a joy — a day of rest, of peace, and of thanksgiving. If you, Christian men, can but drive away all distractions, and can rest today, it will be good for your bodies, good for your souls, good mentally, good spiritually, good temporally, and good eternally.”
Ray Comfort
“It is interesting to note that unbelievers hate hypocrisy in the church. They detest the “pretender.” Does that mean they want Christians to be genuine? Do they want us to be true and faithful in our witness — and therefore speak of sin, righteousness, and judgment? Do they want us to live in holiness rather than compromise? Does the world really want us to speak up against pornography, greed, adultery, abortion, homosexuality, fornication, and the other sins they so love? In their eyes, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t.”
WHAT ARE YOU RISKING?
