Men of Zion 2022
“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone forth.”
Psalm 50:2
Hi Men:
Wow….. for me these last 3 weeks have flown by. Before I begin, I want to thank all of you for your valuable prayers , especially for last weekend as the men arrived for the Zion Boot Camp. It was apparent that God not only had His hand on all the men and the speakers, but He gave us a beautiful weekend. The weather was predicted to be interesting, but our gracious God intervened. As many of you know, there are quite a number of moving parts in putting this conference together. God bless the brothers that were part of the creation of the Zion Boot Camp mosaic. I thought of the following verse in leading up to the retreat:
“For we are His workmanship, created ‘in’ Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)
You can see how critical it is to be “in” Christ as we fulfill this often overlooked verse in Ephesians 2. We all know Eph 2:8-9, but how profitable to spend time on vs 10. God was so faithful to give us the strength to do His work that He prepared beforehand…..
I will have more in the days ahead and links to the messages that were presented at Zion. I wanted to include just a couple of photos to give you a small glimpse of the weekend….
Some of the speakers at Zion: Lance gave a great talk on Sunday dealing with the disunity in Romans 14-15. Bill McCurine shared with the brothers (2) talks on Forgiveness and Christian Manhood while Christian Fetsis gave a teaching & testimony on discipleship. Lee Yih put us back in our chairs as he gave talks on Romans 2 and the Parable of the Unjust Steward. Trevor McDowell (not shown) discussed our “Purpose”
All weekend long there was great fellowship with the brothers.
The beauty was jaw dropping everywhere you walked.
Here’s just one (of many) I randomly selected.
By the way, (2) of the brothers at Zion that are part of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) are exposing our youth to the person of Jesus Christ. If you feel led to come alongside these faithful men, here is their information.
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Daniel Janagam @ the NFR
Of the 1.4 billion people in India, I’m positive our brother Daniel Janagam from India will be one of the few that will ever experience an evening at the National Final Rodeo. For the past 12 years, Daniel has been faithful as a “trainer and teacher of lay leaders and pastors for disciple-making.” I believe Daniel has peeled open 23 states in India and 7 countries outside of India to “make disciples” according to Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19. If you want to know more about Daniel’s ministry, feel free to contact me.
Time to hang up my spurs………
Much Love in Christ,
Dan
(Gal 2:20)
Jerry Bangert’s Year End Letter
For those that didn’t receive Jerry’s letter, see attached PDF
- “But our own sloth and faithlessness further compound the problem. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world is mitigated by our devotion to the world and lack of it toward Christ. And this is the real threat to our souls.”
- Jesus warned us that prior to His return, the “love of most would grow cold” and “will He find faith on earth?” Both love and faith are fruit of the Spirit. He will do His part, but we must do ours.
Spiritus Sanctus – Pilgrim Prayer
O Holy Spirit, as the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water, Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of Thee. Vain are all divine purposes of love and the redemption wrought by Jesus except thou work within, regenerating by thy power, giving me eyes to see Jesus, showing me the realities of the unseen world. Give me thyself without measure, as an unimpaired fountain, as inexhaustible riches.
Note: For those interested in supporting Jerry’s ministry: Click Here
Men:
Read these 2 devotionals carefully, then ask yourself if you might have “A Warped Perspective”……
“When you conclude you are fortunate, God reminds you that you are accountable to Him for all you have, and you may end wishing He had never given it to you.”
Take some time reflecting on these two devotionals. Do you know what the verb “upbraid” is? [Hint: It’s not fluffy]
A Warped Perspective Part 1 & 2 – Day 343 & 344 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
Much Will Be Required
By Tim Challies
God holds us responsible for all that He bestows upon us……….
What if Joni Eareckson Tada had chosen to live a life of despondency rather than embracing her disability as God’s will and as her particular ministry to God’s people? What if Susannah Spurgeon had pined away in self-pity rather than allowing her bed to become her office, the means through which she would send books to so many needy pastors? What if Amy Carmichael had allowed the poor health that forced her to leave Japan to end her missionary career rather than accepting it instead as God’s will to divert her to her ordained mission?
Men: This is a great article. Send it to a brother or sister God puts on your heart. I just sent it to one of my cousins and she wrote back: “Dan, You have given me much to meditate on.”
Men: This is only 2.5 minutes.
“If we ever think we’re without sin in this life, it’s proof that we either have a superficial understanding of God’s law or an incredible view of our performance.” Today, R.C. Sproul warns of the fatal theology of perfectionism
The Problem with Perfectionism …. By R.C Sproul
Podcast Link (2.5 minutes)
or ….. Renewing Your Mind website
The Valley of Vision – Paradoxes
Men:
Watch Now (YouTube 2+ minutes) Powerful!
“……. Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite;
who reasons that GOD cannot cast him into hell for he is saved……..
Handel’s Messiah
Live from the Sydney Opera House
Men: As we move closer to Christmas, put this performance on your calendar. It is 2hr 30min, but so uplifting. Almost as uplifting as a college football game which according to the NCAA, the average game is now 3hr 22min. I know, I’m being a “piece of work.”
This was performed December 2019. My wife and I watch it every year. Impressive indeed………
(See below for a condensed excerpt about George Frideric Handel – he wrote it in less than 25 days!)
Handel’s Messiah (YouTube 2hr 30mins)
Handel’s Messiah. It first premiered in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. George Frideric Handel was born in Germany. He was a large, awkward man, rough, and hot-tempered that earned him the nickname “The Great Bear.” Handel was also deeply religious. Divinely inspired, this two-and-a-half hour composition took less than 25 days to write! When it was completed, he sobbed and said, “I think that I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself!” He was 56. Handel utilized vast portions of Scripture from 14 books of the Bible, including “For unto us a child is born…and the government shall be upon His shoulders…His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God…the Prince of Peace.” Beethoven said, “Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived.” On his grave at Westminster Abbey is “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth.” What would Christmas be without Handel’s Messiah and the Hallelujah Chorus? Hallelujah to the King of Kings.
Lies Men Want to Believe – Part 1 By Walt Henrichsen
MIMWorldwide.com/Lies-Men-Want-To-Believe
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no phobia in love; but perfect love casteth out phobia: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:17-18
The idea that God does not want you to fear Him is a lie. As you know, there can be no accountability without phobia. Men do not want to fear God because they wish to avoid being accountable to God; they want to believe that grace eliminates accountability. To convince themselves they quote this verse from the Apostle John’s first epistle.
If you are convinced that this passage teaches that God does not want you to fear Him, why did Jesus teach, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell?” ¹ It seems you will have to conclude that John corrected a misperception Jesus had, or that the Savior was talking about a different dispensation of time, which no longer applies in this dispensation of grace – and this in turn means that the content of all four gospels are suspect.
The context of 1 John 4 deals with Judgement. To the degree that we love God perfectly, we have nothing to fear when He judges us. The passage does not teach that God’s perfect love for us removes our need to fear Him, but rather our perfect love of Him casts out fear. If you do not fear God, His love for you will not protect you from yielding to the temptation to disobey Him when meeting His will and not wanting to do it.
¹Matthew 10:28
