So here at CVM we have been fully focussed on reaching our mates with the Gospel for a very long time. We have always been supporters of encouraging men into men’s groups, and we are constantly looking for creative ways to resource and equip you to share your life and your faith with your mates. So, I thought it would be a good time to write a few blogs about what this can look like when we choose to live life unleashed. So, let’s go.
Over the past few months, I have been reading and re-reading the Gospels in the Bible. This has been inspired by the 2022 Bible Reading plan that we have been doing with Tactical Comms. The thing is, what I have been most captured by is the way that Jesus engaged with the people around him.
It occurs to me that Jesus spent very little time in the synagogue, temple or whatever else we want to call it. He did not just rock up at the local church, wax lyrical about the finer nuances of theology and then wonder why 95% of the nation did not even know who he was. Jesus spent most of his time going out on fishing trips, cooking breakfast on the beach, sharing his life on mountainsides, enjoying a meal with properly ordinary people and rolling his sleeves up to help those in need.
It seems to me that for Jesus, a life of faith unleashed very much happened in the context of activity and where the rubber genuinely hit the road.
I love that when Jesus was about to leave his disciples for the last time, the one thing he said to them was ‘…Go…’ He did not complicate it, he did not make it about programs, or rotas or buildings—he simply said ‘Go and make disciples of all…”
Across here in Wales, particularly as we look to rebuild men’s outreach post COVID we have become even more committed to getting out with the guys. We are having pub nights, BBQs on the beach, quad biking, foot golf, good old-fashioned fish and chips. You name it, we will do it—if it is fun to do and if blokes are up for joining us.
You see, if we follow Jesus (and we really do), we just want to do it his way.
Now, before I leave you thinking that CVM Cymru sounds fantastic but isn’t it all just about having a laugh, banter and messing about, let me share this with you:
Over the past few months, we have gone deeper with many men. In the context of all the above we get to talk about real life issues. The stuff that has the power to destroy lives forever, we talk about it all. And in the context of those conversations, we continually share just how much Jesus can turn everything around, no matter how desperate it looks.
And we have seen men coming to faith in Jesus!
In the end, doing the stuff that Jesus did really does result in our mates getting saved!
Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing tips on how to do men’s outreach well, sharing the odd story or two about stuff we have experienced here, and all based around the Code, the Code Unleashed.
Men’s ministry is never easy, it is a lot of fun, but it isn’t easy. We can often overcomplicate it, but in the end hanging out around a monster fire pit is the kind of thing that really does get results.
