Recently I have had several guys come up to me and ask for help. That is a miracle. It so often does not happen. Most of us go in on ourselves whenever we feel threatened, or we feel out of control. But this is also the very reason why we do men’s ministry. None of us ever like being the man down, but, my friends, men’s ministry is nothing short of a rescue mission.
For those of us who follow Carl Beech on social media we are all too aware now of his ‘Dawn Patrol’ posts. These are the moments, early in the morning, when Beechy is reading the Bible and praying. I am trying to do a similar practice myself. Maybe to avoid all complications regarding copyright I should call mine ‘Batrôl Gwawr’[1] – I am Welsh after all. The thing is I was reading Matthew 10 recently and verse 8 grabbed my attention:
“Freely you have received; freely give….”
I have been very fortunate over the years in that there have been so many guys that have looked out for me, welcomed me into the stuff that they do. That has ranged from 5-a-side football to wild swimming, paddle boarding and lots of other stuff. The conversations that I have had in the margins of these activities have, I believe, been more transformational in my personal life than many of the Sunday morning services that I have sat in over the years.
Just this last Friday our local men’s group organised a BBQ on the beach. We played beach football (my shins are still showing the impact of sand scraping over my skin), we played volleyball. We ate burgers and sausages, and one guy spent the entire evening cooking us a load of Jamaican Jerk Chicken—he properly deserves a medal.
There were forty guys there, lots of them who follow Jesus, some of them who don’t. The conversations happening were raw, honest and I know lives are being changed every time we get together.
Several years ago, not long after I had got married, I began to really struggle in my personal life. I think it was brought on by all the usual stuff; I was not particularly happy in my job; we had recently relocated to be nearer family and generally life felt a bit aimless. It definitely had an impact on my faith too, in fact one Sunday morning I left church with my wife and said that I could no longer continue to go somewhere that depressed me so much. Not the kindest remark really. Not long after that I was invited to join a bunch of guys who were meeting up in the local pub. It was my first encounter with an organised men’s ministry. Through those evenings in a pub, just chatting about life and all its challenges, having a lot of fun and banter, my whole life got turned around. Today, I am following Jesus wholeheartedly, generally love my life and try to be relentlessly optimistic.
It is by remembering those moments in life that I realise how much Jesus meant it when He said “Freely you have received; freely give…”
There is the place for getting a bunch of guys together to read the Bible and pray, but I can honestly say that no Bible study would have achieved, in my life, what those nights of free-flowing conversation, banter and fun in the pub achieved for me.
Code II says “I owe everything to Him. I will do anything for Him.” This is just another way of saying “freely you have received; freely give…” Knowing what I know today and looking back on my life I can honestly say that had there been no organised men’s ministry then I might not even be following Jesus today. In fact, it remains a tough challenge a lot of the time even in the company of good men. So, having received in this way, I remain fully committed to putting all my energy into doing the same for other men too.
Here is my #TopTip for this week: get a bunch of guys together and plan a bunch of easy to run events for the next 12 months. Put dates next to each of the ideas you come up with. Then, invite all the guys you know to come and join you and get them to bring their mates too. Don’t overcomplicate this, do what you enjoy doing and invite your mates to join you.
Next month our men’s group will be taking over the best chippy in North Wales. That will be 40+ fish and chips please and a lot of banter to go with it.
[1] You have probably guessed that Batrôl Gwawr is Dawn Patrol in Welsh
