by Aarron Pina | Sep 30, 2013 | ONE TH1NG, Save the Date, support
Save the Date!
The “ONE TH1NG a THON” means greater impact for Seasons of Life!
Saturday, November 23rd, hundreds of men, women, and children will strap on their shoes, gird up their strollers, and get ready for the first annual “ONE TH1NG a THON” at Fowler Park in Cumming, GA.
They’ll be walking to support men’s discipleship through ONE TH1NG, father/son ministry through ONE TH1NG for Youth, adults with disabilities through the PIER foundation and Seasons of Life Ministries. Every one of these ministries has an impact on men, women, and children in your community. Seasons of Life strives to help believers in Christ build mature faith and impact those around them for Christ, thrive through challenging seasons like divorce, loss, and addiction, and come out abiding in Christ like a champ.
The Need and Your Role
Every one of these ministries needs funding to survive and add to their impact.
The One Thing a Thon will give hundreds of people to make their mark on these ministries in three different ways. This week, we’ll have updated links for an online site that will allow you to participate in any of the following ways:
- Donate: we’ll have a secure, online giving system that will allow you, your business, your family, or even your small group to donate online. Sponsor a runner for a specified overall donation, or a per-mile amount.
- Run: you can add to the impact by signing up as a runner, and inviting others to sponsor you through online giving
- Lead: you’ll be able to sign up as a team captain for your own team, for example “My Seasons of Life Walkers”, and sign up other runners who sign up donors.
Aarron Pina has personally committed to walk 10 miles between 7AM and noon for his walk and invites you to sponsor him, join him, or bring others along to do the same. (Nothing like keeping your body healthy while helping others in their spirit, right?) If you’d like to help in any of these three ways, email him at aarron at seasonsoflifeministries dot org, or inbox us at our Facebook page and he’ll get you a link as soon as it’s live this week!
Thanks, for your support!!!
in Christ,
AP
by Aarron Pina | Sep 26, 2013 | Genealogy
How often do we commit to read the Bible from cover to cover only to get bogged down and disinterested around Leviticus? Dennis Mock helped me get over that a few years ago as we unpacked Leviticus as a book all about one word: “holiness”. Today, with a greater appreciation for the rigors of ritual commanded and described in that book, I’m far more grateful for that book’s presence in the canon of scripture.
Then, we get to Numbers and the counting of tribes, more rules, and geneologies that used to make me scratch my head and wonder like high school math class “are we ever going to use this stuff? I mean, what’s the use?”
Nice to hear from an Irish pastor who has some tips for us all that truly make the scripture come to life.
http://mikeneglia.blogspot.com/2013/09/3-ways-to-read-genealogies-in-bible.html
by Aarron Pina | Sep 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
Thinking this morning on God & how big & great He is! He redeems the time. He loves us in our brokenness. He loves us when we are unlovable. He loves us when we hate ourselves. He loves us back to life. (I know this for a fact personally). And in response to that love- then & only then can we love Him back & truly love one another. He has shown me this great love & in response I give Him my life. I confess my yuck to Him. I ask for His forgiveness of sin in my depravity. He not only forgives me but takes the shame & condemnation. Along with forgiveness, He adds to it His power that allows me to walk in obedience to His Word. He keeps me humble. He holds me & sustains me. He renews me day by day. And yes… He even disciplines me because He loves me. He fills my heart so full of Him that I cannot help but praise Him & thank Him. Does that mean everything is perfect? Nope. Not even close. But is there light in the darkness & peace through the storms?
Yes.
Ya’ll! God loves us, our spouses, our children & loved ones. Remember that He holds the world in the palm of His hand & still has every hair on our head numbered! So, my prayer today is that through faith in Christ, we would trust, love, grow in, serve & live for Jesus & also one another. (This is not that salvation comes through our works because we know it only comes through faith in Jesus’ blood & finished work on the Cross; His taking our sins upon Himself defeating death & reconciling us to the Father.) Then, as an overflow of that amazing grace God give us, we can be a place of refuge for our prodigals, the lonely, the orphans & the widows. May those who are far off receive what His Spirit who calls us unto Himself has been longing to give them all along: Everything He is!
Ephesians 3:
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
by Aarron Pina | Sep 24, 2013 | broken arrow, fatherhood, God, Jesus, manhood, Mel Gibson, ONE TH1NG, We Were Soldiers
What’s True Manhood All About?
Last week, a friend of mine kicked off a discussion for a group of men at ONE TH1NG, part of a series there on “biblical manhood”. That morning, only a few exits in either direction on GA 400 and at the same hour, a couple thousand men stepped into a new season of “Seven” at North Point Community Church and Brown’s Bridge Community Church. I half expected ONE TH1NG to be ghost town. Instead, the room was packed with 67 guys, riveted on the topic of manhood. In groups of 4 to 5, they processed out loud: “What does God have to say about manhood and is manhood as badly shipwrecked as it can be?”
Who’s the Man?
Cut to the chase, most men today operate out of poor definitions of manhood given by poor definers, generally speaking, such as: bad fathers, absentee dads, sitcom fathers, country music, rap music, you get the point… It’s hard, following popular examples, headlines, or even our own churches, to see where all the true men have gone.
Every one of us can spot “something” wrong when we see a bad example. We just can’t always put our finger on it, let alone model it full time. I’m with you. Ask 10 people what their definition of a man is, and we’ll likely get a hobbling Frankenstein monster formed from some of the worst scraps of “all of the above”. God’s word isn’t silent on the matter. But, we’ve got to look at how bad the damage is before we talk about the cure.
Ron Dunn contends there are three “hoods” we can either move through or stay stuck in:
- “Malehood” – doesn’t take any effort: you’re either born with male genitalia or not.
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Boyhood – a season of life when a male is dependent and irresponsible. Often characterized by ungodly strategies such as lying, demanding, blaming, retreating, or relinquishing.
- Manhood – taking responsibility under God’s rule.
It’s Really That Bad Bottom line, while men are born into malehood and boyhood, many walk into adulthood ruled by their malehood, or refuse to relinquish their boyhood, leaving millions of women either scratching their heads or taking over men’s roles because they’re fed up with the resulting void of leadership:
- 40% of children born last year were born out of wedlock. Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy and criminality.
- Young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail
- 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes
- 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes
- and on… and on…
Fatherhood matters. It requires manhood, not malehood or boyhood. Watch, as we turn the tables:
- Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.
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Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.
- Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.
- Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.
Fatherhood is only one example of manhood gone wrong… Listen to Albert Mohler from last week and you’ll hear how the “he-cession” is being followed by a “she-covery” and how manhood gone awry is impacting the culture at large. Or, maybe you already get the point.
Feeling Adequate or Above?
Maybe you’re doing just fine. Maybe you’re living the dream, abiding like a champ… Until you compare yourself with your heroes. Today I got my weekly e-update from friends at Centurion Advisory Group. Great info on what’s going on with the Dow, Bernanke, etc. Today, they note the recent release of the purely Satanic game “Grand Theft Auto, V” produced sales of over $1B. Then went on to point out a few matters regarding manhood:
At age 20, Bill Gates founded Microsoft. At age 21, Thomas Edison created his first invention, and Steve Jobs co-founded Apple. At age 22, Samuel Colt patented the six-shooter, and at age 24, Johannes Kepler defended the Copernican theory, and described the structure of the solar system. At age 25, Orson Welles directed and starred in Citizen Kane, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly the Atlantic solo, and Alexander the Great became King of Persia.
At age 26, Albert Einstein published five major research papers in a German physics journal, Ben Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanac, and Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy.
I’ve wondered if we haven’t emasculated a generation of young men, urging them toward a safe, risk free life, instead of encouraging them to use all their passion, energy, and idealism to solve the problems of the world. Too many, it seems, are content to live out their dreams of changing the world vicariously, through a video game, rather than charging the hill to make the world a better place.
As adult males, we must begin to recapture our purpose: responsibility under God’s rule for His glory. In Genesis 3, when the Fall took place, God didn’t go after Eve for her sin – he asked Adam, as He’s still asking us today, where he had, as the man responsible, failed God, himself and Eve. God commanded all the men to meet with Him three times a year (see Deut. 16:16), promising to care for their families and fields while they were away. God clearly takes manhood seriously. And, He hasn’t left us in the dark on it.
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Mel Gibson, as Lt. Col. Harold Moore calling
in “broken arrow” on desperate men. |
All is Not Lost: Calling Down Fire From Above
If you saw “We Were Soldiers”, you know the story of Lt. Col. Harold Moore, whose troops were vastly outnumbered and entirely surrounded in La Drang Valley during Vietnam. Mel Gibson, who played Moore, calls in “‘Broken arrow’… I repeat ‘broken arrow'”. This means the situation is so desperate that if friendly fire is not called in on your location (possibly killing and wounding some of your own men), you and your men are lost.
Manhood is in trouble. But, biblical manhood holds true, lasting solutions. God’s refining fire could wound or kill us in some figurative or literal way. But, it is the only option outside of total massacre. I have no excuses. Reasons, but no excuses. I’ve failed as a man repeatedly and like you, I don’t need anyone else to prattle on about how short I’ve fallen of the mark. I want solutions. And God, who is rich in mercy, has given me breath, heartbeat, and another day to get up and walk as He designed us all to. Will you join Him as He calls us to walk in those shoes?
If you’re a man in the Alpharetta/John’s Creek/Cumming/Roswell/Dawsonville area – join us at a table, no prep required, as we dive in again on what it means to be a man, God’s way, at ONE TH1NG this Friday morning at the Cabernet Steakhouse on Windward at GA 400 7AM to 7:59AM for part 3 of Broken Arrow.
in Christ,
AP
by Aarron Pina | Sep 23, 2013 | discipleship, God, holiness, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Monday Morning Momentum, Rory Martin
For the past couple of years, I’ve had the honor of walking in Christ with Rory Martin – husband, father, Christ follower. Over the past month or so, he’s shared with me a seismic shift in his perception of who God is… and who he isn’t. About a week ago, Rory woke up with so much on his heart and mind, he just wrote it down as fast as his fingers could type, added my email address, and hit “send”. What he wrote was exciting to hear – a breakthrough in his walk with Jesus. We talked about it some more and with a little editing, I’m honored to present his thoughts as this week’s Monday Morning Momentum Minute… (More like 5 minutes, if you read like me.)
I hope you’ll find it worth a read and equally worth a “share”.
in Christ,
AP
Depends.
Does the lack of an immediate, resounding “yes” surprise you? I mean what about John 15:14-15?!
Yes, Jesus tells the disciples they are no longer servants, but friends. This is a big deal and I don’t want to minimize it. The short response is “it all depends on what your definition of ‘friend’ is.” But, let me explain further, so we’re really clear.
Growing up, I was taught to have a personal relationship with God. I did. But, it wasn’t the God of the Bible. Instead, it was a version of that God I’d created in my own image. I fell in love with Jesus. Not holy, holy, holy God, “Buddy, Jesus”.
Whenever I sinned, I would find this lesser, buddy god telling me “it’s okay, we’ll just keep working on this together”. My “main man” would give me a very nice comfortable pat on the back and nod of the head towards my sin.
I could not have been more wrong.
You see, there is a reason Christ refers to God throughout scriptures as Abba…or father…not “buddy”, “the dude”, “big guy”, or even “brother”. Even though as a Christian you could argue if any one person who’s been on this planet could refer to God as a peer he could. But, He didn’t. In fact, read Phil. 2.6:
“although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…”
Why? Christ wanted to impart the parental relationship we have with our father…God is our father, we are his children. Not his buddies or peers.
If Not A Buddy, What about “Consultant”?
Remember Jiminy Cricket? “Always let your conscience be your guide!” He was that one friend who didn’t give into peer pressure, didn’t look at you with rose colored glasses, and told you right from wrong. But, Jiminy was a cricket. His advice was worth taking, but surely it had a loophole in it if you were young enough, smart enough, and fast enough to outrun danger, right? Consultants give opinions, not laws of life and death, right?
Let’s see… Imagine you’re about to do something you know is wrong. Jiminy kindly reminds you “Hey, you know this is not good”. Sounds authoritative, but doesn’t have your knees knocking in holy fear. So, you do it anyway… Now, say you are in that same situation, but your dad is standing behind you. Fear factor up a little? Now, say you’re in that same situation and Adonai – owner of everything, Jehovah – relational and intimate God, Elohim – strong creator of everything, is standing behind you. Still feeling invincible?
God is near and intimate, unlike a servant and like a friend should be (1 John 3:1, Psalm 34:18, James 4:8). God freely gives the best wisdom like an advisor and conscience should (James 1:5). God’s truth speaks with great authority to those who can discern spiritual truth (John 10:27). But, there’s something far greater – holiness and love. May I illustrate?
After a serious error in judgment, one football player lies in a heap on the field, writhing in pain. You see his fist pound the turf, PT’s are surrounding him. You can sense the complete anguish in his face. His best friend Jiminy is in the stands thinking “Wow, buckaroo, that had to hurt! It’s okay, you’ll get better and we’ll work on this first thing tomorrow morning!”
But, in a crowd of 92,000 deathly quiet fans, there is another looking on… You can hear this one fan’s heart beating like a bass drum. This fan is the only one standing, eyes fixed on the player… so much so that the 92,000 have completely disappeared. He’s defining every second of movement, totally encompassed with the situation. With every ounce of his essence he is shouting inside…”GET UP!”… Dad.
Hate the Sin and the Sinner?
God is not Jiminy Cricket. He’s not your buddy. He personally invested Himself in your pain, your mistakes, failures, your sin. Contrary to popular belief and unlike the football player’s Dad, God hates the sin, but also hates the sinner:
Psalm 5:5 – “…you [God] hate all who do iniquity.”
It is only through Christ and our adoption to sonship that we can say “God is love”, our transfer from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light that we become beloved children of God, no longer hated by the master we’ve betrayed.
Today I challenge us (you and I), before we fall in our sin to don’t think “okay, the big guy knows I’m struggling with this”…but to know that our holy, wise, near, Heavenly Father is looking at us with the most passionate love and His heart is shouting…GET UP!
Be Encouraged
So, the good news is – God is holy. The bad news is we’re not. Outside of Christ, we’re dirty, awful, objects of wrath. The better news is, that’s why God sent Jesus – not to give us good advice, be our buddy, take away all our troubles, and give us comfy chairs to sit in as the Titanic leaves port. Jesus died to save us from the worst problem ever – indwelling sin, which cannot stand in the presence of a holy god. Our trust in His sacrifice grants us not only saving grace, but sustaining grace – the power to live a godly life. (Titus 2:12) His grace is not just a fact, it’s the empowering force that helps us to do the impossible: live the Christian life in a Genesis 3 world.
Thanks, Rory, for listening to the voice of the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for your amazing sacrifice. Thank you, Father, for your incredible justice and for sending Christ in the first place. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for empowering us to do all you designed us to do and become all you designed us to be so that we can bring you more glory.
in Christ,
AP
The “ONE TH1NG a THON” means greater impact for Seasons of Life!
