Pro-Am Golf Tournament

Looks like I'm going to have an opportunity to play in my first Pro-Amateur golf tournament on April 30th this year. The South Georgia Classic (SGC) is a PGA Nationwide Golf Tour event. It will be held again for the second year at the Kinderlou Golf Course here in Valdosta, Georgia. Kinderlou is my "home" course and maybe that will give me a good chance at posting a respectable score. I sure don't want to be embarrassed with all of the attention we will be getting. The SGC is sponsored by the South Georgia Medical Center Foundation and is the charitable beneficiary of the tournament. I will be playing with Greg Powell, Devins Jackson and a fourth person to be selected at a later date. I am looking forward to having big fun. visit: www.pagtour.com/tournaments/h092/ for information.

Around the Forrest

A Band of Brothers: William A. Stephens, Lee Roy Butler, Jr., Devins T. Jackson, Chester Mayfield

Men's Ministry

There is a new ministry in the Forrest and it is called BROTHER 2 BROTHER. It is a ministry to men designed to provide a time for men of the congregation to bond and build up one another. We started with 25 men and have had two meeting as of the date of this post. The men vary in age from 63 to about 27 years old. We are currently meeting twice a month on the second and fourth Thursday at 7:00 PM. We had such a great time during the first meeting that the session stretched into about two hours. I gave everyone the option of leaving after about an hour and fifteen minutes but the men were enjoying each other's company so much that no one was in a hurry to leave.

We have adopted a purpose statement which is as follows: The Woodlawn Forrest Brother 2 Brother Ministry is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to equipping, empowering and deploying men in Christian service to their family, church, community, and the world. We plan to use a book entitle "WHAT MEN MUST DO" written by Dr. Larry Jones of Charlotte NC as a tool to stimulate discussion on topics that are hot-button issues for men. Topics such as: "Living Without Respect". Dr. Jones is a Medical doctor and Christian father and husband. We look forward to having Dr. Jones come and share his enthusiasm, insights and great wisdom with us in person. We also intend to use local speakers to address other issues such as men's health concerns and financial literacy. If you are a brother interested in being the best you can be we would like to connect you with other brothers so we can relate Brother--2--Brother.

Lording it Over the Flock

1 Peter 5:2-4 (ASV)

2Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. 4And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

I have found that there is a lot of confusion surrounding this phrase used by Peter to describe what elders are not to do in shepherding the flock of God. Lording it over is a term which means: to enforce one's own will and opinions as a matter of law (heretic); to use coercive and abusive tactics to get people to comply with directives or rules; to rule as a dictator or tyrant. The Lord is our Shepherd. Christians, as the flock of God, are to follow Him and obey his voice. Under shepherds (elders and evangelist) must speak with the voice or authority of the Chief Shepherd in leading the sheep of God. Their words must not be their own but the words of Christ. They must teach no other doctrine but the doctrine of Christ (1 Tim 1:3). They are to lead by example and let their lives be a testimonial to their faith in God. The people of God are not servants of their leaders but they are servants of Christ. The leaders (elders and evangelists) are servants of the people. They are helpers of their joy and not lords over their faith (2 Cor. 1:24). The flock will hold every leader who serves them faithfully and lovingly in high esteem. This was Jesus' solution to his disciple's quest for greatness in the kingdom. He taught them that that the way up is the way down (Matt. 20:20). Commanding and controlling is not the pathway to greatness--loving and serving is. Love does not seek its own. If a man really loves the Lord and the church of Christ he will submit his will to that of Christ and esteem others better than himself.

Welcome to Certain Sounds Ministries

I appreciate you logging on to this blog. This is my first time experimenting with such a medium and I'm not sure what the outcome will be but I have long been fascinated with the idea of exchanging ideas and dialog with such a wide audience. I hope you will visit often and freely share your thoughts on the topics that will be posted here.