Men of Blossom Valley

The men’s group at BVBC ministers to the heart of men who want to serve their Lord and King. We believe this can be accomplished in part, through the encouragement of men meeting together with other brothers on a regular basis.

We seek:

• To encourage every man within the sphere of his influence to pursue a vital relationship with God & with one another.
• To equip every man for servant leadership in the home, workplace, community & world
• To provide every man with biblical relevancy to issues & needs in a man’s life.
• To enable every man a chance to gather for fellowship & worship.
• To motivate every man to see his God-given potential for leadership through on-going lifestyle actions.
• To help every man find the answers to the questions they are asking: "Who am I?" & "Why am I here?"

The pace of the world is accelerating and the ability for men to deal with work, family and their own personal relationship with God is more challenging than ever. While we believe the needs of men were established in the Garden of Eden, our enemy has adapted his tactics to keep us from realizing who we are in Christ.

Therefore we find that men are seeking:

• Meaning or purpose in life
• Understanding of who they are & what they are thinking
• Solutions to their everyday problems & difficulties
• To know God--who he is & what he means to them
• Effective men’s ministry that touches them where they are
• Friendships that are built on trust & that will last
• Help with family issues
• To know that they are not alone in the battle; there are other men going through the similar fight
  

What's said here, stays here!

In this era of temptations and conflicting priorities, now, more than ever, men need a place to develop their God-given roles as fathers, brothers, husbands...as men of faith.

A first place to start growing is by going to church and getting established in God's word.

The next place is to get plugged into a solid group of men who love their God and want to serve Him mightily. The men's group at BVBC is just the place for you.

We can help you grow as men in the following areas:

• Weekly gathering for Christ-centered relationships & fellowship with like-minded men
• Access to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen web site to promote ongoing dialogue and connection on relevant topics.
• Opportunities for direct ministry & service to your community.

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Why I Retreat

by Rick DeLong

04/28/2010

I wrote the title for this blog and thought, "What am I retreating from?"  Is there danger to myself or wife and family that I need to pull back from?  Is the battle so intense that I need to retreat to base camp?

Not this time.

At last night men's group meeting several of us had shared how the Hume Lake Fisherman's Conference impacted us. Of the 10 men who attended this year, 8 of them were there sharing experiences and how the Lord ministered to them there.

I've been to a number of men's retreats both at Blossom Valley and my former church, but I've never seen an event solicit so much discussion and enthusiasm as last weekend's retreat. It was amazing!  As we were sharing, I couldn't help notice that, while we were all there listening to the messages by Ken Graves, we all remembered or were touched by something different.  Sure, there were comments by him that touched us all, but I was truly blessed by how personal our God is to each of us.

I read in a book by Dr. Gary Chapman that our God created each of us as different as snowflakes; none of us are alike.  With these differences we have varied needs and are sensitive to various things.  That was so evident as we were sharing our thoughts, feelings, and impacts of the weekend.

We cannot replicate the experiences we gained from the retreat, but we can share how our Heavenly Father touched us and ministered to us there.  We can also encourage you to think about attending the retreat next year.

We elect to attend the Fisherman's Conference not because we want to fish all day (although that's a lot of fun for some of the guys), but because the weather is great that time of year and it doesn't interfere with the Mission's Month we have at BVBC each October, which is when Hume holds their 4-day Men's Retreat.

If you haven't done so, check out the retreat information we post on our Men's Ministry events page.  There you will find the estimated cost and a link to the Hume Lake website.  We have also posted messages from past retreat speakers and a video. You can listen to the messages online or download them to your MP3 player from our events page.

I can't close out this entry without plugging our Men's Group. I invite you to check us out.  Like most men's groups our key verse is Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  We sharpen each other here and sometimes, like last night, we leave a pile of metal shavings on the floor. That honing process can be painful at times or it's not even noticed at all, but necessary to keep us sharp.  We meet Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. at the church, room 5B.

So why do I retreat? It’s not because I want to pull back. No, I want to move forward and experience first-hand what God is doing in the lives of men.