Happy New Year

Happy New Year!
Yeah, I know its a couple days early but why can't we celebrate now! Our church is showing Prince Caspian tomorrow night and my parents are keeping our girls after the movie (and overnight) so Beverly and I can go watch the big ball drop with a bunch of friends. We'll have to rush home because I'll have to work very early New Year's Day. I pray that all of you will have a safe New Year and that all of our guys will usher in the new year in a way that is pleasing to our Lord.

Speaking of pleasing God... What about New Year's resolutions? I'm thinking about making a committment with Beverly to read the entire Bible this year. I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year!

Merry CHRISTmas

Beverly, the girls and I rang the bell yesterday for the Salvation Army. It was funny how some people would come in, see our little princesses dressed in their warmest clothes, with red cheeks and noses and say, "That's cheating!" before they dug deep in their pockets for all of their spare change. Maybe the girls' cuteness did evoke some people to give more but that wasn't our mission. Our mission was to show our kids the importance of volunteering, sacrificing or serving some one other than themselves.

As we stood there we greeted everyone who walked in and said "Merry Christmas" as we thanked all those who gave on their way out. One senior gentleman gave the girls some money to put in the bucket (as a lot of people did) and we chimed Merry Christmas as he walked away. He stopped, and slowly turned. He thanked Beverly for saying "Merry Christmas" rather than the ever-so-popular, "Happy Holidays" or some other non-descript substitute. He said, and I agree, that we need to take Christmas back. We need to remind others of the true meaning of Christmas and that it has nothing to do with a red suit, a glowing red nose, or a green, hairy, pug-nosed creature in Whatland or some other town.

So, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I pray that you all have a safe Christmas time with family and friends. I pray that all of the GBB men and boys take time with their families to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and share it with others.

Video project update

I had the opportunity to visit with the Eastside unit again this week. The purpose of my visit this time was two-fold. What brought me back to Eastside so soon was a visit from Kate Ward. Kate is the great lady who is working on our video project. You'd have thought that some of the Eastside guys already had an Emmy the way they were "acting." My favorite video moment was a time where a group of boys were talking with a junior leader. Kate had the camera rolling for some footage shots as the junior leader was telling the boys about some exciting times at a GBB National High Adventure event. Trying to impress the teenage leader, one of the younger boys belted out that one time he was camping and didn't go to be bathroom for a whole day or something. Not to be outdone, another younger boy belted out that one time he went "three, NO FOUR DAYS" without going #2! I was impressed! Not at the bathroom comment but Kate's ability to remain professional until after the camera was off. I was losing it!

I made it a point to thank the boys and the leaders for doing such a great job for Kate and I wanted to publicly thank them too. Thanks guys for doing such a great job!

GBB Growth!!!

I am really excited to welcome a unit back to GBB! The Woodville Grace Brethren Church located in sunny Mansfield, Ohio submitted annual GBB National registration for 2009. Under the command of Jim Eagle the newly formed GBB unit at Woodville registered two men and six boys.

As I searched the records in the office I found where the Woodville GBC had a GBB unit in the very early '90's. They were unit 18 so their number has been reinstated. Keep an eye on the Ohio District web page as we get their info updated.

Jim, his right hand men, Pete and Pastor Ron Smals are all pumped at the opportunities the Lord has given their church in Mansfield. They are located in a neighborhood community rich with young men and boys. They look forward to growth and I agree that GBB will enable their church's vision to encourage father/son relationships with the men and boys of not only their church but their community as well.

Praise the Lord for obedient men willing to follow Paul's words in 2 Timothy 2: "And these things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

Welcome back Woodville!

GPS

I got home late last night from a four-day trip to Kansas City and back. My wife, two girls and my parents along with their GPS went out to visit my brother, his wife and our niece. Little Mikayla was born Sept. 11th this year and due to work schedules and other committments this is the first opportunity we had to visit. Though I got a nasty cold during the trip I enjoyed spending time with family and meeting my niece! I also enjoyed my time with the Kansas City Chapter of the Ohio State Alumni Association. We watched the Buckeyes hand the Wolverines their fifth straight loss in the long-standing rivalry.

Buckeyes aside, you probably noticed that I mentioned my parents' GPS. I don't know if I love it or hate it. That thing is great for plotting how long its going to take to get somewhere and its good for giving you some routes but like all computers it can't read my mind and it doesn't understand big-city traffic very well. It also only works as fast as the operator can enter information into it... On one occasion it expected me to "stay left on I-70 W" as we approached an exit ramp. I took that advice and moved into the left lane. As soon as we cleared that ramp it told me to "exit right on I-435 South", as we passed that exit ramp. I could have made it had it not been for the two other lanes of cars in the way! Obviously we missed that exit. Then it wanted me to do a U-turn several times and it expected us to drive the wrong way down a one-way street another time. My favorite thing of all is when you disobey this piece of technological genious the programed voice almost sounds annoyed as it says "recalculating."

Isn't it nice that God is not just a GPS. Not only does He know where we're going but he knows where we've been and not just on this particular trip. He knows our entire history and whether or not we'll take His advice. He provided us with THE map to help us stay on course. He always provides an exit when we really need one and He has the right answer for when we miss the exit He's provided. His grace isn't some annoying voice that says He's recalculating when we step out of line. His Holy Spirit doesn't lag behind when we need to act fast. Though he does sometimes tell us to turn away or to work against the flow its never the wrong way.

Thank you Father for being so much more than a GPS in our lives!

Leadership

I had the opportunity to attend and speak at the Ohio District GBB Leadership Conference on Saturday. What a great group of faithful men. As I spoke about the focus and vision for GBB National I was of course pleased with the great response from the men. I love when everyone is on board!

We also heard from Dwayne Peters about mixed or single-parent families and the special attention we should give to those relationships. The day also included the Ohio District Board President, Dan Hazlett's talk about the need for leadership and the importance of having strong relationships with the boys and other men in the church. He spoke a lot about personal experiences which connected well with men at the training. We finished the day with a round-table discussion. The recurring theme was the perception of a general lack of leadership development with youth training in our churches. It seems the observation is that our youth ministries are doing an amazing job at evangelism but we're dropping the ball when it comes to discipleship. Especially among the boys who show the most promise as leaders. Maybe all of that discussion should be saved for another posting...

My favorite part of the day was the video that was shown. It was the DVD of the moderator's address from the 2008 FGBC National Conference in Florida. Our moderator, Pastor John McIntosh, is the senior pastor at the Simi Valley GBC in California. During his address he outlined "the five components that are critical to the transfer of the gospel truth from one generation to the next." Essentially, discipleship.

It was the fourth time I'd seen this particular study on DVD and I was there in person when he spoke to the fellowship at National Conference. I felt the same this time as I did that very first time - exhillerated! I've loved the 2 Timothy 2:1-2 passage and its been part of GBB's mission since GBB was created. To hear a leader in our fellowship speak so well on the subject of leadership made me want to jump up and down as I ran to the stage to hug the man! Of course I restrained myself at confernce as I did this weekend. I don't know which would have been more awkward - hugging Pastor John or the screen at Millersburg GBC...

If you haven't seen the video (and heard our moderator's vision for this year) I encourage you to view the video for free at: http://www.fgbc.org/newsletter/subpages/2008-10-09/mcintosh.cfm
If you can't view the video and need a copy sent to you, please contact me and GBB will make sure you receive a copy of the moderator's address. It speaks to the basis for why GBB was created and why the mission of GBB is still relevant to the continuation of the FGBC.

Calling ALL GBB Leaders!

UGHHH - I had training all week in Columbus and had planned to update the blog - too bad the filters at my training blocked out stuff like blogs and anything that didn't have to do with state business! Sorry for the delay!

As a reminder, all GBB Leaders are invited to attend the second annual GBB Leadership Training hosted by the Ohio District GBB. The training will be held at the Millersburg GBC on Saturday, Novebmer 15th and will begin with a great Holmes County (Amish Country) breakfast prepared by our Millersburg guys. We'll cover some updates from GBB National, some web stuff, as well as a challenging message from the FGBC National Conference that was held in Tampa, Florida this year. We'll wrap everything up as we did before with a roundtable discussion about the GBB units and some best practices.

I had a chance to visit this week with the Eastside Unit during their meeting on Wednesday. They treated me to hotdogs over a camp fire. They are so blessed to be able to have a camp fire for their meetings in the city! I was so pleased when their unit commander, Nick Jacobs, asked for a volunteer to lead prayer and 8 year old Grahm raised his little hand. He belted out a prayer as though he was real used to the idea of public prayer and he even remembered the couple of prayer requests. I love seeing GBB's influence in a young boy's life!

PRAISE THE LORD!

GBB Board Meetings

The GBB National Board met on October 24th and 25th. The meetings went well as always and there was a lot of information to process. I'm working with the Board Secretary, Mark Dull, to get the minutes compiled so the highlights can be posted on the web site. In addition to board minutes we'd like to add more information to our web page to make it more user-friendly for fellowship churches who are in search of a discipleship ministry for boys.

We're also working directly with SMM (the girls side of discipleship under Women of Grace, USA) on a video project. The purpose of the video is to promote our joint efforts to highlight the need for discipleship and gender-specific children's ministries. Our plan is to post the video on the web site when its all done so keep your eyes on the site for updates and additional information.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
If you notice anything on the web site that is out of place or could be connected a little better, please shoot us an e-mail with your ideas. All ideas for improvement will certainly be considered.

Keep watching this blog and the web site for additional highlights and info from our fall board meetings!

October's Missionary of the Month

Bob
in Chad, Africa

Bob grew up in Centerville, OH in a very close, Christian family who were members of the Centerville GBC. He is the youngest of 3 brothers. He accepted Christ at 10 years old, but really grew in Christ through High School. Bob was very involved in the ministries of the Centerville GBC. As he finished high school, he began his own property and landscape management company. He began college, with a focus in Safety Engineering.
During college God began to develop an interest in missions for Bob. He began to investigate the possibility of using his skills in missions for a year, wanting to assist the missionaries in practical ways while learning what a missionary does and how he lives. At the same time God was prompting these ideas in Bob's heart, GBIM leadership was praying for someone to assist the Puhls in the Chad. The ministries in the Chad had continued to grow, but at that time, the Puhls were the only missionaries there. They needed practical help in many areas so they could focus on the development and encouragement of the Chadian leaders. God answered those prayers when Bob was approved for a ministry in the Chad. His one-year commitment in 2002 turned into a calling for Bob. He is still in Chad, Africa today.

Bob sends these prayer requests.
"Pray that God will give the GBIM team in Chad much love, strength, and patience as they carry on the ministry there."
"Pray that God will use me to encourage others to join His mission field as I share with churches and supporters."
"Pray for God's direction in my life as I seek His will for my future."

For more information conact me at rgable1357@neo.rr.com. Each unit should have received the full e-mail report this week.

Service

My lovely wife and I had dinner with a buddy of mine Saturday night. He was home on leave from Iraq in time to be with his mom in the final days leading up to the end of her long battle with cancer. His wife and three daughters were able to come up from Colorado to be with the family for the funeral but they had to go back to Colorado last weekend. Jon obviously was sad that his mom passed but he and his family took comfort in the fact that she was a Christian who lived a very godly life. I've said it before but times like these make you really glad you're a Christian. I can't imagine life without the comfort of God's Sovereignty and Salvation!

After dinner we visited a few friends my buddy hadn't seen in a long time. As we talked about old times (not necessarily better times but certainly fun times) I couldn't help but think about how much I appreciate him. Not because he's my friend and has been for more than 15 years, but because he and his family make sacrifices every day so that I can live my life the way I do. I get to go home each day to see my family. He only gets to come home if something bad happens or he gets leave. My wife has the pleasure of spending time with me almost every day (okay, the statement that it's a pleasure may be a stretch...) but military wives have to spend weeks and months doing everything on their own. Not only do they have to be mom AND dad to their kids, they don't have their best friend in the whole world - the one person who made a covenant to love them unconditionally for the rest of their life. Then I feel for the military personnel who return to a family that's been self-sufficient for so long. Working their way back into the family pattern has got to be a little stressful for everyone. I have so much respect for the men and women of our military - especially career military personnel. They need our prayers and support every day!

Thank you for your service Jon and we're praying for you, your family and your fellow soldiers! I love you man!

Ohio District Outpost

Well the Ohio District has put another great weekend in the books! Their Fall District Outpost Camp began Friday night with our host unit, Fremont, treating everyone with hot dogs, chili and chicken noodle soup as they arrived in camp. Thank you very much for the warm welcome guys! It was delicious!

After our leader's huddle it was nice to sit around the various camp fires and catch up with old friends while I made new ones. There's something about sitting around a camp fire with men and boys that just puts me in a good mood and makes me think spiritual thoughts.
Though it got really cold Friday night (I didn't have a thermometer but there was frost on the tent in the morning) I pulled on my stocking cap, snuggled down in my heavy sleeping bag and slept pretty good. The only hiccup in my otherwise peaceful sleep was at five o'clock in the morning when I had to go to the bathroom! It was one of those times where I looked at my watch and determined there was no way I was going to comfortably sleep until it was time to get up. So I moved as quietly as possible to the tent door and then woke my tent up with an arctic blast of cold air. When that cold air hit me my desire to go to the bathroom turned into an emergency! Don't worry, I made it... When I got back to my warm sleeping bag and drifted back to sleep I was reminded of why I love camping in October - cold nights = warm sleeping bags.

On Saturday Fremont had set up a nice, leisurely schedule with activities to keep the boys entertained. Among those activities were archery, fishing, fly-tying, Geo-caching and skills games. I sat in on a few of the classes and watched in wonder about how attentive the boys were to these men. I never get tired of seeing how hungry the boys are to hear from the men! They are begging for information and influence. I was reminded about the part in our philosophy of ministry called "demonstration." It means that we must not only teach our boys directly but we must understand that they learn as much by watching us as listening to our words.

That observation and thought came into play later that night at Council Fire as I listened to Chad Black's message to the boys about being fishers of men. As I listened to him speak and read the Bible I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to challenge the older boys. When the Council Fire was over I gathered the junior high and high school aged boys around the large camp fire, away from the younger boys, and we talked about their salvation, the Truth and the influences on them. Then I talked about how much of an influence they already have; about how much the younger boys are watching their every move and emulating the things they're doing. I challenged them to only display the godly character that they want to see in the younger boys around them. I love praying with our young men! The rest of the evening was spent talking with boys and men about GBB, their lives and sharing what has happened in my life.

I decided to play my evening differently Saturday night than Friday night. I remembered that 5 AM ice trip to the bathroom and made an effort to not drink much after dinner. It worked out and I slept from the time I hit the pillow until three minutes before my alarm was set to wake us up. Nice!
Sunday morning Chad Black challenged the boys to fulfill Christ's commandments to go into the world as he told them about his family's call to the Native Americans of Minnesota. He certainly displayed a heart for the Lord and we all prayed for Chad and his family as they prepare to head to a new mission field for them.

In all, we had 85 boys and 47 men attend the Ohio District GBB Fall Outpost Camp. I love that there are so many men committed to the lives of boys. I pray that even more men will come to realize the responsibility they have to "entrust to reliable men so they will be qualified to teach others also." If we don't continue to teach God's Word and model Christ and His godly character our families, GBB units, churches and our communities will continue to slowly become less and less Christlike. It breaks my heart to see how "entertain first" we've become as Christians.
Thank you GBB men for answering the call and opening your lives so that the GBB boys will someday be qualified to lead others as GODLY MEN!

What are we doing here anyway?

So this week has been crazy busy! Isn't it interesting that as Christians, when things seem completely out of hand, all we have to do is remember God's sovereignty and welcome the calming effect He has over us?



This week I have been overwhelmed at work, at home and in ministry. I have felt as though I have no time for myself and not enough time for everything else. Each responsibility in my life this week seems to push on all the others and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.



I tell you all of this to make this point: No matter how much Satan tries to put it in my head that I'm not good enough or that I don't have enough time - Christ jumps between us and absorbs the arrows. The armor of God is awesome! Simply KNOWING that everything that happens to me is part of His plan and that no matter how bad things seem at times GOD approved it all is so very calming. It is for HIS purpose that I am here, doing what he assigns through the Holy Spirit. Simply remembering those couple of things takes so much weight off of my shoulders.



Thank you for the reminder Lord!

THE movie

So, I'm sure by now many of you have heard of the movie "Fireproof." Well, about a month ago I noticed a posting about it on a message board I follow and I followed the link to their web page. If you look at the web page you'll find plenty of stuff about the movie (the trailer, clips, materials, books, etc.). The page is http://www.fireproofthemovie.com. I downloaded the movie trailer for our church and it opened up the worship service last Sunday.

The basic jist of the movie is there is a small town fire captain (Kirk Cameron) who is a hero in his town but his marriage is failing. His father challenges him to hold off on the impending divorce for 40 days while he works through a book called "The Love Dare."

So Beverly and I had the opportunity to have a date night last night. We decided we'd see the movie and have some dinner. He got to the theater about 45 minutes early and were the first into the theater. We figured with all the advertising that had been done there would be a decent crowd. We sat alone for about 5 minutes and then couples, families, and small groups started to file in. Beverly and I love people-watching so it was fun to look at some of the pairs that came into the dark theater and searched for the best place to sit. Obviously, we had the best place so they all had to sit somewhere else. Anyway, as I was saying about the pairings - God certainly has a sense of humor - I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, Beverly and I settled in with our $5 Icee, $3 bottle of water and $6 popcorn. As I said before, I watched the trailer. I also watched all the movie clips on-line and read a lot of the materials about the movie. I felt I had a pretty good idea about the plot of the movie and how things were going to work out. About 15 minutes into the movie I realized that pretty much everything I knew about this movie had already happened. I was in for a great surprise. The movie turned out to be so much more than I expected from the trailer and the clips. It was deeper than I expected for a mainstream movie. The message was convicting and the plot had plenty of twists. I was also surprised by the humor. There were plenty of funny little things and the timing was great. As far as Christian films go I give this one a perfect "10." I was thouroughly impressed and the theater erupted in applause at the end.

If you're looking for a date night, or just looking to see a good Christian film with a positive message, some clean humor and some action / adventure - go see "Fireproof"! Their web site has a listing of theaters playing the movie and you can check your local theater listings as well.

He's Back

If you didn't get the e-mail... Jeff and his family are back from their extended educational tour of several Civil War sites along the east coast. If you have sent Jeff anything for the web page you can expect to see the updates soon. If you've been holding off on sending him something please remember that he's got a lot on his plate. If it can wait a week, please let it sit so he can get caught up.

WELCOME BACK JEFF!

Are you living it?

Investing in People
Admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14

"Who are the people that have meant the most to you in your life? Who has had the most influence in your life? Your parents? A coach, a teacher or a Sunday School teacher? Undoubtedly they challenged you to rise above the status quo. I remember people who cared about my character and who inspired me to a solid standard of holiness, devotion and diligence.

The bottom line? They all called me to noble, pure virtues.

Others have also stepped out of the herd and stepped up. Consider the famed scientist and inventor George Washington Carver who once wrote down what he called the "eight cardinal virtues":

1. Be clean both inside and outside.
2. Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children and old people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Virtuous words. Yet even from a distance of nearly 100 years, they touch us at a deep level of our souls and call us higher than the selfish parts of our natures typically want to go.

I encourage you today to be careful where you look for inspiration--be sure that the people who influence you are those who can be counted on to lead you in the paths of purity and righteousness. And I encourage you to become an influencer, one who has the thick-skinned courage to step out and up and motivate others to be Christ followers. For Christ is the One who truly embodies noble virtue.

Okay, I admit, I totally borrowed this from a daily e-mail I receive from "Family Life - Moments with You." The e-mail is an excerpt from the book, "Moments with You" by Dennis and Barbara Rainey.

Though the advice in that context is directed for husbands and wives I absolutely see how this advice directly applies to GBB boys. The "eight cardinal virtues" are things that we need to follow ourselves and our leaders need to make sure they model them as well.

According to the GBB philosophy of ministry we believe in "demonstration." That means that we must purposely teach and directly model godly character so that our boys see what it means to be a real man. We must also be very aware that even when we do things without purpose, our boys are still learning by watching what we do, how we act and react. Please remember this in your thoughts and prayers today and ask God to help us all to follow and display Christian values.

Awesome God = awesome power

Far from Hurricane Ike at the GBB Headquarters in Rittman, Ohio we felt the wind. The Rittman GBC had a picnic (indoors of course) and as we watched our guests, The Covenant Players, the lights flickered and the winds howled outside. After the players were done with their performance we moved to the windows to survey the storm's action. Immediately we noticed the huge tree branch that fell on a car in the parking lot. We also noticed the trees down both up and down First Street. As it turned out, there were trees and electric lines down all over the region. States to our west flooded and we didn't get much rain at all. They didn't have the wind and we lost trees, spouting, shingles and I'm sure some small pets are still missing... Though we weren't in a hurricane the ordeal was VERY stressful for so many people here. During all of it I couldn't help but say out loud, "Don't we have an awesome God?" Hollywood can create a storm in the movies or on TV. No one, not even scientists can make the wind blow from the Gulf to the Great Lakes! Only God has that awesome power!

Sleepy

Its 6:30 AM and I just rolled in from work - I was supposed to be off at 5 this morning... As I sit here on my computer, killing time before a men's breakfast at church, I wonder, as I often do, what it would be like if the godly men of GBB could spend as much time serving the Lord as they do at their full time jobs. Wouldn't it be great if our careers never got in the way of our real jobs?

Lord, please help us to keep our eyes focused on You rather than all the other things that seem to take up so much of our lives. Please help us to always work to glorify You, not man.

The day we'll always remember

I, like most everyone alive at the time, will never forget where I was or what I was doing on September 11, 2001. I had worked all night and spent the morning golfing with some guys from work. We finished our round and headed to Applebee's for an early lunch (or late night snack as it was for us...) We walked in and everyone was glued to the televisions stationed around the restaurant. We were directed to one of the large corner booths and we filed in. A waitress came over and we asked what was going on. She explained that both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had all be struck by commercial jets. We sat there for a long time just watching the events unfold, wondering aloud if we may be called back to work.

I hope everyone is spending time today reflecting on the heroes of that day. The service people and seemingly average citizens who put themselves in harms way that day to help others. Right next to those thoughts we should also never forget the evil that caused such destruction. We should never forget that there are people and organizations who want nothing more than to destroy people and disrupt their way of life. Lastly, we must also trust in the sovereignty of our Lord and Savior. Though things seemed so bad on that day - it was all part of God's plan.

On a much lighter and happier note - I must say congrats to my brother Jarrod and his lovely wife Heather on the birth of their first child, Mikayla Scott Gable. She was born very early this morning in Kansas City and everyone is doing great. Praise the Lord!

Check it out!

So here it is! GBB National's very first blog! I know you're as excited as I am.

If you're a long time GBBer or new to GBB the purpose of this blog will be to keep you in tune with GBB's news and events. As I hear about anything new I'll post it here. To keep updated on what's going on - save this blog in your favorites and visit it often. If I don't have anything GBB to post I'll post something else that interests me - so either send me some news or buckle up and hold on!