Men’s Meeting – Revisited

Well, I was going to try to comment on both the most recent Men’s meeting AND my last Battery meeting. After writing about the Men’s meeting I see that this commentary is quite long enough. I will write a separate comment about the Battery meetings.

. First, the Men’s Group meeting, it started with a prayer. It is so good to start anything and everything acknowledging that God is in control.
. The man leading our group then went on to addressing the Batteries. He noted that he did not desire to ‘check up’ on us, just that he wanted to monitor the various Batteries. This man then passed around a list of the Batteries that he was aware of. He asked that corrections / additions be made to the list. He also instructed that anyone that just wanted to be placed in a Battery to add their name at the bottom of the page. He would then assign those men to a Battery.
Interestingly, at this time not quite half of the men are in a Battery. Also interesting is that there are two smaller Batteries and one large, 6 man, Battery. The larger group has only met once because of multiple scheduling conflicts. I guess the original concept of keeping the Batteries small has validity. :-) I will commment more on the Batteries in my next post.

. Next, we resumed our discussion based upon the book, Point Man, by Steve Farrar. Our topic was Infidelity.
It was interesting to note how comfortable the men felt about sharing their experiences. It was encouraging to note that many men felt comfortable that their confidence in the security of the group would be honored. We spent some time contrasting the difference between how David and Joseph dealt with the temptation of infidelity. The meeting concluded with the instruction from God, through Paul to the church at Corinth found in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20. We also contrasted the response to the temptation between Samuel as seen in 2 Samuel 11:1-5 and Joseph as seen in Genesis 39:6-12. God’s response to both men showed His displeasure with Samuel’s sin and His reward to Joseph for faithfulness.
. I especially liked the comments in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 ‘Flee immorality’ ‘Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit’ ‘For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.’ and Genesis 39:6-12 how Joseph ‘and he left his garment in her hand and fled’ in order to escape the temptation of Potiphar’s wife.

. A good lesson, a good discussion, a good fellowship… For me though, I think this is something new. It is a weekly group Bible Study for men. Yes, we are using Point Man, as a focal point, as a place to start, but we always go back to the Bible for the focus of our discussions. It is sad for me to admit this, but this is the first larger group Bible study I have been involved with. Not large like a Wednesday or Sunday Bible study group, but large like a house Bible Study group. All my studies have been by myself, with one other person, or with my family. I have never been invited to join one of the house study groups going on in my congregation. Neither have I invited myself nor have I started one myself. I feel sad that I have deprived myself of this type of fellowship for so long. Ah well.
. Perhaps it will be enough that I stay involved in the Church, participate in as much as I can. Perhaps I should just trust God to continue show me new opportunities to grow in Christ. I have come a long way since I first began to listen to God’s words. I still have a long way to grow. I can take comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit will be with me, guiding me. I can take comfort in God’s grace and the sacrifice of His son Jesus.


1 Corinthians 6:15-20 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body {with her} For He says, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit {with Him.} 18 Flee immorality. Every {other} sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (NAS)


2 Samuel 11:1-5 1 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out {to battle,} that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. 2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant." (NAS)


Genesis 39:6-12 6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him {there} he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me {here,} my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?" 10 and it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie beside her, {or} be with her. 11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. (NAS)