A Taste of a Deeper Journey

Since I returned from my sabbatical I’ve been praying about how we as men can continue to grow as disciples of Jesus.  My desire is to share more deeply some of what the Lord taught me while I was away.  For the last few months I have been developing a process and a place to help us do this. I am calling the process “A Deeper Journey” aka “Getting Real with God, Yourself and Others”. My theme verse is “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” Mark 6:31"  I envision a yearlong process with small groups of men that would include 4 retreats and meeting once a month in between. The last two weekends we had two retreats that provided men with "a taste of a deeper journey".  It was a wonderful confirmation of this direction in disciplemaking.  The first retreat was Dec. 6-7 and included Thomas, Rick, John, Al & Mark.  Around a bonfire with snowflakes falling we reflected on Jesus question to disciples of John the Baptist who began to follow him. "What do you want"?  We shared our answer to Jesus on that question. 

At the breakfast table

Since it was the last day of hunting season Rick & John put on targets

Our Dec. 6-7 Group 

 Friday night we went up to Baxter Mountain with the 2nd group of men. I it was snowing on the way up and as we climbed the mountain. Since it was extremely cold my Real Estate Agent Bob Lambrigger kindly went up early to get the stove going.  After dinner we also reflected on Jesus question and then gathered around a bonfire for night prayers.

 Before breakfast in the morning we used the devotional Seeking God's Face to reflect on Scripture and "write" our own devotional.  We enjoyed blueberry pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs & cheese, orange juice, fruit and coffee/tea.

Linzie, Jessie, Sal, Colin & Clifton

 After breakfast we had some "chillin" time since it was to cold to go outside - like 10 degrees - but was toasty warm inside. The woodburning stove works good.

Colin was very good at the dishes

 After breakfast we visited with Bob Lambrigger and his Pastor from the local Horton Brook Free Methodist Church. We had a good time of fellowship and prayer together. Another of Bob's friends also brought some fresh venison sausage just out of the smoker. It was delicious.  After our guests left we did one "spiritual exercise" from the Dallas Willard book: Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. This would be one of the tools we would use on the deeper journey.

Our Dec. 13 -14 Group - Yes that is snowflakes you see falling - and yes - it was cold

After a time of prayer and the Lord's Supper we cleaned up and headed home early due to the falling snow and predictions for me. We had all experience the "rest" of being with Jesus and being blessed by each other.