Guest Blog- Danny Bergin

Danny gives an authentic view of beginning to follow Christ at CATB, here is his story.

In reflecting upon the events that have taken place in my life thus far, it is dubious in thinking that I will ever be asked to be a motivational speaker. It is not the fact that I am a poor public speaker that makes me unqualified but the realization that I have never experienced any true hardship. I was raised in a good Christian household with loving parents who supported each and every dream that I chose to pursue. I met my wife at the University of Florida and we now have two beautiful daughters.

Before the birth of my first daughter, it would be a true and unfortunate statement to say that, with everything going according to plan, I really did not see a reason to seek God. With her birth, my perspective changed. My wife and I had a candid discussion about how different our children’s lives would be without God. Questions arose about where she is going to be exposed to good moral people, who she is going to associate with, and how she is going to know what path to choose when life presents its problems. A naysayer would proclaim that we are two highly intelligent and educated people that are fully capable of teaching good decision making to children, absent religion. Our parents were the same, but they still chose to follow Christ.

My wife and I had not. We were invited to a local church and immediately felt the fellowship, openness, and energy that was different from other places. Through various groups and services, I have been able to openly voice questions, feelings, and apprehensions I have regarding Christianity without feeling like an errant nail sticking out that is waiting to be hammered down. This openness towards God allows me to be more confident in my beliefs, both internally upon myself and externally towards others.

By beginning to place God at the center of my life, I have noticed a sense of fulfillment and solace that was previously void. My marriage, family, friendships, and career have all benefited tremendously from His guidance and through attending this church. There are still many times that I struggle with putting God first, as I am not even close to perfect. But my struggles are made easier by having other people traveling along with me and keeping me going in the right direction.

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Week #2- Frat House Rewind

Here’s your 2x4, now hit yourself!

We woke up with coffee and a 2x4 this morning. The biggest struggle that we face as men, is women. No, not the battle of the sexes type struggle, but of our lust for those who a) are not our wife, or b) we are not married to. We saw it with King David. Look in Acts 13:22 and you will see how favored he was in God’s eyes. But then look in 2 Samuel 11:1 and see how David put himself in the wrong place on purpose, contributing to his own moral decline. Now, ask yourself this question:

What places do we need to watch out for?

As we keep reading in 2 Samuel 11, we see that David’s eyes began to wander. Sound familiar? Affairs don’t happen overnight, yet they hit like a linebacker coming around the O-line and we are the QB. Great, blindsided. Our guard was down. It starts when we let our eyes wander.

What areas do we need to lock out visually so we won’t go there? How can we do it?

The road to victory lies in the relationships we have with other Christian men. James 5:16 gives it to us no uncertain terms. We must be accountable to those other men.

Are we struggling with the wrong place or uncontrolled eyes?

We must be honest with ourselves before we can be honest with others. Take the weight of, find that other man, and “confess your sins to each other.” Check out this blog from Perry Noble: it’s not just for pastors.

Guest Blogger: Jeremiah McBride
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Week #1: We are Armor Bearers

Each week our guest blogger, Jeremiah aka The Freak will provide us a summary...

This week we focused on the battles that we face as men, whether it be the struggles we may have in our jobs, working to make a difference for Christ there, or whether we are at home alone, surfing the Internet on the wrong sites. Look in 1 Samuel 14:6-7 and imagine how we can be armor bearers.

As men, we also tend to escape our problems through other means: brain draining with the TV, shutting down emotionally, or just plain anger and aggression. Ask yourself this question: Under pressure-if you don’t engage and fight for what is right…..What do you typically do?

As we all know, Frat House is a safe place to enter into a deep discussion with other men so that we can work to be those armor bearers for them, and vice versa for us (and what is said at Frat House stays at Frat House). Who needs you to help them fight or encourage them to go for it? Read James 5:16 and you will see why Frat House is so vital to us as men.

Lastly, find an armor bearer, trust that they are there for you, and then begin to open up. But what about? If you just ask these 2 questions, you will begin taking your first steps towards letting that armor bearer, or bearers, stand behind you:

• What battle are you in or need to fight?
• How can we, the armor bearers, pray for you?

Until next week...

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Guest Blog

This Blog was written by one of our pastors, Neal McCullohs

Mathew 10:11-14

11 “Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. 12 When you enter the home, give it your blessing. 13 If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing. 14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.”

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I’ve been brewing over this verse this week. Here are some of my thoughts. We as Christian leaders are constantly investing our lives in other people. We spend time with other Christians trying to help them to take their next step with God. We desperately want for them to step out of mediocrity and into a life of adventure and impact. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn’t. We spend time with people that know God trying to help them find Him, or even better, commit their lives to Him. We desperately want them to know His love and forgiveness and to know His plan for their lives. No matter whom it is we are interacting with, we want them to live life to the fullest and then do eternity with God. I’ve been following God long enough now that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without God. I read communication cards and prayer request and listen to people’s lives and I get a picture of the pain and brokenness that people live with. I get a picture of the empty and hopeless lives the people around us lead. Yet no matter how empty, how broken, how hopeless and ugly life is for these people, Christians or not, sometimes “it” happens and sometimes “it” doesn’t. Sometimes their eyes are opened and they embrace God’s plan for their lives and are forever changed. Sometimes they make a turn and begin to live life with a vigor and purpose they never knew before. Sometimes though, nothing happens. Sometimes the Christian refuses to step up to the challenge. Sometimes the Christian refuses to leave a life of assumed comfort for a life of value, and meaning, and purpose, and impact. Sometimes the unbeliever refuses to admit the emptiness and loneliness they live in. Sometimes the unbeliever refuses to entertain the thought that there might be more, that the purpose of life might not just be to survive, that the purpose of life might just be bigger than themselves.

So what is our response when this happens? What are we to do when they say no thank you? Jesus told His disciples to knock the dust off their feet. Sometimes we have to let go. Sometimes we have to let people be. We have to knock the dust off our feet, leave behind any evidence that we were even there, and leave behind the emotion of fighting for those so that we can go to the next place, to the next person to fight with strength. This doesn’t mean we bad mouth them or hate them or think they are bad people. It means we invest our time and energy in people that yield return. I believe that there are some people that will say no as long as you are going after them, but if you will walk away, they will realize that they missed it and come back subtly asking you for more out of life. And with the dust off our feet, we give them another chance as if we never had their dust on our feet before.

Straight ahead,

Neal

Just Open the Door

Guest Blogger- Brian "da Bears" Heckman. Brian is making a huge difference in Tampa and he always challenges me to follow hard after Christ.

I used to cringe when I heard the word “evangelism”…I’d run the other way when my name was used anywhere near the word. Regardless of my feelings or reaction, though, I now “get” that God calls us all to fulfill His Great Commission. And, the grace-giving God He is, participating in making a difference has actually gotten, well, exciting.

Many of us attend churches regularly, but often miss God’s specific and individual call on our lives - to reach others for Christ. This call, the root of our faith, is why God tells us to gather on Sundays, and study the Bible, and fellowship with other believers. For many church-going people, I think we genuinely want to know ways we can practically participate in God’s work, and experience how alive and real God is.

In basketball “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. In business, “if you don’t ask for the business, you’ll never get it.” In our relationship with Christ, He’s told us many times that He’s got our backs (my paraphrase). But in order to move closer to Him, we have to make the move. Same with reaching others for Christ…we have to take the shot, or ask the question. If we don’t, God still completes His will, but just with someone else…and we miss our chance to experience Him.

I really grabbed hold of this “invest & invite” strategy taught at Church at the Bay. Its helped me really integrate God into my life, and encounter Christ in ways just as real as my “real-live” life experiences. I now know how real and alive God really is, right now…without requiring me to stand on the busy street corner screaming into a bullhorn while wearing a home-made billboard strapped to my chest informing people they need Jesus. I still don’t necessarily believe I have a gift of evangelism, but I’ve decided to let God figure that one out, while I continue acting on His nudge in my life.

Some ways we can “invest & invite” people in our lives:

• Introduce yourself to someone new every Sunday at church. Ask them where they live, how long they’ve been coming to CATB, and how they heard about us. Remember their name, even if you have to write it down.
• When co-workers ask how our weekend was, say something about church, rather than intentionally not mentioning it.
• Carry the CATB business cards in your wallet. Leave them places, seek opportunities to use them like you use your own business card.
• Become friends with people from church. Hang out with them regularly outside of church. It’s easy to invite & connect old & new friends in more casual settings.
• Forward Christian-based (but non-churchy) emails about being a better father and/or husband to guys, and engage them in conversation about it.
• Invite people to events/social gatherings that have nothing to do with church, God, or Jesus. God shows up where ever we invite Him, whether that’s a flag football field, happy hour, a dinner party, poker night, or beer & wings w/ the guys.
• Invite someone to a HomeTeam. Invite that person that keeps coming to mind, but you think will say no. Open the door, and give God the opportunity to work.
• Invite someone to church on Sunday. Sure, it’s a big deal, but it’s a bigger deal to have the answer they’re searching for, and not offer it to them.
• Invite someone to Tampa Frathouse mens’ group. Invite that guy who won’t come to church w/ you, who thinks church is for a bunch of sissies. Invite the guy with the alcohol problem, whose marriage is on the rocks. Maybe he’s been praying to God for someone to introduce him to Him.
• Make it a point to go the church baptisms. Be there for new believers who are taking their next steps.

Take time to talk with God in the mornings, asking Him to help you see opportunities in your day to participate in His work. Write down some of your experiences so you can look back on them after a month. Talk with Christ-following friends to keep each other encouraged.