Hey guys,

I hope you’ve had a great Christmas! It’s that time of year when I love to sit down and look ahead for the coming year, after some reflections on the current year.

One of the biggest things I was reminded of this Christmas season was something that we learn in Men’s Fraternity: the importance of having good close friends. On Christmas Day I had to make an excruciating decision. Our 14-year-old standard poodle, Mowgli, had been going downhill for several weeks. On Christmas Day, when my wife had to leave for her job as a flight attendant, Mowgli got worse. That evening it became obvious that Mowgli was in a lot of pain. I had to make that awful decision that many of you pet owners have faced. I had to make the decision alone because my wife was already on a plane back to Nashville.

While I was at the pet ER, I sent a text to one of my good friends, Matt Coram. I simply asked him to pray for us – particularly my wife, since Mowgli was really her baby. He replied back asking if I needed him there. I told him “no thanks,” but as I got home I noticed Matt’s car in my driveway. He was there for me. He shed tears with me. He left his wife and new baby boy at home on Christmas Day to come help me. That’s a devoted friend.

I hope all of you can relate to the importance of having close friends. If, however, you can’t relate, then let me offer a suggestion: get connected. You have so many opportunities here at First Baptist to get connected with other guys. You can hook up with guys who like to play basketball at 5 a.m. at the Family Ministry Center (I’m not one of them). You can join the Faith Riders motorcycle group. You can hang out with the Sports Outreach Softball team, you can kayak with me and some other guys, or play golf during the spring and summer months. The list is almost endless.

One of the best places to connect with other guys is at Men’s Fraternity. There you can learn about God’s design for manhood. You share insights with men of varying ages. You may connect and make a new friend or gain a mentor. Perhaps you need to be a mentor to someone else. Men’s Fraternity starts back up on Wednesday, Jan. 6 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Room 2209 of the Weekley Building. There’s also a Friday morning session that meets from 6 to 7:30 a.m. starting back Jan. 8 in Fellowship Hall.

You can also connect with other guys at this year’s Wild Game Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 23. That’s the whole purpose of this big beast feast: to connect guys with one another. Tickets are slim pickins these days. You can purchase them online, or you can get them this Sunday morning at the promotions booth. By the way, if you are planning on volunteering for the event, please email me so we can get you on the volunteer list. You’ve got to be on the list to get in this year!

I hope you have a fantastic 2010, friend!

God bless,

Mike McClanahan
Minister to Men & Single Adults

Having just returned from a mission trip to Haiti, I have witnessed the effects of poverty and the entrapments of voodoo on this island nation, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. At the same time, I was encouraged to see that the light of Jesus Christ shines brightly in Haiti, and many of the Christians there exhibit more joy than most of us do here in our abundance.

The sights, the smells, the children’s smiles and the parents’ beaten-down faces broke our hearts. Yet, what affected me most were the few good men who stood in the gap. We had the privilege of working with some of these strong Christian young men who served as our interpreters: John Mark, Allan and Yagel. John Mark’s father, Pastor Guy, serves as overseer for some 20 or more churches in the Leogane Plane. John Mark’s brother, Johnny, serves as pastor of the church in Neply. One day, John Mark may enter into the ministry. I observed all three of these men serving faithfully each day. Last Wednesday, after watching Alan teach a class of children, I had to go off by myself, and I wept in awe of God’s everlasting faithfulness.

Still, I was troubled by the fact that the women far outnumber the men in the churches that we visited. It seems the problem is universal. These men of God we met in Haiti stood firm despite having none of the resources that we have here such as men’s Bible studies, books, DVD’s and the like. Here, we have all of this and more, yet we still have so many men who don’t know how to live as true Christian men for their families, their church and their workplace. One of the enemy’s most successful strategies is to weaken the effectiveness of men. Look what happened in Eden when Adam shirked his responsibilities as a husband and spiritual leader of his family.

That’s why I so strongly encourage you to take part in Men’s Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood, which begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Room 2209 and on Friday starting at 6 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Meanwhile, we need faithful men of prayer to intercede for the men of our church and community. If you would like to serve as a Men’s Fraternity prayer warrior, then email me.

Bondye beni ou (God bless you),

Mike

Mike McClanahan
Men’s Minister
First Baptist Hendersonville