This week we explored the simple biblical truth of the Law of the Harvest; you reap what you sow.

In case you missed the haunting images of Moammar Gadhafi’s capture and subsequent execution, it could not have happened to a more a deserving guy.  Here’s a man who oppressed his own people for 42 years, personally presided over the execution of dissidents, bombed his own countrymen killing thousands of innocent civilians, while clinging to power. He had a history of authorizing state-sponsored terrorism, gave crazy speeches about annihilating Israel, ordered terrorist acts against Americans, with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie and a Berlin disco.  The list goes on…

The funny part is that after years of cruelty he expected to be treated fairly by his people.  He was suggesting to his captors, “I am like your father” and questioned them saying, “Do you not know right from wrong?”

But what is ironic is that during this civil war, he repeatedly called the rebels overthrowing his dictatorship “rats” and yet when he was captured, he was pulled from a sewer, where he was hiding, and pleading for his life, saying, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”

“Huh?”  Are you kidding me?

His crop just came in, full bloom.  It took 42 years to harvest this, but he finally reaped what he had sown.

Just because the seeds of our harvest have not germinated into a crop, we should not be deceived.  What we put into the ground, is what we get out of it; eventually.

If we are unhappy with the current state of the field we sit in; its time to weed it, and start planting seeds of life.

If our field is clear, and we have been sowing it with life-giving seeds, be assured, a good crop will come in, eventually.

We all reap what we sow, there’s no way around it.

We reap more than we sow, and we reap after we sow…and those are the topics we will explore these next two weeks.

Hope to see you next Wednesday.

Invest, and Invite!!!

pat

Pat Mancuso
patmancuso@mac.com
(703) 401-8302
FUEL
See our Blog at: https://menoffuel.com/blog

“It’s what you need to keep you going…”

Our mission is to create a comfortable, relevant and honest environment where men can explore and discuss aspects of life, purpose and faith.

We accomplish our mission by reviewing pertinent issues in men’s lives, examining them through relevant biblical principles, followed by a time of discussion with other men.

Wednesday mornings, September through May…and beyond
6:30 AM to 7:30 AM @ Hidden Creek Country Club, Reston, VA.

http://www.hiddencreekcc.com

Men of Fuel

Not long after my father retired from the Navy, my parents bought a 135 acre farm in Stanardsville Va.  Stanardsville is about a two hour drive from Northern Virginia and is about halfway between Culpepper and Charlottesville.  My father had grown up on a farm in Gainesville Wisconsin, so this farm was sort of homecoming for him.  So not long after painting a huge white anchor on the red barn (I am not kidding), my father started taking on additional “Farming” activities.
One of the first activities was planting corn in the lower field of their property, which was only second to buying all of the farm equipment needed to plant corn in the lower field.  I was there that day for “Corn planting day”, and I must say that planting corn is about as much fun as, well, planting corn.  I left the next day, and drove past acres of turned up earth, yet the next time I came back to visit my parents those acres of upturned earth were now covered with guess what?  You guessed it: Corn.
Now while that may seem like an exercise in the obvious, what if that same were true in our lives?  What if some of the things we were experiencing in our lives right now were not just random occurrences, but rather the direct outcome of a previous action?  If that were true would it benefit us to make the connection?  Would it allow us to change future experiences?
Come on out this Wednesday as we plant the seeds of our new four week series titled: The Law of the Harvest.

Invest and Invite,

D.R.

Men of Fuel;

Last week we discussed the weight of words and the impact those words can have on the people and the environments around us.  We were challenged for one week, to only speak words of life…and I want to report that this effort was much harder than I ever considered.

To WAIT on my words…so that the weight of the words that leave my lips are encouraging and uplifting…

The words we use deliver a message of either life OR death; and the fruit of those words are what we eat…

So I can tell you, I ate some sour apples this week, as I chose to use some words and I reacted to situations expressing my frustration and anger…but there was a difference.  I actually noticed this time, and saw the consequences.

I was actually aware of the words I used, and I was shocked by how much easier it was to NOT levy a negative opinion, or express a dissatisfaction…because nobody really wanted to hear my negative words; rather, I just wanted to SAY them.

For example, when I chose to vent about how dysfunctional my son’s football league is run, I could hear crickets chirping in the background.  Nobody really cared, but me.  I was eating my own words of death…

So when speaking with my sons this week, I was much more deliberate and thoughtful in the words I used for correction.  Now, that did not necessarily pay dividends with their actions, but my reaction to them probably shocked them.  And I can honestly say, my youngest son sought to be around my presence a lot more this week.  He was drawn to his Father simply because I did not utter any words of death…but rather was intentional about speaking words of life, encouragement, and confidence.

Funny, huh?  Say a few nice words, and suddenly people want to be around you?

So that leads me to this question, “Who has two thumbs, a knuckle head, and sits alone at his son’s football game?”
Sadly, this guy.  But at least, now I understand why…

I know I am not the only one who was challenged this week, so I encourage you to join us this Wednesday morning as Dr. Clark continues the conversation on the “Weight of our Words.”

Invest, Encourage, Invite…

pat

Pat Mancuso
patmancuso@mac.com
(703) 401-8302
FUEL
See our Blog at: https://menoffuel.com/blog

“It’s what you need to keep you going…”

Our mission is to create a comfortable, relevant and honest environment where men can explore and discuss aspects of life, purpose and faith.

We accomplish our mission by reviewing pertinent issues in men’s lives, examining them through relevant biblical principles, followed by a time of discussion with other men.

Wednesday mornings, September through May…and beyond
6:30 AM to 7:30 AM @ Hidden Creek Country Club, Reston, VA.

http://www.hiddencreekcc.com

—
See our blog at https://menoffuel.com/blog and leave your comments

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Men of Fuel;

There is a saying among children that many of us have said or at least were told to say when we were younger: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”.  To be honest, I don’t think there could be anything further from the truth.  After all broken bones quickly mend, yet many of us can probably point to words that have caused wounds that are far from healing.

If you have ever been impacted by the words of others, or impacted others with your words, come on out and join us this coming Wednesday for our new series “ The Weight of our Words”

Invest and Invite

D.R.
—
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Men of Fuel;

Last week we discussed how difficult it is for us to change.  We are often set in our ways and styles, and sadly, in many aspects of our lives, that inability or unwillingness to change makes us ineffective, out-dated and sometimes, even irrelevant.

We then looked at how God’s relationship with His people has been ever-changing; from his time speaking directly to Adam and Eve in the Garden, to moving into the Tabernacle with the Levites, in the Ark of the Covenant with the priests, to revealing himself through the Law, to sending Christ to live among us, to the indwelling of His Spirit…from the Old Testament to the New…

What we learned is that despite this change, God Himself remains the same.  But because His people changed in many ways, He changed the way He revealed himself.  Just think: the Israelites began as a small chosen sect from a promise to one man, then they grew to many; they were mostly stationary, then they were tribal, then were nomadic, then they were enslaved, then they were free, (at least physically)…God’s people changed so God changed the way he met them.  His presence did not change, but his PRESENTATION did.

Upon reflection, I started to think about what used to get me out of bed 10 years ago to start going to TFM, the predecessor of Fuel.  Lord knows, it was NOT an email blast that got me to wake up an hour or two earlier and roll out of bed, it was a personal invitation.

After digesting DR’s message, I began thinking about the people I had invited to our Kick Off and whom I hoped would magically show up.  Each of them had been invited several times before.  But why would they suddenly accept my email invitation? This was probably the 4th time I sent them an invite, and frankly, my invitation was old.  My pitch to them was irrelevant and I am convicted by this revelation.  And I have to admit that my time has been poorly spent trying invite people with the exact same “presentation” expecting a different result.

There’s a guy DR and I know who has he’s led this “Swing-Dance” ministry for years.  It used to be the “thing” in the 40’s and was briefly popular in the 90’s…but its so old.  And the only people who join it, are the same people week after week, year after year. But its the only thing this guy really likes to do, and he’s limiting his reach and growth to a dying breed.  But don’t we have a tendency to do that?  It used to work…like my pastel-colored Ski jacket.  But how many people are being reached by Swing Dancing today?  Disco and the whole retro scene would attract more people…

Am I alone in this, or is there anyone out there that has been using the same presentation somehow expecting different results?  Perhaps it’s the way you present yourself to your boss, or your co-workers, your family, or your friends. Heck, there’s a slide in a PowerPoint Presentation that I use at work to pitch my services, that someone created about 7 years ago.  It’s tired, even I am sick of seeing it, yet its in every presentation I give.  It’s time for a new slide.

Maybe it’s the way you present your beliefs to the same group?  Has our presentation just become an old outdated approach that allows us to check some box saying we did what we were “supposed” to do?

What would it look like if we changed our presentation, or better yet what if we started to consider first those we were making the presentation to?  Would that change things?  What if it even allowed different results, would it be something we would consider?

Come on out Wednesday as we “present” part II of our series “Our Go to Market Strategy”

Invest first, then invite…and stop the swing dance…:)

Pat Mancuso
patmancuso@mac.com
(703) 401-8302
FUEL
See our Blog at: https://menoffuel.com/blog

“It’s what you need to keep you going…”

Our mission is to create a comfortable, relevant and honest environment where men can explore and discuss aspects of life, purpose and faith.

We accomplish our mission by reviewing pertinent issues in men’s lives, examining them through relevant biblical principles, followed by a time of discussion with other men.

Wednesday mornings, September through May…and beyond
6:30 AM to 7:30 AM @ Hidden Creek Country Club, Reston, VA.

http://www.hiddencreekcc.com