Refuge Christian Fellowship » Mens Fellowship

A Theology of Friendship

Keith Swafford — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:19:24 +0000

Below is the chart I drew on the whiteboard from last Men’s Fellowship. I know many of you asked for it, so hopefully it is helpful to you. If you would like a copy of the chart for reference please email me here. Also, below are resources that I used for my study and some other additional resources.

Friends in the Book of Proverbs

Fake	Foul	Faithful
Uses People	Quick to Criticize	Present in Trouble
-	Annoying	Can Handle Conflict
-	Can’t Be Trusted	Trustworthy
Prov. 27:6,19:4-6,14:20	Prov. 17:9,16:28,3:27-30,27:14	Prov. 27:9-10,27:17,18:24,22:11

Jesus the True Friend

Real	Sweet	Faithful
Seeks Our Interest	Slow to Anger	Sympathize & Comforts
-	Thoughtful & Tender	Dealt with Your Sin
-	Trustworthy	New Creation

Additional Resources

The Gift of Friendship – Kevin DeYoung (Article)
Friendship – Tim Keller (Sermon)
Lonely in LA – Tim Chaddick (Sermon)
The Four Loves – C.S. Lewis (Book)

The Infinite Worth of the Word of God

Keith Swafford — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:01:42 +0000

This last week at Men’s Fellowship we discussed how we as men can be devoted and discipled to the reading of God’s Word. We specifically hit how we need the Word, how we should approach the word, and then practical ways to read it. Below you will find a short video by John Piper that Char and I found during our preparation. The first five minutes and the last ten minutes are humbly to watch as Piper discusses why the Bible is infinitely valuable in our lives. The middle will give you some history how the KJV was created all the way to the ESV, which some of you I know may enjoy as well. For the men of Refuge I hope this video and more conversations to come will evoke strong feelings and allegiance to the Word of God as our source of life. Enjoy.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Men’s Fellowship Review: Justice

Keith Swafford — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:03:00 +0000

Below is a quick summary of the discussion in Men’s Fellowship last Monday concerning Justice:

Justice implies that there is truth which cannot be upheld unless there is a standard in place. We believe as Christians, that God has set the standard for truth and is truth. This standard is all encompassing, which brings order and rightness to God’s original intention for man and creation. God is just and he is the only one who can truly be just because he is the ultimate judge. God by nature is righteous and his righteousness leads him to act just with humanity.

As Christians we are to act justly as well. Justice is acting rightly or righteously in any given situation. Often the church has a narrow and extreme view of justice, which only pertains to serving the hungry, clothing the poor, and protecting the weak. All of which are justice, but are not the whole picture. Justice is demonstrating kindness to ones neighbor. Justice is spending the appropriate amount of time and attention with one’s family, friends, and other relationships. Justice is using one’s resources and using them to aid, serve, and bring about rightness now. It all points back to the standard, which God has established as right. All of these things and much more can be demonstrations of justice. Ultimately, we as Christians cannot discern when and how to justly act on our own. It is solely through the submission to the Spirit, which will allow proper action of justice in our lives.

“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.” Proverbs 28:5

Mens Fellowship Topic

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:28:17 +0000

Guys, we are introducing the new format for Men’s Fellowship.
We will be announcing the topic that we are covering in the next day or two. When we announce the topic, please be thinking of questions that relate to the topic and be sure to submit them over Twitter, Facebook or Email or Text Message.

Dates for Men’s Fellowship
December 5th and 20th at 6:30 PM
Dinner will be provided.
Invite a friend… Seriously.

Free Download – Men’s Retreat 2010 Audio

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:02:00 +0000

Back in May, the men of Refuge, piled into cars and made their way out to Alliance Redwoods in Occidental, CA for a weekend retreat. We had the opportunity to have Pastor Brian Brodersen from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa share with us over the course of the weekend.

We are making the recordings of the retreat available to you today as a free download. Along with the three session MP3′s, we have included 2 pieces of album art so you can use them in iTunes.

If you would like a copy on disc, we will have them available for $3.00 at the service. They will only come on 1 disc as MP3′s and you can burn them as you please.

Download Men’s Retreat Audio

( Artwork for the Men’s Retreat was designed by Peter Lundblad in collaboration with Keith Swafford, members of our local church body who are using their gifts to bring glory to God. )