With DSC’s Men’s Retreat just one  month away (May 3-4, register here), here’s an interview with DSC’s Men’s Ministry leader, Marvin Gibson.

1) Tell us a little about your new role over DSC’s Men’s Ministry. 

I am the deacon that has been charged with developing our Men’s Ministry at DSC and Ron Giese is my Men’s Ministry elder. In our DSC Men’s Ministry mission statement, it says, “The Men’s Ministry of Desert Springs Church (DSC) exists to challenge men to live for God’s glory and not their own”. I will be the first to confess, I am not an expert or someone to point to as a man consistently living for God’s glory and not my own. But I have a desperate desire to seek His will in this area and I have many brothers in DSC that have told me they have this same desire. So, I want to be used by God to develop a men’s ministry where our faith is strengthened, where we can invest in each other, and live for God’s glory.

I also want to mention that I have a team of men working to help guide and shape this ministry, including, David Gidlow, Jason Mancini, Lee Scott, and Jim Tate.

2) We’re looking forward to the Men’s Retreat at the beginning of May. I know you are leading the charge for this retreat. Where did the idea come from?

Hah! To say that I am leading the charge for the Men’s Retreat might be a bit of an overstatement. Before Ron talked to me about working with him on men’s ministry, he talked to the men in my huddle group who endorsed me enthusiastically. And after Ron and I prayed about this opportunity, I was eager to jump in and lead in this area of ministry to men. And as soon as my huddle group knew that I was committed, the first thing they said was, “Marvin, when is our Men’s Retreat?” So, I cannot say I had the idea for our Men’s Retreat but I do hope I can be part of increasing the frequency of our Men’s Retreat to once a year rather than once every three or so years.

In terms of the theme, I surveyed all of our men’s huddle groups and other men in DSC and about 80% of the men said they want spiritual leadership to be the theme for this retreat. And this can be spiritual leadership in our homes, at our work places, at DSC, and in our lives. The crucial question for every man is, how may I live for God’s glory as a man in my various roles?

3) Tell us about our speaker, Michael Kelshaw. Who is he and what will he speak about? 

Our speaker, the Reverend Michael Kelshaw, is the teaching pastor and the men’s ministry pastor at Trinity at the Marketplace in Albuquerque.  He was a speaker at our DSC Man Conference in 2011 and you can listen to those sessions here.

As I said earlier, Michael will speak to the theme of spiritual leadership. The title for this retreat is “Walk This Way”, and our foundational scripture is Joshua 24:15, “… But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Michael will teach three sessions. The first session will be based in Psalm 1:1-6, the second session will be based on Joshua 24:14-28, and the third session will be based on Ephesians 5:22-6:4.

4) What are your hopes for this retreat in the life of our church? 

My hopes for this retreat are that the men of DSC, and Redemption Church, and Trinity at the Marketplace have fun, are challenged as men, and come away with a better picture of what spiritual leadership looks like. I also have a hope that men will find other men to do one-on-one Bible reading together and develop deeper relationships where they can continue to build each other up.

Our DSC Men’s Ministry mission statement speaks to our need to live for God’s glory and not our own. It continues: We do this by putting men with other men in (1) retreat settings, (2) small-group settings that we call “huddles,” and (3) accountability settings of 2-4 men. In these settings we seek to learn truth from the Scriptures, confess sin, and encourage faithfulness and purity in all our relationships.”

We have our men’s huddles today, and we will have a retreat. But I don’t want this retreat to be a peak experience that we forget. My hope is that this is a retreat where men can get together, side by side, as we men find that most comfortable; but by the end of the retreat, my hope is some number of men want to continue face to face in biblical relationship where they read the Bible together, hold each other accountable, build each other up, and seek to live for God’s glory together. Even as I write this, I am all the more convicted that this is exactly what I need. But I am encouraged that I have many brothers with the same desperate desire.

Some have asked if this is a father-son retreat. To clarify, this is not designed to specifically be a father-son retreat, but that is not to say father’s should not bring their sons. Some sons are already men, and all sons are being groomed to be men. If you have a son that would benefit from being with us, then they are welcome to attend.

5) Okay, I’m sold. I’m a guy and I want to go on the retreat. What should I do?

First, you should find ten other guys, get them to go, and take advantage of the group discount that does not exist for this event; just kidding, of course . . . kind of. I do encourage you to talk to other men, encourage them to go, and even go as a Community Group. As far as registering, you can register at the DSC Men’s Ministry page. You can opt to pay online or to pay in person, but registration is required.

Eat first or bring snacks (part of our teambuilding) for the first night, and breakfast and lunch are provided on Saturday. Sleeping is in a large bunkhouse (more teambuilding) but if you have special requirements, there are some apartment rooms available.

Last of all, the location is Oro Quay Retreat Center in the east mountains and our retreat will be the only event on the property from May 3-4.

Here’s a video from a new song we sang on Easter Sunday, “Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!,” by Keith and Kristyn Getty.

[RSS and email readers, click here to view this video]

Lyrics:

1. How can it be, the One who died,
Has borne our sin through sacrifice
To conquer every sting of death?
Sing, sing hallelujah.

2. For joy awakes as dawning light
When Christ’s disciples lift their eyes.
Alive He stands, their Friend and King;
Christ, Christ He is risen.

Chorus:
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Oh, sing hallelujah.
Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed;
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.

3. Where doubt and darkness once had been,
They saw Him and their hearts believed.
But blessed are those who have not seen,
Yet, sing hallelujah.

4. Once bound by fear now bold in faith,
They preached the truth and power of grace.
And pouring out their lives they gained
Life, life everlasting.

5. The power that raised Him from the grave
Now works in us to powerfully save.
He frees our hearts to live His grace;
Go tell of His goodness.

Buy the song on Amazon, here. Review more music by Keith and Kristyn Gettyn at gettymusic.com.

On Wednesday night, Ryan preached a sermon from Matthew 26:36-46, titled, “Dark Gethsemane.” There at Gethsemane, as Ryan said, Jesus was in aguish in what laid before him so that we wouldn’t have to fear death.

This passage raises a number of questions that we weren’t able to explore concerning the relationship of Jesus to his Father. With perfect timing, just yesterday an article was published to the Gospel Coalition Blog dealing with one of the questions raised by this text.

The article was titled, “You Asked: Does Gethsemane Separate the Trinity?” Here’s the question submitted by a reader of the TGC Blog:

When Jesus says to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane, “not as I will, but as you will” (Mt.26:39), how should we think of this relationships within the Trinity? Did the Son have a different desire or will from the Father?

Great question. Click here for a reply from John McKinley.

This image is the top of a new invitation page for this weekend’s Good Friday and Easter Services.

This is something like a digital version of the invitation cards we have made available for years. Those cards are especially useful for the people we meet in the course of our day around town. But for the people we socialize with on a regular basis, this should come in especially handy. The digital space is where so much of our communication takes place already.

So, use it. Use it to invite friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to catch a glimpse of heaven in the singing, celebrating, and preaching of Christ’s resurrection this weekend. Link to it in an email, or use the little buttons at the bottom of the page to share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Google +.

Some things are meant to be shared. The resurrection is one of them. See you this weekend!

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
– 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

There is nothing more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We remember and celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection each Sunday, and we do so in a focused way this time each year.

Since this week is also the week of our monthly Lord’s Supper gathering, we have the opportunity to gather as a church on three separate days. We would encourage you to make plans to participate in each service, and to invite your friends, family, and neighbors to join along.

To help you prepare, here are details and sermon texts for each of this week’s services.

Lord’s Supper, March 27 (6:30 PM)

On Wednesday night (tonight!) Ryan will preach from Matthew 26:36-56 where Jesus prayed to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest.

Good Friday, March 29 (6:30 PM)

On Friday evening Ryan will preach from Matthew 27:32-44, the account of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Childcare will be provided for children four years and younger.

Easter Sunday, March 31 (7:30, 9:00, and 10:45 AM)

On Easter Sunday Ryan will preach from Acts 2:22-41, a record of one of the first proclamations of the resurrection of Christ.

Notice that we are hosting an early 7:30 AM service on this Sunday. Child care will be available only at the two later services.

Now about that 7:30 AM service. If your situation allows, please make plans to join us for the 7:30 AM service. Historically our later two services have been quite full, and we have needed to ask many of our guests to attend the service in the overflow room (Youth Room). Joining us at 7:30 AM will help ensure that visitors to our later services feel welcome and have a place to sit, even if they show up a bit late. Thanks for helping us be hospitable.