Week 4 Day 4 : MENTOR

I have decided that today’s e-mail will be about the greatest knowledge and insight of the mentor/protégé relationship. Episode #140: The Fatigues.  What show is this: of course…Seinfeld. Do you remember the episode? Personally I took a quiz on this show online and I got a perfect score. (By the way, if you are a Seinfeld freak, e-mail me back and we can talk about it forever.) If you don’t know much about Seinfeld, what is wrong with you? This e-mail could be worthless to you.

 

Here’s the premise… Jerry is dating Abby, a business professional, who also has a mentor named Cynthia. Cynthia is also a business professional who has taken Abby under her wing. Cynthia is also dating Kenny Bania, another comedian who loves writing comedy bits on Ovaltine and other chocolate drinks. George is preparing to give a talk to the Yankees on Risk Management, a subject he knows nothing about but was apparently on his resume. Elaine is having trouble with Eddie, a guy who wears fatigues all the time and speaks in blood-and-guts imagery. As it turns out, the reason he behaves like that is because he liked a girl and the relationship just kinda fizzled out. Jerry is a little weirded out by the whole thing. He thinks Bania sucks as a comedian and therefore Cynthia sucks for dating him and therefore something must not be right with Abby for being mentored by someone who dates Bania. All three of them go to see Bania’s act, which doesn’t go well. That causes Abby and Cynthia to have a big fight, which ends their mentor/protégé relationship. As Jerry finally wants to move forward, Abby needs time to get herself right by going to her next mentor… George Costanza. George introduces her to the subject of Risk Management in hopes that Abby can learn about it and write his speech for him. Jerry, meanwhile, attempts to mentor his new protégé… Kenny Bania. He writes some great stuff on Ovaltine. Unfortunately, the files areswitched, George gives a talk on Ovaltine, while Bania has an act on risk management. Needless to say, hijinx is laced throughout.

In the world of comedy, Jerry could be your mentor! “Ovaltine, why do they call it ovaltine? The jar is round, the cup us round. They should call it roundtine. Gold Jerry, Gold.”

In the world of risk management, George Costanza could be your mentor. Even though he knows nothing about it.  (I debated for a long time about whether to put the picture in just his skivvies in this e-mail.) By the way, I’d love to have this guy as my mentor, think of the laughs.

Or, Kenny Bania could be your protégé. For a lot of believers, they may be a hack now, but you could develop him/her into a real man of God. All it would take to turn a hack into a performer is a mentor. Think about the spiritual implications of that statement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I hope this e-mail made you consider the mentor/protégé relationship. Mentor someone today. Take them from where they’re at and point them to Christ. You’ll be glad that you did.

 

 - fellow mentor

Week 4 Day 3 : MENTOR

Hey guys.

Have you ever been to Mentor, Ohio? Yes, it is a real town located about 30 minutes East of Cleveland. Check out their webpage at www.cityofmentor.com  It looks nice, what do you think?

That’s a picture of a couple kids at the beach.  We are actually going to live in the city of Mentor this week. Let me tell you some of the great things in Mentor, Ohio.

They have 12 city parks (the beach)

A nice golf course. (the golf course)

A great exercise program. (the jazzercise)

And a fantastic senior center. (The old people in the pool. It wasn’t the water that’s responsible for the wrinkles.)

Oh, and they have trained killers walking around as well with killer dogs.

Nothing says mentor like a bunch of seniors synchronized swimming, people sweating to the oldies, and guys dressed in black carrying heavy artillery. Now, I’m not encouraging any of this behavior. In fact, get as far away from this as possible. But I am encouraging you to be a mentor. Come alongside your friends in their spiritual journeys. Some of your friends have all the facts, but need to know how to walk with God. Show them how. Some of your friends are struggling in different areas. With a correct amount of grace and truth, point them to Christ. He knows how to draw people to Himself. Keep up the good work. Also, don’t forget to continue to initiate conversations. You can do it.

 

-A fellow mentor

Week 4 Day 2 : MENTOR

I hope everyone had a chance to be a mentor yesterday. Whether you did or not, you can still be one today. Go for it.

 

Today’s MENTOR of the day is:

Mr. Miyagi!!!!!!! This guy is the man. He took a pipsqueak like Daniel-San and made him into… well… a pipsqueak who won a few karate matches. My favorite part was when Mr. Miyagi beat up all those dudes dressed as skeletons. Remember that Daniel was dressed like a shower and poured water into the stall while Johnny was going #2? That was a good trick, but if you can’t run fast, it’ll only end up costing you in the end. Think about that before trying it yourself.

 

We’ll all be spiritual Mr. Miyagis today. There are hundreds of Daniel-Sans out there getting beat up and embarrassed, and being called a loser, and not quite getting the girls, and hiding their black eyes form their moms, and playing soccer in this world. They need you as a mentor. Tell somebody to paint your fence or wax your car today. Also, teach them the art of the crane-kick. But in all seriousness, Mr. Miyagi helped Daniel a lot. He taught him essential moves, discipline, and to believe in himself. Likewise, you will be teaching your protégés knowledge of God, disciplines (reading, praying, etc.), and to believe in Jesus. There’s nothing better you can do with your time. 

 

Your challenge is this: take a spiritual pipsqueak and develop him/her into a more intimate follower of Christ. They’ll still be a pipsqueak (we all are), but will be closer to and more like Christ.

 

-A fellow mentor.

Week 4 Day 1 : MENTOR

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have made it to week #4. It’s a pretty cool place to be. I hope you all know that this is not our last week of being cojourners. This only begins a lifetime of coming alongside peoples’ spiritual journeys and pointing them to Christ. So, these e-mails have been a hodge-podge of hilarious hijinx and hoopla. Have they made you think of the task at hand? I hope so. So this week’s mission is to be a mentor. What exactly is a mentor?

A mentor is a figure out of Greek mythology… oh… ah… nevermind. Actually, a Minotaur is very similar to how we want to live as mentors. We want to be ferocious about the Gospel and people knowing it. (How do you like that tie-in?) If you don’t look like a Minotaur, consider yourself lucky. If you do, consider shaving… or living in the wild.

 

Well dictionary.com says a mentor is: A wise and trusted counselor or teacher. So that’s what we’ll be this week: a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. Well, the first thing we have to be is wise. (Not a wiseguy.) Remember James 1:5 says that we are to ask the Lord for wisdom and he gives generously to all without finding fault. Then we need to be trusted. Hopefully, your friends have decided that you are trustworthy. That takes time. You’ve been building trust this whole month and most likely long before that if you knew them. The last part is a counselor or teacher. You have something that your student most likely doesn’t: knowledge and experience. Your role is to pass what you know onto others.

 

I still remember the man who mentored me. He taught me a lot and I still remember much of what he taught me and what we did together. He left a legacy that still lives on through the men he mentored and the men they mentor and on. You have the opportunity to leave a legacy as well. If someone you shared with decided to give his/her life to Christ, that is awesome! Teach them the fundamentals of the faith: how to walk with God, how to pray, how to share their faith, etc. If not, you can still play the role of a mentor. Continue to teach your non-believing (or should I say pre-believing?) friends what you know about God. They will be lessons that your friends won’t soon forget, regardless of what they think now.

 

I can’t stress enough how exciting it is to be a mentor. You have the opportunity to mold young minds after yours. It’s really cool. Go after it this week. But, let’s not forget our goals. Continue to go through the Cojourner devotional. It’s great. Also, initiate exploration conversations with 3 new friends this week. And continue in conversation with friends you’ve made throughout the week.

 

I look forward to hearing your stories.

 

-A fellow MENTOR

Week 3 Day 5 : BUILDER

Well, based on popular demand, our builder of the day is…

Bob the BUILDER.

 

I don’t know much about this guy. (You’re wondering whether I actually do or not.) My recommendation is to check out the website. It’s www.bobthebuilder.com. The first thing I notice is that you can check out the site in English, French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and German. Yes, I do know these languages. Actually, now that I checked the website out, my advice is this. Don’t check it out. It’s kinda dumb. But, if you’re into computer games, you can play a kickin’ game of tic-tac-toe (Personally, I won more games than I lost. If you lose, some weird character gives a weird weasel-monkey laugh. It’s the noise that a construction worker would make if they were laughing while using a huge jackhammer. ((Have you ever seen that, by the way? Well, I bet the four other guys he was working with probably did. You know how whenever you pass a construction site, you see one guy working (maybe) and then another 5 just watching. I know, I worked in construction one summer. I made sure that I was one of the 5 watching.))) Where was I… Oh yeah, and I also played a maze game. If you don’t figure that one out, Tommy’s gonna have to hit you over the head with a tack-hammer, ‘cause you’re a retard. (That only goes for adults. Kids are exempt from that last statement. Although I don’t know why any kids would be getting this. Tommy Boy reference. Please don’t take offense.) Oh, Bob also has friends. One’s a bulldozer. One’s a 4-wheeler. One’s a steam-roller. We, as builders, have friends too. They are called the 4-spiritual laws, Satisfied books, More than a Carpenter, www.everydetroitstudent.com, and any of the thousands of resources out there that help us point people to Christ and answer questions.

 

But the great thing about being a builder is this: anyone can do it. The difference between you and the 5 construction workers is that you don’t have to just sit around and watch. Get in there and make it happen. If you haven’t taken that step this week, challenge yourself to do it today. When your friends tell you about the reasons they don’t believe, think about Bob. And then build bridges over or around those issues. Bob would.

 

-A fellow BUILDER

Week 3 Day 4 : BUILDER

Today, we’re going to play a little game. It’s little because there’s only one question. It’s a game because it’s fun and also challenging. It’s a guessing game.

 

Guess which one is the builder.

Take a few seconds to figure it out and then look at the answer below.

 

 

 

Did you say…? NO. This guy is supposed to be a police officer. He arrests perps and dances quite nicely.

 

Did you say…? NO. This guy here is actually a cowboy. He could build a reputation if he holds-up trains and is a quick draw, but he’s not the guy.

 

Did you say…? NO. Again, another wrong guess. I think Alex here is in the Navy. Thus, a sailor, or midshipman. He can build subs I guess, but he’s not the guy we’re looking for.

 

Did you say…? NO. I thought this was going to be easy. The preferred nomenclature for this guy is Native-American.

 

 

Did you say…? NO… Heck No. No. Uggghhhh. No.

 

 

Did you say…?  YEAH! You got it. Finally. This guy is the builder. We should all be like him this week.

 

I hope this game didn’t freak you out. Remember to build bridges over obstacles this week. Show your friends how the Gospel relates to their lives. If it helps remember key phrases like “Y.M.C.A.,” “In the Navy,” or even “Macho, macho man. I got to be a macho man!” That should give us the encouragement we need to be builders.

 

-A fellow BUILDER.

 

p.s. This e-mail has hit a new low for me. You know it and I know it. But, we can only go up from here.

Week 3 Day 3 : BUILDER

Hey guys and gals. How is everything going today? Have you begun to see what a wild experience being a builder is? We’re all spiritual Al Borlands and Bob Vilas this week. How are your flannel shirts holding up? Also, just as a reminder, seeing the top of your crack may be acceptable in the construction world, but if you show it while sharing your faith it’ll be more than a little creepy. It does not point people to Christ.

 

I’ve been thinking. (Yeah, I know.) We, as builders, should be all things to all people. We should also make people cry and have cool facial hair (just guys). In honor of these characteristics, that brings us to today’s builder.

Ty Pen…Pad…Paddington or Something (Here, I’m going to pretend that I don’t know his last name. That way, you won’t know that I watch his show, cry after each episode, or want to be him.) But, he does have all the characteristics of a builder. He gets along with everybody, he makes people cry, and he has cool facial hair. The soul patch, or cho-tee, as I like to call it was first originated by the early church leaders. Bartholomew had one. If you don’t know, he stars on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They build nice homes for families who are distraught and needy. Well, everyday you run into people who are needy. They need Christ. And you are able to build homes for them. Mansions actually… in heaven. (Here I must say that theologically you do not build the mansions. God is the one who draws people to himself and prepares a place for them.) But he uses us. Isn’t that awesome? People are needy, but there are many obstacles that prevent them from believing. So, be a builder today. Bring them past those obstacles and allow them to see Christ. He is worth knowing.

 

-A fellow BUILDER