Archive for April, 2013


Apr 4

The Men’s Retreat is Near! An Interview with Marvin Gibson

2013 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Events

retreat_2013

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.

Apr 1

A Song for Worshipping the Risen Christ

2013 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Music and Singing

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.