At our last meeting we discussed the difference between privledges and expectations. We EXPECT the right to drive our cars: a speeding ticket is a hassle and the cop is a meany for doing his/her job. In reality, we are issued licenses to drive as a privledge of the unofficial contract that we agree to maintain safety and respect of authority while driving.

Although, rights are privledges of citizenship (we can lose our "rights" if we are no longer a citizen), our generation and the generations following tend to demand rights. Do you find yourself fitting this thought pattern? Do you expect rights? Has this been an issue in any other areas of life?

High School:

The shortest time period of our adolescence often shapes the rest of our lives for better and for worse. What important high school events left a lasting impression on your life? What clubs, teams, or friends helped or held you back? What lessons did you learn then that you will never forget?

Hey Fellas,

REMINDER: Next meeting is this Saturday, September 3, 2005 at 7:30 PM.

We're going to add more structure to the meeting. Official end time will be 9:30 PM. Do stay as late as you desire (Curt won't mind), but feel free to take off after we "end."

7:30 - we will begin with fellowship; expect to begin discussion at 7:45 PM.

We understand that life get's in the way at times; but please TRY (with actual effort) not to be late.

Thanks!

Relationships: Part II

***Important: I recently learned that divorce rates are actually higher amongst Christians than amongst non-Christians... Thus we must seriously consider what it takes to maintain a relationship. If we are able to command a mountain to move, then surely we are capable of understanding and implementing methods of sustaining a relationship. However, in both cases, we must go to lengths of honoring one above ourselves to accomplish the feat.

As we may all have a different idea as to what it means to love and be loved, let's discuss this topic: What does it mean to love someone? What does it mean to love your wife/honor your husband? What challenges stand in the way of this? What labor is involved in overcoming the challenges?

In any relationship (buddy-buddy or husband-wife), there are set expectations, and usually conflicts arise when we do not understand or express our expectations. Let's discuss this topic of love/loving. By establishing and discussing expectations involved in a relationship, we may learn how to approach and resolve conflicts so as to make love the priority and not the expectation.

Encouragement

Credit to Terry Moss for this idea: What encouragement have you been blessed with lately? It could be about you. It could be about promises from God. It could be about job, family, or any other part of life. What makes you feel encouraged and alive?

Meeting Schedule for August and September:

Just to be super clear, I am posting our meeting schedule. We meet on the first and third Saturday of every month. Our next meetings fall on the following dates:

August 20, 2005
September 3, 2005
September 17, 2005


I'll blog the dates for October-Dec. later, this way the blog will be current with pending dates when you check it.

Rebekah Gole had an excellent question on her blog... She asked married men to give advice about marriage. Well, we have a group of guys who fall into both categories of married and unmarried.

Is there questions you want to ask (singles) or advice you want to give (married fellas) regarding relationships? Let's not exclude it to marriage: are there things you would avoid while dating? What helped you to find your wife? What was it like for the married guys to sort through the dating game and what is it like now?

Let's dig into this!

Hey Fellas,

Well, the reason for this forum is that we can discuss topics at our leisure, throughout the month. Please feel free to pose any questions. To begin, however, I'd like to tag onto Josh's topic of the media:

Do you feel any media pressure to conform to a facade? What is the facade? What is the pressure? What about this action, attitude, or mentality (facade) is problematic?

New Structure

Well, I don't mean to compile onto the lack of consistent structure in the lives of WVCC goers, but it is time to evaluate the structure of Iron Clad. Please feel free to comment on any of the following, suggestions are welcome (we are all Iron Clad).

As it is, Iron Clad is a once enter, never exit, always on-going group. There are some problems with this structure that warrant a change: what happens with major life changes? Do those who can not attend for a week-month-year then get uprooted? What happens when new guys want to attend? Do they simply jump in head first? Do they then get trapped? What happens when a meeting is canceled? Do we re-do that meeting or cancel it?

This is the structure that I am considering instead of the current vaguely standing scaffolding:

1. Meetings still take place on 1st and 3rd Saturday of Every month, 7:30 PM at Curt's

2. Four quarters of Iron Clad, three months in each quarter

A. August-October (regular meetings re-convene)- Quarter 1: FACING CURRENT ISSUES

B. November-January - Quarter 2: SPECIFIC BOOK STUDY - PRACTICAL APPLICATION

C. February-April - Quarter 3: SPECIFIC SCRIPTURE STUDY - PRACTICAL APPLICATION

D. May-July (relational transition for summer)- Quarter 4: SCHEDULED MEETINGS GIVE WAY TO INDEPENDENT RELATIONAL ACTIVITIES

3. Specific Categories for each quarter

In this structure, we would have the ability to adjust according to the seasons we are in; however, we would not belabor a topic that has overloaded us. It would allow life transitions to occur naturally, without the awkward exit/entrance. Although we would have the same purpose, this way we establish a vehicle to accomplish this purpose.

I'm completely interested in your feedback, so please feel free to comment - be brutal if you wish.

The Beginning

Welcome all to the Iron Clad blog. Unlike a traditional blog, this site will not be treated like one person's personal online journal. Instead, this forum will give us the opportunity to discuss issues and explore questions that we individually and corporately feel are relevant to our faith. Thus, let's be open to all that we might discuss in meetings. Anonymous postings are not only welcome but encouraged, as it is likely that lurkers and bloggers who are uninvolved with Iron Clad will be reading our postings. Let's challenge each other and really take advantage of this technology to build on the groundwork that we have already laid.