Larry Gleason
On February 7 the Men’s Christian Fellowship heard Shelly Volk’s inspiring and challenging message “Sharing Your Faith with Others.” With Shelly was his close friend, Michael Cordara, an accomplished guitarist and singer. Michael, who has performed in churches around the country, strummed/sang three touching songs praising Jesus. Shelly, a Messianic Jew, and his wife June have been in the Valley since 1987. He served as pastor of a large church in Paradise Valley and in 2013 he and June founded “Shelly dan June Volk Ministries.” Based in Scottsdale their mission is to bring Jesus to the Jewish people. For the past several weeks Shelly has been filling in as leader of PebbleCreek’s Men’s Bible Study on Tuesday mornings.
Shelly opened his message by sharing a “burden on his heart” which is to see a spiritual revival start in PebbleCreek. He stated that God has His reasons as to why the Men’s Christian Fellowship members are living in PebbleCreek, noting the members and most of their friends living here are approaching their “closing time” on earth. Shelly strongly encouraged the men in the Fellowship to take advantage of opportunities to share Jesus Christ with any non-believer friends so these individuals don’t spend eternity in a place where they don’t have to be. He stressed it is the essence of Christian life to share the Word with others. While it is important we attend church, Shelly emphasized we also should “live the church” each day when we are with other people. He reminded the Fellowship not only is God in church but He is just as present when we are participating in any PebbleCreek activities, whether it be organizations, clubs or sports like golf or pickleball. As a result, Christians living in PebbleCreek should look for opportunities to share Jesus in all of their activities. Shelly emphasized “if the Gospel within us isn’t touching others, then it is not alive in us.” Using scriptural references from the Psalms, Job, and the scriptures, Shelly Volk’s message was a challenging, motivating reminder of what Christians living in PebbleCreek could and should be doing in regards to their faith.
On March 7 the Men’s Christian Fellowship is fortunate to hear Rod Handley present Character Counts-Who’s Counting Yours? Rod is the founder and president of Character That Counts, a ministry that was established in July 2000. Rod is also the co-founder of Teaching Guys Infinite Wisdom (TGIW) a ministry which began in Lee’s Summit, MO in September 2001. Today, TGIW groups are meeting all over the world.
From 1986-1999, Rod served on the staff of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) including 11 years as FCA’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer. He has also spoken at hundreds of chapel services for a number of NFL, NBA and MLB teams, including serving as team chaplain for the Kansas City Royals (1995-2009) and the Seattle SuperSonics (1986-89). Since founding his “Character That Counts” ministry, Rod has spoken all across the nation to men, women and teenagers about character, integrity and accountability issues. He has published over 20 books including Character Counts-Who’s Counting Yours? which details how to begin the process of being accountable to one another. Rod and his wife Janna live in Lee’s Summit, MO and they have four children (ages 17-24).
The Fellowship’s meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m. in the Tuscany Falls Chianti Room. Coffee and pastries will be available for purchase at 7:00 in the Tuscany Falls Coffee Bar, adjacent to the Chianti Room. All men residing in PebbleCreek are invited to attend to hear Rod Handley’s stimulating message.