Who are the Men of Faith Baptist Church?
At FBC, we believe that a man of God rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects God’s greater reward. Therefore, the Men’s Ministry exists to equip men to be the leaders God created them to be in their homes, in the church, and to the world through concerted prayer, purposeful Bible studies, and opportunities for sharpening in a community of godly men.
Recommended Reading for Men
The men of FBC recognize the importance of being well-read in the areas of biblical manhhood, godly husbandry, Christian parenting, worldview, ethics, apologetics, and in the Christian classics. Therefore, we encourage the men of Faith be diligent to throw off the trappings of childhood that define too many professing Christian men today in favor of growing in their faith through time invested in their own spiritual maturation. This list of recommended reading is a good starting place.
It is a common refrain in our Men’s Ministry that every husband and father must study to prepare himself to be a strong theologian for the sake of his wife and children, that he would be the effectual spiritual head of his home. Our Men’s discipleship training has this goal in mind.
Men’s Discipleship Studies – Three-Year Cycle
Knowing that we only have the men of Faith for the duration of their time stationed in Kaiserslautern, we have designed a thirty-six month discipleship plan for our brothers in Christ that includes these books in a semester like sequence on Wednesday nights:
(1) Distinctive Marks of Saving Faith, (2) The Godly Man’s Picture, (3) Reforming Marriage, (4) On the Incarnation, (5) Disciplines of a Godly Man, (6) Family Shepherds
Men’s Study Cohort – Three-Year Cycle
Meeting on Thursday nights, our thirty-six month Study Cohort focuses on (1) Systematic Theology (18 months), (2) Church History in Plain Language (6 months), (3) In Defense of the Bible (6 months), and (4) Pilgrim’s Progress (6 months).
Current Men’s Discipleship Study – Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.
In Defense of the Bible gathers exceptional articles by accomplished scholars (Paul Copan, William A. Dembski, Mary Jo Sharp, Darrell L. Bock, etc.), addressing and responding to all of the major contemporary challenges to the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture.
The book begins by looking at philosophical and methodological challenges to the Bible—questions about whether or not it is logically possible for God to communicate verbally with human beings; what it means to say the Bible is true in response to postmodern concerns about the nature of truth; defending the clarity of Scripture against historical skepticism and relativism. Contributors also explore textual and historical challenges—charges made by Muslims, Mormons, and skeptics that the Bible has been corrupted beyond repair; questions about the authorship of certain biblical books; allegations that the Bible borrows from pagan myths; the historical reliability of the Old and New Testaments.
Current Men’s Study Cohort – Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.
We are currently studying John Calvin’s magnum opus Institutes of the Christian Religion. Written as an introduction to the Christian life, the Institutes remains the best articulation of Reformation principles and is a marvelous introduction to biblical Christianity. Newly retypeset for clarity, this volume translated by Henry Beveridge offers a more affordable edition of one of the last millennium’s must-have works. This book will appeal to libraries, seminarians, pastors, and laypeople.
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin is an introduction to the Bible and a vindication of Reformation principles by one of the Reformation’s finest scholars. At the age of twenty-six, Calvin published several revisions of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a seminal work in Christian theology that altered the course of Western history and that is still read by theological students today. It was published in Latin in 1536 and in his native French in 1541, with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 (Latin) and in 1560 (French). The book was written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with some learning already and covered a broad range of theological topics from the doctrines of church and sacraments to justification by faith alone. It vigorously attacked the teachings of those Calvin considered unorthodox, particularly Roman Catholicism, to which Calvin says he had been “strongly devoted” before his conversion to Protestantism. The overarching theme of the book – and Calvin’s greatest theological legacy – is the idea of God’s total sovereignty, particularly in salvation and election.
John Calvin (1509-1564), a French theologian and Reformer, was persecuted as a Protestant. As a result, he traveled from place to place. In 1534 at Angouleme he began the work of systematizing Protestant thought in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, one of the most influential theological works of all time.
Men’s Service Opportunities
Children’s Ministry – Numerous roles are available to serve the young parents and children of Faith Baptist Church, especially during Sunday School.
AWANA (Children’s Discipleship Ministry) Club leaders and listeners are needed to serve the children of Faith Baptist Church and the greater Kaiserslautern community on Wednesdays.
Youth Ministry – Men and women are needed to serve as small group leaders.
Men & Sons’ Breakfast – If you want to help set up and cook, please be there at 6:30 a.m. Men, bring your Bibles and a 5 € donation per person. If you don’t have a son, but are a son, join us! (This event does not meet in June, July, August, and December.)