30 Dec OMMA Apologetic (14 of 14)
FOURTEEN (14 of 14): HOW WE WORK TO GET THERE…
Our Mission at On Mission Martial Arts is:
“TO CHANGE LIVES FOR GOD’S GLORY, USING CHRIST-CENTERED MARTIAL ARTS.”
This series of 14 blog posts seeks to define what we mean by glorifying God and what that looks like in our lives as a follower of Christ and what it looks like in the activities we participate in within our OMMA community.
Thanks for reading!
Marco
FOURTEEN (14 of 14): HOW WE WORK TO GET THERE…
To recap this series of posts, our desire is to glorify God through all that do at OMMA. We realize that we do that by acknowledging, exhibiting and reflecting His character. One way we do that is through growth in the Fruit of the Spirit which only comes when we are reborn of the Spirit because of the saving work of Christ, by grace, through faith. We engage in the battle against our old sin nature, the corrupt world system and Satan, by participating in the God-ordained spiritual disciplines and by fighting against our three enemies with the tools our Lord Jesus has supplied us with. Body, mind and spirit work together to foster the warrior spirit where we are increasingly Aware, Equipped and Engaged to have victory in His strength. Martial arts, properly directed and redeemed, can be a tool for the Christian to grow in various ways for the good of the practitioner and to the glory of God!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
– Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV
Below are TEN specific key activities (among many) students will participate in during their journey as an On Mission Warrior, working toward their Black Belt and beyond. Our desire is to continually be improving how we integrate these into the OMMA program.
(1) Martial Arts Classes: Obviously, a significant portion of our time is developing the fitness, knowledge and skills required to be an improving martial artist able to defend ourselves and other innocent people.
(2) Times of focused Prayer: Each class and activity begins with prayer. We also have specific weekly topics, for example “Service, that serve to help give a prayer focus at times. Our OMMA Prayer Warrior team also serves to cover the ministry and all we do in prayer.
(3) Scripture Memorization: Someone once said, “without the Word of God, there is no ministry.” One key component of our On Mission Spiritual Fitness (OMSF) curriculum, is the memorization of carefully selected Scriptures.
(4) Scripture Reading and Journaling: Another portion of our OMSF curriculum as well as of OMMA Instructor Academy curriculum, are the disciplines of reading and journaling Scripture. We use a tool called “Journibles” for this portion of our training.
(5) Group outreaches: At least twice a year, we gather as a large OMMA community in partnership with our local churches and communities to hold group outreaches where we serve in tangible ways. Examples of these outreaches are packing hygiene kits and snack bags for the local homeless community or making Christmas gift show boxes through Operation Christmas Child.
(6) Individual outreaches: Part of the requirements to advance through our Belt System is the fulfillment of a students’ OMSF expectations. Included in those expectations are a certain number of “service points.” We have an On Mission Service Handbook that details various ways that the individual student can serve others in their families, neighborhoods, communities and the world.
(7) On Mission Moments: Targeted times during our martial arts classes where we might compare a physical skill we are practicing (strong “Stance”), with a spiritual truth (“standing on the Rock that is Christ”).
(8) Goal Setting: Martial arts is inherently goal driven, with a variety of Belt Ranks, Stripes and Instructor ranks to be earned along the journey. This allows for developing an improved set of goals and habits designed to reach those goals. This includes such things as developing a “Personal Integrated Disciplines Plan” – physical, mental and spiritual activities done on a daily, or regular basis.
(9) Retreats – martial arts and Christian fellowship, worship, prayer, study, etc. This is an area that we haven’t implemented as much as we’d like, but are hoping to do more so in the near future.
(10) Biblical character trait study & discussion & application: The exploration of the Character of Christ and how we can grow in Christ-likeness, is a key portion of our OMSF program and is something that will come up in our On Mission Moments (see #7 above) as well.
Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
Blessings,
Marco
OMMA Founder/Senior Instructor
Yondan – 4th Degree Black Belt
You can learn more about our “Methods” here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/omma_methods/
Only Today and Tomorrow remain to make a donation to OMMA and have it recorded for 2018. We need your help to continue GOING and GROWING in 2019. Thank you!
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