What an incredible month of ministry. It all began as I traveled to West Bend, IL for the No Regrets Conference. I was at one of the Satellite churches for this dynamic conference that went out to over 30,000 men across North America. The theme this year was Take Root and challenged men to go deeper in their walk with God. My two main sessions were Fit For The Master’s Use and Getting To Know Your Very Best Friend. In the first I shared my personal story followed by a teaching on how to have an intimate relationship with God.
On Sunday, Community Church asked me to come share the message Armed…Ready For Battle. As you me know, this message may be one of the most important ones we have ever put together and chronicles the events surrounding Cindy’s incredible journey through her life-threatening illness and miracle recovery. It is amazing to me to see what God is doing with her moving story. So many people were blessed and came up afterward to share how timely it was as they were navigating tough times.
On the 19th I traveled to O’Fallon, IL to speak for my friend Tom Cheshire at his Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) conference. It was a huge turn out and I had the privilege of sharing twice. The first session was for pastors and leaders and dealt with the importance of their own spiritual preparedness to serve. I have found that so many of us who are in spiritual leadership today often ignore our own need to go deeper with God. The response was excellent as many of the leaders there indicated their need to hear and receive this important word of encouragement.
My second session was a brand new message for me. The title is Godly GrandFathering and comes out of my continued awareness of the importance of being a godly grandfather as I endeavor to be just that to my six precious grandchildren. There is a move on right now around our country being driven by some friends of mine. Ken Canfield, from the National Center For Fathering, Dan Erickson, from People Matter Ministries and Cavin Harper, from the Christian Grandparenting Network are combining to raise awareness for this important topic. They have asked me to help and I am excited to do so.
I will be bringing this session to my OTI group this week and it will be available on our site in the LiveStream area by week’s end. I would encourage you to go there and watch it—it relates to all men whether you are a Grandfather or not. The men appreciated the message and were challenged to go out and make a difference in the lives of young people—it is never too late.
Later this month I travel to Springfield, IL to speak to the ISI conference there. They are expecting upwards of 7-800 men. I will also be speaking at Koke Mill Church on that Sunday for my friend Pastor Stan Summers. For this conference I have been asked to close it out with the main plenary session on the topic, Real Christianity In An Un-real World. This significant message deals with our call to go out and be a light in this darkened world and is a wakeup call for many who struggle with how to make a difference in a world that seems to have gone mad.
As I close let me share some other exciting news. We have just signed a contract with Klik Marketing to help us move our ministry into the growing social media market. Now that our curriculum is nearly completed it is time to go viral, as they say. Please pray about this. While we are starting to get a lot more traction and attention for this resource, there is still much more to do to spread the word. The feedback we are getting from the churches now using this has been wonderful. Many are saying it is the best they have ever encountered and is life-changing.
My friends, all the material we have developed is a culmination of my life’s work over 25 years of full-time ministry. These 60 life-altering sessions have been developed and massaged for probably over 30 years now and represent the very heartbeat of all that God has given me over these years. As I close just a reminder for you of how much we love and appreciate all you do for us. Your prayers and financial help truly are the fuel that keeps us going.
Cindy and I pray God’s richest blessing upon you and your family.
Helping men become Fully Alive—the man God intended,