Influencers Weekly Devotional

Friday, July 29, 2011

A Cop, an Ex-Con, The Journey….and a powerful move of the Holy Spirit

By Chris Hyslop- Tulsa, OK

           Have you ever been excited for that anticipation of seeing what your God would do at any given situation?   Did His working ever meet or surpass your human expectations to the point that you were in absolute AWE of your Father and the great power of His spirit?  It is my desire to share with you, my Journey brothers, such an experience

            Last Sunday night, our church had a men’s event to launch “The Journey”, which is near and dear to my heart.  I asked myself if God could reach our men with a church-based initiative of The Journey.   The morning of our event during regular church service, we had a special guest speaker come to deliver a message mostly to men.  The words that were spoken were both challenging and encouraging at the same time.   The worship and service created a sense of excitement for the evening plans for God to show Himself in a MIGHTY way.   I asked myself, “What are you going to do, God?”  The one thing I knew we needed was prayer.  Our Journey brothers from California to Arkansas were bathing this event in prayer.   Our hearts yearned that God would show up with the power of His Spirit and ignite a fire in our men and that they would see something that would encourage hunger and create excitement in each man's walk.    I will put into detail the night to the best of my ability so that you can share in the event that you prayed so hard for in the ministry that has transformed so many of us.

            Our Journey event was supposed to start at 6 p.m., but the room was already filling and buzzing when I arrived at 5:30.   The spirit of anticipation was great.   There was great excitement in the air.    Free BBQ always helps create a buzz.   We had over 250 men packed into a room that could hold about 250.  The night started with our new first-class Journey video that contained video testimony of many of our leaders within the Influencer ministry. This will be released to everyone soon.   I cannot tell you how amazing it was to watch a professional grade video about our great ministry.   Amidst all this, there was one thing that was bothering me a bit.   It seems that we had this date pre-planned at one of the worst times we could have chosen.   The number one man in Tulsa that needed to be at this event was on vacation in New York City.    In his absence, I felt there was only one man to give a testament to the power of an intimate relationship with Christ.   I just knew that Frank needed to address our men.  I worried we would not give him enough time to share.   I prayed for Frank, who is a Tulsa Police officer, because he is going through one of the biggest personal battles I have seen a man face in my many years.   I knew Frank would rely on God's Spirit and power to say what He wanted to say, not on what Frank wanted to say.   Frank was intimidated as never before, but he has been tried by fire and by the GIANTS he has journaled about so much as of late.   Frank began by telling of the Journey and his personal experience, especially when it came to journaling.  Then, he started sharing about how he gets to share his love for Christ in his job as a police officer.   Many times, Frank has to ride with inmates on their way from the state prison back to Tulsa.  He always rides in the backseat with the prisoners.  Each time Frank does this for an inmate, he asks them if he can get anything for them on the ride home.  Frank often talks about how the #3 Combo from McDonald’s is one of the most popular requests.  One of my favorite stories was on a typical summer day in Oklahoma with triple-digit temperatures and Frank asked an inmate if he could get him something for the ride.  This man said he wanted a Pepsi.  So, Frank had the driver pull into a gas station, and he found the coldest bottle of Pepsi he could find.  He handed it to the inmate, much to the surprise of the other officers and the recipient.  Frank talked to the men of our church about how The Journey had helped change his heart toward these criminals.  He talked of the power that God gave him to love these men and to do things that, prior to the Journey, he may not even consider.   There was a hush amongst the room as he shared the secret of why he did these things.    After these random acts of kindness shown toward inmates, Frank said that every time the inmates would ask the same question.   WHY?????????????????????   Why would you do this for me?   What followed would be an explanation of the REAL LIFE GOSPEL.   And guess what?  The door was always wide open.  Frank finished up and I was so proud of him.   Righteous pride.  He had shared exactly what needed to be shared at that exact moment.

            Praise and worship in the men's evening was amazing.    AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!   There is something so powerful and undeniable in strength than that of men worshipping and praising God together.   These times for me get right to the core of my being and rock me.  Our guest speaker Ted wrapped up the evening about men of course.    The core message was men's hearts.     His words were rocking.  His flow was amazing and funny.  The words landed hard on many of the men, including me.   There was a sense that time just did not matter.  Who cares how long we go????    This was an amazing place to be.  

         The grand finale of the evening was getting ready to take place as men who had issues were asked to stand and bring their issue to the Father.   Men stood and other men came to their side to join in prayer.    As I left my seat to take a position at the Journey table, I noticed one of our pastors out in the hall, engaged in a conversation with a man.    Their conversation looked somewhat troubled and serious in nature and I could see something was happening in this man.  A few minutes later, our pastor came walking in the main room and interrupted our closing.  He had to share something with the men.  He told us about the man who had been struggling in the hall.   What happened next was something only OUR GOD could orchestrate.  We gave this man the microphone to share what had happened.  The man said he had to leave the room when Frank was speaking of loving inmates.   Every word Frank spoke was striking this man in the wrong way.  He could not understand what he was hearing because he had been in and out of prison and had had many bad experiences with officers in the past.  For all intents and purposes, this man was a COP HATER.   This man told us he left the room because he could not process his anger.  He was so confused at how a cop could share his love and get on an inmate’s level and care.  It struck him when Frank had said, “One person is not better than another.”   This young man admitted that he had not cried in 14 years and suddenly, he could not dry his eyes andcould not quit shaking.  Minutes before, in the hallway, our pastor had helped him understand how he needed to give all his burdens to Christ.  This young man spoke of the Joy that was radiating off of him.   The joy in this man's heart was tangible.    IT WAS UNDENIABLE.   OUR MEN GOT TO SEE THIS UNFOLD BEFORE THEIR EYES.  And then, in a moment I will probably never ever forget, Frank stood up and went forward to address this man.   This man jokingly said, “Hello Officer” which drew great laughter and then, in a very special moment that blew my mind, the two men embraced in a hug that said FORGIVENESS.   

         God was not finished yet.   Before the evening ended, this man needed to be baptized.    I thought the worship of 250 men was powerful.  Little did I know how powerful it would feel to see 200 men celebrating together over a man's Baptism.  Another man was so touched by the evening’s events that he decided to jump in, as well.   Our men concluded the evening by singing an old time anthem hymn over these men.    As I manned the Journey table to sell Journey books, I quickly realized that the 50 Journey books we were selling would, in no way, cover the interest in the men.  The Journey was represented in such an overwhelming way that I was filled with emotion.  These men got a glimpse of this abiding relationship with Christ, the relationship THAT RADICALLY CHANGED MY LIFE!

        God surpassed any and all expectations for this evening.   I could not let this go without sharing it with my journey brothers around the world.   These are the things God wants to show us in the future.  This is just the beginning men.  I know we have been a ministry for some years now, but I must tell you that we are in the beginning stages of seeing the SUPER POWER of our KING.

         My heart’s desire is to thank Rocky for being obedient in his pursuit of a ministry that God planted in his heart.   I wish to thank Evans Rector and Bryan Craig for their unreal efforts in Tulsa.  In a bigger sense I wish to thank every man who represents The Influencer ministry from California to Arkansas to Brazil.    I specifically wish to thank Arkansas and California for paving the way for the church-based initiative that thought wouldn’t work in Tulsa.  It has been an honor and a pleasure to see this develop right before our eyes.  We have done this at a pace that, many times, has seemed humanly slow BUT IT WAS HIS PACE!  I must tell you that I feel great amounts of momentum of HIS spirit carrying us into the coming years.

         I wanted to write you this for inspiration.  I know when I hear of God stories from our California, Arkansas, Egypt, and Brazilian contingents, I am energized to keep going and to take THE JOURNEY to the fields.

With sincerity and an unexplainable admiration for Christ,

 Chris Hyslop 

Influencers Weekly Devotional

Friday, July 22, 2011

Joy

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…” Galatians 5:22

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” Psalm 51:12

            Joy is one of the smallest words in the Bible, but one which has so much power.  Joy is a characteristic which should be evident in the life of every believer, yet it seems to elude most of us.  However, those who seem to be living the victorious Christian life exude it.  It is such a simple thing, but for some reason, difficult to discover.

            I think I know why.  We have settled for a counterfeit version of joy which the world has sold us.  Satan, the “prince of this world”, has craftily twisted joy into something it was never intended to be.  For example, “happiness” is not joy.  Everyone wants to be happy.  It feels good to our senses to be happy, so our “happy place” is somewhere we long to visit time and time again.  We look for people and situations which will make us happy. 

            “Pleasure” is not joy.  We seek pleasure most every day of our life.  We seek it in sex, we seek it in alcohol, we seek it at spas, and we seek it on vacation.  Again, when our flesh is aroused and certain endorphins are released, we feel good.  So, we naturally desire pleasure. 

            “Success” is not joy.  Everyone in this world esteems success.  Whether it is the lifestyles of the rich and famous or achievement at its highest level, we all love to see a “winner.”  We adore athletes, movie stars, politicians, and all people who seem to have conquered life and who find their way to big stage.  We stand in awe of millionaires and wonder what it would be like to live their life.  We will work endless hours, manipulate whomever we must, and compromise our morals and ethics all in the search of the “American Dream.”  We even see this drive for success being passed down to our children as little boys are being pushed in sports to an unhealthy level, all in the hopes of some Father that his son is the next rich professional.  We see schools loading kids down with endless amounts of homework, all in this never-ending quest for excellence.  We have fallen for a lie.

            The problem with the world’s counterfeits is that they are all temporal.  Whatever satisfaction they may bring to our flesh, and even our spirit, does not last.  It quickly fades away, and we’re left feeling empty and betrayed.  Yet, we usually repeat the cycle, returning to the same vain pursuit.  What we are really longing for is Joy.

            Joy comes from God.  God is eternal, and He has an endless supply joy to give.  It never runs out, and it is available to all of His children.  It is always there within us by His Spirit, but I’m afraid that when our focus is on the world, joy gets pushed back into the recesses of our spirit.  When we finally surrender ourselves to His will and let go of our desires for the things of this world, joy begins to flow back into our lives.  It is so much sweeter and more fulfilling than anything Satan is selling.  When we discover it, we find freedom.  We find contentment.  We find peace.  We find rest.

            Now that I’ve said what joy is not, let me try to paint a picture of what I think joy IS:

Joy is considering others before considering yourself.

Joy is a loving commitment to your spouse.

Joy is spending time with your children, giving them your full attention, enjoying them.

Joy is reading and meditating on God’s Word, finding personal nuggets which penetrate your heart.

 Joy is prayer, praising God and interceding for others.

Joy is a grateful appreciation for God’s creation, whether it be the endless ocean or the majestic mountains or your own backyard.

Joy is new birth.

Joy is forgiveness and reconciliation.

Joy is giving money to someone who doesn’t necessarily deserve it.

Joy is laughter which is not at the expense of another.

Joy is contentment.

Joy is integrity and honor.

Joy is using your spiritual gifts.

Joy is trust.

Joy is hope.

Joy is love.

            There are many more example of joy, and those of you who have discovered it  could list them.  For those of you who don’t feel very joyful today, I pray you will examine your life and ask the Lord to show you what’s keeping you from it.  He wants to give you joy.  He loves you, and He has far better things planned for you than you have for yourself. 

Many blessings to you, my friend, on your Journey to Joy. 

Bryan Craig

Influencers Weekly Devotional

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Are you a Superman...if so, get ready! 

            Most everybody loves the Superman comic book story, and I particularly love the Superman movie made back in 1978 with Christopher Reeves.  I was only 12 years old, and I can remember seeing this story on the big screen.  It captivated my imagination and my heart.  As I have become a man and as I have become a disciple of Christ, I have drawn so many spiritual parallels from this movie. 

            Clark Kent, a young man, one day discovers his true calling in life.  He realizes that he is not from this world, and as such, he has powers and vision that are not from this world.  He leaves his life of obscurity in the farmlands of Kansas and moves to the battlefield of the big city.  However, before he goes into battle, he spends significant time with his Father from his true world, learning and preparing himself.

            My favorite part of the movie is when he unveils himself and lets the world know he is Superman.  He first rescues Lois Lane, and then he goes out all night, flying, scanning the horizon for people in need of rescue and for evil men in need of correction.  It is a glorious night as he lives out the life for which he was sent to earth.

            However, it is only now, that he has become an Influencer in this world, that he draws the attention of Lex Luthor.  Lex reads about him in the newspaper, and suddenly, hatred and jealousy fill his heart.  He then sets out to destroy Superman.  It is only Lex Luthor who studies Superman to find his weaknesses and who will expose them if he can.  Lex understands Superman's world and he knows his past, so he knows how to fight him.  Thankfully, we all know that Superman wins the battle in the end.

            All of this reminds me of the life of man of God.  One day, God opens a man's eyes to the reality that he was made to do great things and to know that he has great powers at his disposal.  He realizes he does not really belong to this world anymore.  He is an alien and a stranger here; his citizenship is in Heaven.  However, God has plans for him on this earth.   When this man puts his faith and his power into action to help this world in need, he will draw the attention of his enemy.  All of the sudden, the Devil begins to scheme at how he can take this man out.  He will use the man's past against him if he can.    He will try to discredit him with the public.  He will try to force him into difficult decisions where there are no easy answers.  He will even try to use spiritual weapons to fight this spiritual man.  He is a formidable foe. 

            Every man of God needs to know this.  He must be prepared for the battles by spending time with the Father.  He must take up God's Word, which is his Sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon in the spiritual man's arsenal.  He must realize that his battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  He must join forces with other men of God who understand the nature of the battle, for together, they will form an even mightier force.  He must always remember that greater is the One who is in him than the one that is in the world.  If God is for him, who can be against him?

            If you are a man of God, you are a Superman!  Now, go live the life you were meant to live.

Bryan Craig

Influencers Cabinet Member  

Influencers Weekly Devotional by Frank Khalil

Friday, July 08, 2011

There we saw the giants. ( Num. 13:33 )
 
Giants stand for great difficulties, and giants are stalking everywhere.  They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts. We must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan.

The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."

Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith, we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path.  Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties.

It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants.  It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared.  When they turned back into the wilderness, they found none.

There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts.  The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle.  One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and enemies.  But on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews and all the powers of earth and hell coming against him.  At last he was saved, by the narrowest margin and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage, barely escaping a watery grave.

Was that like the God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him.  And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, it was a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

What best describes Paul's intense experience in facing Giants.  He said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."

What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! But here are five points that we can learn:

First is the idea is that crowding enemies were pressing in from every side, and yet they did not crush him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through.  The literal translation would be, "We are crowed on every side, but not crushed."

Second, Paul was one whose way seemed utterly closed and yet he pressed through; there was light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." One other way of saying it is "Without a way, but not without a by-way."

Third, the enemy was in hot pursuit while the Divine Defender stood by, and he was not left alone.  Again, a better way of saying this would be, "Pursued but not abandoned."

The fourth thought is still more vivid and dramatic.  The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down.  But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again.  It might be said, "Overthrown but not overcome."

And at last, death itself is considered."Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus."  But he does not die, for "the life of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.

The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender.  God has nothing worth having that is easy.  There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market.  Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive.  Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life.  It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the vision in the house of the interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.
No, dear suffering man of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.
 

I share these words with you because as I have been on my personal journey for the past five years, I have continued to face the giants that I never imagined.  As I traveled across the world to Brazil and as I spent time with many men in California, I was blessed to experience that all of us men who are abiding in Christ and have been transformed are facing the giants.  I'm encouraged today that as we continue to be influencers to the world around us, we will continue to run to the battle line and fight the good fight.  I'm encouraged to say that the day will come when we all stand before the throne of the One who gave it all and He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."  May these words be an encouragement to you, may you face your giants of life and know that as you "totally abandon yourself and have absolute trust", He will bring down the giants as David did Goliath. 

 I'm amazed to hear the hearts of ordinary men who have been facing their giants for so long and have found victory.  Yes, these men have found victory as they have learned to get into close proximity to the Father.  These men have picked up their cross and have followed Him.  It is absolutely evident that God is moving in a mighty way in the lives of men across this nation and around the world to be Influencers for His kingdom.

Faithfully submitted,

Frank Khalil

Influencers Cabinet Member 

Influencers Weekly Devotional

Friday, July 01, 2011

One of my favorite quotes for men is:

“The greatest danger in your life is not that you might fail at something you think is important; the greatest danger is that you will succeed at things that don’t really matter.”

We Believe That Ministering To God’s Men Really Matters.  I personally believe that there is nothing more strategically important that I could give the rest of my life to than ministering to God’s men.  Let me tell you why.

The Influencers ministry to men was founded and rooted in the belief that God has a plan to redeem a lost world to Himself, and His men have a vital role to play in that mission.  We believe that men are uniquely created and gifted to fulfill their God-given roles of being faithful to their wives, gracious with their children, loyal to their friends, courageous in living out their faith, and all this wrapped up in their sincere commitment as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Men were made to follow in their Master’s footsteps by standing in the face of danger, bearing up under suffering, and sacrificing for the good of others.  We believe that when you reach the man you reach the marriage, the family, the church, the community and the world. 

The Southern Baptist did a study and found that if you lead a child to Christ, 3.5% of their families will follow them in the faith.  If you lead a Mother to Christ, 17% of will follow them in the faith.  And, if you lead a Dad to Christ, 93% of their families will follow them in the faith.  That’s quite a startling statistic, even if it were half true. 

This must have something to do with why Jesus, when He stepped into a crisis filled world much like ours, did not go to the politicians as His plan; he didn’t join the zealots in trying to run the Romans out of Israel; He certainly didn’t see the corrupt religious system as the answer, in fact, it was a large part of the problem.  When they asked Him to be their king, He told them that His kingdom was not of this world.  Then, when they impatiently asked Him what His plan was, he pointed to a hated tax-gatherer named Levi and three uneducated fishermen named Peter, James and John and said, ‘They are My plan’.”

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were considered wise according to human standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.  But God selected and deliberately chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—even the things that are nothing, to nullify the things that are, that He might bring to nothing the things that are, so that no man should have pretense for  boasting in the presence of God.” (I Cor. 1:26-29)

So Jesus’ plan was to start the first ministry to men.  Men were to be the instruments He would look to as His dependable ones in a crisis.  Oswald Chambers said, “When the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects His men to have such confidence in Him that they will be the dependable ones.”

This is not to say that God’s women don’t have a strategic role to play in God’s plan.  Of course they do and they do it well.  While we have much in common spiritually, we are very different in our roles that God has chosen for us. 

Jesus chose twelve rag tag men, spent two and a half years building into their lives, and sent them out to mend a broken world.  And what was their mission?  To share the gospel of a crucified Christ and watch lives change.  In Matthew 28:19,20, He told them to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything He had commanded them.  And then He promised that he would be with them always, even to the end of he age.

And what would these disciples be like?  They would be new, changed, different men.  Changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and committed, as the twelve Apostles were, to getting excited about Jesus, to staying excited about Jesus, and to be contagious with other men in getting them excited about Jesus Christ.

Well, what would The Influencers have to do with any of this?  I will share a few thoughts with you about that.

A man made a powerful statement to a group of men a few years ago that made men hungry for what he had.  He said, “My life has changed and I’ll never be the same again.”  Being in the presence of Jesus makes a difference.

A friend stopped me in the hall at church several years ago and asked me if I wanted to catch lunch that week.  I told him that I was going to Arkansas to be trained to be able to lead a new process that God had given my best friend that helps men become more intimate with Jesus Christ.  He said, “I’m in!  Where’s Arkansas?”  Just the thought of becoming more intimate with Christ hooked him.

A prisoner at Chino prison who had read Rocky’s book, “The Journey To The Inner Chamber”, said that of all the Christian books he had read while in prison, and there were many, this one changed his life like no other.  We asked him why and he said, GRACE!  It’s the journey I learned in the first allegory that helped me understand my own journey, and the grace I learned in “Gabe” that changed my life.  When men enter into the presence of Jesus, instead of hearing a sharp rebuke because of their slovenly ways, they hear, “Son I love you.”  Proximity to Jesus will change a man’s life.

Another prisoner shared that he had read The Journey To The Inner Chamber with his wife on her last visit, and that it was the best visit they had ever had. When you reach the man, you reach the marriage, even if they are in prison.

A man in northern California shared that he was losing his marriage of many years when he began The Journey.  He said that his wife observed such a change in his life that she chose not to leave.  He said learning to walk intimately with Jesus saved his marriage.  Reach the man…

After hearing a message about living the faith life rather than the fear life, and the grace life rather than the performance/works-based life, a man said to me, “I have felt unworthy and beaten up after most men’s meetings and retreats that I have ever attended, to the point that I was about to quit on this men’s stuff.  They kept telling me what I am supposed to be and do as a man and I would go home and discover again and again that I just couldn’t do it!  But the message you shared with us last night is the message I’ve been waiting to hear all of my life.”  He heard from the Lord that he was loved no matter what, and that he should just come to Him and He would give Him rest.  He told the man that He had never been disappointed in him a day in his life, and that there was nothing he could do to get Him to love him more, and no bad that he could do would make Him love him less.  He also told him that the Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible to live out apart from Christ, and Jesus through the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us and to live His life out in and through us as we allow Him.  That’s life changing!

Many wives have shared with us that their husband is a different man after going through The Journey.  That may be the true litmus test of a man’s changed life.

What does The Influencers have to do with seeing so many men’s lives changed?  Because that is what we are seeing every where we go.  In Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas, Orange County, Bakersfield, CA., and Chino Prison.  

We have another saying we share with our men, “When God shows up, he shows off!”  This is truly happening in Bakersfield, California in one church where the men are experiencing a revival like none I have ever seen outside of the phenomenon we knew as Promise Keepers.  This revival is on a local level in a local church that is seeing life in Christ like they have never seen before.  Their church in the last four years has grown from 500 to 2500, and the revival of their men has been one of the key elements in their growth.  All we hear from them is about the changed lives, changed marriages, and the close brotherhood and unity of the men that they are enjoying.  They have over 200 men in Journey groups and they see more and more men coming into the presence of Jesus through this process that continues to amaze us all.

About two months ago I stood on a makeshift rickety platform on a soccer field in Livingstone, Zambia in southern Africa, and watched a large group of men receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and several hundred Christian men line up to be anointed Men of God.  Today they are wearing wristbands that have printed on them, MAN OF GOD”.  They started their first Band of Brothers men’s gathering last week and are planning on introducing The Journey to their men as a part of their journey to intimacy with Christ.

Everywhere we go we find that men are the same.  Around the U.S., in Egypt, Brazil, Zambia, Ireland, and Germany.  Changed lives in men who felt unworthy spiritually, and who were defeated and discouraged.  Who feel emasculated, like women are running everything, and they don’t know what their roles are anymore in their culture.  We have the great privilege of creating environments for men where they can come into the presence of the Holy Spirit and he can help Himelf to their lives.  They are truly being changed and set free.  It is an amazing sight to see.

I love what I am having the privilege of doing at my age in my 66th year of life and in my 41^styear of ministry.  I’m married and deeply in love with my high school sweetheart who has been my wife for 43 years.  I get to be in ministry with my friend Rocky Fleming who has been my best friend since we were both 19 years old, which is for the last 46 years.

And I have the great honor and privilege of ministering to God’s men in such a time as this.  The world is in a crisis and it is intensifying every day.  We have our work cut out for us, but He is with us; we are His plan, and while our heart and our flesh may fail, he is the strength of our heart and our portion forever. 

Pete McKenzie

Influencers West