Another Awesome Men's Retreat

Staff preparation the day before the retreat begins.

FALL OYTL


MACKENZIE CENTER, POYNETTE, WI

I just wrapped up my 4th One Year to Live (OYTL) retreat – one as a participant and three as a staff member. All I can say (again) is WOW! This past retreat I was especially blessed by having two of my sons attend along with my brother-in-law. While it is necessary to maintain confidentiality in the retreat process, the output of it can discussed and should be! And the output I see is men changed for the better – men finding authenticity and integrity in their lives in being the man God created them to be.

We men often approach life as a battle between work and family. We are torn between the two great obligations of our lives. Around age forty we come to the perceived mid-point of our lives – half-time. It is a time of reflection and making an analysis, so far, of our life-game. How has the first half been played? What is the scorecard for family? For work? If we are behind in our life-game we need to go into our half-time with a plan. If we continue the same game plan we did for the first half and we have fallen behind, unless we change our game plan for the next half we will end up losing the one game in our life that counts.

Thankfully, the OYTL not only attracts young men to the retreat but also men who are in the second half and will be willing to share their offensive and defensive plans and techniques that put them into the winner category with younger men. Modern life is not easy. Hell, it’s damn difficult! We all know that. But unless we check on how we are doing in both of those two important life categories, the chance is that the mistakes which occurred during the first half of our life will continue being made into our second half. At OYTL, men can coach one another to a more successful second half – each man’s “A” game!

If I was to identify the characteristics of an OYTL retreat it would be these:

Christ-centered.

Biblically-based.

Spiritually gifted.

Redemptive.

Lay-led.

Christ-centered. OYTL connects men to the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and the strong, manly characteristics he exercised. Jesus was a strong man, not the wimpy guy we once met in Sunday school! (Marcus Borg said that in his book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time)! We think we know who Jesus is but each one of us needs to meet him again as an adult. Jesus was a man who knew who he was, why he existed, and what he needed to do.

Biblically-based. Everything we do during the retreat is in the Bible. The retreat is designed for both committed Christian men and those seeking a deeper faith. This is a powerful God-experience few retreats provide. If a man comes with an open heart, we can almost guarantee it!

Spiritually gifted. All those spiritual gifts Paul identifies in his first letter to the Corinthians are welcomed and encouraged.

“To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues” (12:7-10)

When Jesus departed this life he said he would send us a “Helper.” This Helper is the Third Person of the Trinity -- The Holy Spirit. Jesus said this Helper/Spirit would enable us to do even greater things than he did (John 14:12). During this weekend, men encounter the Spirit, are healed, sent out, and given wisdom and strength in their lives. They become better husbands, fathers and friends – the “new creations” Paul preached (2 Corinthians 5;17, Galatians 6:15)

Redemptive. As a result of the Spirit’s mighty presence and work during this weekend and following it, men’s lives are raised up and redeemed. Change is no longer hoped for, prayed for, but felt and experienced! Men are saved from the sin that has dominated their lives up until this time. The women in these men’s lives know it.

Lay-led. The retreats are led not by clergy, theologians, or other professionals but by men who have experienced Jesus in their lives and wish to share him. Every staff member has been a participant on an OYTL weekend. Those men who are called to help others come back as staff members then serve on another retreat in a learning capacity. One their third retreat they can be assigned as a group leader. Thus, the OYTL weekends are led by men who first came as a participant. Therefore, no man asks another man to do anything he, himself, has not done and will be willing to do again.

Men, the OYTL retreats are a gift to us from God; a gift to help us stand up as godly men and be trusted, authentic, friends, husbands, fathers and brothers.

I can think of no better experience for men in today’s society than this retreat and then engaging in one of the follow-up groups.

For more information about OYTL retreats see: http://www.lutheranmeninmission.org/events/oytl.html

Local retreats at the Mackenzie Center, Poynette, WI

March 25-27, 2011 and September 15-18, 2011

Other OYTL Retreats

Colorado: July 21-24 Denver Men’s Ministry Conference and Get-Together for all OYTL graduates. (There will be a OYTL retreat in the Denver area either before or after the conference).

South Carolina: Leesville, Camp Kinard, November 5-7, 2010

Another "One Year to Live" Retreat

How could it possibly be that each OYTL Men’s Retreat ("One Year To Live") I have attended gets better and better?

One reason might be that it fell on the Feast of Pentecost this past weekend and God’s Holy Spirit fell mightily on all of us!

Or that we had men throughout the country who have attended OYTL retreats serving as “prayer warriors” – praying a number of times each day the retreat was in session.

Or maybe it was because we had broke the "denominational barrier" with a significant number of men attending who were not Lutherans!

But whatever it was, IT WAS!  And what WAS was powerful!

No man who opened his heart to this weekend could walk away from it doubting his faith or the power of God to transform a man’s life!

Throughout the weekend, the gifts of the Spirit were truly, visibly, and audibly present: “The utterance of wisdom… and (words of) knowledge… faith… gifts of healing…working of miracles…prophecy… discernment… various kinds of tongues…” and, undeniably, the greatest of all gifts of the Spirit – LOVE – lovingkindness pouring out upon us and the overwhelming sense and full understanding of God’s love for each and every one of us! (1Cor 12).

While I cannot disclose the specific nature of this retreat because it would take away from the experience, I can talk about what happened (again) to me. By going on retreat I get away from the frantic nature and “busyness” of my daily life and have a chance to slow down… reflect on my life… how's it working for me?  and what I need to do to make mid-course corrections.  Then by opening my heart, getting away from "competition and comparing" and letting God speak to me in his various ways my life is changed for the better (maybe slowly, but increasingly better).

Through these retreats, I have come to understand God's mission for me in this life and that I am a “work in progress” -- not a perfect work, but a seeking-to-improve work.  I have also been shown that I need to be more active in helping other men improve their lives and that is why the OYTL retreats have been so moving for me.
Here is my present Mission developed (again) at the retreat this past weekend:

I AM David, my name in Hebrew means “Beloved of God.”
I am a man, loving husband of Sabine, father, grandfather, brother and friend.


I EXIST to SERVE God with integrity as a DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ.


I DO THIS BY:


       Being a SERVANT LEADER.


       Working for JUSTICE, PEACE and LOVE in my sphere of influence.


       Seeking the face of Jesus in every person I know and meet.


       Not tolerating "bullshit" or passivity.

The next men’s “One Year to Live” retreat will be held again at the MacKenzie Center near Poynette, Wisconsin. The dates are September 17-19, 2010. God-willing, I will be there as a member of the staff team.

If you know me – and trust me – you will hear what I am saying and sign up for this retreat.  It will give you the opportunity to change your life for the better – this I guarantee!

Hope to see you in September!

Filled with Awe: Coming out of the Omaha Men's Retreat

This is my second "One Year to Live" (OYTL) Retreat which has been developed by Lyman Coleman for Lutheran Men in Mission


. My first retreat was last November and you can read all about it at an earlier blog (November 16, 2009, "Talking to Men").

I am really passionate about this retreat for men. If you have talked with me recently you know. I went to Omaha with my good friend, Pastor Rob Nelson. We are so on fire for this spiritual experience for men that we committed to go to Omaha to learn how to be a team leader. It was our second experience with the rerreat and I think we both went up a notch or two spiritually! The word I have is "awe." And it comes from the New Testament. Those who followed Jesus were constantly filled with awe. In Luke's Gospel we read:

"Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.' Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'We have seen remarkable things today.'" (5:24-26).

Many of us men are paralyzed. We are paralyzed by a false sense of masculinity, the need to control and dominate, and the fear of being emotional and people finding out who we are behind our masks. What I again experienced at the retreat was not only release from the various paralysis and fear in my life (like my fear of Sabine dying) but also the same thing going on with the men assigned to my small group. Jesus was a man. He was not a pansie! Let's not forget that.

I can't give you the details of the retreat because it would detract from the total experience. But I can tell you that I would be prepared to personally refund your tuition if you didn't think it was a one of the best experiences you have ever had in your life. You can hold me to it!

Now... what do you need to know? You need to know that if you decide to attend you need to commit to being at the retreat from 5:30 Friday afternoon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. The rest is based on your trust of me and whether or not you think I would steer you or any other man wrong.

You can see a video of some men who were at a recent OYTL Retreat in Colorado at: http://www.youtube.com/user/EwersArchitecture?feature=mhw4#p/a/f/0/wbKfEa3JF3c and an application blank for the May 21-23 Retreat at the McKenzie Center near Poynette, WI can be downloaded at this site: http://lutheranmeninmission.org/events/oytl.html.

Now let me talk straight to you men: Unless you take time to slow down, go on a retreat and reflect on your life you will never find the peace and happiness you desire. You can work extra hours, make lots of money and have lots of toys to play with, but you will never find happiness in things and stuff. You may even think the woman in your life is happy until one day she walks out on you and the fight for your kids begins!

You may be half-way through life's game. If you are, you need to take a break -- like a halftime in a football game and see what plays are working for you and which ones aren't. Half-time is a time to change your game in order to get what you really want out of life. And I can tell you this from my own experience as a hard working cop and then pastor -- I have never met a man who on his deathbed wished he spent more time at the office or at work. What do you think that man really wanted out of life? When you think about having one year to live the really important stuff floats to the top of your bucket list.

If you bring your "A Game" to this retreat, I can guarantee you will get an "A Game" out of the remaining years of your life -- that is, if you have a year. I pray you do, because your wife and your children will see the difference and you will know the peace and happiness you have struggled to get but seem to be thwarted from achieving.