Back from Boot Camp

This is a shot of the local guys that went to Boot Camp this past week.

It’s hard to describe what it was like. It was my second time to attend and it was very different. I think the first time the exposure of my wounds made it very different for me. One of the guys said that it was very eye opening. That is a good way to put it. When the Gospel comes “The blind see, the captive is sat free, and the broken heart is healed.

This is an e-mail I got yesterday from John Eldredge that is sent out to intercessors who have agreed to pray for the ministry.

God came. Just as he said he would. He came intimately, he came deeply. Like a warrior. Like a loving father.

It was a really, really good Boot Camp. In many ways. The men were so ready, so engaged. Our team was in a great place, too. It felt like the presence of God was using the sessions more quickly and more deeply than usual. A rich, profound time. Hundreds of men, experiencing such deep connection with God, and in him healing and release from life-long wounds, bondage, entrapments. Freedom. Life. Like they never knew was possible. How do you describe this?

We’re exhausted, as is to be expected. But doing well. I’ll gather some details for you. For now I wanted to let you know, it was beautiful. Beautiful. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers this week, against all forms of retaliation. In Jesus’ Name.

John, for all of us.

KP sitting during one of our covenants of silence.

The boot camp is about restoring the masculine heart, but it is more than that. It is based on an understanding the of all the passages Jesus could have chosen to describe his purpose, he choose Isaiah 61. That Jesus came “to seek and save that which was lost” not just to seek and save the lost. As that verse is usually quoted. What was lost? In part the relationship in the garden. Christianity is not just about getting saved and holding on until death. It is about abundant life and about healing and restoration and intimacy with God.

It was not all teaching and meditation. We hiked, rode the screamer which was a 50 foot fall swing. Where you step off a platform and free fall for a second or two before the swing grabs. We also did the High Ropes course. The above picture is of some other guys at the end of the ropes course. You jump out for a trapeze at the same time as your partner. One guy obviously missed. Greg and I both grabbed it. I apparently jumped sooner and pulled down the bar which is on springs, he almost went over the bar!

The mountains were beautiful, but the way that God showed up was way more beautiful than that.

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Despite Dana’s comment I do have the rest of Sex God, and have almost finished it. Just been too busy to post. Rob Bell’s definition of sexuality is far broader or maybe deeper than most folks. You might say it is about really being human and how that is connected to God. Very interesting chapter on being animal or angel. I hope to start posting some on the chapters this week.

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Anyway, its good to be back home. I discovered some things about myself and also about God. It felt like a time of fathering.