Dear Family!

I am going with 17 Men to the Promise Keepers here in San Antonio, 8/27/04 & 8/28/04. I thank God for allowing 20 thousand men to get together at the SBC Center to praise him, hear him and to glorify him. What an awesome opportunity for all men to experience such an awesome event.


Promise Keepers is a Christ-centered organization dedicated to introducing men to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord; and then helping them to grow as Christians. This is mainly accomplished through our Seven Promises and our men's conference ministry. Millions of men have participated since 1990 when PK first began.

Mission Statement
Promise Keepers is dedicated to igniting and uniting men to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the effective communication of the 7 Promises.

A sovereign move of God's Spirit is stirring the hearts of men. In a world of negotiable values, confused identities, and distorted priorities, men are encountering God's Word, embracing their identities as His sons, and investing in meaningful relationships with God, their families and each other.

Clearly, Christian men have an unprecedented opportunity to seize this moment and make a difference for Jesus Christ. We believe that God wants to use Promise Keepers as a spark in His hand to ignite a nationwide movement calling men from all denominational, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds to reconciliation, discipleship, and godliness.

Seven Promises
1. A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and obedience to God's Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.


2. A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises.


3. A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity.


4. A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection and biblical values.


5. A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources.


6. A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity.


7. A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20 ).

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. (NIV)

Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)


Keep us in prayer while we surrender our hearts together this weekend. May many lives be changed in Jesus Name! Amen!

I'm ready to receive everything God has to offer! REJOICE, REJOICE IN THE LORD!

Thank you Lord for allowing me to be apart of this great event in you!

John
I am praying for you the prayer of Paul for the Colossians in Colossians 1:9-12 for you. If all Christian men would take their rightful place as head of their households and spiritual leaders of their families with these principals there would be a major revival and many thousands would be saved and society would change for the better.

Hello Brother John,

I have concerns about Promise Keepers and the whole ecumenical movement. Indulge me please while I share them with you, if for no other reason than to cause you to perhaps change your course of prayer prior to and during the PK meetings:

1. Is compromise Godly? The entire ecumenical movement today is likely heading to establishment of a one world religion. We know it is coming, we do not know when or specifically in what form. While we all love to see unity that adheres to sound Biblical truth in the Body of Christ, is it holy to secure that unity by laying aside Biblical doctrine? The church has already done this in varying Bible versions where entire Bible phrases are left out in the name of unity. We see many denominations accepting homosexual marriage, female pastors, and neutrality on abortion. Is Promise Keepers simply another step in this direction?

2. Should not our promises be made simply to the Lord Jesus Christ? Every time the word Promise Keeper is used in the seven promises, should not we simply substitute the word "God" in its place?

3. Is secular psychology and male bonding pagan symbolism still used as part of the Promise Keepers methods? Several years ago, the book The Masculine Journey by Robert Hicks was given out at PK events. In this book, theories of manhood were derived not from Biblical examples, but from new age authors including Carl Jung, Margaret Mead, and Robert Bly. Should not men conform their behavior and life justifications on Biblical example?

John, it is not my goal to dump cold water on your Promise Keepers plans or hinder the movement of the Holy Spirit in San Antonio or anywhere. Surely, even in the midst of human error and some false teaching, even in this, His Word can speak to hearts of men who seek Him. The thought with me all day, however, is: Why confuse the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plans of discipleship laid out in scripture with ungodly secular thought all in the questionable name of unity. The danger is subtle, but present just the same.

My prayers are with you and your 16 friends, John. They are with all men who attend the meetings, that the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word will be glorified, not unified, above all else in our land. God Bless You, John.

Nick P.

PRAISE GOD John!
I definitely wish I could be a fly on the wall at that conference! I pray that God will lift up all the PK's. It is such a wonderful heart warming feeling that I receive everytime I hear MEN serving Christ together!

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Nicole (NB)

John - I'm very happy you were able to attend the Promise Keepers (PK) conference. I had thoughts of coming down but was not able to make it. I know for a fact that many lives at that conference were forever changed, that many relationships were restored, marriages healed and many, many men were drawn to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.

How can I be so certain of this? Because it was at a PK conference 8 years ago that God forever changed the course of my life. I only remember two things from that conference. One was singing praise songs with 54,000 other men - AWESOME! The other was a message where the text was Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." I don't remember anything else about the message but I think for the first time I understood the idea of relationship - and I've not looked back.

Nick: You are absolutely right. The whole ecumenical movement should give us reason for grave concern. The ecumenical movement, by definition, cannot exist without compromise - or at least a watering down of sound doctrine. PK conferences are by nature doctrinally week. But I have never heard anything (at the conferences) that I would consider gross error. I've never read any of the official PK books and I don't have any PK shirts or coffee cups. I think that in the name of follow-up they may go too far with getting men to align themselves with being a follower of PK principles rather than simply being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Would I want to attend a PK conference every week? Absolutely not! I can't even get charged up enough to go every year. But I've been to 4 conferences in the last 8 years and they've all been good. Overall, PK has done much, much more good than harm to the Christian community. I can easily recommend attending a conference. Go with an attitude of praise and allow God to speak directly into your heart. However, I can also recommend caution in becoming too involved in the PK "movement." Use PK to propel you closer to Jesus but then let go of PK and fly directly into the arms of our Lord!

Thank all of you for your replies.

Steve you are right, Pk is an oppurtunity to fellowship, pray, worship and restore many lives, all walks of men.

The Lord had us 3 men of our group become evangelist to help pray with the men after the altar call. What an awesome sight to see approximately 2,000 give the lives to Jesus Christ for the first time or a redication. I got to pray with several men after wards and I was in tears of joy. Glory to God for the opportunity to pray and volunteer.

Nick, thank you for your input as well. We do need to stay focused on following Jesus and not to be pressured on being a member of PK, but to always be a member of Christ. The Conference help me focus more on the healings that occured while worshiping with 17 thousand men. I went because I was led in my heart to invite our prayer chain members and other brothers that I know. God is good and I am going next year in Houston, God willing!

Grace and faith & NB

Thank You so much for your kindred hearts and your prayers. Love both of you in Christ!


Glory to God!

Another blessing was to see David Robinson-San Antonio Spurs do the opening prayer Saturday Morning! Praise God!

Glory to God for all the young boys that were on the stage worshiping to the Lord! What an awesome sight.

Dear John, while I am not extremely familiar with all of the ins and outs of the various movements, and while I know some people will take anything good to an extreme and thereby pervert it; I want you to know that as a woman who has struggled for years with having to take a leadership role because the men in my life would not...I am grateful for Promise Keepers and the men who attend.

I am glad there is a group of godly men out there making an effort to help men become who they were created to be. I am thrilled when you tell us you prayed for other men and that tears of joy were wept as men came into the Kingdom and into right relationship. Thank you for taking the time to attend. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Thank you for your commitment to doing the Lord's work. I hope the Church of Jesus Christ will cease to focus on the extremists and will validate and applaude the efforts and Spirit of the men who have a heart for our men; and, thereby have a heart for our women and children.

John, you are a blessing to all of us. Love in Christ, Terri

John -

Praise God you got to attend Promise Keepers. Like, Steve, the first one I attended seven years ago in Indianapolis changed my life forever.

My heart prior to that weekend was focused on myself and what I wanted. I learned so much there especially the importance of loving my spouse and the importance commitment played not only in our marriage but to Christ as the head of our household . My heart softened there especially when I saw thousands of men turn their life over to Christ for the first time or rededicate themselves again. What a priviledge and blessing it was to go down and stand by one of my brothers who attended with me while he gave his life to Christ. So many wonderful things come from these events and I praise God you were blessed to go to one.

John, I believe I know your heart and it had to have touched you greatly. You are a man of compassion, love and integrity. However, I know you too are a man of conviction and are steadfast to the things of God.

PK is an opportunity to get some men together for praising God and Who He is. It is also a forum where some men can actually open up to one another and share (maybe some for the first time) their fears and struggles as well as victories and triumphs. It a place to grow and receive wisdom on different issues. And the opportunity to praise and worship God in song is a true blessing in itself. It is an experience I will always be thankful for.

John my brother, I am so glad you got to experience it.

Be blessed my brother. You are awesome!

Love in Him,
Howard

Soteria & Howard

I thank God for the opportunities God gives us while we walk this journey on earth our temporary home. We need to step out of our comfort zone. God is calling and I want to be a example of what Christ wants. There are many men that are in bondage and need to be broken, so God can heal and restore there hearts. There is a lot to work to do here on earth to help mend the cracks of our souls, mend families, relationships, etc.. May the Lord continue to speak to our hearts and I pray our Lord continues to break the strongholds and the chains and free us from the prison inside.

Thank You Lord for giving Terry the strength, and courage to be the servant and mom and person she is today. Continue to show us the way and teach us the path to help minister to all people that we come across.

May we all make a difference in the men and women we pray for daily.

Howard, I thank God for your words of encouragenment. You are right about giving the opportunity to many men that may need encouragement,through worship,prayer and restoration through an event like promise keepers. May this event continue to be a testimony to all men that attend,for God's service and glory.

Thanks Howard for your testimony also!


Glory to you Lord!