MBC ‘Spiritual Renewal’ conference targets men
By Brian Koonce
Staff Writer
September 6, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY – In the first what organizers hope will be an annual event, the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) will host “Spiritual Renewal,” a conference designed to get Missouri’s men passionate for serving Christ and each other. The conference will be Sept. 23-24 at Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City.
“The thrust of the conference is really to call men back to their spiritual roots and to renew their walk with Christ,” said Danny Decker, men’s missions and ministry specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Ron Barker, personal evangelism/spiritual awakening specialist for the MBC will be the keynote speaker for the weekend event.
“It seems like we men have gone and hidden,” Barker said. “We don’t know who we are. Men are a little bit confused. We’ve had models of one kind, we’ve have culture tell us who we are, the media has told us something else and I think the Bible has something to say about that.”
The conference will include several breakout training sessions including “Coaching Your Kids to be Winners,” “Issues of the Heart and Pastors Leading the Charge for Men’s Ministry,” all designed to help men become better leaders and disciples.
Decker said it is particularly important that men step up into leadership roles in spreading the Gospel.
“Women will not reach men for Christ,” he said. “It takes men reaching men. If men don’t become evangelistic in their approach to living the Christian life, and don’t accept the scriptural responsibility to tell the story of Christ in their life, we’re not going to reach men. Not in Missouri, not in the United States, not around the world. It’s one-on-one, multiplying evangelism that’s going to take the Gospel to all parts of the world. We’re asking Missouri men to step up to the plate.”
Simply having a men’s Bible study isn’t enough, Decker said.
“As a whole, our men sometimes get together, but nothing happens outside of that,” he said. “We’re trying to move them from the pew to the mission field while they grow.”
Decker said one of the aims of this conference is to plug men into ongoing discipleship programs, whether the Baptist Men on Missions or Men’s Fraternity, the topics for two more breakout training sessions.
For information, call Decker at (573) 636-0400 or 1-800-736-6227.