Back from NoBrand Retreat…
So what exactly was the NoBrand NonConference Retreat?
That’s hard to say. Really. (One guy said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to come because he always thought of retreats - even mens retreats - as being kinda “girly.” But he ended up saying this one was far from “girly.”)
Last year, I felt the Lord wanted me to spend some time with men this year, pouring into their lives in some way. I endeavored to meet with younger guys and renew relationships with guys with some sort of history with me. We have relationships from pre-JoyFull Ministries, days of ministry on college campuses, ministry overseas and now ministry with Globe and IGM.
After issuing about twenty-five invitations to friends, mentorees and colleagues from thirty years of ministry, we had a gathering of four guys and me at Beckwith Conference Center in Fairhope, Alabama . These four guys – Casey, Eric, Ken and Jim – represented a history and revolving relationship with Phyllis and me of eighteen years to six months.
The plan was to have a laid-back low agenda time with God. We all wanted to hear His Voice and come away with a better sense of His Plan for our lives.
Arriving at Beckwith on Thursday evening, we spent time chatting and exchanging stories. Casey brought Phyllis from Valdosta to Pensacola and we rode together to the conference grounds about an hour west. We ate dinner together, then we watched the Globe BootCamp AOTW video I’d not planned to do this but Jim was late arriving and the other guys wanted to see it.
Friday morning following breakfast, we spent time dwelling in the Word. I taught about lectio divina and everyone scattered to different corners of beautiful Beckwith for an hour to read from Luke 10:1-24 and listen to God. We then returned to discuss the “shimmering verses” that the Lord illumined to each of us.
Somehow, I’d pulled or aggravated an existing problem in my left shoulder. The pain was excruciating but it came and went and was not (thankfully) constant, but it necessitated my resting often and not doing a lot physically. Ice bags helped! And prayer. (In fact, by the time we left on Sunday morning, I was pretty much healed and pain-free.)
We spent a lot of time talking, exchanging stories and looking at Romans chapters 6-8 as well as deeply reading Luke 10. We talked about church and missions and being missional in our approach. We talked about being fathers and husbands and just being men of God. We talked about losing our religious outlooks and taking on a real spirituality of grace. I told stories of Africa and the Middle East and ministry successes and business failures and frustrations.
We watched a Brian Regan video and laughed a lot.
Saturday afternoon a couple of the guys went out in canoes. I writhed in pain most of the afternoon, but then when we prayed again for healing – it came and the pain was gone.
And we agreed to begin – however we can in our own worlds and spheres of influence – BELLS. We’ll see where that goes and how it happens. I expect to hear a lot in the next few days and weeks.
We were all making great adjustments:
- Me, coming back from living outside the USA … developing the whole Globe training thing…
- Jim, working as a substitute teacher and looking to do a major mission trip this summer as well as get certified to teach rather than sub…
- Casey, changing churches because of conviction and expanding his work in many areas…
- Eric, resetting his defaults to take more risks in faith,,,
- Ken, looking at how he can move more in missions…
We talked about doing another one of these in maybe October and expanding it to include another circle of friends and relationships.
We’ll see…
