Promise Keepers Announces 2005 Conference: ''The Awakening''
Promise Keepers has announced their 2005 conference, The Awakening, which seeks to bring men to realize their full potential in their home, work, and community, as God has destined. From May 20 through October 28, 2005, the tour will reach twenty stadiums in different cities across America, including first-time venues in as many as seven states.
The media clip located on the website introduces the event by starting off with this quote from the Bible: "And do this, understanding the present time. The time has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11."
Next, it flashes to an image of a racing car, and the voice announces, "There is a battle being waged for your life, for your family, for your soul, even for your very heart. There is an attack on your mind, a plan to destroy you and the ones you love, but who is the enemy?"
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"Nearly every portrayal of fatherhood in our culture points to a laughable failure, embarrassing lunacy, or best, a passive existence."
The clip flashes to an image showing a huge audience of men seated in a full stadium, a speaker on the stage asks the crowd, "Isn't this one of the greatest weekends you've ever had in your entire life?" to which loud cries of "Yes" reverberated. "And it's just beginning," said the speaker.
Geoffrey Balston, a past attendee said, "Men...you need to attend, bottom line... Each year many come and are blown away with God's power and life changing ability through the ministry of Promise Keepers."
The voice in the clip challenged the targeted audience, male Christians who are clicking around the Promise Keepers website, "It is time for the sleeping warrior within to emerge to fight for his family, his home, and his faith. Open your heart; open your mind; open your eyes."
On Friday evening, the conference will begin, and the "Epic Story" will be told in two parts, "Eternity" and "Heart."
"What we want to help guys understand is that God has an Epic story, and it is an eternal one on Friday night," says Harold Velasquez, Vice President of Creative Services.
The second part, will talk about how "the enemy" will "seduce, lure, and sedate a man’s heart to keep him from living his God-designed destiny." In other words, this message will speak on "the process of sanctification and the battle for his heart in this process."
The next part will be on discovering [your] role in the "Epic Story," which requires first "listening to God's voice."
The conference takes a look into the "Epic Battle" for the "Home" and the "Work" that same Saturday. They will be "practical messages" about "living the awakened life," says Velasquez.
This year, Promise Keepers is doing much more to target the men who have already attended past conferences, to come again by conveying the message that this is not something to be experienced just once.
In addition, they have begun to target younger men. Harold Velasquez said, "Never before in fact in the history of PK, have we been reaching younger guys as we are today."
Tom Fortson, the President and CEO of Promise Keepers shares an anecdote and relates his experience to semi-conscious men. He had a doctor's procedure performed, and the nurse allowed him to watch while on anesthetics. Semi-conscious but still awake, when it ended, he didn't realize it was over.
"I had got from that [hospital] experience that a lot of men are in a semi-conscious state where a lot of activity is taking place around them - in their home, if they're fathers or husbands - their wives may be upset, may not feel loved, but they're semi-conscious. They can still go to work, they can still go to church, and still come home, but they're asleep."
"That's why I'm excited about 2005. Can you imagine waking up masses of men to what's going on around them? Not only at home, but also in their community and at churches."
"I'm excited about this 2005 theme called the Awakening," said Fortson.
