A report on Promise Keepers, Denver, 1995

Subject: A report on Promise Keepers, Denver, 1995
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 01:26:10 -0600
From: Tim Chambers <tbc@netbox.com>

It's been a week since I was at the Promise Keepers conference at Denver's
Mile Hi stadium.  What a glorious gathering -- 70,000 men and boys praising
God from Friday evening to Saturday evening!  Some of the songs we sang
were in Spanish, some were Gospel, some were traditional (including a
70,000-member acapella choir rendition of "Amazing Grace"), and many were
contemporary.  We sang A LOT!  It was reported that we could be heard over
a mile away.

The logistics were excellent.  There was always video coverage of the stage
on the stadium screen (including real-time transcription), with a view
about as large as I have in my family room -- and our seats were at the
opposite end of the field in the upper decks!  The words to all the songs
were printed on the scoreboard.  We heard Greg Laurie, Tony Evans, Jack
Hayford, Ravi Zacharias, Gary Smalley, Howard Hendricks, Wellington Boone,
and Bill McCartney speak.  There were about 5,000 men on the field Friday
night committing their lives to Jesus Christ in response to Greg Laurie's
call!

The event was a powerful revival, and an undeniable boost that will help
turn around the decay of the family.  As Tony Evans pointed out, a
messed-up man contributes to a messed-up family, which contributes to a
messed-up church, which contributes to a messed-up neighborhood, which
contributes to a messed-up city, which contributes to a messed-up county,
which contributes to a messed-up state, which contributes to a messed-up
country, which contributes to a messed-up world.  Bill McCartney called for
racial reconciliation through forgiveness.  You might recognize the name
Gary Smalley because he runs infomercials for his materials that help
strengthen marriages.  The message of his talk was focused on a single
word: honor.  He advised men to honor their wives.

After the conference Saturday, six of us were talking in the hallway of the
hotel and a man and his wife walked by.  The man returned and started
talking with us.  We could tell he was troubled, and he told us pieces of
his story, but no details.  His right eye looked either damaged or
completely replaced with a glass one, and he said he'd been through
something that should have killed him.  Well, after a couple blunt
questions by yours truly, ("Do you and your wife have God in your lives?"
and "Do you have Jesus Christ in your life?") and some more conversation,
he prayed with us and asked Jesus to come into his life!  I don't know
about you, but this Episcopalian has never been a part of anything so
personal and life-changing as what we did in that hallway.  Alleluia!
God's grace is abundant!

Another interesting aspect of that hallway gathering was that three of the
men were African-American and three were Caucasian.  The group formed as
strangers asking each other what we'd be doing differently after the
conference, and we talked about attitudes among the races.  We parted ways
shaking hands and embracing and praising God for the profound change we
witnessed and facilitated in one man's life.  I'm certain none of us will
ever forget that encounter.

Well those were the highlights.  It's not too late to attend and experience
it for yourself.  Even though Denver was sold out, there were many tickets
to be had around the stadium from people who had extras.  Here's the
lineup:

Atlanta, GA 6/30-7/1
Seattle, WA 7/7-8
Minneapolis, MN 7/14-15 (sold out)
St. Petersburg, FL 8/4-5
Oakland, CA 9/29-30
Dallas, TX 10/27-28

The number to call is 800-888-7595.

Wives, you and your children will be "promise reapers" by sending your
husbands.

Yours in Christ,

Tim Chambers <><

[ Back to my Promise Keepers page ]