From Ennis, Texas to Falls Creek, Oklahoma, by way of Atlanta, Georgia

This was the 10^th anniversary of the Men Rewired Christian Men’s Retreat at Falls Creek, Oklahoma.  It is only 166 miles from Ennis, Texas to Falls Creek, Oklahoma, but since I detoured through Atlanta, Georgia on the way, the round trip was roughly 1932 miles.  You can read below about the detour to Atlanta; the actual trip to Falls Creek for Nic Collins and I started on Friday morning at 9am from DFW airport.

Parking lot on the way to registration

Five Baylor men left Ennis in the church van with Daring Driver Dudley Fox at the wheel.  Larry Fincher picked us up at the airport and counting Nic and I there were five Baylor men in his truck.  We had to keep reminding Daring Driver Dudley by cell phone that this was not a race, but they beat us to Falls Creek by several hours (or maybe it was minutes) and reserved a place for us in the parking lot.

View from my bunk.

We had a comfortable cabin.  The bunks were new and the mattresses were very comfortable.  I wised up some from last year and moved to the back of the room, as far as I could get from the restroom.  Last year, men (old guys, like me) were constantly getting up to go use the facilities, and each time they did, they left the light on.  That’s not a problem when you are 20 bunks away. It just makes for a longer walk.

Don Howard, Larry Houdek, Larry Fincher and Dudley are planning what breakout sessions they will attend.  Most of the Baylor men chose to attend sessions on discipleship.  They all said it was great!

Parking for Hogs

Kenyatta Wright, former NFL linebacker and now FCA director and founder of TRUTH Supply Co.

Falls Creek at Night

Larry and his other brother the other Larry. 

My sessions were on hermeneutics, taught by Dr. Owen Neace.  Dr. Neace is Pastor of a Church in Oklahoma City.  He has an obvious love for the Lord and fellow believers.  His teaching made what had been described to me a difficult subject one that I cannot wait to pursue further.

They can feed a lot of men in a short time at Falls Creek.  There were probably 4000 men there, and we never had to wait in line.  Good food, too!

Baylor men getting their worship on.  You can see Lyndon Johnson in the white shirt, then Freddy Santos, Don Howard is holding his phone to take a photo, then Larry Houdek, Dudley Fox, Austin Montgomery, Nic Collins, Doug Goff.

Prayer with 4000 other men.  Powerful.

This is Keith Burkhart, leader of Men Rewired for the past ten years

One of the main speakers was Jim Putnam from Idaho.  He taught part of the breakout session that some of our men attended on discipleship, and also wrote one of the books that Nic Collins is using in his seminary studies called Disciple-Shift.  He spoke Friday evening in the main worship session on fleeing from sin’s temptation, his text being Proverbs 7.  Read it and apply the wisdom that Solomon teaches therein.

Out of Focus Freddy looks mildly amused.  Don looks mildly confused!

This is Michael Jr.  He is a comedian, and while he spent the first half of his time telling jokes that had men roaring with laughter, he also brought a powerful message on “Letting Jesus in to Clean House” that was blessed by the Holy Spirit.  The altar was flooded with men making life changing decisions.

Here is the whole group (that’s me, right behind the camera…I’m in every shot that way).  We are about to enter Two Frogs restaurant in Ardmore, OK to get a bite to eat before we return to Texas.

Two Frogs is a nice restaurant, decorated like a Hard Rock Café with guitars from many major artist adorning the walls.  The food was good and plenty of it.  Our waiter’s name was Milo.  We joined in prayer for Milo’s grandmother as he expressed that she has a long term illness.  How about offering a brief prayer right now for Milo and his grandmother as you read this?

So that’s the trip for Rewired 2017.  Here we are back in Texas, joining in prayer, thanking God for a safe journey and all that we learned and the fellowship we had with all of these men. 

Rewired is an annual event that comes up every year around the end of April.  We usually start making our plans and reservations in January.  Put it on your calendar and go with us next year.  You’ll be glad you did!