Promise Keepers Key Speaker Bob Reccord Unleashes His Thoughts

Promise Keepers has already completed its first three conferences for the 2006 national run. Thousands of men have “unleashed” their potential in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Baltimore, Md., and Raleigh, N.C., since the beginning of June. Key speaker for all 19 conferences this year is Dr. Bob Reccord, former president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, author and consultant.

Before entering his fourth straight week of speaking to a men-filled arena in Albany, N.Y., this weekend, Reccord gave The Christian Post an overview of the rush of conferences and the role of men, including himself, in the family, the church and society.

Reccord: We’re having a great time. We’ve been in Forth Lauderdale, Baltimore, and Raleigh. We’ve had in the neighborhood of 7,500 to 8,500 men at all three conferences, and a lot of decisions. At each arena, we’ve had the entire front of the stage filled-in and guys backing out in aisle ways. In Raleigh, one gentleman brought 12 guys and six of them accepted Christ. We had a member of the Crips gang … show up and he made a commitment of his life to Christ. We had dads whose young adult sons came with them to make commitments. We had a lot of that kind of response. The attitude and atmosphere of men have been overwhelmingly positive.

Reccord: It wasn’t an easy decision because that is a huge commitment and therefore a lot of things had to be weighed – family, time and other responsibilities. We had a lot on our plate already and when they approached me, my wife and I felt like it something we ought to do because if you change a man, you often have a significant impact in the home. And when the home is changed, that can’t help but impact a neighborhood or a church and when those are impacted, it impacts a part of a city and that city contributes to a broader scope of a region and a state. So you see a significant impact.

As men have such a key role in life as dads, as husbands, as workers, as leaders, therefore a change internally in them has a ripple effect that is very significant. And we knew we would be somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 150,000 men throughout the 19 events and we felt like that was demanding [and] an overwhelming opportunity to make a difference in a contribution that could impact many families, and many businesses and many churches. Even though it was [demanding], we were willing to do it; and so far, we are thrilled that we’ve done just that.

I also, secondly, highly respect Tom Fortson who is the president of Promise Keepers and want to help him in any way I can because he’s a man of such integrity and authenticity and he’s got a passion for men and families in his heart.

A third issue that has to be dealt with is in the church. Not in all churches but a significant number of churches, men are staying away and you’ve got the highest percentage of your attendants being females. And sometimes men will go to an arena or a gathering of just men sooner and easier than they will to a local congregation. Sometimes a Promise Keepers event is a stepping stone from being out of the church to stepping toward seeing the church as a very important and viable part of life. So we wanted to help be a part of that bridge of guys who haven’t been involved in a local church because the reality is Promise Keepers is a weekend, but something’s got to happen to those guys the other 51 weeks of the year. And that’s where the local church is crucial. So we want to help be a part of that bridge point.

Reccord: Well, the church needs to really look at what is it that keeps men’s commitments really solid and on track. In some of my past work, I have been a part of some studies that have been done. What is it that keeps men on track? And one of them is to make sure that some of the activities that the church is having are focused on things that appeal to men. One of the intriguing issues for men these days are issues that relate to outdoors. So one of the things that churches need to be doing is how can you engage your men in taking their kids camping for instance. Maybe go on a hiking event … with their kids, whether they be sons or daughters, [so that] they’re going out and experiencing things that guys can really respond to. Guys love the outdoors, they love adventure, they love opportunities to get out and do things because they call for hands and action and involvement….

But down at the bottom line, one of the things that we found resoundingly that’s important is a man to be involved in a small group of men going through studies and journeying together as a small group in which they get to trust each other, in which they get to grow with each other and in which they get to talk … man to man. That usually is not going to happen in a big group. That’s usually going to happen in small groups. So one of the things that the church would be greatly benefited by doing is making sure that they have some kind of arena for not only their activities for men … but also those ongoing men’s events that break down into small groups for those guys … where they’re helping one another grow and develop and face the issues that men go through. And they can do it together. That has been proven in many studies to be an absolutely essential glue for the local church.

Reccord: Yes, they are. There are a number of churches who are. One of the things that are really finding great response right now is the Fraternity of Men that was created by Robert Lewis out in Arkansas and a number of churches of different denominations are picking that up. Its studies are directed to men. Other churches are using studies that take men through different aspects of their life like John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart … A number of churches are getting increasingly good at picking up issue-driven and subject-driven studies that apply to men right where they’re living Monday through Saturday and then out of those are often coming the small groups that we talked about.

Another thing that men want to do is men want to make a difference. They want to be hands-on men. Men have a need in their life to be “fix-it” kind of people. If something isn’t working, men have a drive to fix it. So one of the things that churches ought to be doing is challenge their men in how to give their life away in ministry and in our community. And some churches are doing that by having men help take care of widows, single moms who have kids and don’t have time to take care of the yards … so men in many churches are mobilized to go out and help those who don’t have either the resources or the time to help themselves. Some churches are moving to get almost a big brother kind of ministry in the church where men will adopt young boys whose dads have either left or died and they sort of unofficially adopt them to help them have experiences that guys need to have as they’re growing up but they don’t have a dad in the house. The reason being is if all we do is receive and we gain and we benefit by that which we study or experience, all we do is become spiritual obesity cases. We just get better and better at being a repository for information or impact or experience. Health comes when you turn around and give what you’ve gained. Every man needs to be sure that whether it be Promise Keepers or whether it be through his local church minister or a group of guys, he’s got an outlet to give away what he has received. That’s what’s going to keep him spiritually and emotionally healthy. You got to have an opportunity to give themselves away to those in need because that’s what keeps health and balance in their lives. And there’s no greater place than the church to help do that.

Reccord: I’m thrilled that that kind of strategic alliance is happening because no one group can do it all. And so what is happening in that kind of strategic alliance is the leveraging of strengths. Promise Keepers has the ability to draw a lot of men, but up until recent times there hasn’t been much … at what those men do when they leave Promise Keepers. This strategic alliance is allowing men who want to make a difference to get together as a group from their church or community and go down to the New Orleans and north shore area to help in the rebuild area. And that’s bringing in the strength and leveraging the experience of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board – the third largest disaster relief entity in America – to be able to mobilize together a lot of men regardless of their denominational background to help people in need and to do it in the name of the Christ they follow.

The response so far has been good. Men have been challenged by a great and stirring video in the event and then directed to a website as well as an exhibit area in the arena itself. Now the responsibility will be to the men and to the churches to follow through and actually sign up and it’s going to take the weeks and the months ahead of us to see that. The full impact we have yet to see, but the response at the first three events has been good. A lot of men want to know how to get involved.

When you give yourself away to those who can’t do much in return for you, that is a radical life-changing event.

Right now, it’s helping Promise Keepers. It’s really focusing on … these events and helping Tom Fortson and the team there to make these be the best they could be. At the same time, I’m still doing a lot of what I was always doing. I am a special liaison from the North American Mission Board to Promise Keepers in the area of Project NOAH and I’m continuing to speak at churches across the country. And I’m going back to do something that I have lost much time to do. I have been an author of eight books and I’m going to go back and start writing again. That’s where I am focusing my time on right now and am enjoying it tremendously.

And one thing I’m really loving is seeing my wife more. My former responsibilities had me traveling extensive amounts and it was wonderful and I’m so thankful for the nine years I had there. I am seeing my wife more during the week now which is a great delight.

Reccord: There are so many. But I think above all, the happiest people I’ve had the privilege of being around are volunteers in disaster relief. Nine years ago when we started I think we had a little over 30,000. Today, we Southern Baptists have 52,000 volunteers that have been trained through FEMA courses and are credentialed to get into disaster areas. But they were always some of the greatest and happiest people because they were going into places where life had fallen with the bottom dropping out and they were giving their lives away often in very hot and sweltering circumstances and yet they always had a smile on their face. And yet combined with them is when I went to the North American Mission Board, we had about 7,000 kids, teenagers in a program called World Changers. During the summer they go into major metropolitan areas, into poor housing arenas and they rebuild substandard housing for people who couldn’t afford it. These kids have now grown from 7,000 to almost 25,000 and it’s just been great to see them go give their lives away.

Here’s the thing that both of those have shown me. When people give their lives away and aren’t focused on what they’re going to receive in return, it’s one of the greatest experiences that happens in a lifetime. And it significantly contributes to their happiness. I took that away overwhelmingly because I saw it over and over and over again.

Reccord: I think we stand at a typical crossroads in our country and I think one of the absolutely essential issues for our future is for men to step to the plate and accept the responsibility of being spiritual leaders at home, at the job, at their church and community. And that’s going to make or break our future. But it is a responsibility to grab hold of the time and take the responsibility. I think that will determine our long-term future as a country, so I’m praying that the local churches and ministries like Promise Keepers increasingly learn how to work better together and not in any way feel they’re competing with each other to accomplish that kind of movement in the future before us.