For those of you who missed it, the conference was awesome.  I know that I got something out of it and from the couple of people who I talked to afterwards, they did as well.  It is my observation, and perhaps mine alone, that it isn’t as easy for men to be silent before God as it is for women.  Perhaps that is because they are more in touch with their feelings or perhaps it is just because they are more willing to be vulnerable than men are.  Regardless of the reason, the group of men that had assembled for this conference were given an opportunity to stop, unplug and tune in for the express purposes of seeking God’s voice and wisdom; some perhaps for the first time.  For me, that was an awesome sight to see and if nothing else, made this conference a success.

Every once in a while, I open my Bible and just randomly begin reading a section of scripture.  There isn’t really anything that I am looking for or studying in particular other than God’s words.  A week or so ago, I opened my Bible to the book of James and began reading the first chapter.  Where I read and what I read had to be divinely led as I am not that smart.  James 1:22 reminds us of the following: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  I had read this passage of scripture once before; I know this because I had it highlighted but the message was different from the time that I read it before.  I believe that there is a natural tendency to go to an event, such as the recent men’s conference, get inspired and then fall back into the old ways of you life rather quickly.  To me, this is obviously the work of the evil one who desires nothing more than to rob us of the victories through Christ we experience.  An even greater injustice, again from my perspective, is to walk out of an event such as this and not incorporate any of the weapons available for the battle into practice.  It is kind of like the car from Ferris Buhler’s Day Off if anyone remembers that movie.  In his efforts to convince his friend that they should take his father’s car out for the day, he tells his friend “What is the purpose of having a car like that if you aren’t going to use it”.  I don’t think that is what he said word for word but I think you get my drift here.  My tendency in the past has been to become inspired and then not use the tools available to extend that inspiration.  I think that is what James is warning us about here; to take the information gathered at the conference and apply it in our daily lives.  For me and perhaps me alone, that means spending more time alone in prayer with our Heavenly Father.