Conference Multimedia Available - Video of Main Sessions, Audio of Workshops

1/17/10 (Gettysburg, PA)---The cannons of truth roared to life in Gettysburg for the past few days but unlike 147 years ago, this battle was for the hearts and souls of men. The fellowship and sense of community permeated every meeting room and hallway at the Wyndham hotel. Everywhere you looked, men were engaged in hand-to-hand combat against a common enemy who stops at nothing to blur our vision of the cross and of Jesus Christ.

Thursday, Mark Crocco, President of Integrity Consulting Group landed a direct hit on the men assembled with a graduate level discourse on how to arrive at Biblical truth through prayer. Using Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians, Crocco asserted, “We cannot enter the throne room unless we are reconciled to God by kneeling before Him just as Paul did.” Reminding us that we worship a God who can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” Crocco compelled those in attendance to remember how big our God is when we come before him in prayer.

A field trip greeted the men Friday afternoon. A luxury coach transported them to the sparkling new Gettysburg Visitor’s Information Center where they received a crash course in Civil War history. All agreed, it was a magnificent tour and terribly sobering as they internalized, many for the first time, what really happened out on those battlefields.

How we view the world was the topic of the next session and Bob Shelley of Search Ministries really delivered. He was captivating as he poured out what truth looks like in mainstream society. Shelley tossed one grenade after another on such topics as: does it really matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere; is all religion basically the same and does absolute truth exist or is truth all relative? Bob concluded his lively debate with this: being right won’t rule the day because man is not “argued” into the kingdom--- man is wooed into the presence of God by people who care enough to listen and to love. Hmm, could that be evangelism?

The Friday evening interlude included a fabulous concert by national recording artist Wayburn Dean. He not only led the praise & worship before each session but on this night we sat back for a spell and just took in his soothing and wonderful musical offerings. Wayburn was also very visible at our teaching and workshop sessions choosing to roll up his sleeves and do the work, rather than just sit back.

New CBMC president Lee Truax made sure each man in attendance was in step with the ministry’s mission, vision and core values and then he asked charged each man with taking his commitment to the ministry up a notch. “Men, get involved in an accountability relationship if you haven’t already and I want to encourage each one of you take a man through Operation Timothy and do it right now.” Over the years, CBMC has discipled tens of thousands of men using their marquee tool, Operation Timothy, and the process is bullet proof. Truax concluded his address by telling the men that, “If you’re losing confidence, if you feel 2009 was a year of hopelessness; get into the fight, it’s time to re-energize and what a place to make that commitment.”

Marc Fey, the man who led the launch of The Truth Project upped the ante on Lee’s message with a resounding message on how to re-ignite in a manner that will glorify Christ. “Men, we have got to find a way to connect with the next generation if we are to keep Christianity relevant in America,” declared Fey. He spent almost an hour delivering a passionate discourse on how to do that and what is at stake if we don’t reverse the present trend of marginalizing the foundational faith on which our nation was founded.

Long-time CBMCer, Jeff Skeen, President and CEO of Titan Fitness brought the curtain down on the 2010 East Coast Conference reminding each man in attendance there is victory in Christ, but in order to claim that victory we must do the heavy lifting. “Be alert to what the enemy is doing in your life and do not ignore Satan’s power,” warned Skeen. “It wasn’t that long ago when Satan stripped me of God’s word and I never want to be naked like that again,” admitted Jeff. He concluded his remarks by asking the large gathering if they were in search of a chief, someone to lead them, a person can they could count on. He then paused, smiled and quietly said, “If your answer is “yes”, then get into the Word, pick up the Bible because there is where you will find the greatest chief of all, a Savior named Jesus Christ.”

From the speakers to the re-enactors to the workshops and everything in between, Battle for the Truth was absolutely first rate. To the organizers, a heartfelt thank you for the months and months of work it took to pull this off at this level. And to each and every man who attended God was not only honored that you cleared the time but that you met Him there.

As one of the Civil War clad actors told us, “There was something more dangerous than facing certain death on this battlefield in 1863. Want to know what it was? It was sharing Christ with a dying solider, because of what was at stake.”

Here in 2010, has that dynamic changed? One would argue there is still great danger in not sharing Christ with the lost and for the same reason: a man’s eternity is at stake. What will you do with that, and how, now, shall you live?

By: Phil Stone, Director of Communications

Conference Multimedia Available