On the 3rd weekend in August, the men at FPC Douglasville held our 3rd annual Men’s retreat.  As a past participant I had an idea of how the retreat might flow.  Pat MacPherson had been involved in the set up of the previous two retreats, but this year was different on two accounts. 

The first was that I was helping to plan a men’s retreat for the first time.  Just by serving in this capacity, I was blessed by having some great fellowship with other followers of Christ that have similar interests in growing disciples.  Pat’s leadership was fantastic.  I went into the event planning thinking that we needed to put on a huge production to top the prior years retreat.  I was not exactly right.  Through meetings with Pat and the other men, I realized that the basic details of the weekend were important, but the most important aspect of the retreat was integrating the main message and tying all of it together to help men grow as disciples.  We decided on a message after numerous planning sessions and diligent prayer about the direction of the retreat.  The rest of the planning took time and effort from many men, but the planning was worth it.

The second way this retreat was different was that Pat was our keynote speaker.  Right before the retreat started, I found out that Pat was a little nervous because this was his first retreat as the keynote speaker.  You never would have known it.  God spoke through Pat that weekend and had a great influence on the many men in attendance.  Pat’s message on being set free was an inspiration for all of us to reflect on our walk with Christ and how we might be limiting our ability to truly abide in Christ by keeping issues in our life.  Pat brought the scripture to life through sharing of his personal testimony as well as other great examples of others that have walked with God in the Bible.  Pat tied the whole weekend together on Sunday morning with a message on abiding in Christ and gave specific examples on things that we did over the weekend that help us to abide in Christ.

Saturday night we had a “Bond” fire with a testimony from Kenny Wham and miracles that he received through the healing of his son.  Others spoke on bondages that they either had been set free from or were trying to be set free from.  Over the weekend, the men of FPC Douglasville had great messages, small group times, quiet personal reflection, prayer time, praise and worship, great fellowship, and plenty of great food.  We shared one on one time with other men and developed stronger relationships with God and other men in the community.

I thank God for Pat and the other men of my Church who were a part of a great weekend of renewal.  May we all walk daily to be closer to God.

Scott Patman
FPC Douglasville, GA