Update |
| Posted by Bill Orf (billorf) on Feb 26 2007 at 4:58 PM |
Today is the first day I have had a clear enough head and schedule to write to you all. It has been over two weeks since my last entry and so much has happened that I will have to hit the highlights and let your imagination fill in the blanks.
I left home three Fridays ago and headed for Anaheim, CA. The event went like any typical event as far as typical goes for us. We had a three performance format over three days which gives tons of opportunity for these men to pursue relationship with each other and with the Father. You know how intense situations in your life cause you to go deeper in your relationship with the Lord. What would your relationship be like if every time you went to work, you run a high risk of being maimed or even killed? Or if your financial gain would solely depend on your ability to perform at your absolute peek. Or if the survival of your relationship with your wife and your sexual integrity was going to be ruthlessly examined multiple times throughout the course of the weekend? Just another day at the office for the men of the PBR and I am proud to watch them not only survive, but flourish. They are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus who have been sent out to take back ground that the enemy has stolen as they go about their Fathers business.
While in California, I had an opportunity to be on a Christian radio talk show that gave Cody Custer and I the opportunity to speak to a listening audience of about 100,000 people during drive time in LA. Not only was it a great honor to be invited but the Holy Spirit was communicating the love of the Father at such a level that the host extended our time two segments longer than previously scheduled. We have also been given a standing invite to come back any time. Praise the Lord of Glory!
Following the worship service on Sunday, I rushed to the airport to fly back to Salt Lake where Leslie and the boys met me. After a quick pass off of the boys, I headed to Oklahoma with Colton and Tanner. As for Colton and Tanner, they traveled from Salt Lake to Tulsa to Oklahoma City to Sayre to Kaufman, TX to Keller, TX and back home. They stayed in five different hotels and three different homes over the course of 9 days. What an adventure for two young boys.
As for me, I saw my two sons flourish in a variety of situations and they saw their fathers flourish in some and fail in others. I had many opportunities to show them how to repent and ask for forgiveness. I wish I could teach them how to do this without me having to be the one to fail. I am glad they have a relationship with the real Father so they can be raised by him in these areas I am weak. Like the time we had to sit at the Dallas airport before we ran about ¾ of a mile through the airport to arrive at the gate just in time to have them shut the door right in front of us. This was the last flight and meant I had to now load us up in a rental car and drive us the three hours home. I was exhausted after two weeks of non-stop activity so I grunted and stomped my feet and basically acted like a little boy who didn’t get his way. After I got us all in the car, the Lord showed me what had just happened and presented me another opportunity to show my kids how to handle failure. I told them it was wrong for me to act that way and asked them to forgive me. Sometimes we show them how to succeed and sometimes we show them how to fail. Failing is no problem, refusing to acknowledge it, or ask for forgiveness is. We must teach our kids how to fail forward.
Another highlight of the week in OKC was the realization of a dream I have had for several years. We held our first men’s conference and it was a great success. The conference was called “The Heart of The Father” and it gave about 350 men the opportunity to enter into a relationship with God as Father and instructed them how that translates in their own lives as they fulfill their destiny. We talked about how to be men, fathers and husbands. This conference was the beginning of what I believe to be a whole new dimension of opportunity for us as a group of men to reach hundreds of thousands of other men with the great news of the Kingdom. Brooks Brewer spearheaded the event as he pulled together dozens of volunteers and coordinated hundreds of details that made this event a special time for every man in attendance. We worship under the leading of Brooks’ band and received instruction from Andy Taylor, Wiley Petersen, Corey Navarre and Cody Custer. I am so thankful to have such great men of the faith around me who have presented themselves as living SACRIFICES to our King and have given of themselves for the furthering of his Kingdom. I could go on for pages about all the things that happened as a result of the three hours spent in that coliseum, but I won’t. I will say that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The Spirit of the Lord was there and men where set free. I will post some of the letters we have received under the mailbox heading on this web site.
His,
Todd and Leslie
