Change Your Life
Men's Encounter is all about being set free to live the life God intended for you. God has so much more in store for us through the saving work of Jesus Christ, and the power of Holy Spirit in our lives! We want men to experience the freedom to walk with God in ways they have never experienced before! A ministry organization fueled by Christians to spread the Gospel message.
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Encounter is a non-denominational group of men who believe in the power of God, through the saving work of Jesus Christ, and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to transform and change lives. (See our statement of faith for more information)
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Encounter is a gathering of men from all walks of life. You will hear multiple sessions that address different aspects of every man’s life. Each session will have a teaching, and most will be accompanied by personal testimony. These testimonies and teachings are brought to you by common men, like you and me. They will share personal experiences of how God took them from bondage to freedom. These will be real life stories that can apply to your life as well. If you have ever wondered if there really is a God, wondered why God created you, or if God could even love you now, then you need come see for yourself how He does love each one of us. You will enjoy lots of good food and make many new friends.
LIVES CHANGED FOREVER
Because of my age and experiences, I have made it my life’s goal to find joy in whatever I do. But I want more than just the world’s emotional roller coaster ride of happiness. I want genuine spiritual joy. I want the joy that comes from a confident, faith based, “sealed by the Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13), “know’n where you’re go’n,” “Jesus is still in charge,” bedrock solid knowledge. The joy that I speak of is a characteristic, a virtue, a Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23). Just like King David in Psalms 23, I want to be able to say, “My cup runneth over!” … I found that joy at Encounter the Cross during August of 2024.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice! Philippians 4:4
I rejoiced reconnecting with old friends and making new friends at Encounter. I rejoiced watching as a man with heart disease was helped from his wheelchair into the pool for baptism so he could affirm to the world his decision to follow Jesus. I rejoiced listening as men of all ages and experiences were genuinely pouring their hearts out about their life’s trials and how encountering Jesus had changed them. I rejoiced watching men of different talents, abilities, ethnicities, cultures, young and old, going forward, nailing their sins to wooden crosses, visiting and praying with counselors (and found myself doing the same). I rejoiced worshiping with the group at Encounter. I rejoiced knowing that everything done and said was biblically sound. I rejoiced watching men helping other men along their life’s journey.
No matter your spiritual level… possibly a guy still searching for truth, or a “babe in Christ,” or an experienced disciple, we’re all equals at the foot of the cross. And each can find new beginnings, commitments, and recommitments at the cross. In 2Corinthians 5:17 Paul speaks of the “new creations” that we become as believers. As a searcher you may become a “brand new creation” at Encounter. As a “babe in Christ” you will find strengthening and encouragement of your “new creation” at Encounter. As an experienced disciple you will find new direction or revitalization of your “new creation” at Encounter. If your heart and mind are open, you will be at the very least blessed and maybe even transformed at Encounter the Cross.
Whether you have been invited to Encounter the Cross, or feel the Spirit prompting you to go, or you are curious about it… then I would say go!! Open your heart and mind and go! The Spirit will provide all the love, joy, and peace you can handle. Your biblical knowledge and wisdom will increase. Then like King David you will say “My cup my runneth over!”
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Lee Englund, Kearney
The first time I was invited to Men’s Encounter, it didn’t work out for me to attend. When the second time came around and I was invited again, I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to put aside some of my uneasiness about Encounter and to just go and see what it was like. The timing could not have been more perfect and the messages could not have lined up more perfectly with where I was at in my life at the time. God has a crazy way of speaking to us right when we need it. And I needed to hear from God, and encounter was the platform that God used to speak to me. There were definitely some areas of my life that I knew I needed to work on, and the Encounter weekend was the start I needed. More so, there were some things that I had no idea that I struggled with that the Lord revealed to me. The closeness to God was real. My next Encounter was my first as a server. It was humbling to be on the other side of things and to see how other men as well as myself were allowing God to work through us as servers. Jesus was the ultimate example of what a server should be, and now I know the impact of what truly serving others is like. Needless to say, Men’s Encounter has been a great foundational aspect of my walk with Christ.
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Daniel Holbrook
Brothers in Christ,
I am writing to encourage you as Brothers in Christ to consider the possibilities for spiritual development and growth that come with participation in the Men’s Encounter movement.
As a pastor for nearly 20 years at 5 different churches as well as being a member in several other churches over the years, I have seen the importance of male leadership in the health and ministry of a church. I have seen strong male leadership grow a church from 125 people into a church that has over 800 that is impacting their community in numerous ways. I have also seen weak male leadership stifle churches so that they never develop into what I believe God would intend them to be and do.
Men’s Encounter is not the only way to help develop male leadership in a church, but it can be an effective way. I have witnessed this happening at the church where I am currently interim pastor, Westmark Evangelical Free Church near Loomis, NE. One man here had attended an Encounter weekend in Kansas a couple of years ago and felt the call to pray for and involve other men in the church. By last January he had encouraged six other men in our church, including me, to attend a weekend event in Kansas. The day after we got back Saturday evening, one of the men that attended worship was singing while collecting the offering and prior to the weekend, he had what might be called an aversion to singing in church at all. After that event all seven of us committed to meeting Saturday mornings at 6:15 for Bible study and encouragement. And our newly found singer and his wife were recently baptized and have joined the church.
Four more men from our church, two of which were only loosely tied to Westmark, attended an Encounter in August along with a few past participants who went along to help at the weekend. Our Saturday morning group has grown and other men, after hearing the reports from attenders on the Sundays following the weekends, are interested in attending as well.
The overall effect has been that men in the church have awakened spiritually and are seeking ways to live more fully for Christ, encourage their wives more, and raise their children in a more Godly manner. Seasoned believing men that have attended report that they have been encouraged and built up as well. And some of the excitement of new freedom in Christ has rubbed off on other men in the church so they are participating more.
As I said, Men’s Encounter is not the only way to help develop male leadership in a church, but it can be an effective way. I have found it to be bathed in prayer and scripturally solid.
Prayerfully consider the possibilities for spiritual growth in Jesus through Men’s Encounter for the men of your church as well.
W. Pat Moore
Interim Pastor
Westmark Evangelical Free Church
Loomis, NE 68958
Cell – 308-380-3922