April 3-4-5 2009 at the Toddhall Retreat Center in Columbia, IL

This is a weekend event for men featuring video sessions by John Eldredge and the Ransomed Heart Team (filmed in 2007 at a Colorado Wild at Heart Boot Camp) and sessions by area men with a heart for spreading this awesome message.

If you have read the book Wild at Heart or any of the other books by John Eldredge and the message touch you in some way then you don't want to miss this event.   One can simply say that this takes the message of the book to a whole new level.

Space is limited to sixty men.

Registration for the Spring Training 2009 event is $189.00 and includes lodging, meals, and materials.  A $75 deposit is required at time of registration. Balance due February 01, 2009.  If you would like to scholarship a buddy or an anonymous individual please contact us via email.

Space is limited to sixty men.

Event Flyer, Registration Forms and additional information can found in the Step 1 - Registration Information folder.  Use Adobe Reader (it's FREE) or Microsoft Word (it's not) to view the documents

Space is limited to sixty men.

Registration is Now Open ! !

Questions?  Send us an Email at spring09@counterpointonline.net

CounterPoint is a response to the fact that:

• More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, five out of six call themselves Christians, but only two out of six attend church regularly. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see value in church involvement.
• As many as 90 percent of the boys raised in church abandon it by their 20th birthday with many never to return.
• The demographic group least likely to attend church is single men, ages 18-35.
• The typical U.S. congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. Evident across age categories.
• On any given Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women worship without their husbands.

While church involvement may not be the end-all to Christendom it is clear losing a generation, a personality type, because men and young adults are drawn to risk, challenge, and adventure, but these attributes are discouraged in the local church. Instead, most congregations seek to offer a safe, nurturing environment, an oasis of stability, and predictability, that, according to studies, attract women and seniors but not men.

Life is a mythic adventure fraught with challenge, change, competition, and even martyrdom and we believe men are to live boldly, leading heroic, dynamic, and, selfless lives. The life of the masculine believer must be one of "no guts, no glory"...God's glory. It is not a life of passivity but of great risk and reward where men pursue outrageous, God-given visions. 

1. CounterPoint seeks to lead men to know God, know others, and know themselves.
2. CounterPoint uses words like: Truth, Honor, Authenticity, Adventure, Risk and Reward, and Warrior to describe the masculine spirit in service of the kingdom of Christ.
3. CounterPoint seeks to shows men how to integrate healthy, life-giving masculinity into their professional life, their family life, the life of the church, and the community of fellow wayfarers.
4. CounterPoint seeks to respond the life questions and God-questions that most men are hesitant (anxious?) to ask in down-to-earth language.
5. CounterPoint seeks to engage men in a spiritual quest and connect them into the fraternity of fellow wayfarers. By taking this journey alongside other men, they learn to lead each other into knowing Christ better.
6. CounterPoint seeks to show men how to weave adventure, challenge, boldness, competition, hands-on communication, ferocity, and fun into their spiritual journey with God – and how to bring those things into all aspects of their life.
7. CounterPoint meets in a masculine setting, distinct from culturally-defined religious institutions, where followers and seekers alike feel comfortable. This may be the local coffee shop, the back room of a pool hall, and auto garage, a wood shop, or your own basement.

There are two natural definitions for CounterPoint.

1)  A CounterPoint is any element that is juxtaposed and contrasted with another, to show differences when compared, or to set in contrast.  This relates directly to my previous post The Purpose in that men are called to stand in contrast to the prevailing worldview and instead raise up a standard built on Truth, Honor, and Authenticity.  (More about these terms in the future)

2)  From the arena of music a CounterPoint is the technique of combining two or more melodic lines in such a way that they establish a harmonic relationship while retaining their linear individuality.  The life of men is comparable in that while we retain our God-given individuality, with its personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, we are undeniably stronger when combined into the community of other men.  Our individual melody lines of life weave into something larger and stronger when  we walk this journey together.

Reference: www.dictionary.com

Everything and everyone around us in our culture is trying to make a point. We see politicians, friends, neighbors, church leaders, family members, and even our bosses with an agenda for you.   They want you to think and believe as they do, comply with their wishes, subordinate yourself to their will. Yet most times we find these influence are not grounded in Truth. We are called into this culture with a life built on Truth, Honor, and Authenticity.  We are to be the CounterPoint. That is the purpose.

Vince Lombardi steps in as the new Packer coach. They just came off a season of 1-10-1. He walks into the locker room, holds a football over his head and says, "Gentlemen, this is a football." He proceeds to give his new team a lesson in "Football 101". A somewhat audacious step if you consider that these men are PROFESSIONAL football players. These are not the junior varsity or the rookies straight out of college but highly trained, paid professionals. They know their business.

Gentlemen, this is CounterPoint…consider it "Life 101". Just as the Packers, you guys are highly trained, paid professionals...at life. Yet so many men find that in some segment of life they keep finishing the season with one win, one tie, and ten losses. The goal of CounterPoint (CPt) is to increase the chance of finding the end zone in a more consistent and repeatable manner. CPt is a forum to help you Finish Strong. Remember that even the most highly paid and respected professional athletes need coaching, someone to tape an ankle, someone to workout a cramp. So, if we are honest with ourselves, none of us have our act together. Welcome to CounterPoint.