I attended Basic Boot Camp in 2007 and on the flight to Denver my buddy asked what was I expecting. I truthfully did not know what was ahead.  After learning that there was such a thing as “Boot Camp” I went out and bought the Epic DVD to see if John could speak as well as he could write. He could.  So I attended "on faith," as some would say.

First, the warfare going in was brutal.  There were so many things that stood between me and Boot Camp.  I travel for work and my wife did not like the idea of me going away for a personal event.  Because of the secrets in my heart, my wife did not realize the import of this matter…neither did I honestly. She admitted months later that had she known the changes that were in store for my heart she would have signed me up personally!

I learned real quick that I lived with my true heart buried deep. Oh I looked just fine on the outside.  Hardworking, faithful to church and family, a friendly guy, successful in my career, etc.  Yet God laid open areas in my heart long ignored but with repercussions felt throughout my existence.

I learned that my negative behaviors resulted from deep wounds in my heart.  My life was consumed in battling (and losing out) my behaviors and trying to bear up under the ensuing guilt and shame.  I felt so alone in these struggles and had long since realized that "church" was not a safe place.   I was the walking wounded.

I also discovered and confronted the lie that I lived under.  It said I was not good enough for God.  I was not qualified and not of significance to Him bcuz I continually failed to be holy.  I struggled with recurring sins and accepted this lie as truth and took on that huge burden of guilt and condemnation.

There were areas that directly impacted the relationship with my wife and we continue to walk through those repercussions as God takes our 'good' marriage to an even better level.

The Advanced Boot Camp in 2008 had a different feel.  My wife warned me that I better not come home with any secrets to reveal.  It was more of a threat...with a smile! But there were no hidden bombs to defuse bcuz of my commitment to total honesty.

God used ABC to bring another area in my heart to light.  This deep need for "approval" that can only come from God and yet I had been looking to men.  I was caught up in "performance Christianity"...trying to garner the favor of God and man.  I feet that ABC completed the Ransomed Heart picture and furthered the journey in the restoration of my heart.

With each of these things revealed in my heart I began a new life.  It's not been a cakewalk but there exists a freedom that I have never known.  There are still tough times and daily decisions to make as I confront God's gracious work in my heart but I am life is eternally changed because of the Wild at Heart Boot Camp.

~S

At a minimum, it would be safe to say that Wild at Heart answered questions I wrestled with since I first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Realizing that God wants to make peace with me, personally, and wants me on His team continues to be the most wonderful thing I have heard. Discovering that I have an active enemy explained so many difficulties that contradicted the Bible and my own behavior and experience. I am encouraged by the news that the LORD has a place for me on His team! It is a rare day when someone just wants me on their team, usually they don’t want me at all, or they have a qualifying test for me to pass first…then maybe I will be invited. Comprehending and accepting Jesus’ unconditional invitation was liberating and healing to me.

Wild at Heart gave me a framework, a replacement filter, for seeing the world in place of the legalistic religious training I received earlier in life. It is comforting to know that God does not expect me to ‘get it right’ on my own! So many decades of my life were lost to such ‘training’, it seemed like fifty-two Sundays and Wednesdays every year were spent learning tips and techniques. Acknowledging that some of those disciplines are helpful; most left me feeling like an escalating failure as a Christ-follower and as a man. I wondered why so many other boys and men could get it ‘right’ while I was failing to overcome any sin? The harder I tried to stop sinning, the more grotesque, degrading, and immoral my behavior became. I came to believe that I was a more effective sinner after praying the so-called, “Sinner’s Prayer,” than I was beforehand…and that was just humiliating to me.

After embracing the idea that I should look to Jesus and trust Him to work out the details I noticed the volume of besetting sins dropped off like an iceberg breaking away from a glacier and falling into the sea. I was no longer under the burden of proving I was worthy of Him; I no longer had the duty to get good enough for God as though any human could. At the same time, the LORD made it clear that my sins were little more than my attempt to get life from something other than him. This breakthrough allowed me to go to Him and ask, “Why do I do that?”, then to receive answers! Often, those responses took me to long buried hurts, wounds, defensive agreements, and other methods of self-protection which were robbing me of the life Jesus promised to his disciples. Please understand I am not completely, “fixed,” rather, I am allowing Jesus to reveal and heal the wounds that provided fertile fields for Satan to plant the seeds that steal, kill, and destroy my life.

Anyway, my life has purpose and direction. I have a part in Jesus’ story and an irreplaceable role to play. I am not just counting time until I die and go to Heaven! Instead, I am actively fighting to rescue other men taken captive by a wily, dangerous, and invariably deadly group of enemies. Where I once lived a life of quiet desperation and endless learning I now live an adventure lead by the original Adventurer.  ~d

It's about you and God.  But let me backup first...

I read Wild at Heart not long after it came out but cannot recall a significant impact to my life.  Later I read other Eldredge books because I liked his writing style and there began to find that they were affecting my life.  In 2006 I led a men's study group to go thru Waking the Dead and it was there one of the guys mentioned a "Boot Camp". 

Having no clue I began to investigate.  I was curious if John Eldredge could speak as well as write so I purchased the Epic DVDs...the only DVD available from Ransomed Heart at that time.  I was suitably impressed and agreed to attend the Boot Camp with my friend.

During our flight from St Louis to Denver he asked what I was expecting.  I truthfully had no clue because Ransomed Heart does not share much information about the Boot Camp experience.  When i arrived it was obvious that we would not be seeing an agenda but forced to live-in-the-moment.  This was disrupting to me but I was along for the ride now.

Starting Thursday evening and concluding Sunday  at noon, the Ransomed Heart team took me on a journey that has forever changed my life.  While there were 450 guys at the event, I felt the experience was singular for me.  It was a journey into my soul and into God.

I will share more specifics of my life change at the Spring Training event in April.  If you seek to release your heart into new territory, come to understand God in a greater way, or simply want to walk in the path that God intended for you then I invite you to join us.

Check back to this site often for event updates and personal stories from other men. 

If you want to be automatically notified of new content then use the Subscribe to RSS Feed link at the bottom of this page.

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.