Cannon Beach Men's Conference

Dear Prayer Team,

RESCUE had a great time at the Men’s Conference at Cannon Beach Conference Center this past weekend! We enjoyed some very inspiring messages from Pastor Ed Underwood of Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California. He is a former military man and related the stories of his time in the US Army's Jump School where he became a member of the "Airborne" troops. He related the principles of his training and the story of Caleb (Joshua 14:12 specifically) to our own spiritual walk. He spoke of four principles: Conditioning (getting into spiritual shape by reading the Bible and daily prayer), Obeying commands (submission to God), Facing confrontations (speaking the truth in love and being able to receive it from others) and having Courage (standing for what is right under very difficult circumstances). The themes are universal to men and women, but Ed knows the way to relate these concepts to men in a way that really motivates us.

One of his statements really stuck with me throughout the week. He said, "...these are some of the things I've done. I Have jumped out pf C-130's, I HAVE jumped out of C-147's - I have fallen trees (I used to work as a fireman for the Forest Service) The biggest one was seven feet on the stump, so that was pretty exciting seeing that thing come down. I served with a Hot Shot crew in Southern California, while I was in college, fighting fire. I’ve fought fire in the brush fields of Southern California, going downhill cutting brush bringing fire with us, standing on the mountain, daring the fire to get us! I’ve taken tanks downrange. I've done a lot of things, but nothing, no assignment in my life, has been more messy, no assignment in my life has been more confusing, more daunting, or taken more courage, than to love one woman as Christ loved the church and to raise kids in a Godless world so that they would want to follow my Savior, and to lead men, not to jump out of airplanes, not to fight fire, but to lead men in a way that they could make a difference in this sin-stained world for Jesus Christ."


Ed Underwood was inspiring as he spoke to the men of the conference.

After feeling so blessed to be able to take part in such a wonderful time of Bible teaching, we were so happy to be a part of the program, encouraging the men there to worship God and to live lives that can make a "difference".

We sang two songs per speaking session and did a concert on Saturday night. Former RESCUE member, "Mac" (Jason McKenney) and his father-in-law happened to be in Cannon Beach that weekend and decided to come and support us that night. It was great to see him again and he was a great encouragement to us.

It has been really fun for us to be able to offer our newest CD, "Before the Throne Pre-Release". The three songs that are on the CD mean a lot to each of us. They are definitely ministry songs that we can really stand behind. It is also really great that Brandon's percussion demonstration is on there too, because many people want to hear more from him than just the video demonstration that we play at concerts.

It was such a pleasure to see the encouragement on the faces of the men who spoke to us afterwards. We felt no doubt that God had ministered through the ministry of RESCUE and were so humbled to be able to witness such a life-changing time for many men.