It seemed like any other ordinary Saturday church service with music, praise and singing bellowing out of Breakthrough World Harvest Church, 650 N. Cicero Ave.
But the dozen or so people who filled the pews, Sept. 27, heard a message that empowered men to reconnect with God and retake their position as head of household.
Austin’s Kingdom Dominion Ministry held a men’s conference themed “Trial by Fire: Can You Stand the Heat?” The two-day conference, which began Sept. 26 and wrapped up on Saturday aimed to teach men to overcome life’s adversities by having a little faith.
The absence of faith, conference organizers say, has weakened men’s resolve to be a rock for their family. While the conference targeted men, turnout was less than stellar as more women attended. But trials and tribulations, says ministry Elder Pervis Willis, come into everyone’s lives. Because men falter in the face of adversity, their households and families, Willis noted, are not where they are supposed to be.
“We can’t buckle under the pressure of a trial and run and go sell drugs. We have to keep fighting, pressing and moving on to try to do things a righteous way-God’s way,” he said, insisting there is reward for going through adversity, but men must pass the test in order to receive that reward.
“It is easy to praise him when everything is going right, but what makes the difference is are you able to praise him when everything is going wrong? That’s where the blessing is.”
So far, men are not passing that test, noted the conference’s keynote speaker, Assistant Pastor Charles Williams of Kingdom Dominion Ministry.
“We are having pop quizzes every day [on avoiding drugs, sex, and alcohol], and we are failing every day,” he said, explaining that such activities have distracted men from being good husbands, fathers and providers of their households. “We want to encourage men to not fail, to not quit.”
Kingdom Dominion Pastor Olymphia Patton agreed.
“[As Christian Black women], we don’t have a problem with stepping back and letting the men take the leadership role as long as they follow Christ.”
The conference’s mission will continue over the airways. Crown of Glory International Outreach Ministries will host several broadcast services themed, “Men of Strength Fire and Power,” every Saturday in October and the first Saturday in November. The broadcast began Saturday Oct. 4, from 7 to 8 a.m. on WYCA Radio 102.3.
