Upcoming Men of Courage conference aims to teach men how to be godly

Published 3:31 pm Friday, March 12, 2021

CARTHAGE — JR Royce said he has never in his life met one man who has it all together. He said it is important to feed the spirit just as it is important to feed the body.

That’s what the upcoming Men of Courage event aims to do.

“Like the good word says, iron sharpens iron, so this is designed for men to come together that have questions,” he said. “We’re accountable; God’s word says he gave us everything that we need and that we all have individual gifts and that he gives those to us for us to use for his glory.”

Men of Courage will take place March 26 at 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium, No. 1 Bulldog Drive in Carthage. Gates will open at 6 p.m., and the event is free.

The conference was originally scheduled for last April, Royce said, but it had to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The first Men of Courage event took place in 2018.

This year Dr. Tony Evans will give the message, with his son Anthony Evans leading worship and his son Jonathan Evans giving a testimony.

“We felt like God was leading us to do another one, so that’s when we reached out to Tony Evans and his family because we’re talking about men and sons and raising Godly families and so forth, and we thought ‘well how cool would it be to get Dr. Tony Evans to come speak,’ because he’s a world renowned speaker, and how cool would it be if we could get both of his sons, which Anthony Evans is his son that does music ministry; we thought how cool would it be to get Anthony to come and open for Dr. Evans, and then Jonathan Evans is also a motivational speaker, and he does a lot of motivational speaking on behalf of the Evans testimony and how they were chain breakers in their family,” Royce said. “For a family that used to be hooked on addiction and poverty stricken and so forth, there were some chain breakers that actually turned the curve in their families and got them to follow and worship Christ and so forth, and any way, how cool would it be to have that son come and speak.”

There will be a free gift for the first 2,500 men who show up, a book from the Billy Graham ministries titled Living in Christ.

The book talks about what a life with Christ is like, Royce said, and is mainly geared toward new believers trying to figure out what to do next, but it can also be helpful for old believers.

“This gives you guidelines on where to get in your Bible and start reading so that you learn the life of Christ and what he was about and what your steps are going forward, so it’s kind of helps get a new believer moving in the right direction,” he said.

Royce said God’s word was the only thing that’s important.

“All this other stuff, money, possessions, all this is temporary,” he said. “What’s important is he put us here to proclaim the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ, and so that people would get pointed toward him and accept him as their Lord and Savior so that they have life with eternity after we die off this earth. And that’s what the gospel is all about, is the life of Jesus Christ and why he came and died for us and did what he did to save us from sin.”

This conference could not have been put together without the help of the community, Royce said.

“This took well over $50,000 to make happen by the time everything was paid for — travel, speaking fees, equipment, media, advertising, flyers, everything that’s involved here — 100 percent of every penny was donated by businesses and individuals in our community,” Royce said. “It’s strictly a community event. No churches; I didn’t get a dime from a church, I didn’t even ask for a church. Even though it’s a faith based event, I didn’t want them to feel like they had to do something… Like I said it’s about iron sharpens irons; it’s about men coming together and learning. God gave us the tools to be godly men, sometimes we just need somebody to show us where it’s at and how to use it.”

There will be a special space in the parking lot for church busses, Royce said, and there will be people parking cars and others helping shuffle people around so they don’t have to walk as far. In addition, the concessions stand will be open for anyone who want to get something to eat or drink.