What is the purpose of a conference at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center called “Cursebreakers”? Could this be something relating to myths, legends, misinterpretation of Scripture?
During a Messenger Insight podcast, Keith Burkhart, family and men’s ministry specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, and Mike Keahbone, pastor of Oklahoma City, Cherokee Hills, spoke about the intention and purpose of this upcoming men’s fall conference, Sept 22-23, at Falls Creek, near Davis.
“Cursebreakers might be the most impactful thing we do for a long time,” Burkhart said. “We want to free men up, give them a reset of a biblical framework to see that they have an opportunity to change generations until the Lord tarries.”
Burkhart and Keahbone have been working about three years in having this conference designed to help men break generational curses and build new generational legacies. The two-day event isn’t about removing plagues or hexes, but about making real changes in the lives of men from a biblical perspective.
The conference theme is based on Exo. 34:6-7 that says God is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations… He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.”
Keahbone mentioned a time when he read in Exo. 20 where God would punish children for their father’s sins, and Keahbone said he thought at first this seemed unfair. Then he said God revealed to him the meaning of this passage.
“It was this learned behavior that had been passed on to the next generation,” Keahbone said. “What the dad had done is he created this idol for his family and then taught the family how to follow it. Then (God) brings Jesus on the scene and breaks that curse in that family.”
Keahbone also said this related to his own life.
“I grew up in a family that was ravaged by alcohol and drug addiction,” he said. “My mom was an alcoholic and drug addict. Her parents gave (my mom) her first drink. Their parents gave them their first drink. So you can go all the way down our family tree and see alcohol and drugs were just dominating our family. You can also see how so many people in my family passed away because of alcohol and drug-related issues.”
But God made a change starting in Keahbone’s life.
“God had set me apart,” he said. “I never drank or did illegal drugs. God protected my heart and my life. God rescued me through First Baptist Church in Elgin, Okla., and that’s where I saw unconditional love modeled, heard the Gospel several times. I was saved Nov. 1, 1990 at Cameron University (while attending) the Baptist Student Union, and that’s when I realized I was a cursebreaker.”
Burkhart said the Cursebreaker Conference is for men who have similar challenges.
“Working with men over the past 15-20 years,” Burkhart said, “I’ve noticed that when a man comes to Christ, we begin the discipleship process with that man in the local church. If we don’t give him answers to the holy unrest that begins in his heart and when he begins to apply Scripture to his life, what ends up happening is (he and his family) move from a good place of abiding with Christ to what we call a ‘net negative,’ and they get angry, cynical, depressed, frustrated. They move into addicted behaviors, trying to come alive again, and these are believers. So we have men all across the land, they come to Christ, and if we don’t disciple them effectively, give them a clear spiritual pathway for their wife and family, they will end up slipping into these generational patterns.”
The lineup of speakers include men who are familiar with generational curses. Football players Kenyatta Wright, who played at Oklahoma State University and the NFL, and Bubba Burcham, who was a member of the University of Oklahoma’s 2000 National Championship team, will be speaking, as well as outdoor enthusiast Brad Clay and Cody Bobay, founder of SoulCon fitness and lifestyle ministry.
Lance Lang with Hope is Alive ministries also joins Burkhart and Keahbone on the Cursebreakers speakers list, and Caleb Harrison, worship leader at Oklahoma City, Cherokee Hills will lead times of worship through music.
“We’re going to be dealing with some real practical things that will help (men) protect and safeguard their families,” Burkhart said.
To view the Messenger Insight podcast featuring Burkhart and Keahbone, visit www.baptistmessenger.com/cursebreakers.
Cost is $70 to attend the Cursebreakers Conference, which includes programming, lodging and meals. For more information and to register, visit www.menrewired.com/cursebreakers.
