‘Qualified’: 300-plus attend Zona Men’s Retreat

The air was warm and dense inside the Iron Horse Club Room with 300-plus men from churches all over Arizona packed in. The auditorium at Lost Canyon Camp in Williams could barely hold the crowd of men who had arrived at the 2025 Zona Men’s Retreat, which had the theme “Qualified.”

Coby Bartolucci, worship & student ministry director at Valley Life Church — Tramonto, opened the first session with a dynamic worship set of Christ-centered singing. Pastor Brian Bowman, lead pastor of Valley Life Church, then preached from James 1:1-15 on joy in hard times.

“Never justify your lack of joy,” Bowman said. He went on to explain where the lack of joy in a Christian comes from as well as how a non-Christian can attain the joy of Christ.

Bowman warned everyone in the room of the danger of accepting misery rather than the joy of Christ. Sitting in misery over trials, even if you are not technically in sin yet, leads to temptation, not peace, he said. Everyone left that first gathering with a burden over their attitude concerning the things in life not currently going their way.

The next morning, after admiring the beauty of the Arizona forest and mountains, Bowman spoke from Proverbs 7 and James 5:13-16. His main goal was to apply the text to one of the most common and deadly vices in men today — pornography. The Holy Spirit was heavy on Bowman that morning as he walked the men through the Scriptures and applied them very clearly to a sin there was no question was enslaving the souls of many of the men in the room.

Every kind of rationale men make for allowing this kind of sin to permeate their lives was brought to the stage and destroyed. The men left in awe of Scripture for its ability to speak to such a relevant issue and inspired to put to death whatever hold sexual sin had on their eyes and actions.

In the evening session, Jackie Allen, lead pastor of Cross Church and North American Mission Board Send Network director for Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Idaho, addressed the men from 2 Peter 1 on “leveling up” their qualifications as men of God in the church. He called to their attention that they had received a faith equal to the apostles, according to verse 2, and, therefore, had no excuse not to live a godly life in surrender to Christ. He challenged them to supplement their faith with godly living, not to earn the grace of God, but to live out the grace of God so as to be qualified for the ministry the Lord had called them to.

After speaking on the Bible’s qualifications for leadership, Allen felt the Lord leading him to speak specifically against the deadly vice of alcoholism. As only a pastor could, Allen proceeded to tell story after story of church members caught in the addiction of alcohol. Some stories ended in deliverance, some in tragedy.

He then asked all the men whom the Lord had delivered by His grace from alcohol to stand. It was an incredible moment of rejoicing in victory but also calling those who had yet to put down this sin to get accountability and seek sanctification. Bartolucci and the worship band then led in one of the most powerful moments of the weekend, singing “Hallelujah! All I have is Christ!”

On the final day, on Palm Sunday, Allen preached once more, this time from 2 Peter 2 on the dangers of false pronouncements, false promises and false professions. He reminded them of the sufficiency of God’s grace for failure, but also the biblical mandate for their belief to be authentic. By God’s grace, 12 men came forward to make public professions of faith in Christ for the first time.

The Zona Men’s Retreat was a resounding success. Pray for the souls of the men who attended. Pray that those who made professions of faith would be baptized and discipled in the local church. Pray for those God is calling into leadership in their families and church that nothing would hinder them. Pray for those currently in leadership that the Lord would protect them from secret sin and guard their qualifications for the ministry. To Him who did more than we could ever ask, be glory and honor forever. Amen!

Gary Derbyshire is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Glendale.

Cordero Cavazos is a member of Grace Baptist Church of Glendale.