Promise Keepers Relaunch: A Story of Reluctance, Wrestling and Rewards

In 2012, Ken Harrison was ready to retire and live the good life, after serving for years as an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department then working in the business world.

“I retired and was planning on a life of doing what I wanted to do after a long life of working. And for about two years, I really enjoyed it,” he says.

Then God asked him a question:

“I was praying one day, and the Lord came to me in this incredibly vivid way. He said, ‘I did not put you through everything I did and teach you everything I did so you could ski and hike for the rest of your life. Are you willing to be as ambitious for My kingdom as you were for your kingdom?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know.'”

Ken says he wrestled with God for two hours in the dark of his prayer closet until he finally relented. Then the Lord said, “I’ll tell you what I have for you when you’re ready.”

Four years later, Ken was asked to become chairman of the board for Promise Keepers, which had gone through many years of difficulties.

“That’s when the Lord showed up again and said, ‘Remember that conversation we had in your closet? This was it.’ And I remember thinking, Oh, no, no, no! I don’t want to run a men’s ministry.” But after a series of confirmations, Ken once again heard the Lord speak:

“On the drive down to Colorado Springs, the Lord just downloaded, ‘AT&T Stadium 2020.'” In obedience, Ken took the helm and scheduled the event—then the COVID pandemic happened. “I made a video saying we’re not going to cancel, period. Then the governor’s office called and said, ‘You are going to cancel.'”

“I thought, Lord, I know I heard you say 2020. What in the world is going on? This is a mess.“

With only 45 days left before the event, gears shifted to convert it into a virtual event.

“We had 1.2 million people watch us live in 84 countries. We got letters about lives that were transformed, people who got saved. We had 300 people watch in Sierra Leone, and 100,000 people in India,” Ken shares. “God turned it around and made it massively bigger than I ever could have known.”

God has continued to bless Promise Keepers, Ken says, “to the point that on July 16 and 17, we’re going to be at Dallas Cowboys Stadium for the first Promise Keepers stadium meeting in 20 years.”

Ken likes to quote Oswald Chambers, who said, “Living in the spirit is delightful uncertainty,” as he finds himself now living in each moment, looking for God to download instructions.

“It’s really phenomenal, what the Lord has done.”

To hear Doug Stringer’s interview with Ken Harrison and how God wants to use you too, listen to this episode of A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends on Charisma Podcast Network now. {eoa}