On Wednesday 28 October, we arrived at the Ridgecrest Conference Centre. This is owned and operated by Lifeway ministries, and is such an amazing venue. There are so many accommodation and meeting places on site they can host up to 5 conferences at once, with up to 10,000 people total, 364 days of the year!!! The surrounds were just beautiful as we were only a couple of weeks out from the "peak" of autumn (fall) colours on the trees.
The NCFIC have used this venue for several years, and this year over 1300 people gathered together for the "Highway of Holiness" conference - an age-integrated conference, dedicated to exhorting, and equipping people, with this years theme being "holiness". NCFIC director Scott Brown, explained that because our view of holiness affects so many other aspects of our Christian lives - it's so important that we have a Biblical understanding.
During the conference there were lots of opportunities to meet other families, and have many conversations and beneficial fellowship time. There was some great teaching within the main sessions - really straightforward, Biblical, passionate, encouraging and convicting - sometimes all at once. One of the greatest blessings was how the teaching kept pointing us not to man, or to the speaker, but to the Lord. The keynote messages from the conference are still available for free here, if you are interested in viewing any of them. Also, here is a short video clip they put together that gave a glimpse into the atmosphere of the conference - https://ncfic.org/blog/posts/a_taste_of_the_highway_of_holiness_conference
The NCFIC have used this venue for several years, and this year over 1300 people gathered together for the "Highway of Holiness" conference - an age-integrated conference, dedicated to exhorting, and equipping people, with this years theme being "holiness". NCFIC director Scott Brown, explained that because our view of holiness affects so many other aspects of our Christian lives - it's so important that we have a Biblical understanding.
During the conference there were lots of opportunities to meet other families, and have many conversations and beneficial fellowship time. There was some great teaching within the main sessions - really straightforward, Biblical, passionate, encouraging and convicting - sometimes all at once. One of the greatest blessings was how the teaching kept pointing us not to man, or to the speaker, but to the Lord. The keynote messages from the conference are still available for free here, if you are interested in viewing any of them. Also, here is a short video clip they put together that gave a glimpse into the atmosphere of the conference - https://ncfic.org/blog/posts/a_taste_of_the_highway_of_holiness_conference
There was also a "Burnings in the Soul" luncheon, which I attended with Gabriel. This was a lunch with many men, fathers, and their sons - followed by 2 hours of speakers sharing "from the heart" the things that were most burdening them. It was such an edifying time, listening to each man share in a raw, real, from the heart way - such a blessing!
Paul Washer sharing his heart on missions at the "Burnings in the Soul" luncheon.
Jeff Pollard, ex-"rock star", preaching the Word of God.
The Friday night messages were the highlight for me - Jeff Pollard teaching on how Christians should not be lovers of this world, followed by Paul Washer teaching about Christ's death upon the cross, and the extent of God's wrath that was laid upon Him, and what it cost for us to be redeemed.
The main auditorium, beginning the evening with worship - neat to hear all the voices!
Gathered together in worship.
Ready for another session!
Plenty of time for fun in-between sessions.
Post conference "lobby music" jam.
I had the privilege of sharing in one of the breakout sessions of the conference, a message entitled, "The Beautiful Paradox of Holiness", which is also available to listen to here, if interested.
Kris teaching a breakout session - standing room only...not :-)
Following the conference, we stayed as a family at Ridgecrest for a few days longer, and got to experience the "Blue Ridge Mountains" - part of the "Smokey Mountain" range, that spreads throughout North Carolina. The colours were just amazing, but the BEST thing that happened was seeing a REAL BEAR in it's natural habitat - only a little distance away from the road as we were driving.
Following our time at Ridgecrest, we returned to Wake Forest to spend another 4 days with the Brown family.
Following our time at Ridgecrest, we returned to Wake Forest to spend another 4 days with the Brown family.
A real bear - he even smiled for the camera!
Abigail & Naomi enjoying the "fall".
An example of some of the beautiful fall colours.