Category Archives: conference

Vessels of Honor

After our stop in Idaho we booked it to Kansas City for a young adults Bible conference we girls were attending. I don’t want to fail in mentioning that we have friends in Colorado who have very graciously opened their home to us several times lately while we pass through. What a blessing! After we got to the conference, the rest of the family enjoyed the weekend with various friends.

This year the theme was “Overcoming.” Each message was very good..so it’s hard to pick just a few notes to share!>>The Christian life is not supposed to be one of defeat. We should be passing from Romans 7 life to Romans 8 life. Don’t stay in Romans 7 or use it as an excuse against the victorious Christian life.

>>”Without Me, you can do nothing.”

>>Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. It’s a promise.

>>Jesus came to save us not only from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin. Christ in you, the hope of glory, the hope of victory. We are not stuck in the “we can’t help it” situation anymore.

happy to have a friend from home!

>>Christ has made us free. Are you living free? We need to stand fast (stay put, plant your feet) in the freedom Christ has made us free for. Stand on the ground of victory knowing you have been made free.

>>We have a choice as to whether we will be entangled again. Don’t voluntarily take a step away from freedom. Walking is a choice—either in the flesh, or in the Spirit.

After a great weekend there we headed for home with the rest of our Minnesota friends!Everywhere we went on this trip we were reminded of our great God—through the ocean, the mountains, the waterfalls and rivers, the wonderful conferences, the fellowship of believers. We are grateful to be in this together, both as a family and with those of you who pray for us. Thank you!

Pacific Northwest Trip – Colville Reservation – Reno

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May was quite a whirlwind for us! Not too long after we got home from Albuquerque we went to Washington State for a regional United in Christ conference on the Colville Reservation. (You can read about the UIC conference from last year, here.)

It was so much fun to drive out there as a family. Dad was the only one of us who had ever been to Montana or the Pacific northwest before now.

riding luggage carts in a Montana elevator

The conference was nowhere near the coast, but since we were in Washington we had to go to the Pacific Ocean, which was another first for us. The night we arrived we found a place to eat called Moby Dick’s—if you are ever in Ocean Shores, this is a tasty option!

delicious…and Abby is about to try clam chowder for the first time

In the morning we made the trek from our hotel to the mighty Pacific Ocean.

And one of the most interesting signs we saw on this trip really told us we were far from home…On our way to Colville from the coast we drove through the Cascade Mountains…so amazing and beautiful, especially with the waterfalls!

at Deception Falls

The conference in Colville went Thursday through Saturday. This event happened as a result of a lady who came to the one in Bemidji wanting her people in Colville to have the same experience.

here she is with a couple who ministers in Colville

conference location

So many people pulled together to make this happen. Our family stayed busy doing kitchen work, tech, leading music, and singing in the evenings. We had such a good time working alongside friends from home and abroad as well as new ones.

testimonies

Personal stories of coming to faith in Jesus are so powerful. No one can argue against a changed life, or against your own personal experience. I think one of the highlights of this conference was hearing the testimonies of believers…each story is different, but they all demonstrate the same thing—Jesus saves!

these sisters prepared a traditional meal for everyone

prayer time for Native America

the conference center was on the shores of the Columbia river

After the conference we went to visit a missionary couple who had an impact on Dad when he was a teenager. Dad hadn’t seen them in almost thirty years! We had such a great time of fellowship and hearing missionary stories… good reminders of how amazing our God is.

Our next stop was in Reno to sing and to record a testimony for The Storyteller.

Then we made a visit to some friends in Idaho that we figure we haven’t seen in at least ten years. It was so much fun to reconnect with them for the short amount of time we had.

Abby made a friend right before we left

Next, we’re headed for Vessels of Honor for what is always a great young adults Bible conference.

Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Psalm 150:1-2 NKJV

Midwest 26 Below

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Shortly after getting home from South Carolina, the siblings headed out to Iowa for a conference. We picked up a few friends along the way…including two who flew in from New Mexico.

Brady Collier spoke on the theme of “God’s Path for You.” The message topics included salvation, commitment to total obedience to Christ, marriage, work, the church, the Great Commission, and intimacy with Christ. Here are some thoughts from the notes I took.

In whatever place you are, God is calling you to be His missionary today. Will you obey? It’s hard but always worth it.

Part of God’s path for you is to serve the church, other Christians. You never graduate out of the local church. The assembling of ourselves together is a safety net.

Your life is going to be the average of your top five acquaintances. Find passionate believers and get close to them.

What does “Go and make disciples of all nations” look like for you? Jesus Christ started where He was with making disciples, and went out from there. Personal discipleship along with the local church is God’s means for changing the world.

Little bitty people like us can accomplish great things when we do it in the power of God.

missions Q&A panel, where someone said, “You are called to a Person, not a place.” You follow that Person to the places He leads.

If you are dedicated without an intimate relationship with Christ you will become a Pharisee, just going through the motions. Be a person consumed with knowing God.

You need to learn to think like God through His Word. The more you spend time in His Word the more you will think like Him.

Redirect your thirst [for whatever it is] to the Object of your thirst for which it was created.

Abide in Me. God’s heart is to have a relationship with me.

Even if you’re not feeling it, abide—wrestle until you prevail (like Jacob).

Don’t forget the main thing—your relationship with Christ.

sunday morning worship

There were also a few breakout sessions taught by different people that included the topics of discipleship, dealing with fear and anxiety, and world missions.

During our last meal, when the conference was over, Micah Tuttle stood up on a chair and got everyone’s attention, and then preached to us a passionate message to live obedient lives in such a way that we could gladly say like the Apostle John, “Come, Lord Jesus!”He also gave a challenge in the discipleship session I went to that I want to end this with…

“One man wakes, awakens another. Second one wakes his next door brother. Three awake can rouse a town and turn the whole place upside down. Many awake will cause such a fuss, it will awake all of us. One man wakes with dawn in his eyes, surely then it multiplies.” (Lawrence Tribble)

Be that one person to wake someone else up. Discipleship is the most effective way of multiplication.