The day after Christmas my family and a few others from my church piled into a vehicle and drove to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Rise Up Bible Conference.  This Conference is put on by the Gospel Folio Press, a Publishing Company based out of Canada.  They bring in speakers from all over America and around the world for four days of seminars on various topics.  Though I’ve never been to this conference before, I have listened to recordings of previous conferences on my MP3 Player and always dreamed of going.  This year, my dream came true!

Every year the conference has a theme that the speakers build their seminars on.  This year, it was Christ Pre-eminent…in the Church, in the Home, and in the Heart. There were two types of seminars to attend, the first, was what they called a “General Session” – where all 500-600 attendees assembled together for a time of singing, prayer, and preaching from the Word.  The second type was the afternoon sessions called “Workshops” – For these, you picked one out of ten sessions to attend that were all going on at the same time.  (I’ll tell you right now…choosing only

Dr. John Lennox and myself

one of them were a challenge in itself!  LOL!  All of them sounded interesting!)  In the very first General Session, a gentleman from England by the name of Dr. John Lennox preached on John 1:1-6.  Mr. Lennox is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and travels all over the world giving lectures on science, theology, and philosophy.  He also has publically debated New Atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens!  He referenced faith a lot in his message, and emphasized that true Christianity is evidence based faith.  NOT blind faith!  We have reasons for what we believe in.  The most profound thing that I heard from that first session that really “clicked” with me (so to speak) was when he brought up the issue of humanity being “special.”  There are a lot of groups out there in the world that would have us to think that humans are just another species, nothing special.  In our schools, they teach kids and teens that we evolved from animals…therefore, humans are not special.  This is what Dr. Lennox had to say about that, “If there were ever an argument to defend why we’re not just ‘animals’ it is because GOD BECAME HUMAN.”  We would never say that God became an animal – that would be pure blasphemy!  But if humans aren’t special and just a higher form of an animal, then that must be the case.  But we know that is wrong.  Therefore, humans ARE special, if only for this reason alone – God became a human.  Now there is a profound fact that many “humans” don’t want to admit to …

During the second General Session a man from Wales spoke, his name was Paul Young.  He and his wife Allison work in the schools over there and beg for your prayers for their ministry and spiritual state of their country.  Only 2% of Great Britain’s citizens attend church and the rate of immorality among teenagers is appalling.  Please pray for their work in Wales to reach people (both old and young!) with the Gospel.

Now for a speaker from the States!  Dr. Joseph Mikhael resides in Arizona and is a Hematologist at the Mayo Clinic and specializes in blood cancer.  His parents were originally from Egypt, and the church they attended there can trace their heritage back to the Apostle Paul!  Dr. Mikhael did a Workshop based on  2 Timothy 2:16 – “Study to show thyself approved.”  A.K.A. – how to study the Bible.  Looking at my notes there was a lot I could comment on and share, but the bottom line of the seminar was this – “Bible study should draw you closer to the Lord Jesus.”

Another Workshop I attended by this same speaker was entitled Christ Pre-eminent in the Young Person, however, there was one illustration that I think can apply to all, and I would like to share it with you.  He was talking about backsliding and wandering away from God, and how there is only one way to get back on track – finding where the problem started, and fixing it.  He gave an example from Scripture.  Remember Jacob in the Old Testament?  He spent a lot of his life deceiving people.  One of those times was when he manipulated his brother into selling the birthright to him, but his deceiving ways came to a  head when he covered his arms with animal skins and deceived his father so he could receive the family blessing.  His father asked him, “What’s your name?”  Jacob lied, and that was the sin that kept him away from the Lord.  Now, fast forward 20 years later.  Jacob is wrestling with the Lord.  (By the way, not a good position to be in!)  The Lord asked him the same question, “What is your name?”  This time, Jacob didn’t lie about who he was anymore, he said, “I’m Jacob – the deceiver.”  You know what happened?  God didn’t rub it in his face and make him miserable, immediately He said, “Not anymore,” and changed his name to Israel.  Do you know what the word Israel means?  A prince with God!  The Heavenly Father will do the same for us if we will just go back to where the problem started and call it what it is, we’re promised forgiveness and blessing.

Mike Attwood, a native of England, who now resides in the United States, also spoke at this conference.  The Attwood family attends the same church as I, and are the ones who offered to carpool with us to Charlotte.  Mike travels all over the world speaking in churches, revivals and conferences.  Though I wasn’t signed up for any of his seminars, my sister attended one of his on Prayer, and was deeply impacted.  Prayer is a powerful weapon that Believers ought to use more fervently and effectively.  Mr. Attwood also has an informative blog if you’re searching for good books to read on the Christian life.  The web address is: www.booksworthreading.com – if you’re looking for a book that will change the way you see the Word of God, I can guarantee you’ll find one there!

Scott Thomson from Why We Web

Another aspect of the conference was the number of ministries represented there.  A line of tables on both sides of the main hall advertised the material available ranging from mission trips, conferences, Christian colleges and more.  While I was there, I had the opportunity to meet Scott Thomson, one of the many persons involved in a conference taking place in June on a subject that’s close to my heart, called Why We Web.  Why We Web is a conference focused on educating and encouraging the use of the internet for evangelism and ministry.  Why We Web takes place on June 2^nd, in York, Pennsylvania – if you’re interested in this topic, visit their website whyweweb.com for more information!  And be sure to visit Scott’s blog: Digital Sojourner (www.digitalsojourner.com) for thoughts on the Christian life in the modern world!

Another ministry I came in contact with was Shelter of Hope Centre – from Kenya, Africa.  Director Ishmael Ochieng

Ishmael from Kenya, Africa

was there and ready to explain the Centre’s ministry and outreach.  Shelter of Hope is changing the lives of kids who live in the slum areas with school and food programs.  Their Health Care Clinic, Shelter of Hope Clinic has drastically reduced diseases common among the slums such: skin disease, respiratory track disease, malaria prevention, HIV and typhoid cases.  This clinic is the ONLY one in the area! According to the 2010/2011 Magazine, their number of outpatients increased to 989!  Shelter of Hope also offers counseling classes, spiritual nourishment, Bible Study, a feeding program, and of course, Health Care through the Shelter of Hope Clinic.  They are truly doing a wonderful work there!  Their Magazine also stated that, “The government has commended the centre as the best and relevant institution in the area.”  (What a testimony!)  To learn more about Shelter of Hope and their ministry in Kenya, Africa, visit www.shelterofhopekenya.com

Conclusion:  Maybe it was the theme of the conference, Christ Pre-eminent, but whatever it was, I left Rise Up with a new vigor for Bible Study, new ideas for series on this blog, and a deeper understanding of what a Believers life should be like.  Each of the messages (though all of them were about the same topic) had very interesting points, directing us to people and verses in the Bible that show us what it looks like to have Christ Pre-eminent in the church, in the home and in the heart.

I had the opportunity to meet so many sweet people too!  It was amazing on the first night, when they asked how many countries were represented in the room.  To hear people call out from across the room and say, “Singapore, Ireland, Wales, Kenya, Japan, Canada, England, etc.”  It was amazing!  And we probably had all 50 states represented there too!  It was very cool to walk into a session and sit next to someone you didn’t know and find out they were from.

The Renaissance Hotel Staff did an outstanding job keeping the conference in order!  When you walk in and enjoy all of the hard work…it’s hard to imagine the WORK that’s put into an event like this.  Two to three times a day the staff would take our meeting room and divide it into thirds after the General Session for the Workshops, then back into one big room for lunch, then back into three rooms for more Workshops, and yet again, back into one whole room for dinner…well, you get the picture!  (They worked hard!)  The meals were lovely, often three courses of formal dining with attentive waiters.  They deserve a BIG THANK YOU!!!

The speakers – it’s hard to imagine that most of those guys work full time jobs, have families, and still find the time to study the Word to come up with seminars for a conference like Rise Up.  (And most of the speakers address several conferences a year!)  Their dedication to getting Believers excited about the Word of God is inspiring and is worthy of not only our thanks, but our faithful prayers as well.

All in all – it was everything I expected and more!

A very happy conference go-er!