WOW! As we encouraged you to come to the conference at the Shack this last weekend, we told you that it would be a blessing. It was! Amid the serene surroundings of The Shack, guests from as far as Indiana felt the peace of God and the stirrings of the Spirit to further pursue holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Many spoke of being blessed through the speakers and through times of interpersonal communication between sessions, at meals, or around a banana split in the evening. It was wonderful to watch the Holy Spirit use individual attendees to sharpen one another and to encourage each other, sharing their personal experiences, neediness, and love for Jesus.
I was particularly blessed by the first speaker of the conference, Ron Workman, as he brought a message entitled “Holiness is for you.” He began by reminding us that “Be holy” is a command, not a request. Quotes from A.W. Tozer were well placed throughout his message; one of them being: “We have learned to live with unholiness and come to look at it as an expected thing.” In response to these things, Pastor Workman used Daniel as an example of how to be holy. His exhortations to holiness included: 1) Be a lover of God’s Word 2) Be a prayer warrior, interceding 3) Be a person of integrity—believing and trusting in God and 4) Be committed.
The last session of Friday evening was led by Ken Smith; his topic was “Holiness is not optional.” In his winsome and jovial manner, he strongly urged that as we pursue holiness, we must first pursue peace with all men. In other words, we need to show love to people before correcting them. Pastor Ken’s message was filled with Scripture, combined with his many counseling experiences, which made for a sound and interesting presentation.
“The assault on holiness” was the first topic on Saturday morning, brought by Steve Huston. This presentation asked, “How have we moved so far from our national moorings of holiness to the unholy state we now find ourselves?” Looking at the assault on holiness from several fronts, he closed with the assault on personal holiness. How do we combat the assault on personal holiness? According to Mr. Huston: 1. With Scripture 2. With assurance 3. With Devotions as preventive maintenance 4. Like Elijah, recognizing that we always stand before the Living God.
Founder and head of the American Decency Association (ADA), Bill Johnson, was next, with a personal testimony and his call to begin this ministry as he spoke on “In the world but not of it.” With passion he shared of the ways in which the Holy Spirit has led and provided throughout the years. Bill shared his journey as he went from school teacher to working with the American Family Association (AFA) to founding the ADA. He shared about his personal struggles and how he gained victory through Jesus.
Just before lunch, the ADA staff was interviewed in a panel discussion by Bill. Each one got their turn on the hot seat and, according to many in the conference seats, each was a blessing as they shared about their life, their views on various topics, and their love for the Lord was witnessed as they answered.
After lunch Ken Smith returned to the podium to talk about the “Implications of pursuing or not pursuing holiness.” As Pastor Smith broke out 2 Timothy 3:10-17, he began by talking about “falling on Christ or Christ falling on you.” Admittedly, neither is a comfortable position but falling on Christ is certainly preferable to Christ falling on you. For me, the biggest take away from this session was, “Truth is truth and it’s self-authenticating.”
The final session—but not the final thing—was a panel discussion with the speakers and Bob Azkoul, the minister of music for the weekend. Bill asked questions about their pursuits of holiness, about their ministries, and families. It was interesting to hear their personal stories and how God has led them, worked and continues to work in and through them.
Saturday evening—the Grand Finale—All the sessions, questions, interpersonal conversations, and atmosphere of The Shack culminated in a beautiful moving of the Spirit on Saturday evening as Bob Azkoul led the group in a worship service of group singing, duets, solos, readings, and prayer.
For those who were able to stay until Sunday morning, Pastor Ken Smith opened the Word of God for us. It was a beautiful close to a precious weekend.
We at the American Decency Association would like to extend a huge thank you to all who came and participated in this event on pursuing holiness.
If you wish you could’ve been there, were only able to make it for a couple sessions, or would like to listen to these sessions again, they are available for purchase. In two weeks the conference recordings will be available in CD or DVD format. Please feel free to pre-order them now if it’s more convenient. CD- $5 DVD- $10
Also, don’t miss out on our upcoming July event entitled “From the Bottom Up…”This will be held at the Harvest OPC church in Wyoming, Michigan on July 22 from 7:00 P.M. – 9:30 P.M. There’s no cost; a free will offering will be taken up at that time. Joel Beeke from the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Curtis Bowers (Curtis has since finished his sequal on the agenda movie).
Come join us at Harvest OPC church; 930 52nd Street SW; Wyoming, MI 49509
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