Announcing the “Finding Your Story” Conference!

To everything there is a season.  

I’ve only been at the conference gig four months, but I”m learning there are rhythms and seasons to this circuit preaching as well.  For the first three months of the year the teaching engagements and conferences were in full swing.  As I approached April, it became harder to schedule, and churches became very busy with their upcoming Easter plans.  This makes sense.  Been there, done that.

Already, with Easter past, I’m starting to receive emails and responses again.   I’m learning, albeit slowly, when the feast will be and when the famine, so I can be prepared in the future for the famine.  This first year, it caught me by surprise, and April and May are looking pretty lean, so prayers for increased wisdom and God’s provision are appreciated.

At the same time, God has used the time (and a little desperation) to kick into gear something I’ve been chewing on almost since my first Hidden Life Conference in January.  A second conference.

There are practical reasons, of course, more options means more bookings, but more significantly is the continuing desire to help Christians understand their own story from God’s perspective.

The Hidden Life helps move people to this understanding by laying out the doctrines of the Gospel as clearly as I’m able and challenging them head on to recognize the deceptions in their life and working with God to replace those deceptions with truth.  This is good and this conference will continue to be central to my ministry.

However, doing this conference has also taught me two things.

1. Many Christians are unable to understand their own story because they’ve not spent enough time in the story of the Bible God provided to help guide our perspective and understanding.  Lack of interest, lack of understanding, and lack of priority about scripture are making it more difficult for Pastors to disciple.
2. Because we need to understand our stories, without guidance from scripture we seek out formulas, principles, how-to’s, magic mantras and actions to manipulate God into doing our bidding.

So, these realizations, combined with my genuine delight in the stories of scripture along with my desire to move people from faith in formulas, to faith in God, lead to the new conference.  I’m excited by how much fun this conference will be for people, how much joy they will find in the stories of scripture, and most of all how it will inform their view of their own life and faith walk.

Unlike the Hidden Life, it’s a one day conference, a little easier (and a little more economical) for some churches to book.   The framework for the conference is six specific stories of scripture, presented in an accurate but entertaining style that will renew interest in their own Bible reading.

Like the Hidden Life, the material is engaging, and there will be time for discussion and reflection throughout, as well as laughter, fun, and encouragement.

Look over the outline below and share it with anyone you know who would be interested in this conference.  Share with your Pastors, Youth group leaders, College ministries, anyone you think would benefit.   Contact me for more details.

I recently told the Esther story at Paragon Church in a way similar, though not identical to how it will be told at the conference.  You can find it here, if you’d like to listen to it.