CAUSE ME TO HEAR: Repentance Conference

We just returned from the Repentance Conference put on by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches. This was such a refreshing and encouraging time for our family and the best conference I've ever been to!

We stopped to visit Bryce's family on the way to the conference. It was so good to see them again! We missed Bryce as he is currently deployed overseas. :(

Being the adventurous family that we are we decided to drive the whole way in one night! Which called for breakfast at IHOP. We all decided that we actually liked driving straight through and did it again on the way home.

We saw a really neat replica of the Titanic just down the street from IHOP.

I love the location of the conference! Nestled in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina you get to enjoy the marvels of creation every day! We enjoyed hiking 5 miles with some friends on the mountain trails.

The view from the summit is breathtaking!

I am so thankful for these crazy amazing girls that I get to call sisters!

The whole gang on the summit

Elly, Shenandoah, and Selah

Stasia and Sherrod

Family picture!

This sweet little guy melts my heart!

Our whole family enjoyed the swings

The conference was very convicting and I highly recommend that you listen to the messages! You can do so here:
https://ncfic.org/blog/posts/cant_make_it_to_this_years_conference2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audnunDy-Iw
https://ncfic.org/devotional/post/godly_sorrow_and_worldly_sorrow_can_look_the_same_on_the_outside118
https://ncfic.org/devotional/post/is_repentance_necessary_for_salvation116
https://ncfic.org/devotional/post/is_repentance_required_for_salvation114
https://ncfic.org/devotional/post/what_does_a_heart_for_repentance_in_a_church_look_like120

A few of my favorite quotes from the conference are:

"I was born for nothing but repentance." Tertullian

"Repentance is a change of mind and direction." Scott Brown

"Penance is self-justification. You feel horrible and try to do good. Repentance is is a life transformation." Scott Brown

"Repentance is the Christian life." Scott Brown

"If God commands it that settles it." Scott Brown

"You have one soul to win and one soul to lose (your own)." Scott Brown

"The doctrine of repentance is the core of Christianity." Joel Beeke

"Repentance is a change of belief, heart, behavior, and a radical change of mind." Joel Beeke

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Martin Luther

"You don't understand grace because you don't understand the enormity of your sin." Joel Beeke

"Look more for the smiles of God than the frowns of man." Joel Beeke

"Sin is the greatest grief of the Christian life." Joel Beeke

"When you repent there should be such a drastic change that even your friends do not recognize you." Jason Dohm

"If I am a Christian I don't own me, Christ does. He bought me to transfer me." Jason Dohm

"Every deed not done for God's glory is temporary and useless." Justin Huffman

"Sins that we don't think are scandalous are scandalous before a holy God." Justin Huffman

"There are no acceptable sins." Justin Huffman

" You cannot describe grace without first describing wretchedness." Justin Huffman

"Sin is senseless. It makes us turn from good to evil." Cary Green

"True repentance makes no excuses." Cary Green

"You can be sorry for sin and go to hell. Sorrow is something we feel. Repentance is something we do." Jeff Pollard

"Your true remorse maybe false repentance, your true confession of sin maybe false repentance, and your true self-reproach maybe false repentance. False repentance merely fears the wrath of God." Jeff Pollard

"Do we hate our sin because it is painful or because it is abhorrent?" Jeff Pollard

"When paganism is brought in Christianity will faze out and then die out." Pooyan Mehrshahi

"When our conscience is lethargic God brings one calamity or another to wake us up." Pooyan Mehrshahi

"Let it not be said that our children have undone what the Lord has shown us to do." Pooyan Mehrshahi

"It is not enough for the past to be washed away tomorrow must be different." John Snyder

"The greatest evil of sin is the offense it causes God." John Snyder

"Real repentance is turning from who I am." John Snyder

"Pride is the worship of self and a great insult to God - the ultimate rebellion." Kevin Swanson

"Where sin abound grace abounds more." Kevin Swanson

"Before we tell people of salvation we must tell them who they truly are." Rob Ventura

"There are four things believers must do: rejoice because God has granted us the gift of repentance, republish the gospel message, resolve to repent often, and resist the temptation to fall into sloppy evangelism." Rob Ventura

"The idea of saying, "I'll repent tomorrow," is digging our own graves." Mala Chindongo

"Repentance must begin with repenting of our twisted thoughts and imaginations of God." Mala Chindongo

"Repentance is abandoning sin." Mala Chindongo

"If anyone could feel the power of sin he would not live another moment." Martin Luther

"One of the marks of a true Christian is continual repentance." Sam Waldron

"Never get tired of repenting, because to get tired of repenting is to get tired of being a Christian." Sam Waldron

"When we repent there is refreshment waiting in the arms of God." Scott Brown

"Repentance is a much of a mark of a Christian, as faith is. A very little sin, as the world calls it, is a very great sin to a true Christian." Charles Spurgeon

"True repentance is a turning of the heart, as well as the life. It is the giving up of the whole sou to God to be His forever and ever. It is the renunciation of the sins of the heart as well of the crimes of life." Charles Spurgeon

I love listening to the Bower family sing together!

The other thing I love about conferences is reuniting with old friends and making lots of new ones!