Theme for 2025
Devoted to Prayer
Being devoted to prayer means acknowledging the ever-present reality of our dependence upon God. This year’s theme will seek to remind us of the absolute necessity of prayer for the Christian life and encourage us to pray fervently and frequently (Rom 12:12; 1 Thess 5:17). Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said: “What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more.” Therefore, we want to call a social-media-steeped generation to pray more than we post as the reflex of our piety (Mt 6:5-6). We want to acknowledge that prayer is hard work and requires great discipline (Col 4:2-4), but also that it is an undeserved communion with God (Mt 14:23). We want to learn how to pray submissively, dependently, and humbly (Mt 6:9-13), but also how to pray boldly and courageously (Eph 3:20-21). We want to affirm the effectiveness of prayer as the means God uses to accomplish His sovereign purposes (Jas 5:16; 1 Jn 5:14-15; Rev 5:8). And we want to remember that both the Spirit (Rom 8:26-27) and the Son (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; Jn 17) are devoted to prayer on our behalf.
Speakers for 2025
Dr. Paul Lamey
Since 2002, Paul has served as pastor of Grace Community Church in Huntsville, Alabama where he oversees the pulpit ministry and leadership training. Prior to that, from 1998 to 2002, he served on staff as a ministerial resident and assistant at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. Paul is a graduate of The Master’s Seminary (M.Div, D.Min) and a professor at one of the campuses of The Expositors Seminary. He has also been a regular writing contributor with ACBC, The Master’s Seminary Journal, The Journal of Modern Ministry, Christianity.com, and ChurchPastor.com. He and his wife, Julie, have been married for twenty-two years and have four children.
Dr. Tom Pennington
Tom has served as Pastor-Teacher at Countryside Bible Church in Southlake, Texas since 2003. Prior to arriving in Texas, he served 16 years at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he spent his last four years as Senior Associate Pastor and personal assistant to John MacArthur. Tom completed his B.A. and M.A. at Bob Jones University and was a member of the faculty there while taking additional Ph.D. classes in New Testament Interpretation. In 2013, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from The Master’s Seminary. Tom’s teaching ministry is featured on The Word Unleashed, and he has written several helpful books for the Church, including A Biblical Case for Cessationism and The Biblical View of Abortion. He and his wife, Sheila, have three children: Lauren, Katie, and Jessica.
Carey Hardy
Born in Cairo, IL, and raised in Houston, TX, with a background in Christian music, Carey left a career as a pharmacist to pursue pastoral ministry. Carey graduated from The Masters Seminary (MDiv) and was on staff at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA for 13 years, eventually serving as the Senior Executive Pastor and Personal Assistant to Dr. John MacArthur. In October of 2006, Carey became the senior pastor of Twin City Bible Church in Winston Salem, NC. He is on the faculty of The Expositors Seminary teaching biblical counseling and is also on the board of The Italian Theological Academy. He and his wife, Pam, are blessed with four adult children and two grandchildren.
Giveaway Resources for 2025
Prayer: A Biblical Perspective by Eric Alexander
“We shall do well to watch our habits of prayer with a holy watchfulness. Here is the pulse of our Christianity. Here is the true test of our state before God.” These words of J. C. Ryle are as true today as they were when they were first written over 150 years ago. Prayer matters, and Eric Alexander’s chief concern in this book is to remind Christians that prayer is fundamental, and not supplemental, both in the individual and in the corporate lives of God’s people. He shows that nowhere is this dependence on prayer more fully exemplified than in the life and teaching of Jesus himself, and in the ministry of the New Testament church. Church leaders will find these studies a great spur to pray for the spiritual growth of their people, and church members will see afresh the urgent need to pray for their leaders. For those who find it difficult to pray there is much encouragement here, as the author also addresses the common problems believers face when coming to pray. In short this is a book for all those who want to live nearer to God and to be refreshed in their communion with him.
Valley of Vision
The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. Consequently in the Puritan tradition there are many written prayers and meditations which constitute an important corpus of inspiring devotional literature. Too often ex tempore prayer lacks variety, order and definiteness. The reason for this lies partly in a neglect of due preparation. It is here that the care and scriptural thoroughness which others found necessary in their approach to God may be of help. This book has been prepared not to ‘supply’ prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before. The author was a Canon of St. Albans Cathedral, sometime Rector of Little Munden and Sacombe, Hertfordshire, and was for seventeen years a tutor in Biblical Theology and Christian Doctrine at All Nations Christian College. He died in October 1994 aged 79.
An Article to Read
Regaining Our Focus: A Response to the Social Action Trend in Evangelical Missions by Joel James & Brian Biedebach
Today churches and missionaries are being told that to imitate the ministry of Jesus they must add social justice to their understanding of the church’s mission. As pastors and missions committees embrace the idea that social action and gospel proclamation are “two wings of the same bird,” the kind of work that they send their missionaries to do changes, and this has a negative effect on world missions. This article highlights those negative effects in an African context, offers historical, practical, and biblical critiques of the trend, and redirects the church’s attention to understanding and fulfilling the Great Commission in the way the apostles did in Acts and the Epistles.
Schedule
November 7-9, 2025
4:00-7:00 PM, Check-in & Registration
7:00-8:30 PM, Session #1
8:30-9:15 PM, Debrief & Prayer
9:30-11:00 PM, Fire Pit & Game Night Fellowship
7:15-8:15 AM, Breakfast
9:00-10:15 AM, Session #2
10:30-11:45 AM, Session #3
12:00-1:00 PM, Lunch
1:00-5:30 PM, Free Time
5:30-6:30 PM, Dinner
7:00-8:15 PM, Session #4 – Q&A
8:15-9:00 PM, Debrief & Prayer
9:15-11:00 PM, Fire Pit & Game Night Fellowship
7:15-8:15 AM, Breakfast
8:15-9:00 AM, Pack, Clean, & Check-Out
9:00-10:30 AM, Session #5
10:45-12:00 PM, Session #6
12:00-12:30 PM, Departure