What a blessed weekend of teaching and worship with students from across the southeast at Ridgecrest Conference Center on October 14-16!

Our conference theme was "Contend for the Faith" - building up the middle school, high school, college students / young adults, and leaders with the truth of God's Word in contending with the the many voices they hear in the culture today.

Ridgecrest was stunning during our time there, with the glory of God's creation on display in the mountains and changing leaves.

Our team loved greeting each group as they arrived, and we appreciated all of our exhibitors!

Journey Worship Co. led our worship through the entire weekend, and we loved singing the truth of God's Word together. 

Dean Inserra led our first session and challenged us to be rooted in Christ rather than seeking to resemble or remove ourselves from the world (1 Peter 2).

John Piper led Saturday morning's session and addressed an objection raised by many today - whether Jesus is an egomaniac in seeking our worship (Matthew 10:37-39). Following his teaching session, he then held a Q&A and lunch with  leaders.

Every attendee had the opportunity to see three breakout sessions on Saturday. Joe Rigney and Jonathon Woodyard walked through how to make wise decisions when considering whether and where to attend college. Larry Davis taught on being aware of the ways our culture is constantly "catechizing" us, and how to love our neighbors without losing our convictions. Nick Judd addressed how students should biblically approach the rise of transgenderism and the culture's questions on gender. 

On Saturday afternoon, Andrew Walker led a session on the freedom we find in following God's will, and the "good life" found in God's law (Psalm 119:41-48).

Erik Reed led the final session on Saturday, exhorting us to "Contend for the Faith" as seen in Jude 1:3-4. 

On Sunday morning, Anthony Knight closed the conference with a challenge to see God's Word as the authority in our lives relative to all of the competing authorities today (Psalm 103:14-19). 

We look forward to sharing video from the event soon and can't wait to return to Ridgecrest next year! We were excited to announce that we'll be back on October 13-15, and that we'll be holding Engaging Truth Conferences next year at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Bethlehem College & Seminary. Click HERE to learn more!

Photo Credit: Robin Holcomb (@rfastphotography) and Chandler Benz (@chandlermorganphoto)