Winters in Florida bring a flock of seasonal residents. Some call them Snow Birds. We like to call them Our Friends.
Each winter, hundreds of people from across the north spend a week or two or ten or fourteen on the grounds of Christian Retreat Conference Center, located at 1200 Glory Way Blvd in Bradenton, Florida, 34212. What is the draw? Fourteen weeks of specialized ministry with conference speakers that have an international reputation.
It appears that once someone has come to experience Conference Season, they always come back. The group of individual 'regulars' that grace the grounds has grown unequivocally over the years. Friendships are forged that distance and time cannot dampen. For those Florida residents who attend conference regularly, there is an expectation after Christmas. Soon their friends from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Jersey or Ohio will drive through the gates, register at Miracle Manor Hotel, and the spiritual fireworks begin.
Spiritual fireworks? Let me explain. When there is an expectancy in the air, God moves. When people have traveled to hear and receive from a speaker, their spiritual hunger or thirst will be satisfied. When God's Generals appear on the platform, there seems to be an open Heaven, where the Worship and the Word create an atmosphere where anything can happen. Fireworks. The move of God.
Many people have witnessed or experienced a physical healing during Conference Season. Many people find answers that were just outside their realm. Many people find rest, experience the Call of God on their life, or even the opening of a path that will takes them down deeper spiritual roads. This does not happen Just In Conference Season...but there are people who have stretched themselves, doing something that is not in their normal, like traveling to Florida as a Snow Bird.
Got anything planned for the end of January, beginning of February? Dr. Myles Munroe from Nassau Bahamas will be at the Conference Center on January 24-25, 2013. He will be emphasizing 'Kingdom Conquering.' Annie Lobert will be sharing her testimony on Jan 31-February 1, 2013. Wikipedia states, “Annie Lobert (born September 26, 1967) is an American former call girl and sex industry worker, who founded the international Christian ministry Hookers for Jesus. In 2010. She produced and starred in a three-part documentary on the organization, titled Hookers: Saved on the Strip, which broadcasted nationwide on cable television's Investigation Discovery.[1]” February 7-8, 2013 brings Roberts Lairdon, international speaker and author, who will share Revival in our Time.
Evening events begin at 7 PM at 1200 Glory Way Blvd. in Bradenton.
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