oney Lake Resort & Spa is peaceful, calm,and an ideal setting to seek spiritual understanding, serenity, and fulfillment. Words are entirely inadequate to describe its splendor and beauty, but of far greater importance is that one can actually feel the comforting presence of almighty God in this beautiful and lovely place.
It was Jesus Christ Himself who set the example for spiritual retreats. The Bible tells us that Jesus routinely withdrew, (or retreated), to a place of quiet and solitude in order to pray. Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
As faithful followers of Christ we are told to follow His example in everything that we do in order that we may be more like Him in every way and therein achieve His peace, joy, and love. The problem with following this particular example is that it can prove difficult to find such a place in our fast paced secular world with its modern cities laden with anxiety and worldly distractions of every description. More likely we will find congested traffic, honking cars, angry people, and blaring sirens racing through the night.
Life slows down at Honey Lake Resort & Spa. It is a safe haven; a 4700 acre sanctuary nestled in the countryside with centuries old majestic oaks draped with Spanish moss, towering pine trees, and gently swaying native grasses. Its inky nights are decorated with billions of stars that appear as sparkling diamonds strewn on a black velvet backdrop.
A symphony is conducted each night by heavenly musicians consisting of hooting owls, lonesome whippoorwills, and a choir of bullfrogs, crickets, and an occasional bellowing 'gator. Glorious sunrises are ushered in by gobbling turkeys, bobwhite quail whistles, chattering squirrels, and roosters crowing for all they are worth. (The only honking going on might be from a blue heron as it soars across the misty surface of Honey Lake in search of breakfast.)
The seemingly unsolvable problems presented by a chaotic world seem far away and quickly pale into insignificance in this setting. Every direction that we look we see God's handprints indelibly etched on this remarkable place and it enables us to realize that we are always in God's capable hands and that all things surely work for the good of those who love the Lord. It is at this point that we can focus entirely upon Him and thereby enter into His soothing rest and tranquility.
We hope you will join us and participate in a relaxing spiritual retreat at your earliest convenience. It will be well worth any investment of time and effort to do so.
Our church is built in an old southern style that has largely been discarded by today's society in preference to contemporary abstract designs that bear no resemblance to churches of our past. We don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that all change is good. Honey Lake's church is as close to being an exact replica of the old-time churches that at one time graced countless communities and rural areas throughout the southland as we could make it.
It is a rather simple design; (one that we think Jesus would have loved to build with His own hands). The outside of the church is adorned with a 56 foot steeple that houses an 800 pound antique bell that is several inches thick and can be heard from a mile away. The church is nestled among century's old gigantic oak trees, brilliantly colored azaleas, lofty pines, green lawns, and magnolias.
Upon entering the church many visitors immediately feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and tears begin tostream down their faces as they walk down the aisle. First to catch the eye are three rugged "pecky" cypress crosses embedded in huge windows at the front of the church that overlook pristine Honey Lake and offer a view of the lake that is unequalled and absolutely stunning. Beautiful towering 14 foot high antique stainedglass windows, (the oldest of their kind in the state of Florida), adorn both sides of the church and emit gorgeous rays of multi-colored light as the sun's rays penetrate them. Heart pine floors, coffered ceiling, and carefully crafted tongue-and-groove pine walls add to the soft ambiance and natural beauty of this holy place.
Soothing Gospel music softly plays in the background as you take your seat on 200 year old pews. One cannot help but wonder about countless others who sat in these pews looking at the same exquisite stained glass windows. How many prayers have been offered from them? What did they pray about? How many hymns have been sung from these pews? How many who once sat here have already moved on to everlasting glory and areat this very moment singing in a heavenly choir?
It is an experience that you will want to repeat over and again and is without question the premier highlight of the plantation's spiritual retreat offering. The church offers a perfect location for church services or to simply pray in quiet solitude and reverence. It is also ideal for Gospel and praise singing events and weddings. The church has excellent acoustics and comes fully equipped with a state-of-the-art sound system. Seating capacity is 240 persons.
Aside from the majestic grounds and surroundings, Honey Lake has much to offer in the way of five star accommodations, scrumptious food, 21,000 feet of state-of-the-art meeting space, fitness center, spa, salon & nail center, activities of every description, transportation & pick-up service.
The Founder/Chairman/CEO of Honey Lake is Bob Williamson. He is a renowned businessman and serial entrepreneur and has achieved national acclaim for his business acumen and philanthropic efforts. He is also a devout Christian who loves the Lord with all of his heart and shares his testimony at every opportunity.
At every opportunity Bob publically tells of his love for Jesus Christ and how he can do nothing apart from His saving grace. He is a much sought after national speaker. He lives on the property and whenever he's available he makes himself available as a pro-bono speaker for the various events being held at the resort.
What makes Williamson's accomplishments all the more inspiring is to understand the tremendous personal challenges that the Lord enabled him to overcome in his early life which he details in his autobiography, Miracle on Luckie Street.
His childhood was dark and by the time he was fifteen he was an alcoholic; he attended 19 different schools; he went through a nasty divorce; he became an intravenous meth and heroin user and became a hard core meth addict; he was extremely violent, carried a .357 Magnum, and became a dangerous criminal committing armed robberies; he spent time in Parrish Prison in New Orleans, he was kicked out of the military as a diagnosed sociopath; his family had given up on him; he was homeless, penniless, was a loner that didn't have a single friend; and didn't believe in God.
At the age of 22 he'd reached the point where he felt that suicide was his only viable option and he was ready and willing to pull the trigger, but then a horrific car accident and a chance encounter with a merciful nurse helped change his life. During his long recovery his nurse gave him a Bible to read and he found faith in Jesus Christ, personal redemption, and hope. His life changed and he adopted Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" as his life's verse. He completely stopped taking drugs and alcohol. He started at rock bottom, worked hard and smart, started a business, and virtually overnight accumulated a small fortune.
Today Bob Williamson is completely drug and alcohol free, he is no longer a slave to the "flash and the cash", the pride of life, and the lust for unadulterated power. He has been happily married to the woman of his dreams for over four decades and has been blessed with three successful, happily married sons and seven grandchildren.
All told Williamson has founded 11 highly successful businesses. He has achieved national acclaim for his business acumen and was selected from among hundreds of contestants as the 2006 Gwinnett Business Person of the Year by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, (the third largest chamber in the country). He was also a finalist for the Ernst and Young 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which was previously won by distinguished entrepreneur Michael Dell of Dell Computers.
He has been featured in AOL, Florida Trend, Inc. Magazine, Business Week, MSN, Yahoo Business, Investor’s Business Daily, Reader’s Digest, various newspaper articles and many other publications, plus he’s done numerous radio and television interviews.
He is currently the CEO of the Williamson Group USA, a holding company with several subsidiaries including his latest venture Honey Lake Resort and Spa.
He spends most of his time sharing his inspirational true life story in an effort to provide hope to anyone who might happen to need it. He writes a daily devotional Words for the Day and has been doing so for 12 years.
