We came back from the Ligonier Conference over a month ago, and I can hardly believe it. The day after we returned, we jumped straight into our church's VBS, and Bobby went off to Boy Scout Camp. Right after that week, we had a nice week of "staycation" while Eric took a week off work, and we went only 45 minutes from home, over to his parents' condo. We enjoyed the beach and the pool as well as the peace and quiet. For the past nine days Eric and Mary have been gone on a mission trip to Rochester, N.Y. They should be home tomorrow afternoon. And finally, three days ago Eric's parents came home from spending eleven months in Kenya, teaching at Rift Valley Academy.
The conference itself was intense. From Thursday evening through Saturday morning we listened to nine speakers address a variety of tough questions that Christians face. We skipped three of the sessions--one to go to bed at a decent hour Thursday night, one Friday afternoon so we could enjoy the pool at the enormous World Marriott where the conference was held, and one to be able to leave at a decent time Saturday afternoon. If you're interested in listening to these speakers, you can do it here under the Video Archives section. I'm going to list the sessions here by speaker and topic, and Scripture reference if they used one main passage. If anyone is interested in reading my notes on any of these I would be happy to type them up and e-mail them to you. Just ask.
John MacArthur--Why Did Jesus Have to Die? 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Michael Horton--Is the Doctrine of Inerrancy Defensible? 2 Timothy 3:14-17
R.C. Sproul--What is Evil and Where Did It Come From?
Derek Thomas--How do We Know Which Interpretation is Right? 2 Peter 1:16-21
Steven Lawson--Is the Bible Just Another Book? 2 Timothy3:16-17
Alistair Begg--Is the Exclusivity of Christ Unjust? John 3:16-21; 7:37-44, Acts 4:8-13
Al Mohler--Why Does the Universe Look So Old? Genesis 1:1-2:3
Burk Parsons--Is Calvinism Good for the Church? Ephesians 4:1
Derek Thomas--If God is Good, how Could He Command Holy War? Joshua 6:1-21
If someone asked me who my favorite speaker is out of this group, I would be hard-pressed to pick one. MacArthur, Sproul, Thomas, Lawson, Begg, and Mohler were all phenomenal. I had a much harder time following and staying focused while listening to Horton and Parsons, but they were okay, too. Al Mohler's session on creation was absolutely amazing, as was R.C.'s talk on the nature of Evil.
It was a blessing for our family to be able to all go together to this conference. I thank God for it.
