This Weekend

Sorry for not posting over the past few days -- it has been a hectic week(end) with lots of things going on at the church and in my personal life. Anyway, this weekend several of us went to the Ligonier Regional Conference held here in the Dallas-Fort Worth.

I am no Challies -- (i.e. a 'live-blogger' par excellence), so this is not a blow-by-blow record of the conference. I just wanted to post a few thoughts/observations. First, it was wonderful to see Dr. Sproul -- this was the first time I had ever heard him speak live. I have many of his CD's from previous conferences, so I was familiar with the format, but it was great to sit under his teaching live.

Please keep him in prayer, he is still walking with a cane from his surgery, and it seems that he is bothered by this. However, he is amazing overall -- the Q&A sections really highlighted his ability to think on his feet and revealed a glimpse of the depth of his knowledge. Questions ranged from deep, well-thought-out to (IMHO) somewhat frivolous, yet he answered all graciously, and without anyone feeling like they were being 'dismissed'.

His final discussion on 'Justification by Faith', highlighting the difference between RC and Reformation/Protestant positions was very good, helping me get my head around the differences which are more nuanced than many people realize. (get the CDs!)

Steve Lawson absolutely blew me away! The man is an amazing expositor and I hope to one day attend one of his exposition seminars. His 'sermons', (they really were much more sermons than teachings), 'Christ Our Ransom', and 'Blessing or Curse?', were uplifting, inspiring, encouraging, and I could not write quick enough to catch everything. I must admit that before this I was unfamiliar with Steve Lawson, but I now have his podcast on my iPod, and I also purchased this and this. I am about halfway through 'Famine in the Land' -- very good book!

The staff was great, and I enjoyed meeting John and Mel Duncan -- they were gracious and very patient in spending time talking with me.

I highly recommend these conferences, and when the CD's come out, I think they would be a welcome addition to anyone's library.