Baptist ID: Meet and Greet

Before I share some personal reflections on the conference messages, I thought I’d take a moment to mention some of the great people I met while in Jackson.  Whenever you attend conferences such as this, the opportunity to meet or hang out with old friends is a big part of the weekend (along with the sessions of course).  With that said, it was wonderful to meet Dr. David Dockery whom I had the privilege of interviewing last month.  I loved hearing the heart of this man, but what impressed me all the more was how highly esteemed he was among his faculty and administration.  It is rare to find a person who, the more you get to know, the more you grow to appreciate and love.  I am finding this true about Dr. Dockery.  On Friday night, he stayed up to 1:00 a.m. talking with a group of us at his house about all sorts of issues, giving me a glimpse of his generosity and gentility.  Dr. Dockery has a heart of gold and a mind that meets it with intellectual fervor.  Without question, he is the type of man we need at the forefront of our Convention.

One of the most long-awaited and anticipated meet-ups was with Tom Ascol.  Over the past two years, Tom has become like a spiritual father in my life, graciously taking the time to help me grow as a man of God and a student of God’s Word.  From a distance, I have been able to have a faithful presentation of what it means to be Christ-like, and having now been around him up close, the evidence is all the more convincing.  Like John Piper, Tom has been making a big investment in the future generation of young men, and I am eternally grateful that God has allowed me to be in the shadow of such a man.

As I mentioned earlier, there were several bloggers in attendance at the conference.  I was really glad to meet Steve McCoy whom I have known from the blogosphere a long time.  He and Joe were great to hang out with.  It was just a couple of months ago that Joe and I fellowshipped together with Marc Heinrich at the Desiring God Conference.  These two guys (Steve and Joe) are as genuine as they get.  They truly long to demonstrate and deliver the gospel to their world and pastor their churches in such a way that their culture is transformed by Jesus.  I also enjoyed catching up with Steve Weaver and Scott Lamb, two guys who I first met at the Band of Bloggers fellowship last April. 

Other bloggers that I met for the first time included Alan Cross, Marty Duren, Art Rogers, Ben Cole.  Alan is an incredibly sincere man who said some very encouraging things while we hung out.  Marty and Art thought I typed too fast, and Ben, well, Ben came by to congratulate me for being more controversial than he was that day.  Other bloggers that were there that I did not personally meet included Dwight McKissic, C. B. Scott, Tim Rogers, and Wes Kenney.  I hope that maybe I can meet these gentlemen in the future. 

One of the biggest surprises that happened during the conference was meeting Buddy Gray, pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church.  I have heard a lot of great things about Dr. Gray over the years, who by the way, has recently served as the trustee of SBTS for the state of Alabama.  While a student at UM, I often stopped in Birmingham and visited HSBC though never having the opportunity of meeting Dr. Gray.  He and his wife were really kind, and I am looking forward to keeping in touch with them in the future.  One of the most exciting things I heard was that he was leading over 600 men in the study of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.  Would that more pastors take up the task of training our lay people in theological development! 

Last but not least, I want to say something about the good folks at Union University.  These people are top notch, from the president all the way down to the students, such as Mark and Jacob whom I was able to get to know and hang out with Steve and Joe.  Dr. Charles Fowler (Associate Professor of Education, Education; Senior Vice President for University Relations, Administrative Office of the Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement) was the first person I met at the conference and gave me a hearty welcome.  He has to have one of the best radio voices I have heard in a long time.  I was thrilled to also meet Dr. Ray Van Neste (Director, R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies Associate Professor of Christian Studies) whose blog I have been reading since last year when he (and myself) wrote about pastoral plagiarism.  Along with Joe and Steve, my good friend Ben Dockery has been raving about Dr. Greg Thornbury (Dean, School of Christian Studies; Associate Professor of Christian Studies) who not only met such lofty expectations but far exceed them.  Dr. Thornbury really impressed me with his scholarship and presentation, only to be outmatched by his graciousness and humility.  Other UU professors who I had the privilege of meeting included Drs. Hal Poe (Special Assistant to the President, Administrative Office of the President Charles Colson Professor of Faith & Culture, Christian Studies), James Patterson (Associate Dean of the School of Christian Studies, School of Christian Studies; Professor of Christian Studies), George Guthrie (Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible, Christian Studies), Jimmy Davis (University Professor of Chemistry; Vice President for the Germantown Campus, Germantown Campus), and Bill Nettles (Professor of Physics), who by the way is the brother of Dr. Tom Nettles (one of my professors). 

I want say a special thanks to Tim Ellsworth who I also met for the first time.  Thank you Tim for being such a helpful host.  I really appreciated it! 

Hopefully tomorrow I can put up a few reflections from the messages delivered at the conference . . .