My thanks to all who prayed for our conference on eschatology last week. It was such an encouraging time.
Here are some of the comments that the conferees put on their evaluation forms:
“Spot on!” “Full of hope + GRACE!” “Wonderful!” “Great.” “Thoroughly enjoyed it.” “Excellent.” “Great topic.” “Best ever!” “Outstanding!!!” “AWESOME!” “Wonderful!” “Timely, pertinent, focused.” “An amazing time of teaching and fellowship.” “Wonderful time of strengthening and challenge.” “I learned more than I expected.” “One of the best.” “Very useful and enjoyable.” “Highlight of the year for us!” “As a first timer, it was excellent.” “I learned more about the end times in these few days than I have in the last 10+ years.” “I feel more motivated than ever to live according to God’s Word and to know Him more.” “Great fellowship.” “I felt a renewed joy in my salvation.”
My favorite comment was this one:
Terrific conference +
Unbelievable resources +
Lots of Fellowship +
Irresistible arguments for grace +
Practical Application.
I learned much at this conference. For one thing, Bob Bryant showed, convincingly I thought, that the Tribulation begins at Revelation 6:1-2, not Revelation 4:1. For another, Wes Spradley showed that the Rapture is indeed in Matthew 24. Tommy Ice showed that the Rapture was taught long before the nineteenth century. John Claeys showed that the judgment of the sheep and the goats does not teach works salvation. John Niemela showed that Israel must repent before the kingdom will come. Ken Yates shows that Luke 13:1-5 concerns temporal judgment, not eternal destiny. Jody Dillow showed that there will be degrees of rewards in the kingdom (contra Craig Blomberg).
When the conferees last year picked eschatology as our theme, I was not confident that it would be a great topic. But it was super. Eschatology really only makes sense from a Free Grace perspective. This conference showed that clearly, I believe.
Next year’s conference will be April 23-26, again in Fort Worth at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the Riley Center.
The theme for next year is “Evangelism and Discipleship.”
I hope to see you there next year.
