BUILDING BRIDGES CONFERENCE

I had the opportunity to attend the Building Bridges Conference at Ridgecrest. Ed Stetzer and his team has done a wonderful job of providing podcasts and transcripts or slide presentations from the speakers.

There are many other places to get more detailed information about the conference than here. I thought I would post some of my impressions.

Ed Stetzer is not only a bright guy and an excellent speaker, but he's a hoot to be around. I had the opportunity to spend a few moments with Ed and Dr. Brad Waggoner and I laughed and laughed.

Thom Rainer is a courageous man for sponsoring this conference. Most of us will never know the darts and arrows that have been thrown his way for providing a venue for this type of open dialog on a controversial topic. Dr. Rainer has my deepest respect, not only for his efforts on this conference but also because he was the first one to step up and support the Impact!2008: Small Church Leadership Conference. In spite of Dr. Rainer's comment about the worship leader being from a "significant" church, I appreciate what he is doing.

Is there anything or anyone in SBC political life that C. B. Scott doesn't know? I don't think so. CB shared a couple of personal things with me which really shows his heart. CB is a wonderful man of God and I am better off knowing him. I don't believe I would have ever gotten to know people like C. B. Scott if I was not blogging. In spite of what the Georgia State Convention says, blogging has had a huge impact on my life and ministry.

Bob Cleveland is one of the funniest men on the planet. He is also one of the sweetest men I have the privilege to know. His whispered one-liners reveal a man of good humor and one who is very perceptive biblically.

Tim Rogers did a yeoman's job of live blogging the conference . He has captured the essence of each speaker in a manner that boggles my mind. It took all of my energies just to focus on what they were saying. I cannot imagine typing everything too. The more time I spend with Tim, the more I appreciate him. Tim loves to joke around. More often than not, Tim is laughing about something and his laughter is highly contagious. Similar to C. B. Scott, Tim knows a lot of people and he knows a lot of backroom political stuff. I sat in amazement during meals with Tim, Bob, and C.B. as I listened to lots of SBC insider stuff. The interesting thing about all of that is that none of the backroom political discussion was mean-spirited or condemning in any way.

David Dockery is a Christian gentleman. His presentation of baptist history was outstanding. If you have not seen his slides, do yourself a favor and get them at Ed Stetzer's place.

Jeff Noblit was someone whom I did not know but I enjoyed his talk about "Calvinism: A Cause for Rejoicing, a Cause for Concern." I love his passion.

Nathan Finn is a fine young man. I thought his talk on "Theological Stereotypes" was one of the best of the entire conference.

Greg Welty is a Calvinist. I did not know that until he spoke. Greg and I have had a few confrontations on the blogs in the past, but after spending a few moments with him, he seems like a very nice fellow. My respect for Greg went way up the scale after meeting him.

All in all, I would say that this conference has been an overwhelming success. Both non-Calvinists and Calvinists conducted themselves with dignity, respect, and love for one another. Even though I do not agree with Malcolm Yarnell, James Merritt, David Nelson, Charles Lawless, Ken Keathley, and J. D. Greear, I appreciate their love for Christ, and their love for the SBC.

Thank you to Tom Ascol, Thom Rainer, and Danny Akin for putting this conference together.