Today I’m here in Ft. Lauderdale Fl, for the Liberate 2012 conference! Wonderful people in my church contributed money sacrificially to make this possible, and I am so grateful to all of them! I have high expectations and I’m praying to make some great friends and learn some great things to bring back home and teach as the Holy Spirit leads. Here is the description of the conference from the conference web site:
The gospel of grace is more drastic, more offensive, more liberating, more shocking, and more counterintuitive than any of us realize. There is nothing more radically unbalanced and drastically unsafe than grace. It has no “but”: it’s unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated. It unsettles everything. There is a dangerous depth to the gospel that needs to be rediscovered and embraced. That’s what the LIBERATE Conference is all about.
This is absolutely my kind of conference! If we don’t press the message of grace to the point of scandal, to the point where it offends the flesh, it is questionable that we are really pressing grace. What good is forgiveness if it is only offered when it isn’t needed? Here are the sessions, with a few preliminary thoughts:
Thursday:
Tullian Tchividjian: “Grace Liberates” – This is going to be smoking hot stuff. You just know it!
Friday:
Darrin Patrick: “Grace Liberates Our City” – This is a question that David Collins of Paradigm Ministries always presses me on. How does this line of thinking work in the broader community. I’m looking very forward to this session.
Elyse Fitzpatrick: “Grace Liberates Our Discipleship” – This ought to be good. Discipleship by its very nature tends towards fruit-checking and scorekeeping. There is definitely a need to foster growth in believers under grace, and this is something that, if we ever had it, has been lost.
Q&A with Tullian Tchividjian, Elyse Fitzpatrick, and Darrin Patrick – I appreciate the chance to collect questions from these sessions and interact with them on the issues from their talks.
Rod Rosenbladt: “Grace & The Christian Life” (Chapel) – I don’t know what this is really going to be about, but I think I’ve listened to a podcast where this fellow was on it.
David Zahl: “Grace & Pop Culture” – David Zahl is the founder of mockingbird ministries (mbird.com), and they are really fantastic about taking pop culture and every other kind of culture, and interpreting it from the perspective of the gospel of grace. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say!
Doug Sauder: “Grace & Adoption” (Chapel) This should be a real tear-jerker.
White Horse Inn LIVE TAPING: “Scandalous Grace” – These guys have an amazing podcast, you should look it up. They are very in-your-face calvinists, but they are grace-centered ones, and this should be one heck of a smoking hot session!
Paul Tripp: “Grace Liberates Our Marriage” – I’m sure Betty will be glad I’m going to this. Wait! Grace DOES liberate our marriage! I think I’m going to get a lot to bring home out of this one.
Saturday:
Michael Horton: “Grace Liberates Our Message” – Don’t know what this is about but it should be good. This guy is an amazing scholar and a very clear thinker. I’m sure this is not to be missed!
Scotty Smith: “Grace Liberates Us From Our Idolatry” – This sounds like it is in line with my idea that repentance under the law amounts to an idolatry of the self, and its flawed notion that by its own virtue it can manipulate God. I hope to get some fresh depth into the notion from this session.
Q&A with Tullian Tchividjian, Paul Tripp, Michael Horton, and Scotty Smith – Again, I love the chance to question these wonderful teachers about their sessions.
Father, I pray with everyone reading this that You will bless all of these sessions, and that you will lead me to divine appointments and lifelong new friendships in the community of those who preach and teach the stunning gospel of grace! I pray for a great clarity of mind for everyone teaching and everyone attending, and that the we are here, and everyone around the world, will be affected by this. We also pray for the Holy Spirit to profoundly bless this whole time, and that we will all walk away from this changed and touched and moved and formed into new people, and that this will spill over into our ministries and relationships back home. Amen.