Iron Sharpening Iron in Chicago

Late last night I returned from the fourth annual conference of the International Society of Christian Apologetics (ISCA). This year it was on the campus of Trinity International University, which houses the well-known Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. It was my first time to the Chicago area (unless you count brief layovers in the O'Hare airport) as well as my first time to be a part of this conference.

What a blessing! Reflecting on my weekend, I thank God for so many things. Here are a few:

I met lots of brothers and sisters in Christ committed to defending His truth, including several scholars which have been very influential in my spiritual growth and service. This included men such as Rob Bowman, Winfried Corduan, Norman Geisler, Wayne House, Chad Meister, and Phil Roberts. I am honored to have met and talked with these experienced apologists.

I learned how to better defend my faith through several incredibly informative workshops and sessions. Obviously I cannot give my thoughts of each one, but I must mention one session that I found especially important—"The Ethics of Apologetics" by David Cook of Wheaton College. Cook spoke from his heart and experience, listing several key considerations apologists must keep in mind as we counter error. I only wish that they recorded the session!

I was able to strategize with Paul Carden on the future of ACFAR. While I cannot say too much about our discussions yet, we were able to accomplish a great deal. You should be hearing about some wonderful developments over the next several weeks, so be sure to stay tuned!

I worshiped on the Lord's Day at Village Bible Church. I greatly enjoyed my time there, praising God with fellow believers and hearing His Word faithfully proclaimed. Pastor Ray Gurunian's sermon was a deeply edifying message on a very hard passage of Scripture (have you ever heard a sermon on Matthew 7:6?!?).

I may have come home tired, but by God's grace we accomplished so much. With so many challenges facing the church today, it is easy to lose heart. But last weekend reminded me that the church of Christ will not fail—the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Praise God!