Ligonier London Conference

Mike Reeves and Mez McConnell on the question panel proving that these Reformed types are all just clones of each other

Today and yesterday evening I have been attending the first Ligonier Conference on the British mainland. We met in the huge Westminster Central Hall. I guess there were about 800 present. I know about 10% of the people present, mostly ministers. A diverse group gathered not just from the UK but further afield too. I met people from Germany, Italy and the USA plus Scots, Welsh, English and the pastor of the Korean church that meets in our building on Sunday afternoons. Two of my sons and their wives and several other family members were present.

The conference was well organised and what one might have expected from a group like Ligonier keen to expand their work among the Lord's people and beyond. Several men spoke - Mark Johnston and Alistair Begg on the Friday night; Al Mohler and Sinclair Ferguson this morning; Mike Reeves and Burk Parsons this afternoon. There was also a panel with Drs Ferguson and Reeves plus Jeremy Walker from Crawley, Paul Levy from London and Mez McConnell from Edinburgh.

Obviously some speakers got on better than others but it was all worth hearing. The applause got a bit much, it is true, but our American hosts did their very best to adapt otherwise. Lovely to see so many old friends.

The messages are all here.

London Seminary 40th

The London Seminary started in 1977. In 40 years, over 400 men have been trained for pastoral and preaching ministry, the bulk of whom are ministering today. They are all over the country, from Scotland to the south coast, from Wales to East Anglia and in nations the world over. Other ventures, such as the John Owen Centre and the newly announced Flourish course for women have also been alongside.

It was appropriate that at the seminary's annual service last Saturday the chairman (fresh back from Singapore) was former principal Philip Eveson. He took opportunity to remind us of the work's beginnings and represented the Board in giving a big thank you to our secretary for 39 of the 40 years, Brian Stevens. He also publicly thanked Robert and Sarah Strivens, helped by Board chairman Spencer Cunnah, on the Seminary's behalf.

Dr Strivens gave the annualreport, his last in his present capacity. We also heard from principal elect, Bill James, who begins in January reading and praying.

We also heard from six leaving students – Chris Durrant, John Kerr, Philip Lievesley, Pedro Real, Manuel Redondo and Chris Statter. Five are about to begin ministry – in Bournemouth, Gloucester, Frinton-on-sea, Brazil and Salford. Manuel hopes to do further study before returning to Spain.

It was a great opportunity to hear Al Mohler again. He preached on John 15:18-27 where Christ the General warns his untried soldiers what is ahead. Under the heading, What do you expect? he warned of what lies ahead and gave reasons to continue

1. Because we belong to Christ

2. Because we have the Holy Spirit alongside us

3. Because we have Christ praying for us, Christ who has overcome the world.

There was a good number there, perhaps more than usual. Tea and discussion on the lawn (se epic above from the Seminary Twitter accoount) is a tradition on this occasion and that was kept despite periodic attempts by the overcast skies to send rain.

Al Mohler at London Seminary

It was good to have the opportunity of hearing Al Mohler wiht the students at London Seminary this morning. Dr Mohler specialises in looking at the world as it is and encouraging a Christian approach to it all. He spoke for two 45 minute periods broken by coffee and then opened up for questions, soemthing he does regularly on Youtube and which he did well today, answering questions on Islam, hell and witness. His clarification on the term Post-Christian (not post a period when everyone was a Christian but post a time when everyone accepted certain Christian tenets) was helpful. He also made a helpful point regarding Islam that it is more a way of life than a belief system as such.

Dr Mohler could come over a s name dropper as he has read so widely adn met with all sorts of people. It would be a mistake to think like that. No, here is a fine mind honed by Scripture and careful thinking about what those who oppose the gospelsay.

He quoted himself at one point, "The culture says you have an alien problem to be solved by an inner solution. The gospel says you have an inner problem that will be solved only by an alien righteousness.” That is very helpful. I believe that the quotation is from a message given a conference adn preached as “Preaching with the Culture in View”. See Preaching the Cross, Together for the Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway 2007), p 81.a

Mohler on Obama

Al Mohler has been commenting on a recent speech of President Obama on "gay rights" here.

Al Mohler

An interesting conversation has been developing here. It started off quite superfically but then took a serious turn when one contributor expressed real doubts about the credibility of Al Mohler as a card carrying Calvinist. I've met Al Mohler. I'm not sure what to make of it all.