Building bridges

One of the brightest young minds in SBC life today, in my opinion, is that of Dr. Nathan Finn. Nathan is someone whom I have come to greatly respect and appreciate over the past couple of years. He is his own man, intellectually, and he is much more cautious and thoughtful than many who are engaging the masses in the blog world today. Although I think he may even be a bit younger than I am, he has recently completed and successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Nathan teaches in the undergraduate program at Southeastern Seminary. Nathan is one of the featured speakers in the upcoming "Building Bridges" conference being hosted at Ridgecrest by Southeastern and Founders Ministries. The conference is an attempt to reconcile relationships that are often strained in SBC life between those who hold to a reformed soteriology, and those who do not. This has sadly become a major point of contention within convention life although historical precedent from the lives of men such as George Whitfield and John Wesley teaches us that this acrimony is simply unnecessary. Nathan is speaking in a parellel session with Dr. Chuck Lawless and will be teaching on the topic “Theological Stereotypes: Let’s Be Fair and Honest with Each Other.” In order to prepare for the conference Nathan is asking for our help. He is hopeful to get as many people as possible to consider theological stereotypes for those who hold to either branches of soteriological thought. In fact, he claims to want any stereotypes listed and the more outrageous the better. I would encourage you to take a look at his article he published here and to interact if you are interested.

PS: Let it be known that I'm a fan of building bridges. The fact that I'm encouraging you to visit the site of a known Georgia fan is a testament to the fact that God's grace can unite even the most unfortunate of all sinners. :-) (Sorry Nathan, I had to get that in.)