I am a firm believer in staying a student. This does not mean I am constantly filling out student loan applications or paying the incredibly overvalued price of college textbooks. But it does mean I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities to grow, learn, and deepen my understanding of various topics.
I make a habit of taking one writing class per year. Sometimes this happens at a writing convention, other times it happens online. But for the past few years, I have also been looking for opportunities to enrich my understanding of the person of God resulting in a deepening of my faith.
Because conferences cost both money and time, I want to make sure the ones I attend are worth it; so I have a few criteria one must meet before I am willing to attend. First, the conference must be led by names I know and trust. I am certainly not against up-and-comers, but I have to believe I am going to learn something new, or see things from a unique perspective before the event is over.
Second, I have to know that what will be taught will help me build a biblical worldview. If you have spent any substantial time reading Engage, you know building a biblical worldview is one of our primary efforts. All of our writers are still in the process of building their worldviews. We ask big questions and then develop those questions into articles in an effort to help you build a biblical worldview as well.
Those two things decide whether I attend a conference. I do not really care about the band (although a nice band doesn’t hurt). The location is not a major concern, as long as it does not make the conference too expensive. I only have two criteria, but they are absolute requirements.
This year, the conference that caught my eye and attention is Southern Baptist Seminary’s Driven by Truth. Headline speakers include Albert Mohler, president of SBS, Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Gregory Thornbury, president of King’s College in New York City, and Dan DeWitt, dean of Boyce College.
Although I am not very familiar with Thornbury or DeWitt, I am very familiar with SBS, Mohler, and Moore. I know what is taught will be based on Scripture, and since the emphasis of Driven by Truth is on helping attendees build a strong, biblical worldview both of my criteria have been met.
The conference is taking place March 18-19 on the SBS campus, but they will live stream the event for anyone who cannot make it to Louisville, Kentucky. If you can’t make it to the conference or watch it live online, they will archive all the conference content and make it available for free.
The focus and mission of Driven by Truth lines up so well with that of Engage, we decided to form a partnership. Part of that means Engage will have a booth at the event, so if you are there, come see us. Whether you are able to attend, stream, or view the content on the archives, actively pursue great resources that will help you build a worldview based on Scripture.
To that end, what resources or conferences have you used in the to help you know God better? What conference did you attend that impacted your life? Let us know in the comments below.
