yea he is, I have yet to have a jam out session with him (or what little I can jam that is :)...

wish I was there... but not really... whistler is FREAKING AWESOME!

You need to come back for the DG conf.

 

So, you did take the camera with you, right? You will be posting pictures,right?

Fred

 

Fred, I did not take the camera with me, though I did have my palm pilot which can snap a decent 0.3 MegaPixel image if the sun happens to go super nova while you are within 2.4 feet of the subject of your picture - any pictures taken indoors under conference style lighting usually end up "yellowed" and grainy. So I opted out of photography.

The singing on Tuesday morning drew me closer to the Lord, which is (sadly for me) a rare occassion. Typically congregational singing falls short of being edifying or even worshipful, and ends up being the "thing you do" before the sermon. I was encouraged by the magnificent spirit that was with us that morning, encouraged, prepared, and edified.

I hope to give a substantial post about the conference some time today.

Frank - I haven't been to whistler myself, but I believe it is likely awesome. I should like to come back for the DG conference, but these things get pricey fast. If I had brought more money with me I would have come back with a library. The bookstore was a veritable "price-reduced" smorgasbord!

 

Daniel;
It was a blessing to me to get to meet and visit with you and Peter. Please don't hold my relation to Marc against me.
What "food" in the bookstore would you have liked to tasted but didn't get the chance to put on your plate? The books that DG gave out ought to keep you busy for a couple of days.
I pray that we can fellowship again in the near future.
J.D.(Hick working email)

 

J.D. - They had two copies of Louis Berkhoff's systematic theology, and I should have liked to have taken one with me, but because I would have purchased it more for a reference than a read (as it were) I resisted the temptation. You can pick them up second hand every now and again for less. There was a couple of Greek New Testaments that I hummed and hawed over until someone else bought them just as I convinced myself that I should spend the money. There were two tasty world missions books, one was very pictorial and would have made for a great mealtime devotional, the other would have been a supporting text. There were about twenty or so other books that I have been meaning to pick up, and having found them there I suddenly realized that I couldn't afford to buy them all, and so I had to pick and choose which was very difficult - in the end I only bought five books, but had I had a book budget I would have surely come home with more.

Now I have to read them. I am already half-way through a half dozen books that I haven't finished, so I expect to read at least half of these soon enough.

When I was telling my wife about the conference after I got home, I tried to you to her. I said you were tall, good humored, down to earth, and above all, the very picture of hospitality and charm.

Conferences like that give a wonderful foretaste of heaven - where we are going to run into the most amazing saints and in them see the manifold majesty of our Lord.

I am glad you figured out how to post. ;-)

Frankly, it is hard to believe you are related to Marc, so hard in fact that I have determined to believe that there was some sort of hospital switcheroo when one of you was born.

 

Which books did you end up buying?

 

I picked up Piper's "The Justification of God"; Sproul's "chosen by God", a book entitled "The Role Relationship of Men & Women" by Knight and Grudem (a little paperback that looks to be helpful in putting together a couple study), J.I. Packer's "Concise Theology" and a small little paperback by a fellow named Malcolm Steer called, "A Muslim's pocket guide to Christianity".

I hadn't planned to buy any books, but when I saw the collections there, I suddenly felt I had to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Justification of God will not disappoint you. I have yet to talk to a Calvinist who does not hold the book in the highest regard. I myself would have problems lending out my copy.

Chosen By God you will either like, or respect but not have much time for it depending on why you bought it. Everything Sproul says in it is great, but it's all covered in his other works. I keep a copy around to lend out to people who have questions about Calvinism, but for myself I rarely touch it.

I've browsed through Packer's book that you mentioned. It looked interesting, but I already have so many Systematics I decided not to get it since I prefer to go to a larger one for more detailed answers, or I have Sproul's Essential Truths of The Christian Faith to turn to for short answers.

I haven't herd of the other two, but as you know anything by Grudem will be good

 

I more or less bought the Sproul book as something I can pass out to others who are having trouble with predestination. I will probably give it a read myself, but I don't anticipate finding anything new in it.

I am using Packer's theology as a bed time devotional for the kids. I am dumbing it down of course, but it is a good place I suppose to begin catechising them. I have been somewhat neglect in this area.