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Please visit the new “Deep South Founders Conference” Web site.

The First annual Deep South Founders Conference met in January 2008. Taking our cue from our historic confession, the gathering focused on the Word of God which stands as our “only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”

The week’s main speaker, David Miller, preached three times, covering, “Calling, Election, and the Word,” “Conversion and the Word,” and “Danger of False Apologist and the Word.” Four other excellent preachers, Joe Nesom, Huey Moak, Todd Wilson, and Isaac Makashiny preached on the consistency, power, sufficiency, and perspicuity of the Word.

Even if you missed that first round of sessions, you can find the sermons from the 2008 Deep South Founders Conference available on Sermon Audio under “The Word Of God – Founders.”

We are gearing up for the 2nd session of the conference, but I have a little time to tell you about this morning’s opening session.  We had Dr. Tom Ascol, Director of Founders Ministry and Dr. James White leading the session with two lessons.  Dr. Ascol’s topic was “Salvation in God the Father.”  Dr. White began his teaching on the “Doctrine of the Trinity” that will carry out for the entire conference.  I am by no means going to be able to give you a break down of each session. There are others that are more apt at doing such things, and I end up missing parts of the sessions due to my responsibilities.  Also, we will have the audio available to download or purchase on CD so that you will be able to study the sermons for yourself.  Below I have made a few notes that I thought were worth mentioning and give you an idea of what we are studying.

Dr. Ascol taught us that we always need to remember that everything done by one Person of the Trinity that all three Persons are unitedly involved.  Although, we may see only one Person actively involved in a specific role (i.e. Christ on the Cross), all three are present and working in perfect unity.

Another great point and central theme to Dr. Ascol’s message was that our salvation did not happen by mistake.  It was with purpose and by a plan that God saved us that is deeply embedded in His love.  It was through this that Christ came to make the sacrifice to adopt us and the Holy Spirit to fill us and seal us in His salvation.  Although it might be a mystery why He would love us so much, it is because of this that we worship Him.  It was a wonderful sermon and I can’t wait to hear again when the CDs are ready.

Dr. White began the foundation of his lesson that he will continue through the entire conference.  The most important thing that I gained from the first session was Dr. White’s ability to relieve the fear of the doctrine of the Trinity without belittle or demean the doctrine.  This is a very special gift.

His overview was broken down into three foundations that make up the biblical doctrine of the Trinity that we need to regain if we are to be able to understand God in how He reveals Himself in Scripture.

Foundation 1: Monotheism
Foundation 2: Three Divine Persons
Foundation 3: Coequal and Coeternal

Dr. White will be breaking these foundations in further detail tonight and tomorrow morning.  The next session is about to begin so hopefully I can keep you updated on our twitter account @Deep_S_Founders.

We were able to record and video the debate and hope to have it available soon.  Unfortunately we do not have the budget to process CDs and DVDs quickly so we ask you to be patient with us.

I am not going to comment much on the actual debate, I will let others that are more apt do it; however, I will point out the one thing that always hits me when dealing with the topic of Calvinism vs. Arminianism.

First, I want to say that I was encouraged by the tone of the debate.  Dr. White and Dr. Blakemore both acted like Christian brothers and not like enemies.  Not a surprise, but it is always encouraging to see.  Second, there is a lot that Dr. White and Dr. Blakemore have in common and it outweighs what they don’t have in common when it comes to Gospel.  Nevertheless, the largest divide to me did not come when dealing with their view of sin, freedom/bondage of the will of man, predestination, election, God, or any of the normal or more popular topics that usually are discussed.  Although it nearly took the entire debate to get to it they finally did, and I was glad that they did.  The biggest difference in this debate was the view of the atonement.  Dr. White took the classic Calvinist view that the atonement that Christ made on the cross was substitutionary atonement and in that it included the penal substitution in order to satisfy the wrath of God against our sins.  Although during the debate Dr. Blakemore admitted to believe in a substitutionary atonement, he later admitted that he did not include a penal substitution in that category.  This is a very serious difference in the two traditions that is often overlooked.  Our beliefs on the will, election, predestination, decrees of God, and His providence will hinge on our view of the Cross of Christ and what it accomplished.

If you believe that Christ actually paid the penalty for sin and took the wrath of God in place of the sinner then you probably lean toward the Calvinist viewpoint.  Now you just have to deal with the subject of the atonement and be careful not to fall into the category of universalism.  This is why Calvinist view the atonement as limited in scope.  If you believe that God set aside your sin and made you savable, but actually did not save you then you probably lean towards the Arminian position, but you have to deal with the justness of God.

This is where I wish that we could have explored more because it is that important, but was not the central theme of the debate.  I am just glad that it came out during the debate.

Next time we hope to update you on the Friday morning session.

Our first speaker this morning will be Dr. Tom Ascol, Director of Founders Ministries.  This is his first time to join us at our Regional Conference and we are glad that he braved the cold to visit us from Florida.  He will be preaching on the “Salvation in God the Father.”  Following Dr. Ascol, we will have our other special guest, Dr. James R. White preaching on the Doctrine of the Trinity.

I hope to fill you in on the sessions, but as far the live updates on Twitter, I may be too busy.  I never can do all I hope, but it sure is fun.

If you are coming to the conference tomorrow night, hope to see you there.  If not, we will be live tweeting at @Deep_S_Founders.  Be sure to search #DSRFC to find our tweets and an others that would like to join us in giving updates about the conference.  Remember, tomorrow night’s debate between Dr. James White and Dr. Steve Blakemore is free, but registered guest will have priority if seating becomes limited.

Pre-Conference Debate: Freedom of the Will (Arminianism) vs. Bondage of the Will (Calvinism)

Free to the Public, but registered guest will have first option if seating becomes limited

January 13, 2011
Thursday
6pm

Dr. James R. White and Dr. Steve Blakemore with Dr. Matt Friedeman as moderator.

After the fall of Adam into sin was the will of man so irrevocably damaged that humans can no longer choose to do good, but will choose evil, all the time?  Did God enable all people the freedom to choose Him or must God choose them first?  Once saved, always saved?  The questions are too numerous to list, but the answers all depend on if the will of man is free or in bondage to sin.  The ultimate condition of the human will is but one of the issues when dealing with the controversies between the doctrines of Arminianism and Calvinism.  This debate has intrigued people longer than the namesakes of the debate, John Calvin and Josephus Arminius, have been around.  We will bring this debate to the 2011 Deep South Regional Founders Conference.

We will have our first ever pre-conference debate this year on Thursday night.  To kick off our inaugural pre-conference specials, we have invited two special guests that will be tackling the historic debate of the condition of the human will.   Our two guest are no strangers to the debate and although, they would consider each other brothers in Christ, they come from opposite ends of the debate.  Joining us will also be Dr. Matt Friedeman, poplar radio host of the Matt Friedeman Show.

Please join us for this free event. We will even have a Q&A session after the debate.

Dr. Steve Blakemore is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy & Moral Theology at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, MS.  He is the Executive Director of The Institute for Third Millennium Faith and co-founder of Resurrection Youth Ministry. Dr. Blakemore will be debating the Arminian view point.

Dr. James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona.  He is the author of more than twenty books, a professor, an accomplished debater, and an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church.  Dr. White will be debating the Calvinist view point.

Matt Friedeman is married to the former Mary Boardman of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Together, they are raising six children. A Kansas native, he has lived in the Jackson area since 1987 and still serves primarily as the Professor of Evangelism and Discipleship at Wesley Biblical Seminary. He has been active in the Jackson media as a columnist, radio talk show host and television commentator. He received his education from the University of Kansas (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) and Asbury Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He is the author of three books.  Dr. Friedeman will be moderator for the debate.

Question and Answer Session & Dessert Fellowship at Grace Baptist Church for registered guest

2011 Deep South Regional Founders Conference
c/o Grace Baptist Church
5331 Clinton Blvd.
Jackson, MS 39209

Comfort Inn & Suites (MS181)

5010 Hampstead Blvd, Clinton, MS, US, 39056

• Phone: (601) 925-8250
• Fax: (601) 925-8406

Map/ Directions

Dr. Steve Lawson

Dr. Steve Lawson, the 2010 Deep South Regional Founders Conference special guest, will be the special guest for the John Reed Miller Lecture Series on November 9-11 at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. Dr. Steve Lawson, pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, AL and the author of Famine in the Land: A Passionate Call to Expository Preaching, will be on campus lecturing on three expository sermons found in Scripture: “The Expository Preaching of Ezra” – Nehemiah 8:1-12, “The Expository Preaching of Peter” – Acts 2:14-40, and “The Expository Preaching of Paul” – 1 Timothy 4:13-16. Though this conference is targeting local pastors, all are welcome to attend.  Please contact Reformed Theological Seminary for more information at 601-923-1600.