Middletown Bible Conference

Graham and I selected the Middletown Bible Conference to attend this year. There were several reasons for our choice. First, we had never been to the state of Connecticut and thought it would be good to see a different part of the country for a change. And more importantly, Graham's mentor from seminary, Dr. Robert Lightner, was one of the three key speakers. When Graham was taking extension courses from DTS we would regularly drive Dr. Lightner from the airport to his hotel and to the classroom and back. We were able to spend many hours with this fine man, in addition to the many classes Graham took from his tutelage. It's been many years since those days and we have seen him only one other time, also at a Bible conference and longed to hear from him again.

Middletown, CT is about 20 miles south of Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. We flew into the airport just north of Hartford, rented a car, and then drove down to Middletown. Being Texans, we fully expected to be on the road for hours, but found, quite surprisingly, that it was only a thirty minute drive to our destination. And this lovely New England town proved very easy to move around in. That's not to say we didn't make several wrong turns! But it proved to be pretty easy.

Dr. Lightner opened the conference on Monday night and we were privileged to hear five of his six sessions. He spoke on worship, sanctification, what Jesus said about the Old Testament, the many facets (contextually) of the Kingdom, and the cruciality of the cross in relation to salvation. His topics were familiar and his content was comforting. If you have read any of his books you would feel right at home with his preaching. He was definitely the highlight of the week for us.

I promised Graham I would get a picture of him with Dr. Lightner, who quipped that he never smiled when having his picture taken. Determined to prove him wrong, I snapped an instant of hilarity going on between the two of them - don't ask me who said what! This is a loving, lasting memory we will have of a man dear and near to our hearts.

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!!

One of the other speakers was a gentleman from Friends of Israel ministry named Bruce Scott. He shared that he is of Scottish/Irish descent, but his wife is Jewish (a believer in Christ), and that is how he became immersed in the ministry to the Jews. He has a deep and sincere love for Israel and shared, in the four sessions we heard, sound, biblical messages concerning Israel and the current political scene. He not only shared dozens and dozens of Bible verses, but reams of documented information that, were we not Christians and aware of God's workings in the end times, would surely scare the casual reader. Though disconcerting at times, I came away more sure than ever that God is in control of world events but we are still exhorted to pray for His mercy on our nation.

The third speaker was the pastor of the church, George Parsons. Graham and I were both taken aback by his voice and mannerisms at first, for he reminded us strongly of a man we met on our trip to Ireland! We looked at one another and in unison said, "Jimmy!" Once we got over that and began to listen more closely, we were impressed with the passion, as well as his grasp of the Scriptures, as he wove his way through each message. We're looking forward to getting the recorded messages so we can listen to his sessions again.

Our overall impression of the church and the conference is that this is a congregation of loving, living saints who, more than anything, want to live out the Word of God in their lives. We were treated to wonderful music - much of it a capella - from both individuals and ensemble and really delicious, home-cooked meals between sessions.  We stayed in a lovely hotel in downtown Middletown and became familiar with some of the historical sites and statues on our route to and from the church. This is what I envision a New England small town to be. We did have one opportunity to relax in the dining room and preserved that memory from my delayed timer on my camera!

The only downside to the week was the amount of flying time it took to get there and back home. Juggling plane connections with determination, I just couldn't get there and back without wasting two whole days. We missed a little but definitely came home with a full heart.

BUT WAIT!! WHERE WAS SAVANNAH??

Glad you asked. Savannah went to camp for the week at Camp Nash! I knew she would enjoy herself, being the little social canine that she is. And Karen was sweet to send me some pictures of her activities, which included an introduction to a guinea pig! For a brief time Karen said she would sit and stare at Mr. Guinea. Apparently he just wasn't enough fun and she soon lost interest and set her sights on the dogs. All in all, it was a very good week.