“This is probably the most important event taking place tonight in America,” said Mike Hamlet, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, North Spartanburg.
Alex McFarland, NGU director for Christian worldview and apologetics, addressed the first session of the Truth for a New Generation conference. More than 1,400 attended the event at First Baptist Church, North Spartanburg.“Truth for a New Generation” was the first national apologetics conference sponsored by North Greenville University in association with Alex McFarland, NGU’s director for Christian worldview and apologetics.
The event was held at First Baptist, North Spartanburg. More than 1,400 tickets were sold for the two-day conference, held Sept. 28 and 29.
Tony Beam, NGU’s vice president for student services and Christian worldview, said apologetics “teaches people to know what’s true and to know how to defend it in a culture hostile to truth.”
McFarland said the event should be about revival. Throughout the conference, he encouraged Christians to pray and fast, return to God’s Word and resurrect biblical literacy in the culture.
Hamlet echoed McFarland’s comments, saying there is a great need for revival in America because of the culture’s ignorance of truth.
Christian apologist Larry Taunton said the purpose of the conference was to internalize the arguments and methods presented so that Christians are able to share the gospel and always ready to give an account for the hope that is within them.
The conference was comprised of seven main sessions, with events held in the two auditoriums of the church. Events for Stage A (the sanctuary) were designed with adults in mind, while those for Stage B (the “Rock”) were more youth-oriented.
The conference featured breakout sessions with 15 lecturers.
Noted apologists Josh McDowell, Ken Ham, Eric Metaxas and Dinesh D’Souza spoke at the conference. Also, 10 of NGU’s faculty members led breakout sessions, including Lisa Van Riper, political science instructor; Reggie Ecarma, mass communications; Donny Mathis, Christian studies; and Ken Hemphill, director of the Center for Church Planting and Revitalization.
“Our professors were asked [to speak] because we have the best professors around, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to reach people with their teaching,” said Beam.
NGU sophomore Daniel Cranfill, a Christian studies major, said the conference was “on par” with what he expected and impressed him because it offered “everything from very elementary introductory to advanced courses.”
NGU president Jimmy Epting said the conference was uplifting the Lord. “It’s up to you and me what we do with [the knowledge gained from TNG] when we leave here,” he said.
Beam said the university plans to repeat the conference yearly and possibly hold it in different parts of the country.
Conference sessions are available for purchase in DVD and MP3 formats at www.truthforanewgeneration.com. – NGU
Editor’s note: On Oct. 18, Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative commentator who was a featured speaker at the Truth for a New Generation conference in Spartanburg Sept. 28-29, resigned as president of The King’s College in New York City after World Magazine, a Christian-oriented publication, reported that D’Souza was seen in the company of a woman who was not his wife while at the Spartanburg conference.
In the magazine story, D’Souza reportedly introduced the woman as his fianc?e, even though he is still legally married to his wife of 20 years. D’Souza filed for divorce from his wife on Oct. 4 of this year after a two-year separation, according to the World Magazine article.
Tony Beam, North Greenville University’s vice president for Christian worldview and student services, who helped organize the conference, released the following statement to the Courier:
“Dinesh was invited to the conference in Spartanburg because of the vast respect of his academic work within the evangelical and larger community. I, nor any organizers of the event, had any foreknowledge of any personal situation, and I will continue to pray for restoration and reconciliation for Dinesh and his family.”