After almost a year of planning and preparation, we have completed our first Seeking 7 event. (Click here to pre-order CDs) For the uninitiated, Seeking 7 is a joint ministry of Fixed Point Foundation and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.  It is an initiative whose sole purpose is to encourage and mobilize the faithful in America.

We believe that this mission was accomplished.

Held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, the conference attracted some 600 people from around the country.  After Alabama, attendees came from Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Virginia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas, California, South Dakota, Arizona, and many others.  The speakers were fabulous.  Ravi Zacharias diagnosed the problem we face; Alistair Begg, addressing pastors, urged them to “bridge two worlds”—the secular and the sacred—in their preaching; John Lennox gave a brilliant exposition of what is quite possibly the most controversial chapter in all of Scripture: Genesis 1 and the Creation Story; I sought to give practical arguments for proclaiming and defending the Christian faith; and finally, Rick Burgess shared his very personal story of grief, pain, and the power of the Gospel to transform lives.  Tying it all together was the beautiful, Celtic-flavored music of Keith and Kristyn Getty.  In short, it was three very powerful days of God’s blessing.

It also revealed that our instincts were correct—Christians in this country are in much need of encouragement and a confidence that the Bible has not failed them on the critical cultural issues.  That is not given through lectures and seminars alone, but in ministering to people individually.  In this conference, the combined staffs of RZIM and Fixed Point Foundation—the Seeking 7 staff—created a warm and hospitable environment that was conducive to conversation and personal interaction.  That element, perhaps more than any other, contributed heavily to the feeling that many experienced and expressed—that the conference had not only equipped them for ministry, it had ministered to them.

Will there be another Seeking 7 event?  We are hopeful.  That will depend on resources.  This event was done at a considerable loss as we gave away some $25,000 worth of free meals and passes to those who are in fulltime vocational ministry.  That we could do so was both a blessing to the recipients as well as to us.  But we cannot do it again without substantive support. (If you would like to aid this tax-deductable initiative, click here.)

2010 is off to an exciting start.  We are looking forward to all that God has in store for us and hope to see you soon.

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