Carl Casper Auto Show

Last Friday, I took the family to the Carl Casper Auto Show at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky. I know very little about cars, but I had a friend who is a mechanic to explain some things. Plus, I heard the A-Team van was there.

And here it is! I love it when a plan comes together. The A-Team was a cool TV show, despite the incredibly bad aim the team was with guns. I pity the fool who doesn't like the A-Team van.

I do not think I have ever watched a full episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard." I think the premise of the show is a couple of good ole boys with good intentions racked up a long list of felony arrest warrants for fleeing and evading the police. I am certain that General Lee, a devout Christian man, hardly approves.

This paddy wagon makes good timing from the crime scene to the jail.

The original Batmobile! Amazing technicolor, corny jokes from Adam West, and  onomatopoeic words exploding on the screen during fight scenes made this classic TV show a hit.

Let's face it, though. Michael Keaton is the real Batman, and this is the real Batmobile. I don't know how possible it is to control a car with a jet engine in the rear, but I wouldn't turn down a test drive!

Detailing the history of rum-running cars like this one is an interesting part of American history. Perhaps the paddy wagon above could outrun this bootlegger?

I don't really know what all I am looking at, but injecting nitrous oxide (NOS) into the intake manifold apparently is so dangerous, straps are placed around the engine to keep it together if it explodes. This doesn't sound wise to me.

K.I.T.T. is a talking car that drives itself. If I had a talking car, I'm sure it would be moody.

This Pontiac has swivel chairs in the front that turn around to face the curved bench seat in the back. This is a swell car to have for family picnics.

The original Bigfoot. My brother and I rode this once when we were little down a straight-a-way near the old Louisville Motor Speedway. Bigfoot used to crush cars. Now he spends his retirement on display at car shows.

Ecto-1! Well, okay, it's not the original. But still, this brings back childhood memories of sticking vacuum hoses through my backpack to capture ghosts around the house!

An example of what primitive man in the 1960's thought we would be driving today ("the future").

This 1948 Ford has a Chevy engine and claims to have once been owned by Elvis Presley. The farm truck in the back is pink. Interesting...

Here is something I do not understand. Apparently, some take old cars (I have been told "G Bodies") then put hydraulics on it and use a remote control to jump the car around. The entertainment of this is lost on me.

Best I can explain the event is something like bull-riding a very athletic bull, except the bull-rider has a leash on the bull off to the side instead of sitting in the saddle.

Together for the Gospel 2012

As a gift from my wife, I attended Together for the Gospel 2012 this past week  in Louisville, Kentucky. I thought that I would share a few insights and highlights with you guys. The crowd numbered in the several thousand to hear the Gospel preached powerfully by some of the best known pastors in the nation. The title of the conference shows the panel of several denominations gathering together for the Gospel within the Reformed understanding of the doctrines of salvation and grace.

The general sessions were held at the KFC Yum! Center in Downtown Louisville. The many banners recognizing sports heroes and athletic championships peers down upon the multitude gathering to sing praises to God. The loudness of the voices and the theological depth of the music gave a foretaste of that eternal day. The messages calls for action to faithful labor now as we wait for that day. Also, if you look closely to the photo on the right, it appears Ben Pine is saying "Yum!"

 

Between sessions, the crowd traveled a couple of blocks toward the Kentucky International Convention Center where the bookstores and meals were located. The lighting was just wonderful, and God painted a beautiful blue sky and white, puffy clouds as a pleasant backdrop to the city skyline.

Thousands rushed by this man (photo right), who I have met before (I am from Louisville). I stopped for a bit to talk with him, as well as a few other homeless men. I am hopeful that many of my fellow T4Gers were active in communicating Christ to the people of my hometown, as was the case when the Southern Baptist Convention was in town a few years ago.

Waiting to cross the street toward the Convention Center (photo left). The police made certain that the thousands of pedestrians flooding downtown would arrive safely.

The line for meals at the convention center were long at first, but quickly moved through. The food was quite good and the conversations with random brethren over meals was certainly a highlight of the conference. I met faithful messengers of the gospel from Napa Valley, California, and Casper, Wyoming. I heard a very exciting testimony from a pastor from Los Angeles that was a pastor in Dubai for some time, proclaiming the gospel there. He brought along a young man from Dubai that he is discipling. Such extraordinary stories of God's movement around His globe is encouraging.

I cannot discuss T4G without mentioning the Zero Dollar Bookstore. We each received 18 free books! There were booths with various ministries, as well. Ligonier is pictured here and that is White Horse Inn in the distance to the left (I didn't see Michael Horton). I stopped by the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust booth and met the Doctor's grandson. I had to thank them for releasing 1,600 of his sermons free for download this week. Being a local, several of the booth attendees asked about good local restaurants. I was more than happy to give some recommendations!

We had a good allotment of time between sessions, which was nice to simply walk around and talk theology. While walking around the Convention Center, I found this landscape and had to shoot. Perhaps it is a photographer's sense of humor, but I thought I'd share this photo (right). The bent sign gives the impression it was windy, which there was barely even a breeze this week.

During the conference, there were several break-out sessions. I attended one entitled "The Pastor and the Spirit" by Jeff Purswell. He lectured through I Corinthians 12-14 to encourage an understanding of the pastor's labor and calling in light of the Holy Spirit.

At the convention center, I found myself in a large, empty hallway recovering from the overwhelming flood of the blessings of the Lord. I watched as many T4Gers walked around outside from the quiet, hollow corridor which echoed distant conversations. A nice, relaxing break before continuing onward.

Well, then, that's the direction for me!

Prior to David Platt's sermon, the empty Yum! Center slowly began to satisfy the lonely chairs with people. I enjoyed sitting next to people from many different places and listening to what the Lord is doing in and through them. While Almighty God is at work in and through me, He is mightily working in and through millions simultaneously throughout the world.

I cannot choose a favorite speaker or sermon, as each sermon convicted me in my sin and revealed a God of infinite glory whose sovereign grace saved this wretch and continues His good work of sanctification. However, David Platt's (pictured left) sermon on God's sovereignty in His gospel and foreign missions was a heavy weight of burden for urgency to preach to the lost and to the nations.

I believe this photo says it all (right). The overwhelming flood of emotions and the encouragement of faithful gospel preaching stirs an urgency to glorify God that cannot be contained under a bushel. May the joy of the Lord be our strength.