Deeper Conference 2010 Recap, Part 1

As I write this, the amazing 2010 Deeper Conference is packing up.

Deeper is the annual conference organized by Living Waters Ministries.  This conference brings together like-minded Christians from across the USA (and across the seas) to equip believers to defend the faith and inspire those same Christians to fulfill the Great Commission.

Lots of conferences make big promises.  How well does the Deeper live up to their stated goal?

Very, very well.

The overall theme of this years' conference was Jesus Christ.

In these days of diverse conference themes put on by churches and Christian organizations it is dissappointing that so few seem to focus on the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  Perhaps this is one reason I felt this year's Deeper conference was refreshing, invigorating, and most importantly, Christ honoring.  

In addition, the Living Waters team continued their reputation for lining up so many challenging speakers that you had better come with plenty of note paper and a fresh pen.  To top it off, they serve up heart-melting worship, led again this year by Scott Krippayne and his impressive out-of-the limelight percussionist, Charlie Petit.

Over the next few posts I hope to provide an overview of the speakers, the topics, the worship experience, and what was for me the highlight of the conference even though it was technically not even part of Deeper.

Kirk Cameron was the first speaker on day one.  Kirk's story of growth from teen heartthrob to mature evangelist is best told through his book or other web-sites.

Kirk reminded the audience that there is something more important in Christianity then your theology, namely Christ: the Name above all names, Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  He then compared and contrasted the downfall of man in the first Adam and the redemption of man in the Second Adam (Jesus).

For me, the most fascinating part of Kirk's talk was when he raised the difficult topic of the temptation of Christ by Satan.  

I have often wondered how Christ could be tempted.  Christ is God.  God is perfect.  Yet, the Bible tells us that He was tempted in His humanity (Mark 1:12-13; Hebrews 4:15).  Kirk raised the possibility that what Satan tried to accomplish in the desert was to tempt Christ by offering Lordship of the earth without going to the cross.  If so, then the prince of lies had stumbled upon potentially exploiting the event that would later weigh heavily upon Christ.  As they hour of His crucifixion approached, Christ would pray to God the Father, "if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

Had Satan known about this coming burden, I can see that he might try to use the cross against Jesus.  However, Satan cannot know the future except as revealed in Scripture or as God otherwise reveals it to him, and we have no record of Satan having foreknowledge of this event.  So, while it might explain what Satan was doing, and it certainly illustrates how crafty Satan can be when tempting mankind, I will record this as a though-provoking but unconvincing perspective.


It is impossible to communicate the sincerity packed into Kirk's talk.  He engages the audience by shedding the movie-star mystique, letting you know that he is a fallen sinner who loves the Savior who just happened to begin working life with a job that placed him in the public eye.  In the end, however, he is engaged in the same basic pursuit as the audience, and he faces the same struggles as every other man.


In the end, Kirk further cemented his place as a sincere and thoughtful speaker on Christian topics.  He was a fine choice to kick off the 2010 Deeper conference.