I went on a cruise to Alaska last week with a friend. I will have lots of things to say about the actual cruise, which was amazing, but today I want to write about the Ligonier portion of the cruise.
My friend and I had talked about some day combining a cruise with something spiritually meaningful, so when Ligonier announced a cruise leaving from Vancouver to Alaska, we were excited and signed up. I've blogged about Ligonier before so I don't think I need to get into explaining all that again. But, I will say that it is a fantastic Christian organization that is dedicated to deepening and strengthening the faith and Biblical knowledge of Christians. If you're looking for resources including books or podcasts or teaching series or Sunday school materials, they have an abundance of solid resources. I have personally benefitted a great deal from them and have come to understand who God is so much more deeply, especially in the area of His sovereignty.
Anyway, to my delight, not only was the cruise offered by Ligonier, but Bob (W. Robert Godfrey) , one of my favourites, was one of the teachers on the book of Philippians. The teaching was solid, like always. But, we also got to sit and have coffee and then later breakfast with Bob. He is hilarious and insightful and just a delight to be around. He is in his 80s and inspires me to keep going, to persevere.
Not only did I get to hang out with Bob, I also got to meer Mrs Vesta Sproul. She is the widow of Ligonier's founder, RC Sproul. Since RC has gone to glory, I was able to thank Mrs Sproul for the transformative impact that Ligonier has had on my life. What a blessing!
In addition to these two, I met so many lovely people who were also on the cruise with Ligonier. The cruiseship had over 3000 people on it, but those who were part of Ligonier were only about 240. So, when we went on excursions, we had enough people to have (almost) everyone on board the train and the smaller boat exclusively from our group. It made things so much more personable. We had reserved tables for our group every night for dinner even though attendance was optional. Meeting different people over dinner was such a great way to connect and share a meal. Singing together and listening to God's word expounded was meaningful and moving. Walking around the boat seeing someone with a Ligonier name tag felt homey. If I ever do another cruise, I would love for it to be with Ligonier!
