Built into the NCT ThinkTank is a willingness to allow for the presenters views to be openly examined and respectfully critiqued

Over at Grace in the Triad, Dustin Segers muses on the recently concluded NCT Think Tank 2011 in Canandaigua, New York: "This was hands-down, the best conference I've ever been to. The reasons were as follows:

1. Like-minded fellowship with people who obviously love Jesus.
2. Excellent theology.
3. Built into the NCT ThinkTank is a willingness to allow for the presenters views to be openly examined and respectfully critiqued by the other conference participants in light of Scripture. This promotes further refining of our views so that they conform to Scripture.

Our meeting was held from July 25-28, and we covered a variety of topics related to coming to a further understanding of biblical theology through the hermeneutic of the New Covenant – Jesus Christ our Lord, following the redemptive-historical view of Scripture." -- Dustin Segers, Grace in the Triad: NCT ThinkTank 2011 Conference Videos

It is so encouraging to see point #3. It cannot be understated how important #3 is to both a good think tank and the continued development of theology in the New Covenant Theology movement's participants. John Reisinger impressed on me a long time ago the importance of the necessary humility of not allowing one's personal theology to calcify. #3 as a habitual practice, both in the local church and like-minded gatherings such as the NCT Think Tank, fosters an environment of mutual growth in theology and hermeneutics. As a result, many communities of believers become the beneficiaries of mutual edification via "theology in the round". As one who has been a participant and has taken some stiff critique (even at this recent NCT Think Tank), there is so much comfort in the kind of a safe environment that allows one to put an idea or thought forward from the text, and have it affirmed or shot down by people who love you. Would that more churches and church groups foster such an environment.