We enjoyed a break of almost an hour and then gathered together again to sing “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” and to hear Mark Dever’s session. He discussed the temptation to improve upon the gospel. His talk was built upon five “calls” that are dangerous to the gospel—five ways churches may be tempted…
Day two of Together for the Gospel began early. I assume my experience is typical in that I went too bed too late last night and arose blurry-eyed so I could get some breakfast and make my way to the convention center for 8 AM. Today we will be hearing from John MacArthur, Mark Dever,…
Here is a little video featuring some of the people attending Together for the Gospel and asking what they are looking forward to at this conference.
This is a brief and final reminder to Canadians (or people with an interest in ministry in Canada) who happen to be attending Together for the Gospel. Please remember that we will be meeting together tomorrow evening as soon as the day’s final session wraps up. We’ll meet in room 112 right there in the…
After dinner we gathered for the second session and the second panel. Prior to the session we sang “O For a Thousand Tongues” and a new adaptation of “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” drawn from “Come Weary Saints,” the most recent project from Sovereign Grace Music. Bob Kauflin has added a chorus which…
Together for the Gospel is a conference that offers many panel sessions. In fact, this year there will be five of them. The first one is the only one that featured only the four leaders of Together for the Gospel. And it began with C.J. explaining why he will be leading the panel discussions this…
Together for the Gospel ‘08 kicked off at the rather unusual hour of 2:30 PM. Attendance seems to be somewhere in the area of 5500. While registration is open to both men and women, it seems that there is hardly equity. I’d estimate that there are 20 or 30 men here for every woman. As…
I am on my way to Together for the Gospel. Two vans loaded down with guys from my church (and from a couple of other local churches) are currently heading down the 401 (and then I-75), hoping to arrive on time for dinner in Louisville. As I did at the last conference, I’ll be bringing…
My conference has come to a bit of an early end. Because there are so many Canadians heading home from Florida this week, we were not able to find me a flight that left after the conference. Instead I’m having to duck out a few hours before it all wraps up. I’ll be heading home…
This morning began with John MacArthur’s second and final sermon. His topic was “Simultaneously Righteous and a Sinner” (or, to use the latin theological term, simul iustus et peccator). He turned first to the well-known story of the raising of Lazarus and on that basis titled his message (rather creatively, I might add), “We Have…
Well, I made it. It is good to feel a hot sun for the first time in many months! It was an early start this morning—the alarm rang at 2:44 AM and I was out the door just a very short time after that. After having some very bad flights in the past few months,…
The Ligonier Ministries 2008 National Conference kicks off later today and I’m on my way to Orlando to take it all in. Unfortunately I waited a little too late to book my flight, so I would up with a flight that necessitates leaving my home at 3:15 AM (just imagine when that means I need…
This morning the Reality Check conference wrapped up with the final of Paul Washer’s four sermons on the beatitudes. After reading the text he began with this statement: “If you have been truly born again, the beatitudes must be, at least to some extent, a description of your life.” Though the series was intended to…
I’ve been sick before and after conferences, but never during one. Until today, that is. In this morning’s session I started to feel a little bit under the weather, but thought it may have just been the heat (the conference room is pretty warm). I thought I’d head outdoors to see if I felt better…
One of the distinctives of a conference geared at youth is that the people in attendance tend to have a kind of youthful enthusiasm. You know what I’m referring to, I’m sure. They are excited to be at a conference, are exciting to be with their friends, and are excited to be learning from good…
Before we get to the second sermon, I’ve got a public service announcement for Amy. Amy, Russ and Reagan say “Hi!” They’re sitting right behind me and are trying, with some success, not to heckle me too much. This evening we are going to have Paul Washer preach to us. Now, I need to confess…
Matt Fowler preached the conference’s first sermon and did so from John 6:22-27. These well-known verses fall shortly after the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water—two of Jesus’ most amazing miracles. This crowd had been privileged to see both of these miracles. People reacted to the feeding of the 5000 by attempting…
So I am here in Chattanooga (the official city motto seems to be “We close at 5”), spending the weekend at a conference room at the Chattanooga Choo Choo (which is a local hotel/attraction/Holiday Inn). Somewhere around 1000 people are gathered for the Reality Check conference which will feature teaching by Matt Fowler, Paul Washer,…
This afternoon Dr. Lawson got very practical, leading the pastors here through “The Ten How To’s of Expository Preaching.” He went step-by-step through the process of preparing an expository sermon. Obviously he could not go into great depth as sermon preparation is something that often takes a semester or two to teach. But he went…
In this session MacArthur continued where he left off as time ran out in the last one. As he discusses the value of expository preaching he is, in a sense, preaching to the choir (which is not to say there is anything wrong with that!). The crowd here has assembled to hear exactly this kind…