Ok...It's been a while. Like I have said it will take some time for this to become frequent. Anyways...
I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Together for the Gospel in Louisville, KY last week and thought I'd write a blog post about the highlights of the event.
Highlight #1. Seeing old friends and seminary classmates. By far the best part of the conference was catching up with friends and classmates I hadn't seen in a long time (for some it had been 10 years). I was encouraged and refreshed by these conversations and they a lone were worth the trip. Due to unforeseen circumstance I went to T4G alone, but I am so glad I went. On Wednesday night I skipped the main session with Matt Chandler and went to Fisherville Baptist Church where I interned in Louisville. I was so encouraged to see how the Lord has been working there and it was so great to see and talk with members old and new. I felt right back at home.
Highlight #2. The singing. 8000+ men and women singing the great hymns of the faith was incredible. I never attended the 'extra' singing they offered but during the main sessions the singing was incredible and heavenly. It doesn't matter if you sing contemporary songs or hymns, with a band or a piano, what matters is that you worship in Spirit and in truth. Thanks to Bob Kauflin for leading us in worshipping in Spirit and in truth.
Highlight #3. The pre-conference events. I went to the CBMW and Band of Bloggers pre conferences. Both were fantastic (though they did over lap so I missed some of the CBMW sessions). The quick sessions of the CBMW worked great and each speaker had a powerful and concise message. You can check out the messages here CBMW once they are posted. At both pre-confrence events participants received free books. The Band of Bloggers offered some 30 books and a Chick-fil-a lunch for $15 and it was well worth the time and money. Band of Bloggers had good dialogue about the witness and etiquette of Christian blogging and social media in general. I am thankful for both of these pre-confrences and would attend them again in 2016, Lord willing.
Highlight #4, The BOOKS. As already stated the pre-confrences has free books and of course T4G had free books. In all I got about 50 books retailing around $800 for FREE. That's nothing to sneeze about. 6-8 books have not even been released yet and about 95% of the books I did not previously own and so I am thankful that my library was increased with solid books. The book stores were fun to walk around, there were soo many resources. It took several walk arounds. In the end I still bought about $100 in books because of the discounts offered on each title.
Highlight # 5. The main sessions. The speakers were great and the video testimonies were encouraging. You can listen to the messages and videos online here. In particular I was challenge by David Platt's and John Piper's messages. Platt urged the praying and pleading for people like Moses did in Exodus 32-33. It was heart wrenching and completely accurate. It is so simple. Pray, preach, and practice what you pray and preach. Yet, we so often neglect to pray and when we do it is usually not pleading for the souls of the lost. Listen to it, soak it in, and may we become people of pleading prayers. Piper's message on Roman's 9 was fantastic too, but his closing testimony was particularly helpful. He urged the crowd that after sharing the gospel and reasoning with the lost to close by simply stating "I want you." Essentially personalizing with each person that you desperately want them to believe in Jesus for eternal life and not spend eternity in hell. Again, listen to it, soak it in, practice it.
I was extremely challenged and refreshed from this conference and hope to take people from my church and area next time in 2016. Louisville, KY will always have a special place in my heart. It was neat driving around and seeing how the city has changed since we have lived there. It is always a blessing to be on Southern Seminary's campus, to walk around in the book store, and it was particularly cool to see the pre-air show air show downtown in preparation for Thunder that was this past weekend.
Hopefully I can read all of the books before the next conference....
