Buzzard Blog

iPod Food

I just loaded my iPod with some fresh food for my soul: all the audio from this last weekend's Desiring God National Conference.

A Pastor Goes to A Different Kind of Conference

Right now I'm at the Office 2.0 Conference, sitting in a conference room in the posh San Francisco St. Regis Hotel. It's engaging to hear David Allen speak in person. Over the last few years I've found Allen's GTD (getting things done) system to be especially helpful for what I do as a pastor. I think many pastors would benefit from exploring Allen's GTD system, thinking it through from a biblical perspective, and then applying many of his insights.

I'm in a different world here. I'm glad I wore my blazer. I'm surrounded by CEOs, venture capitalists, and business figures from Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and all over the world. Other people's nametags say things like "Google," "Sun Microsystems," "Apple," etc. Mine says: "Central Peninsula Church."

This should shape up to be a pretty fascinating, different, surprising day for me here at the conference.

The Gospel Coalition, 2009 Conference

I benefited greatly from attending last year's inaugural Gospel Coalition conference. I hope to attend the next GC conference in April 2009, Entrusted With The Gospel: Living the Vision of Second Timothy. Here's the lineup:

Plenary Talks

1. Tim Keller,  "The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry" (Acts 19:21–41)
2. John Piper, "The Promise of Life" (2 Timothy 1:1–12)
3. Phil Ryken, "The Pattern of Sound Words" (2 Timothy 1:13–2:13)
4. Mark Driscoll, "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Timothy 2:14–26)
5. K. Edward Copeland, "Shadowlands: Pitfalls and Parodies of Gospel-Centered Ministry" (2 Timothy 3:1–9)
6. Bryan Chapell, "Preach the Word!" (2 Timothy 3:10–4:5)
7. Ligon Duncan, "Finishing Well" (2 Timothy 4:6–22)
8. Ajith Fernando, "Gospel-Faithful Mission for the Next Christendom"
9. D.A. Carson, "'That by All Means I Might Win Some': Faithfulness and Flexibility in Gospel Proclamation" (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Workshops

1. Thabiti Anyabwile "The Decline of African-American Theology"
2. Buster Brown, "Preaching in a Christianized Culture"
3. Michael Bullmore, "The Functional Centrality of the Gospel"
4. Steven Chin, "Working Faithfully Under a Senior Pastor"
5. Graham Cole, "Homosexuality and the Bible: Texts, Hermeneutics, and Pastoral Wisdom"
6. K. Edward Copeland and Charlie Dates, "Mentoring Younger Pastors"
7. Andy Davis, "The Gospel and Social Action"
8. Joshua Harris, "Ministering in a Church-Hopping Society"
9. David Helm, "Biblical Reflections on Building a Staff"
10. Bill Kynes, "Complementarianism: Definition and Priorities"
11. Crawford Loritts, "Staying Faithful, Staying Relevant: The Use and Abuse of Polemical Preaching"
12. Jeff Louie, "Gospel and Community: Definitions and Crucial Issues"
13. C. J. Mahaney, "Trinitarian Pastoral Ministry"
14. Tom Nelson and Matt Perman, "The Gospel and Money"
15. Tim Savage, "Power in Weakness: The Heart of Gospel Ministry"
16. Colin Smith, "Transformational Expository Preaching"
17. Scotty Smith, "A Biblical Theology of Worship: On Preference and Other Matters"
18. Stephen Um, "On Ministry and Revolving Doors: Practical Challenges and Ideas for Ministry in a Mobile Society"
19. Sandy Willson, "Gospel Mission to the World: Arrogance or Love?"

Na Audio

Seven of the eight Na messages are now available for you to listen to. John Piper just finished his second message here at Na and I highly encourage you to listen to it.

The View From Louisville

We arrived in Louisville a little past midnight, stayed up till 2am talking and laughing with friends, and then woke up this morning, opened our hotel room curtains, and discovered  that we have a wonderful view of Diane Sawyer. That's a first.

Taylor and I spent the first half of the day hanging out with each other, hanging out with friends, and exploring what the Na crew has put together for this year's conference--making good use of our "All Access" badges.

I'm beyond impressed over the magnitude of work and creativity that goes into pulling off this conference. The Na team thinks big. I'm looking forward to tonight. Conference Kickoff: 7:30pm.

Live From Louisville

Live from Louisville...

New Attitude Live-Blogging

This afternoon my wife and I fly to Louisville, Kentucky. My friends from New Attitude are flying us out in order for me to live-blog the conference. Beginning Saturday evening you can catch my live-blogging on the New Attitude website. I may also post a few reflections/experiences from the conference here on my blog.

Below is the promotional video for this year's conference as well as the conference schedule.

 

New Attitude 2008 Conference

Today is the last day to register for the New Attitude Conference. You should go. This will be my first year at Na. The Na peeps are flying me out and putting me up in Louisville in order for me to live blog the conference.

Dwell Conference Text Message Update #4

The final text message update from my friend Toby, from Tim Keller''s session at Dwell:

The Gospel is Manger, Cross, and Crown. 1) In the person of Jesus God emptied himself of his glory and became human. 2) Through the work of Jesus God substituted himself for us and atoned for our sin, by grace bringing us into fellowship with him in the church. 3) At the return of Jesus God will restore creation and make a new world in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

Dwell Conference Text Message Update #1

The latest text message Dwell Conference update from my friend Toby:

C.J., Stetzer, and Eric Mason so far. All outstanding. Stetzer knows all. C.J. preached his "watch your life and doctrine" message. Great and always good. Eric Mason of Epiphany in Philly is in the middle of a message on Incarnational Ministry. Very solid and engaging so far. "If your people have not been with Jesus you are not incarnating anything..."

Free Together for the Gospel Audio

You can go here and download all the messages from Together for the Gospel.

T4G 08, Day 3

The 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference is now over. Presently I'm sitting in the Las Vegas airport (which has free WiFi and an abundance of slot machines) waiting for the second leg of my flight to San Francisco. Assuming the flight goes as scheduled I'll arrive home in time to preach Hebrews 12:1-3 to our twenties group tonight...although by the time I get up to preach it will be midnight for me (I've been on east coast time for 4 days) so I'm hoping I'll still be awake enough to speak with some punch. I'm pretty tired.

The conference closed with messages by John Piper and C.J. Mahaney. Piper's message on radical Christian living was riveting. His post-message panel discussion was both helpful and hilarious.

I only caught the first half of C.J.'s message because I had to catch my plane, but the half I heard was stirring, particularly C.J.'s explanation of the central role of gratitude played in the apostle Paul's relationship with God and with local churches. I plan to download and listen to the second half of the message.

I can't wait to get home, see my family, wrestle my son, and kiss my wife and tell her all about this great conference.

T4G 08, Day 2

Day 2 of T4G was a delight.

Two days into the conference and 18 free books have already been given out (half of the books came from Band of Bloggers).

T4G 08, Day 1

This year the Together for the Gospel Conference is located in the Louisville Convention Center. As you can see above, this convention center is massive. You could fit a dozen football fields in this room.

For liveblogging of the conference, go here. For sparse blogging of the conference, you can stay right here.

Here's a few of my highlights from Day 1:

• Seeing over 5,000 people (mostly men) gathered in one large room for the sake of the gospel. Such a sight/experience is deeply moving.
• Singing to Jesus with this large crowd.
• Mark Dever's opening remarks in which he had the people who had traveled the farthest distance for the conference stand up. Men from India, Australia, and Serbia stood up.
• Two quotes from Ligon Duncan's opening address about systematic theology: "Truth is for joy." "Doctrine is for delight."
• Exercising with my friend John Smith by running up the stairs to the top floor here at the Galt House. (PS. Since I signed up for this conference at the last minute, it's very kind that John Smith and Eric Simmons gave me a spot in their room, free of charge, here at the Galt House).
• Thabiti Anyabwile's handling of the topic of ethnicity and the image of God in the second and final session of Day 1.
• Late night beverages and discussions at the Pub.

Band of Bloggers/2 Surprising Paragraphs

This afternoon's Band of Bloggers event was helpful. The guys on the panel had some wise things to say about how the gospel ought to shape blogging.

What I enjoyed most, however, was the extended hang out time--the opportunity to chat with old friends and meet some new friends who view blogging as a tool for advancing the gospel.

What surprised me the most was being told by Danny Slavich, just as the Band of Bloggers was getting underway, that I'm quoted in Collin Hansen's new book: Young, Restless, Reformed. That was news to me. Using the index I tracked down the two-paragraph mention/quote and, well, I would not have put things quite the way Collin put them and I don't remember saying all that's said, but there you have it.

In Louisville

I arrived in Louisville last night. I've been enjoying many conversations, laughs, and meals with friends  and fellow pastors from around the country. I've also been enjoying the view of the Ohio river from my room at the Galt House.

The conference gets underway this afternoon...

Together for the Gospel Conference

In a few hours I board a plane to Louisville for the Together for the Gospel Conference. Over 5,000 people will be in attendance this year. While there I'll also be attending the Band of Bloggers event. You can stay up to date on the conference by visiting TIm Challies' blog. I won't be blogging the conference, but I imagine I'll come up with a couple of posts that will give you an interesting peak into the conference/my time in Louisville.

Free Books at Band of Bloggers

An impressive list of 8 books will be given to those of us attending the Band of Bloggers event in Louisville.

Together for the Gospel/Band of Bloggers: Who's Going?

A number of you have contacted me, wondering if I'll be attending next month's Together for the Gospel Conference. Because of a mission trip to Cambodia I had scheduled/doing the math on amount of time away from my family this spring, I wasn't planning on making it to T4G. But, as of yesterday, due to a recent schedule change, I'm now registered for T4G.

I'll also be attending the Band of Bloggers event which takes place just before T4G gets underway. I'll be attending Band of Bloggers along with the 101 bloggers/attendees who've already registered (I've got the  #101 spot). It was interesting to note that, according to the Band of Bloggers Google Map, there are far more east coast bloggers than west coast bloggers:

View Larger Map

Clearly I need to begin praying that God would raise up more west coast gospel bloggers, particularly Californian bloggers.

I'm curious, who else is going to T4G/Band of Bloggers?

Text & Context Conference: Audio

The audio of all the messages from the Text & Context Conference is now available for your listening pleasure.

Text & Context Conference: Heading Home...

After great breakfast and conversation at the 5 Spot with my friend Campbell, I'm leaving Seattle...

and flying home to see my bride, my son, and my church.

Text and Context Conference: Bonus Acts 29/Final Session, Darrin Patrick

Darrin Patrick, lead pastor of The Journey and vice president of Acts 29, delivered the final session of the Text & Context conference with his message, Leading the Mission, from Genesis 25/the life of Jacob. Other than scribbling down a few quotes, I didn't take notes on Darrin's message because I wanted to sit back and enjoy what he had to say. Of all the messages given at this conference, Darrin and C.J.'s messages were the most significant for me. What Darrin had to say about God's character, God's dealings with Jacob, idols of control and personal glory, identity, the father wound, and his own story as a Christian, drove me to on-the-spot prayer and repentance.

Again, pastors, this is must-listen-to audio.

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Darrin yesterday. Today, after his message, we talked at more length. I really like this guy. We'll be keeping in touch. I took this picture with Darrin not because I have a silly "man-crush" on the guy, but because I have a new couple in my church who attended The Journey during their years in St. Louis, who display unmistakable evidence of having been well taught/discipled under Darrin's ministry, and who will be delighted at seeing proof that I spent some time with their former pastor. I figured I might as well post the picture here as well.

Here's the few quotes I recorded from Darrin's message. The first four quotes are ones that I will be digesting for a bit.

• "You don't trust God with your future because you aren't experiencing God in the present."

• "It's easy to get distracted from God because of ministry."

• "God has to wrestle some things out of you."

• "How much of your ministry is related to your dad issues?"

• "What's going to keep you from leading the mission isn't your staff problems, or other problems, but your idol problems."

• "If you have a control idol, your greatest fear is uncertainty."

• "It's so easy to lead your church as if God doesn't really exist."

• "Because God has come to us, we can come to him."

• Church planting is "plugging your life into an amplifier."

Text and Context Conference: Bonus Acts 29 Session, Jeff Vanderstelt

Above is a picture of the security guard guarding the stage during Mark and Grace Driscoll's Q&A Session. You wouldn't want to tangle with this guy.

The room has now shrunk down quite a bit as the official conference has come to a close. Instead of 1,2000 people it looks like there's now just about 400 people remaining for these final Acts 29 sessions. All my friends have left and I'm sitting by myself. Time for me to make some new friends.

Jeff Vanderstelt, pastor of Soma, just delivered a great message, Biblical Missiology. I didn't take notes for this session, but I'll tell you the two points I appreciated most from Jeff's message:

1. His emphasis (he repeated this point about 20x) that our acceptance before God is based entirely and exclusively upon the work of Christ/the doctrine of justification, and not on the size or success of our church. Justification is what ought to drive our ministries. "If you're not secure in who you are in Christ, church planting will kill you."
2. This wasn't so much a point Jeff made as a something that Jeff exuded--a great love for the lost. Jeff's love for the lost is contagious.    

Text and Context Conference: Session 9, Mark Driscoll Q&A

For the final official session of Text & Context (two bonus, Acts 29 sessions are still to follow--I'm looking forward to Darrin Patrick's session) Mark Driscoll scraped his planned message, Preaching Jesus Christ to a Pagan Culture, and instead lead a lengthy Q&A session. I didn't record the questions, but below are some of the highlights from Mark's answers. You'll need to listen to the audio to get the full context for my notes below.

What stuck out to me the most from this session is that Mark Driscoll is a uniquely gifted man and that he's a man growing in humility. Pastors, once the audio is posted you'll want to listen to, but never imitate, how Driscoll goes about sermon prep (this shows up within the first 20 minutes of the session). What he does regarding sermon prep and how his memory works regarding reading and research is truly remarkable and rare.

For the last portion of the session, Mark's wife, Grace, joined him on stage for some Q&A. Mark said this portion of the audio/video might not be posted, as he wants to protect his wife from any possible criticism, etc. If the audio from this portion is in fact posted, you'll definitely want to listen to it.

• Mark studies all the time, but doesn't get around to official sermon prep until Thursday mornings. He enters the pulpit on Sundays (he preaches 5 times each Sunday) with his sermon only one-third to two-thirds prepared. He comes up with the introduction, conclusion, much of the body, the humor, and the cross references while he's in the act of preaching.

• "I'm always reading 40-50 books at a time...I don't sit down and read a book...I read parts of books...I read very fast...I don't know if I have a photographic memory, but it's something like that...It doesn't matter how much you read, provided you read the right stuff...If you're an elder in a church, give your preachers a really good book budget...My elders have given me, basically, an unlimited book allowance."

• "Only about 2% of churches in America get over 800. Only about 1500 churches in America are over 2,000."

• Mark's thinking for the future of Mars Hill is twofold. Option 1: when Mark retires (he'd like to do so in 40 years) or dies or gets sick, campus pastors who presently preach live 12x a year could begin preaching live at their campuses every week. These different Mars Hill campuses could even become stand alone churches. Option 2: Mark finds a guy to replace him who can take on all the preaching. But, this is unlikely (though possible) given what his job description/preaching load looks like, the depressing & dark climate of Seattle, and the unique history/makeup of this church and culture.

• "My gifts get out ahead of my character...what I used to get away in my twenties, I'm now pushing forty, what used to be cute is now damnable...I have a lot to learn."

• "Confidence and arrogance are very different...Arrogance is when your confidence is rooted in yourself."

• "I'm bummed out a lot of the time...Every gospel preacher fights despair...I get discouraged a lot...I was really convicted of C.J. Mahaney's talk...the point that there's evidences of God's grace everywhere...I tend to overlook all that God is doing...I tend to get discouraged because sometimes I measure my own righteousness by the holiness of our church."

• Speaking alongside his wife, Mark said that though he gives off the impression he doesn't need anybody, he's really "a high maintenance drama queen of a husband." A while back he had to share with Grace how badly he needed her, how he needed her not to work alongside him in the church, but to have her primary ministry be to him--serving and caring for him.

• Mark feels like Grace tends to his soul well and draws him out with questions like "how are you doing?," rather than having "another staff meeting at home," debriefing everything from the work day.

Text and Context Conference: Session 8, Jim Gilmore

Last night, after the stimulating Q&A with Piper, Driscoll, and Chandler, I enjoyed a night of conference and beverage digestion with three of my buddies from my year-and-a-half stint at Whitworth College (Steve Hart, Lukas Naugle, and Campbell White). We talked late into the night at Brouwers, a classy beer bar with over 60 beers on tap. If you're ever in Seattle, check out Brouwers. Last night's knowledgeable bartender served me what he calls "the best beer in the world," St. Bernardus Abt 12 (PS. for those of you who are reading this who don't know me/who have different convictions about alcohol, know that I handle such beverages in obedience to 1 Corinthians 10:31).

Today, the final day of the Text & Context Conference, began with a message from Jim Gilmore, Decoding the Future, the Phoniness and the Shifting Sands. I found Jim's message difficult to follow. Some of that was Jim and some of that was me, as I was sitting next to Steve Hart and Abraham Piper and kept asking Abraham questions about his work with the Desiring God blog. Here are a few scattered notes from Gilmore's session:

• "Today, the dominant source that's distorting the gospel is business...don't let the church become a business. We have nothing to sell. What we have has already been purchased by the blood of Jesus."
• Gilmore commended Stan Davis' book, Future Perfect, written in 1986, as the best business book ever written, a book that pastors would benefit from reading. The book is built upon the thesis:  "The present is the past of the future."
• Innovators in the market place have a different time orientation, they act as if the future is already here. As pastors, your beliefs about the future should influence your decisions today.

Text and Context Conference: Q&A Session with John Piper, Matt Chandler, and Mark Driscoll

Day 2 of the conference came to a close with a Q&A session with Piper (P) and Chandler (C) facilitated by Driscoll (D). These questions were texted in from the audience and posted on a screen on stage. I've posted the complete wording of the questions below, but, in most cases, have provided only a summation of the answers rather than full quotations of each answer.

You'll want to get the audio as my simple notes don't cover all that was said at this session. You'll especially want to listen to Driscoll and Piper talk about television ownership and insults and to Piper describe prosperity gospel preachers. Piper was incredibly feisty and funny during this session.

How much can Piper bench press?
P: I haven't done that in 50 years.

What's the #1 danger facing pastors today?
C: The temptation to exclusively preach Christ as example rather than preaching Christ as Substitute/Savior.
P: Neglecting and minimizing God. Pride.

What is your biggest struggle as a pastor?
P: That's the same question.

How do we make sure the church remains focused on Jesus and not a pastor(s)?
C: I have a picture of Piper on my refrigerator so I'm going to pass this question to Piper.
P: [to Matt] That's not a good answer.
C: I deflect praise that I receive back to God and his grace.
P: Don't draw any more attention to yourself than you need to. How your elders are structured is important--be one elder among many. I love seeing around me amazingly competent guys.

What do you believe to be today's most prominent false gospel in America and how would you address it?
P: The prosperity gospel.
C: A gospel that's about the betterment of circumstances, about a God that glorifies you.

How does Matt Chandler as a young successful pastor maintain humility and authority in ministry to older persons?
C: I'm scared. We're 5 years into our plant...it's crazy to me that I'm viewed as successful. The growth of our church has created in me an absolute fear, fear that I would do something stupid before all these people I lead. The growth has produced in me a fear that helps keep me humble.

How do elders hold themselves accountable in your churches?
P: Just this year we've sought to beef this up. Our 34 elders now meet in groups of 4 and they're assigned to ask each other certain questions. We're trying to put our vocational staff and spouses into groups that meet regularly to talk about their faith and walk.
C: We're new in beginning this process.

Contextualization is like a cuss word at my Bible Belt church, how do we move towards relevance?
C: I'm not trying to be relevant/contextual, I'm trying to be obedient. I want to preach and teach what the Bible has told us to do in regard to engaging culture. Semantics is part of the problem. "Contextualization" is a word for pastors, not for the people in your church.
P: There's two kinds of relevance, one of them is a relevance that your people don't even know they need. That's the most important relevance. The message of the Bible is always relevant.

Isn't consistently coming under the banner of Calvinism like saying, "I follow Paul"?
D: I think I feel heat coming off of Piper.
C: Piper, please take this question.
P: This is an ambiguous question. Obviously someone is angry about something. It depends on what is meant by "banner." If

Dr. Piper, what most surprises you about Mark?
P: Nothing anymore. Early on, we went out to some Saloon or something and I saw that Driscoll dressed funny and that his church building was dark. But, Driscoll told me that he was about 1) church planting, 2) Reformed ecclesiology, and 3) male headship. I loved that.

Dr. Piper in your defense of the gospel against N.T. Wright have you found Federal Vision theology of Doug Wilson to be another gospel?
P: No. No, that's easy. Doug Wilson doesn't teach a false gospel. I don't think N.T. Wright teaches a false gospel, just a confusing gospel. Doug Wilson is incredibly bright, but he has people around him who are dumb. I think Doug Wilson is more consistent than some of his followers are. But I am concerned about the trajectory.

How should pastors address racial diversity?
C: I live in an incredibly white, middle class area. All I know to do is to preach well, preach passionately, and then try to engage. I want to preach and proclaim the death of an enthnocentric mentality.
P: We're in a very different situation, an extremely diverse community.  While we do not compromise theologically, we work intentionally very, very (tenfold "very") hard to produce an ethnically diverse staff. Honor Martin Luther King Day. I know this stuff from the inside out. I grew up in South Carolina and for the first 20 years of my life was racist to my toenails. We adopted a black daughter.

Text and Context Conference: Session 7, John Piper

Abraham Piper has posted the audio of Piper's message from earlier today, a message which had at its backbone:

• 16 Foundational Convictions that Shape How I Preach
• 16 Examples of How My Pastoral Ministry Shapes My Preaching

Pastors, you must listen to this message, especially the second half (the second 16-part list). It will rock you/bless you. I now have 3 messages in my "must listen to" file from this conference: C.J.'s message, Chandler's message, and Piper's 2nd message.   

Piper is presently about 10 minutes into his 3rd message, How I Distinguish Between a True and False Gospel. This message will look at "six different aspects of the gospel, any one of which you pull out there is no gospel" from the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15. Here's the six-fold outline Piper has presented for his message:

1. The gospel is a plan from before it happened.
2. The gospel involves historical events.
3. The gospel involves the accomplishment of something.
4. The gospel involves an offer to all, namely to faith, not to works.
5. The gospel is an application to you of what was accomplished objectively 2,000 years ago.
6. The gospel is an eternal, infinitely happy future destiny for those who believe.

I'm putting my computer down now. Piper's a few minutes into his first point. It's shaping up to be a great message. I imagine that by tonight Abraham Piper/the Desiring God Blog will post the manuscript and audio for this message.

Text and Context Conference: Bonus Acts 29 Session, Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler is presently delivering the second, bonus Acts 29 session, Vision of a Church Planter. It's hard to take notes when Matt speaks, plus he's a lot of fun to watch, so I'm not looking down at my computer screen to blog this bonus session. I'm also sitting next to Lief Moi, who helped found Mars Hill Church 13 years ago and who serves as an elder here, and since I keep talking to Lief--asking him questions about the history and operation of Mars Hill--I'm really distracted during this session. Right now Lief's sharing with me/emailing me the materials he uses for pre-marital counseling.

Text and Context Conference: Bonus Acts 29 Session, Mark Driscoll

The first of several bonus, Acts 29 sessions here at the conference is presently being taught by Mark Driscoll, THE OX: Qualifications of a Church Planter. The message title is taken from 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul's words to Timothy the church planter: "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it trends out the grain...'"

This message is an exposition of the qualifications of an elder/pastor/church planter from 1 Timothy 3, laced with stories of Driscoll's mistakes and successes as a church planter and teaching on what the Acts 29 church planting network is about.

I'm not blogging this session. You can go here to listen to the audio of this same message delivered by Driscoll in Dallas a few years ago. Or, even better, the audio I'm listening to right now will be posted here, probably within a few days.

Text and Context Conference: Session 6, John Piper

John Piper has just begun Session 6, How My Pastoral Ministry Shapes My Pulpit Ministry. He's got a lot of points coming up, over 16 of them. So, instead of trying to take notes on this session, let me direct you to the Desiring God blog where Abraham Piper (who I just met here at the conference and who kindly let me plug my computer into the outlet he was using and watched my computer bag while I grabbed coffee with Eric during our lunch break) is posting the manuscript of Piper's message.

The photo is of advertising posted above one of the urinals here at Mars Hill (like in movie theaters), asking men to join the security team here.

Text and Context Conference: Session 5, Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler delivered Session 5, Preaching the Gospel in the Center of the Evangelical World. I'd been looking forward to this session as it's the first time I've heard Matt preach live, having listened to him here and there for a year or two through his podcast. Matt pastors The Village Church in Texas, specifically Dallas, where "there's nothing to do but shop and own Golden Retrievers." Five years ago Matt became the lead pastor of this dying, declining Baptist church which has now, for the last five years under his leadership, grown by 1,000 people each year.

The first half of Matt's message was a history lesson and analysis of the problematic evangelical culture he encounters in Texas and that he believes pervades much of America. The second half of his message was a 5-point call for how pastors ought lead their of the church and engage with a problematic evangelical culture:

1. We must put to rest thoughts of bigness. Christian Hollywood is killing us...producing hundreds of twenty-something, thirty-something pastors who would rather gather gather people around them than boldly preach the gospel...everyone wants to be the next Mark Driscoll or John Piper...play your part well...if your wanting to draw a crowd you're going to sell out...preach faithfully and preach well, let God decide what your mantle is.
2. We must preach Christ in the text.
3. We must preach the gospel with less combative language.
4. We must reaffirm our faith in the sufficiency of Scripture and not just claim the inerrancy of it. The good news of the gospel is not that all my hurts go away, but that Jesus is enough regardless of all my hurts.
5. We must teach, preach, and practice a biblical ecclesiology.
   

Pastors, so far the "must-listen-to-messages" from this conference, in my opinion, are C.J.'s message and this message from Matt. Young men especially need to let Matt's first point sink in.

Some additional quotes from Matt:

Mainline evangelicalism has produced a reverse trauma, swelling our heads and shrinking our heart.

Engaging culture has very little to do with beer.

Historically the first sign of a dying movement is "how to" manuals.

How you wear your countercultural-ness matters.

Be patient with everyone.

Text and Context Conference: Session 4, Jim Gilmore

Day 2 of the conference kicked off at 9am with Session 4 by Jim Gilmore, Fear and Trembling in the Experience Economy.  Gilmore is a businessman and author who studies cultural trends and who, here, out of his love for the gospel and the local church, spoke to pastors about the cultural and economic trends he sees impacting the church today.

Given the message title and content, it appears that much of what Gilmore said stems from his book (which is for sale here in the Mars Hill Bookstore), The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business A Stage.

Gilmore began by surveying the progression of economic value that's taken place in America over the last several hundred years: the movement from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy to a service economy and now, to an "experience economy." Gilmore's thesis is that we are now living in an experience economy, an economy that commodifies time--that's driven by the quest for/sale of certain experiences (ie., the Starbucks experience, Las Vegas--"the epicenter of the experience economy...Everything that happens in Las Vegas is coming soon to your town").

Gilmore predicts that we're beginning to become a "transformation economy," an economy and culture driven by a quest for ongoing transformation and self-change (ie., plastic surgery).

Moving to application of his experience economy thesis for pastors and church planters, Gilmore asked the question, "Why is it that some experiences are more compelling than others?," encouraging pastors to think through church life through this experience grid. Here Gilmore worked with a continuum/chart that charted passive vs. active experience and absorbing vs. immersive relationships. Here's my buddy Steve Hart's (old college friend /godly man/husband and father of four/Acts29 church planter in Spokane/the guest speaker I have coming to teach our twenties retreat this summer) drawing of Gilmore's chart:

Gilmore encouraged pastors to aim for the sweet spot on this chart, to lead churches that have a balance of educational (active experience/absorbing relationship), escapist (active experience/immersive relationship), entertainment (passive experience/absorbing relationship), and asthetic experiences and relationships (passive experience/immersive relationship).

There's more to report, but I talked and laughed a lot with my buddy Steve during the session. Get the audio, or maybe just get the book. 

PS. I thought Gilmore's definition of culture was helpful: "Culture is that set of behavior that remains the same even after you've had a 100% turn over in the people."

Text and Context Conference: Notes from Piper's Session

This morning Abraham Piper emailed me this link to John Piper's notes from last night.

Text and Context Conference: Session 3, John Piper

My computer crashed during this third session, so unfortunately I lost all of my notes. You'll have to listen to the audio.

A few quick notes from the evening:

• Driscoll displayed great affection for John Piper as he introduced him with tears in his eyes.
• I've seen Piper preach several times and this is the first time I've seen him preach without a tie.
• The bulk of Piper's message, Why I Trust the Scriptures, was an exposition of his five-fold rationale for why he finds the Bible trustworthy, inspired, and inerrant.
• Piper's message was solid and helpful, though also quite dense. I think I need to re-listen to this message several times to fully grasp all that Piper had to say.
• Above all, Piper's message makes me want to study my Bible more.

Text and Context Conference: Session 2, C.J. Mahaney

After a 20 minute break which included the longest line for a male restroom that I've ever seen (8 toilets for 1200 men!), C.J. Mahaney commenced the second session of the conference. C.J. preached 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 under the title, Pastoral Character and Loving People. C.J. refers to this text as, "A compelling example of cross-centered ministry that can make all the difference in your ministry."

C.J.'s message unpacked the divine perspective that the apostle Paul had for the Corinthian church, a divine perspective that ought to drive pastoral ministry as it celebrates God's initiative in salvation and sanctification. C.J. outlined 3 aspects of the divine perspective Paul had of the Corinthian church:

1. His understanding of God's call.

• Here C.J. posed to pastors the penetrating question: In dealing with your people, are you more aware of divine initiative, or more aware of areas of present immaturity?

2. His recognition of God's grace

• Here C.J. asked pastors: When it comes to your family and your church, are you more aware of evidences of God's grace in their life, or more aware of areas in need of adjustment?

3. His confidence in God's faithfulness.

• What I treasured most about C.J.'s message was his sharing of his testimony in which he repeated the line, "God acted upon me...God acted upon me," emphasizing God's sovereign initiative in his conversion. If you haven't heard C.J.'s testimony before, for this reason alone you'll want to get the audio of his message.

• What most convicted me from C.J.'s message was this imperative: "Do not correct anyone you don't have faith for and affection toward." Upon hearing that statement I immediately repented. I want to memorize this line and live by it as a pastor. If you're a pastor, put C.J.'s message in your "must listen to" file.

After C.J.'s message I enjoyed great conversation and a great feast with Eric and Bob at Old Town Ale House.

Presently, as John Piper's message is getting underway, I'm sitting with C.J. and the guys. I gave him "knuckles" for his great message.

Text & Context Conference: Session 1, Mark Driscoll

The Text & Context Conference is now in full swing.

The conference opened with a performance from some rap artists (I didn't catch their names) who got this place shouting and jumping to their cross-centered lyrics. Man, the sound system here is strong and sweet. The bass gave me a massage.

Mark Driscoll then took the stage. He changed his scheduled message title/topic from Humble Incarnational Ministry to: Putting Pastors in Their Place, a 1 hr. 15 min. message that traced the central importance of preaching from Genesis to Revelation. Rather than try to summarize Mark's message here (if you didn't catch the live video stream, you'll want to listen to the mp3 once it's posted online), below are a series of quotes that especially struck me (I've italicized my favorites):

There is no way to be Christian without an acknowledgment that Spirit-anointed preaching is essential.

Shame on all who are calling into question the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Today there's a growing lack of clarity about what constitutes a church. My fear is that a lot of young guys want to do cool, hip, urban ministry, but with no clear definition of the church we can be starting sects and cults...Some are trying to do church without preaching.

There is no preaching without the proclamation of the death of Jesus for our sins.

I preached propitiation. I told people that God hated them because of their sin and we grew by 800 in one week...seeker insensitivity is as hot as ever.

One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit is the preaching of the gospel.

Non-Christians become Christians--lots of them do, through preaching.

Do not allow guilt to keep you from prayer and study. You must guard your time. You must have sufficient time to do it [preaching] well.

When Paul preached [during his 1st missionary journey] there was so much opposition people tried to kill him...Some of you get one nasty email and you're in a fetal position and you're wife's rubbing your back...You gotta have a little courage when you preach. When you preach people react and if you react to their reaction you'll compromise your ministry.

A few wolves can do great damage in a naive flock.

Do not let your people dishonor the pulpit...The pulpit belongs to God.

Turn your critics into coaches...Don't immediately get defensive. Be humble.

Do you know what a church is? The church assumed what the church was for a thousand years. Then the Reformers came and said let's define what the church is. The Reformers put it this way (the 5 marks of a true church):

1. The church has to have as the head, Jesus Christ
2. Under Jesus are qualified under-shepherds, male elders. I believe male eldership is like the border between two nations. You may still speak the same language, but you see God, family, and the Bible differently. Complementarianism is a crucial issue.
3. Right preaching of the Word
4. The sacraments rightly administered
5. Church discipline rightly enacted

Where the Word is not preached the church is not present.

Your preaching ministry is absolutely essential. Without it there is no church.

One of the great tricks of some teachers I'm reticent to name, but would like to, is to only preach Jesus as an example, but not as a glorified Savior.

Is it even a church is no one preaches the Bible? What we're talking about today is what constitutes the church. There's this great excitement about the church, church planting is hot...I keep asking people the question, what is the church? No one knows.

What you have today under the umbrella of missional ministry, in my opinion, are some sects and some cults...people actually denying the central tenets of Christianity.

Text & Context Conference: Tim Smith, Building Missional Worship Bands

Presently I'm sitting in a pre-conference session by Tim Smith, Mars Hill's Worship Pastor, entitled "Building Missional Worship Bands." Tim's outline explores three questions:

• What is worship?
  
  • The "in spirit and truth," continuous, overarching duty of man before the Triune God (John 4).
• What is a missionary?
  
  • A Christian who thoughtfully engages culture with the gospel, both contending and contextualizing. (Acts 17).
• What is a missional worship band?
  
  • A band that's both doxological ("move the hearts of all who overhear our worship towards holy and gracious affections") and missional ("discern and appropriate response to God's initiation through music to a particular people, place and time").

Mars Hill currently has 17 worship bands that lead worship among Mar's Hill's many campuses and services. Tim prefers the term "band" over "team" because a Worship Band:

1. Has a consistent lineup
2. Is collaborative
3. Has distinctive style
4. Writes & records together
5. Has a name an identity
6. Isn't centered around one worship leader

Tim builds worship bands at Mars Hill through a thorough process of assessment, training, and placement. Tim looks for band members who demonstrate:

• Theological integrity
• Missional contextualization
• Excellent music
• Humble service

You can access more of Tim'