I came to my office this morning ready to post the utterly brilliant article I wrote yesterday. I couldn’t remember exactly what it was that I had written about, but knew it was good. I opened up the folder where I keep the upcoming posts I’ve written for this site and was unable to find the article. That’s strange. I looked on my desktop and other likely spots and found nothing. And, try as I might, I couldn’t remember what it was that I wrote about.

I think I know what happened. I probably had a dream last night in which I wrote a really good article. Somehow I had a bit of a disconnect and convinced myself that I had really written something when in reality it was only a dream. This was very disappointing to me. Still, this is not all bad, for it allows me to tackle another project. I am interested in compiling a list of conferences for the year 2007. I would prefer to keep this as a list of conferences that will be of particular interest to Reformed believers. I will format this list to look all pretty and make it available to anyone who is seeking a good conference to attend next year. I will differentiate between national and regional conferences. Here are the ones I have come up with so far. Please feel free to suggest others and I will update and formalize the list as we go.

National Conferences

February 16-19 - Resolved (Long Beach, CA) is a ministry of Grace Community Church and targets primarily College-age students and young adult Christians. Keynote speakers at this year’s conference include John MacArthur, John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, Rick Holland and Steve Lawson.

March 7-11 - The Shepherd’s Conference (Sun Valley, CA) is a ministry of Grace Community Church. It is geared towards pastors and includes both general sessions and seminars. General session speakers include John MacArthur, John Piper, Steve Lawson, Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan and Mark Dever. Seminars are led by pastors and elders of Grace Community Church and professors from The Master’s College and Seminary.

March 15-17 - Contending for the Truth - Ligonier Ministries National Conference (Orlando, FL) is the national conference for Ligonier Ministries. This year’s speakers will be John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, John Piper, R.C. Sproul and Ravi Zacharias. R.C. Sproul Jr. will be a special guest. This conference is targeted at a general audience.

May 7-9 - The Basics (Pastor’s Conference) (Cleveland, OH) is a ministry of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio and is targeted at pastors. The list of keynote speakers includes Alistair Begg and others.

May 26-29 - New Attitude (Louisville, KY) is the annual conference of New Attitude. This year’s theme has yet to be announced. The primary audience for this conference is single young adults. Featured speakers include John Piper and Josh Harris. Further well-known speakers will be announced in the near future. The conference includes both general sessions and seminars.

June 26-29 - Southern Baptist Founders Conference (Owasso, OK) is a ministry of Founders Ministries and is targeted towards a general audience. This year’s theme is “God’s Truth Abideth Still: Confronting Post-Modernism.”

October 2007 - Desiring God National Conference (Minneapolis, MN) is the annual national conference of Desiring God. At this time details have not been released.

Fall/Winter 2007 - Alpha & Omega Conference is a ministry of Alpha & Omega Ministries. It is targeted towards a general audience. It typically features a debate involving James White as well as sessions led by Dr. White and other keynote speakers.

Regional Conferences

Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology (Sacramento, CA) is a ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and is intended for a general audience. Speakers includes Donald Carson, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler, Richard Phillips, Philip Ryken and R. C. Sproul. The conference is held four times: Sacramento, CA March 2-4, 2007; Jackson, MS March 23-25, 2007; Grand Rapids, MI April 20-22, 2007; and Philadelphia, PA April 27-29, 2007.

Through the past week or so my wife and I have been working our way through the Extended Editions of the three The Lord of the Rings movies. I had seen Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers many times in the past, but had not yet had opportunity to watch the Extended Edition of The Return of the King. Aileen had seen only the theatrical editions of the first two. Three movies, each clocking in at three and a half to four hours is quite a commitment, but we made our way through an hour or two at a time after the children had gone to bed. I think I enjoyed them more than Aileen did, but she still seemed to get caught up in the story. Few movies can compare to a good book and these ones are no different in that regard. Still, they are stunning for their accurate creation of the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and for their great acting. They are always a joy to watch.

My favorite scene in the entire series happens near the end of the final film. As you no doubt remember (it has, after all, been fifty years since the books were first published!), Frodo and Sam have finally carried the ring to Mount Doom. Despite the months they have travelled and the dangers they have faced, Frodo still finds himself unable to part with the ring. The ring has thoroughly gripped his heart and now owns him more than he owns it. Frodo declares that the ring is his and puts it onto his finger for the last time. As he does so, Gollum leaps upon him, also desiring the ring. They struggle for some time and Gollum eventually bites off Frodo’s finger, steals the ring and rejoices in reclaiming it. A fight ensues in which Gollum maintains possession of the ring, but loses his balance and falls from a cliff. And here is the scene that has so often gripped me. Gollum, captured in slow motion, falls into the molten lava of Mount Doom. But as he falls, there is no terror in his eyes. No scream escapes his lips. Instead, he falls into the flame gently petting the ring, cooing to it, and delighting in his “precious.” His last word is “precioussss!” The evil ring that had first caused him to commit an act of murder and that had so long enslaved him is the object of his affection as he falls to his death.

That scene contains such a profound statement about human nature. Every time I see Gollum fall to his death, enraptured by the evil that has enslaved him, I think of the power of sin. I think of the power of sin that exists even in my own life. I know there are areas in my life that are precious to me even while they enslave me. There are areas in my life that I cling to and fight for even though they are wrong, even though they are evil. When I see Gollum fall, I see myself and the sin that enslaves me. I have to ask myself if there is sin in my life that grips me so much that I would cradle it and coo to it, even as it pulled me to my death. Often I have to ask not “if” but “where” such sin exists. It is a sobering time of reflection.

Mark Driscoll is a bestselling and highly-regarded author. He is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, a popular speaker at conferences, and is founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network. But is there more to this man than meets the eye? According to a shocking new article in Preaching Illustrated, there may be.

In a bizarre turn of events, Mark Driscoll has become embroiled in a theological doping scandal. Random testing, conducted immediately following the sermon he delivered in his church on Sunday August 20, revealed the presence of unusual and inconsistent teachings. While no official statement has been released, investigators have hinted they suspect Driscoll has been using theobolic steroids. Like the sport of professional cycling, those under investigation are considered guilty until proven innocent. This could prove to be a serious blight on an otherwise surefire hall of fame career.

“This is becoming increasingly common,” said David Pullman, lead investigator in the case. “This guy has no seminary degree, no Calvinistic background. He writes books, preaches sermons, runs a church planting network and has a whole brood of children. Somehow he finds time to do all of this and to maintain theology that is consistently biblical and Reformed. It doesn’t add up.” Theobolic steroids, consumed in small amounts, can increase a pastor’s understanding of theology and his theological output, giving him a decisive edge over competitors.

“It’s little wonder his church has grown so quickly,” said another investigator who spoke under condition of anonymity. “What chance does anyone else have against a guy who is willing to shoot up with theobolic steroids? It is a despicable crime!” Rumors are circulating that discarded syringes containing traces of Reformed theology have been discovered scattered around the pulpit at Mars Hill.

The side effects to theobolic steroids can be serious, ranging from the eventual shrinking of a pastor’s discernment to the complete undermining of his faith. George Wright, a former theobolic steroid user, was recently interviewed about his years of steroid abuse. “It seems so harmless, but soon you become addicted. You set a standard while on the steroids you can’t hope to match without them. Your sermons are great, your theology is sound and people are convicted.” After many years of abuse, Wright found his faith and discernment lessening. Now a decade removed from that abuse, he currently serves as pastor of a PCUSA church and spends his mornings watching preachers on BET and TBN. “Last week I heard Joel Osteen preach a sermon on the importance of eating a healthy breakfast. It was so convicting to me! Joel Osteen is my hero!”

A source close to the investigation hinted that Driscoll will also be investigated for blood doping. This is the process of artificially increasing the amount of theology infused in the bloodstream in an attempt to improve theological performance. Preachers have been known to “donate” a unit of blood following a particularly edifying conference or immediately after reading a good book. This blood is stored and transfused back into the body immediately before a big preaching or speaking engagement. This effectively increases theological output because of the extra theology contained in the blood. Investigators were tipped off to the possibility of blood doping shortly after Driscoll attended a Chris Rock show. “We suspect he mistakenly ‘donated’ blood immediately after the show and returned it to his body several weeks later, immediately before writing Confessions of a Reformission Rev. That will explain a thing or two!”

At the time this article went to print, there had been no statement from Mark Driscoll or Mars Hill Church. Investigators are expected to report on their findings in the coming weeks.

The Gospel of Judas has had its fifteen minutes of fame. It is but another in an endlessly long line of stories or documents meant to shake the foundations of the Christian faith. Like its many predecessors, it gave National Geographic and anti-Christian authors an opportunity to voice their dissension with the biblical story of Jesus. A book titled The Gospel of Judas shot to near the top of the bestsellers lists and nearly as quickly, shot straight back down. Still, while its popularity was short-lived, it allowed Bart Ehrman and other revisionists a chance to laud the epistle for its new insights into the life of Christ. Surely Ehrman forever cast doubt upon his credibility as a historian when he blathered, “(The Gospel of Judas) is one of the greatest historical discoveries of the twentieth century. It rivals the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Gnostic Gospels of Nag Hammadi.”