Last year I had the great privilege of attending the Shepherd’s Conference held at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. I was blessed to be able to sit under the teaching of such well known teachers as John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Al Mohler, J. Ligon Duncan and Mark Dever. I benefitted greatly from being…
Note – This is, apparently a transcription of the document and it contains a few typos and so on. The T4G guys will be releasing a final version soon. So take this one only as a guide while you wait for the real mccoy. We are brothers in Christ united in one great cause –…
Donald Miller’s popularity continues to grow. His mostly autobiographical book Blue Like Jazz put him on the map as a notable author and his subsequent books and speaking opportunities have served to increase this popularity. He is particularly well-liked by teens and young adults. It is to a portion of this audience that To Own…
The final session of the conference will be led by none other than John MacArthur who will speak about “40 Years of Gospel Ministry” and who was introduced by Al Mohler. He had us stand and read for us the first two chapters of 1 Thessalonians (from our new MacArthur Study Bibles) and then proceeded…
We began this morning with a medly of sorts that combined “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” with “The Gospel Song.” Mark Dever than dispensed a few thank yous and introduced the final series of books we will receive at this conference. They are Sex, Romance and the Glory of God by C.J. Mahaney, Humility:…
The conference is now already more than half finished. We have only three general sessions and two panel sessions remaining. We will still hear from John Piper, C.J. Mahaney and John MacArthur. I just shared a nice dinner with Josh Harris at that same restaurant I went to at lunch that most other people have…
I just got back from a nice Italian lunch with my friend Chris whom I met at The Shepherd’s Conference and a friend from his church who is attending this conference with him. We ate the meatiest pizza I’ve ever laid eyes upon. They don’t make pizza like that back home in Canada! Of greater…
Interspersed throughout this week’s conference are panel sessions. There are five of them: two featuring the Together for the Gospel foursome and three others, each featuring one of the special guests (R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and John Piper). These sessions are an opportunity for those in attendance, most of whom are pastors, to listen to…
After a very short break and a brief video about Boyce College, Al Mohler took the pulpit to bring a message on “Preaching with the Culture in View.” He is a bit nervous about the concept of preaching with culture in view, for he sees a polarity of dangers. There are some Christians who take…
Day two of the Together for the Gospel conference began early. We left our hotel room at 7 and went searching for some breakfast. The lineup at Starbucks wrapped around the restaurant, so we sought out a small deli where the lineups were long, but not devastating. The conference began at 8 AM. It is…
The first session features Dr. Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. The message, which has the theme of “The Pastor’s Understanding of His Own Role” is titled “Three Marks of a Faithful Pastor.” It is drawn from 1 Corinthians 4 which contains a striking contrast between the real ministers of…
We are packed in to the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House Hotel, a huge hotel in the downtown core of Louisville, Kentucky. We’re shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee. The room is packed from back to front with men who have come to hear about the gospel. The room is filled to overflowing and…
Wednesday April 26 – Friday April 28, 2006 A La Carte will be on a brief hiatus for the remainder of this week while I attend the Together for the Gospel Conference. I do not anticipate having time or opportunity to read other blogs while I am at the conference. It will return, Lord willing,…
I have been given the great honor of liveblogging the first ever Together for the Gospel Conference. This is a conference dedicated to one thing: the centrality of the good news of Jesus Christ. “Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler minister in diverse contexts, but they are united in this: the centrality…
I promised yesterday that today I would have a big announcement. Well here it is. I am announcing the launch of a new web site. Well, a new/old web site. You may remember a site called Discerning Reader. Once a very popular and well-regarded site, it ran into all sorts of trouble, the details of…
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Aileen. She went to the midwife today and received a clean bill of health. Her blood pressure, which had been trending up through the past three or four visits, suddenly fell precipitously back down to where it was a couple of months ago. It is…
Tuesday April 25, 2006 Poetry: The Bible Bard, having read an article I linked to in one of last week’s A La Carte editions, thought about carbon monoxide and came up with the following limerick. Publishing: Thomas Nelson has a new imprint called NakedInk. Their first book will be called “The Hot Mom’s Handbook: Blondes…
Some of the people who read this site love the book reviews. Other people hate them. Those poor souls must be frustrated as I have posted an awful lot of reviews over the past few days. I can’t bring myself to apologize for this. I have had a long and strange week and somehow found…
I elected to read Freakonomics as part of my ongoing effort to engage with books that have become fixtures on the New York Times list of bestsellers. This title has spent many weeks on that list and has sold millions of copies. This is a bit surprising for a book dealing with the decidedly unsexy…
Monday April 24, 2006 Film: Early reviews of the upcoming film United 93 are beginning to trickle in. Mary Katherine Ham posted one such review at Hugh Hewitt’s site. “I’m not gonna lie. It wasn’t easy to watch. But I’m glad I watched it.” Military: Canada suffered its worst military tragedy since the Korean War,…