As I drove the 16(ish) hours from Toronto to Atlanta, I had a lot of time to think. Not only did I plan out what may just be my next book, but I also thought a lot about this whole global warming controversy. The day before I had read a book about the Reformation and…
Tuesday March 13, 2007 Audio: The Shepherds’ Conference audio is now available. I’m guessing MacArthur’s first address will be the most downloaded. Conference: Ligonier will be offering a free video stream of the National Conference which begins on Thursday. Du Jour: In case you missed this article by Al Mohler, you’ll want to read it…
I love church history. I consider it absolutely tragic that so few contemporary Christians have any real sense of their heritage. They know a little bit of New Testament history, can list hundreds of today’s best and worst teachers, but know almost nothing of the 2000 years between. The Reformation: How a Monk and a…
I made it home just a little bit later than I had hoped (but earlier than I had expected) and am now ready to turn around and head right back to the United States, this time driving 1000 miles to my parents’ place in Atlanta. We’re off to a late start, but that couldn’t be…
Some conferences end with a bang. They crescendo in a big song or a passionate call to action, the lights come on, and they are over. Others end less abruptly, sort of slowly fizzling rather than culminating in a bang. The Shepherds’ Conference falls into the latter category. John MacArthur finished his session last night…
This evening marked the final session of the 2007 Shepherds’ Conference. It occurred to me quite suddenly this afternoon that I had been misplacing an apostrophe the entire time. The apostrophe in “Shepherds’” should be going after the “s” and not before. I’ll try to do better if and when they ask me to return…
I do not typically attempt to record the speaker panel or question and answer sessions at these conferences. The relaxed, casual and unplanned atmosphere makes it quite a challenge. However, today I thought I’d give it a try. And actually, I think it worked out quite well. Here is a brief rundown on what happened…
The final session of the conference is set to wrap up sometime around 8 PM tonight. However, it won’t quite be over at that point. This year the five speakers (minus MacArthur, so Lawson, Dever, Mahaney, Duncan and Mohler) will each have the opportunity to share issues that are of particular concern to them. Five…
Every time I’m down here in California, I’m surprised by how much the temperatures fluctuate from day to night. While it is supposed to top out at around eighty degrees by later in the day, right now I’m just about shivering sitting here in the shade. I suppose it must be the humidity that helps…
The Shepherd’s Conference is infamous for being the conference that gives away the most and the best stuff. Every year each attendee walks away with a good pile of books and one big-ticket item. Last year I got in trouble for not posting an exhaustive list of the books and I thought I had best…
This evening’s session began with a selection of songs being sung by the Master’s College choir. They are clearly an exceptionally talented group and sing absolutely beautifully. It was a real blessing to hear them. When they had finished up, MacArthur introduced Al Mohler, tonight’s speaker. After regaling us with some hilarious stories of his…
Yesterday I had the honor of serving at the Shepherd’s Conference Scholar’s Desk. This is a stand-up desk where experts on various fields are available to answer questions on a given topic. Together with Nathan Busenitz we fielded questions for an hour on the subject of blogging. And it was a lot of fun. Some…
We’ve come to the mid-point of the conference (or at least the mid-point for those of us who do not stick around until Sunday afternoon). A round of seminars is beginning right now and a second round will happen immediately after these ones. I’ve decided to forego he seminars and am sitting between two buildings,…
MacArthur’s early-morning speech is the talk of the conference to this point. It has taken the blogosphere by storm and is generating a lot of discussion around the church campus as well. The most common comment is along the lines of “This is what happens when R.C. Sproul is not at the conference!” Please do…
The day’s second session was led by Steve Lawson. He began by sharing how much the conference has meant to him. It was a moving tribute to the conference and upon the impact it can have upon a pastor. For his text he chose Acts 2:14-21 and titled the sermon “The Passion and the Power…
Well we weren’t expecting John MacArthur to begin the conference this way. He decided to forego his usual opening sermon and speak instead on a touchy topic. His lecture was titled (and I’m not sure how much this is tongue-in-cheek) “Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Pre-Millennialist.” A couple of weeks ago, at the Resolved…
Monday March 5, 2006 Apologetics: Pulpit Magazine has a thorough roundup of responses to the Jesus Family Tomb nonsense. Life: Eric Simmons has the first of two posts on An Idiot’s Guide to Correction. Weird: This is what some guy found when he cracked open the doors to a barn he had just bought. Conference:…
This marks the second year I’ve been given the privilege of liveblogging the Shepherd’s Conference. Just a few minutes from now I’ll go out into the -35 degree cold (that includes windchill, mind you) to set out for Los Angeles where rumor has it I can expect 75 degree temperatures. That is an adjustment of…
It is easy to be skeptical about the faith claims of politicians. It is rare for a politician to claim to be anything other than a Christian and yet so few of them show any real evidence of the faith they profess. Of course there are undoubtedly some who rise to power that truly are…
Tuesday March 6, 2007 Science: Here are 13 things that don’t make sense. People: And speaking of things that don’t make sense, Michael Jackson has converted to Islam. Or that’s what Kim Riddlebarger says. Islam: And speaking of Islam, Josh Harris recently read a fascinating article. Design: And speaking of Josh Harris, I just helped…