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  • General Session 5 – Albert Mohler

    That’s it! From now on I’m deciding where we eat for dinner. We ended up going to a great little deli that was supposed to be nearby. It was not exactly nearby and after eating what was admittedly a nice meal, we raced back across town, or attempted to race, through L.A. traffic. We made…

    10 min read

  • Seminar 4 – Phil Johnson – Dead Right Part II

    Phil, evidently enjoying a conversation, showed up late for this seminar. It took a tap on the shoulder from his wife to get him down to this basement room. Phil, it turns out, likes to talk. Who knew? This session is called “Dead Right Part 2.” Part 1 was a seminar from last year’s conference…

    4 min read

  • Seminar 3 – Phil Johnson – The Fad Driven Church

    This seminar deals with the tendency of so many churches today to be driven by fads and pre-packaged programs to influence the agenda of the church. Phil will attempt to show why this is a really bad strategy. There are many pastors and leaders who feel that, to be convincing to their audience, they need…

    9 min read

  • General Session 4 – John MacArthur (Q & A)

    The sense of anticipation in and around this building has built to a crescendo. No, it has nothing to do with the speaker who will next take the pulpit, nor with the topic he will address. It has to do with books. The patio outside the worship center is filled with tens of thousands of…

    9 min read

  • General Session 3 – Mark Dever

    Perhaps one of the most amusing aspect of this conference is the regular “pastor rushes.” Every time a session begins, a crowd gathers around each of the ten or twelve doors to the worship center. At the moment the doors open, a crowd of pastors rush to the front, seeking to nab the premier spots.…

    9 min read

  • Second General Session – John MacArthur

    I have not visited very many churches that are as large and important as Grace Community Church, but I have been inside a few. I was not prepared for the “plainness” of Grace. The church is, to be honest, quite unremarkable but for its size. The inside is not at all exciting – the walls…

    13 min read

  • Seminar 2 – Nathan Busenitz – Evangelical Charismatics

    It is interesting to look around and see how many people travel alone, and how many travel in groups. There are a great number of people, it seems, who travel to this conference on their own. These people tend to sit quietly on their own, sneaking into the auditoriums before they are supposed to be…

    10 min read

  • Seminar 1 – Phil Johnson – Is The Reformation Over?

    It has become quickly apparent that this conference exists not merely to equip pastors, but also to serve and honor them (and perhaps even spoil them a little). At the close of the earlier session one of the organizers announced that there was an area for “shoe-shining and everything else a pastor needs.” I don’t…

    11 min read

  • First General Session – John MacArthur

    I would not have expected John MacArthur to begin the conference with a comedic monologue, yet that is what he did. He made jokes about the length of his tenure at Grace and even his age. He asked for how many people this was their first Shepherd’s Conference. When at least half the men in…

    7 min read

  • Conference Kickoff

    So here I am. I’m sitting in the worship center of Grace Community Church. Apart from the orchestra, which is doing some last minute practicing, and a few scattered conference staff, talking in small clusters, the auditorium is empty. The Master’s Seminary choir, which must number at least 100, just finished practicing a few of…

    3 min read

  • The Shepherd’s Conference

    I have been given the great privilege of liveblogging this year’s Shepherd’s Conference. The conference, which is geared primarily towards pastors and is sponsored by Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, is composed of both General Sessions and Conference Seminars. The General Sessions “are times when we gather as one great congregation to worship…

    3 min read

  • Reflections on the Desiring God Conference

    I returned safely from Minneapolis last night. The journey home was quick and uneventful. While I had a wonderful time at the conference, I am always glad to return to the comforts of home and family. Today is Thanksgiving Day (yes, we celebrate it on a Monday unlike our American neighbors who prefer Thursday) so…

    6 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Final Session

    Today’s message is “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Part 2” by John Piper. The purpose of this message to to magnify Christ in His suffering and in that process to venture what is the ultimate biblical explanation for suffering. Further, we will do it in a way that would free us from the paralyzing…

    9 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Seven

    At lunch time today Doug and I had lunch with Adam (aka Ochuk) who lives nearby. It was great to eat with him (and witness Adam eating his first-ever Big Mac). Ochuk is every bit as well-read and intelligent as one would assume from reading his web site. At dinner we ate with Jack, a…

    5 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Six

    Today’s fourth session, featuring Steve Saint, is entitled “Sovereignty, Suffering and the Work of Missions.” Steve is the son of a missionary who was killed by natives in Ecuador some forty years ago. His father was part of the missionary group of which the better-known Jim Elliot was also a member. Steve has since become…

    3 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Five

    The third session of the day features David Powlison who will be speaking on “Christ’s Grace and Your Sufferings.” David is editor of the “Journal of Biblical Counselling.” He wants to put us to work by asking the following question: in your life, what is the single most significant experience of suffering that you have…

    4 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Four

    The second session of the day will be led by Mark Talbot who will be speaking on “‘All the Good That is Ours in Christ:’ Seeing God’s Gracious Hand in the Hurts Others Do Us.” A fact you may not know is that Mark broke his back when he was seventeen years old and walks…

    7 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Three

    After a sleep which was far too short (Doug likes to talk), we wandered downtown Minneapolis for a while before finally finding a place to eat breakfast. Having done that, we returned to the convention center and I was privileged to meet readers Jack,Boyd, Dave, Andrew and Marc as well as John Piper who let…

    5 min read

  • Desiring God Conference – Session Two

    Just an update for anyone who is attending the conference and looking for Doug or myself. We’re the guys with the laptops (but you already knew that). We’re sitting by the sound table in the back of the auditorium. Whenever there is a break we’ll be out in the lobby uploading our stories. Drop by…

    4 min read