It is hard to overstate what an excellent event Together for the Gospel ‘08 has been. I’ve been to many conferences where the greatest effect on me was during the actual meetings. This is one of those conferences where the effect on me will only grow over time.

I know long blog posts are no fun but I thought I would give you a breakdown of the event and some of the highlights:

Monday night and Tuesday morning – Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors Meeting

  • This is the first part and my favorite part of our time in Louisville. Because t4g biannually takes the place of our Sovereign Grace Ministries Leadership Conference we have our own meetings prior to the actual t4g conference.
  • It’s a major joy to see so many friends from different seasons. There are men there who were so helpful and faithful to me before I was ever a Sovereign Grace pastor. There are others that I went to the Pastors College with. There are our leaders. There are the top notch administrative staff of Sovereign Grace that always serve so fully. And there are other friends that I’ve gotten to know along the way. And, of course, there are the men that I serve with, the pastoral team of Crossway Church.
  • C.J. wonderfully focused our attention on the gospel again. He made a comment that though I can’t remember it perfectly the core stuck with me and brought the truth home again. Something along these lines: My continual concern for Sovereign Grace Ministries is that we will always keep the gospel central. This is always my concern. This concern will never be replaced by another concern.
  • We received more details on the reorganization of the leadership of Sovereign Grace Ministries, we were introduced to C.J.’s personal assistant (Tony Reinke – friend of Corey and Kathy Booker), learned about ways that SovGrace is working to put resources in our hands, and heard about a host of events and happenings. There is certainly too much to put in a blog post.

Tuesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon – Together for the Gospel

  • Ligon Duncan taught us on the importance of sound doctrine to pastoral ministry and warned us that it is under attack in our day (as always). His message prepared us perfectly for everything else we would be taught.
  • Thabiti Anyabwile gave the most insightful and useful message in regard to race and ethnicity. He showed from Scripture that there is only one race (human) created by God. He wasn’t diminishing ethnic difference. Ethnic difference can be appreciated or reconciled. He did, however, reveal that it is a foundational problem to believe in races (plural). In other words, if someone believes in “races” (rather than one race) then it is not a far walk to “racism.” This message is ripe for our time.
  • John MacArthur taught us on the doctrine of absolute inability. This message was devastating. Even to someone like me who already believed it! But it only serves to reveal more of the depth of God’s amazing grace. MacArthur started his message by pointing out that those who searched the Scriptures in Jesus’ time didn’t recognize Jesus. That certainly illustrates inability.
  • Mark Dever taught us to avoid trying to improve the gospel. This is rampant today. Dr. Dever said, “People try to improve the gospel but when you try to improve it you lose it.”
  • R.C. Sproul taught an incredible message on how Christ became a curse for us. (All I can do right now is shake my head and think, “amazing”.) I’ll be listening to this message at least two more times.
  • Al Mohler taught us on the Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement and how it is under attack. Dr. Mohler did us such a service by tracing contemporary history that led us to errant views of Atonement in our time.
  • John Piper’s title says it all, “How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice.” He made a comment along these lines, “The ticket has become the treasure.” Meaning, Christ is our ticket into the Kingdom and upon entering, he becomes the treasure that we entered to delight in.
  • C.J. taught us about “Sustaining a Pastor’s Soul.” A wonderfully effective sermon that called us as pastors to gratitude, faith for the future and affection for others.

On top of all this it was wonderful just to be with our pastoral team. I do want you to know what I experience from them: these men never stop thinking about their wives, their families and you. I love these men.

And, t4g gave us a stack of books!