In an effort to keep this post relatively short (I know how hard it is to read off a screen) I have decided that I will stick to my personal highlights from the conference. The hope is that those who accompanied me would do the same so that anyone who reads this will get a comprehensive overview of the conference.
First, I need to say that I am so grateful to our church family for funding this trip, and the leadership for allowing us to attend. I am continually blessed, and humbled, by the generosity of our church and thank God for His grace in bringing me to this body.
As the music guy, I feel obligated to start with corporate worship, which was led by Bob Kauflin, pastor of music and worship at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, Bob decided to lead hymns from the piano, rather than pursue a more contemporary style. Personally, this was a great reminder that God doesn’t need a certain amount of musicians, or a particular style of music to reach the hearts of His people. The singing was passionate and Gospel centered, which is something of a rare combination, and the sound of 5500 men lifting up the name of the Lord together with one voice singing, “In Christ alone, my hope is found, He is my light my strength my song…” will stand as one of my most pleasant and beautiful memories for years to come.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent together as a group. It’s great to share an amazing experience like this with guys who are enjoyable to be around and who share the same passion for Jesus Christ. I am privileged to call them my friends. And though we were not complete as a team (John and Rod we definitely missed you, as you well know) it was a sweet time of fellowship and encouragement.
As far as the preaching is concerned, there are so many moments to share that it is a little overwhelming. All the speakers were, as C.J. Mahaney puts it, “World Class”, so obviously we heard some great Gospel centered preaching. The heart of the sermons can be summed up by something that John MacArthur said, “hard preaching makes soft people”, to which C.J. Mahaney added that “we have all been freshly softened.” If this is a little vague, let me explain it in this way: when one is presented with the Gospel in a passionate, loving, truthful, and theologically sound manner, it is impossible to come away unchanged and unmoved. It doesn’t matter if you are non-Christian or a 57-year veteran pastor, the message of the cross speaks into our hearts in a way that nothing else can, and when those presenting it are passionately and lovingly upholding the truth, even when it hurts (hard preaching) our old, dead self is beaten down to make way for our new self, alive in Christ, to be revived and refreshed (soft people).
A favorite of mine during the week were the panel discussions, a time in which the speakers would sit and discuss the previous message and issues surrounding the subject of the cross. I was encouraged to see that these men, though “World Class”, were not afraid to be transparent with us about their struggles and weaknesses even in the midst of such a public setting; we were able to see them laughing, joking, crying, and relating to each other like they would if no one else was there. It was great to see first hand that these are ordinary men to whom God has given extraordinary tasks.
The personal take away of the conference for me was this statement, “In our lives as Christians, we never ‘get over’ the cross”. There is no time in our lives where the Gospel message becomes old hat or basic doctrine that we have mastered. It is our center point, our anchor upon which our whole life rests. We always, always, always look to the cross. I will not soon forget that.
