To those of you who have been reading the blog my apologies for being behind on posting. If you have read some of my entries from this week you know that Lynette and I are in California attending the Shepherd's Conference, sponsored by Grace Community Church where John MacArthur is the pastor. We have just been too busy to post anything these last few days. The schedule has had us going from early morning till late at night.
We are on our way to San Diego this afternoon where we will be attending the National Pastor's Convention and also hook up with our old friend Harriet Klein from Glen Burnie. On the way down there tonight we are going to take a purpose driven side trip to Saddleback Community Church, pastored by Rick Warren - its kind of on the way. It seems that, out here in California, there aren't as many churches as there are back east, but all of the churches are mega-churches. After spending a week with John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, and Al Mohler, its hard to get pumped about going to Saddleback. But, since Rick Warren is probably the most influential pastor in America right now I figured it would be worthwhile to go and see what all the fuss is about.
This past week in LA has been the closest thing I have had to a mountaintop experience in my adult life. I've been to conferences out the wazoo since I have been an adult, but never one quite like this. I've been to conferences which gave good advice on leadership techniques, conferences that pumped you up with worship music and seminars on particular topics, and conferences where you got to see lots of Christian celebrities (which is like the one we will be going to next week). But there was something extra special about this past week at the Shepherd's Conference. Even though the big dogs were out and barking (MacArthur, Sproul, and Mohler), I came away with a real sense that the Word of God was the star of the show, not the personalities, nor the methods and techniques of the Christian elite. My confidence in the Word of God has always been strong, but in a real sense it has been rekindled.
It was quite an experience to be amongst men whose ministries are driven by the simple exposition of Scripture. There was not a lot of flash here, no bells and whistles, just pure unadulterated preaching of the Scripture. And the Scripture did its work in my life and I am praying that it wil do a work in my ministry.
I'll blog more when we get to San Diego - I hope to share some specific thoughts about the conference as I have time this week.
Just in case you haven't seen them, here are some pictures from earlier in the week. I'll post more as I have time.
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