Shepherd's Conference Day 1

At the end of my first day at the Shepherd's Conference, all I can say is, "Wow." I was totally blown away by all the ways the staff at Grace Church served the shepherd's who were present. At the registration, every attendee received a free $50 gift certificate to be used during our stay at the conference. The conference bookstore, gift store, as well as Grace Books International (bookstore of Grace Church), were having really nice sales for the duration of the time as well. As you may all know, I love books, and being here made me feel like I was in Disneyland. But this wasn't the best part of the conference by far. The preaching in the general sessions were immensely uplifting and challenging. They were by far the highlight of the conference here. I pray that this short overview of the general sessions will be a blessing to you as you see how your pastors are being encouraged here at Shepherd's Conference.

General Session 1 - John MacArthur

In his opening address, MacArthur addressed the issue of a proper Ecclesiology, (i.e. doctrine of the Church). It is only logical that if one would give all sovereignty to the building of the Church to Jesus Christ, that he submits himself to the methodology of Jesus Christ. This methodology, MacArthur argued, was to be found displayed for us in the book of Acts. Through the text, he explained how the Apostles preached one message that never changed, how the church was a body of regenerate people, how it's purity was evident, how it persevered through trials, and how the church leadership was always qualified leadership. MacArthur in closing points out the five churches that were rebuked in Revelations 2-3. He paraphrases the faults of these churches as a lack of love for Christ, tolerating heresy, compromising sin, replacing program for life, and conforming to society. The sermon was truly a wake-up call to make certain that our Ecclesiology was in line with its Head.

General Session 2 - Tom Pennington

Tom Pennington did a masterful job preaching an exposition for us on Psalm 1, giving great insight into the text. He explained that the word "plant" in the Hebrew could be taken as "transplant" and that the word "stream" could mean "canal." This would mean that the tree planted by streams of living water was purposefully placed there. Another great insight that I thought was helpful was that the threefold phrase of vs. 1 (walk, stand, sit) does not merely point to the process of growing in sin, but rather the totality of wickedness. Pennington states that this man here abandons all human methods and embraces only God's Word. Indeed, Pennington's closing was a precious exhortation, not only to men, but to the church as well.

General Session 3 - John Macarthur

This final exposition of the day was the best sermon I've ever heard of the widow's copper coins of Luke 22. I highly recommend everyone to read Nathan Busenitz's review of Wednesday night on the Pukpit Magazine blog. Here is the link to the article http://www.sfpulpit.com/2008/03/05/session-3-john-macarthur/

Please stay tuned for an overview of the remaining days at the conference! Stay strong and God bless!