This past week I spent Monday-Wednesday at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors in the great city of Minneapolis, MN. There are some things in the world that are certain, others more difficult to assume. One thing I am convinced of however is that it is COLD in Minnesota in February. After walking a few blocks to an Irish pub in -16 degree wind chill, I quickly learned why Minneapolis has a really cool downtown Skywalk. The building of Minneapolis are networked together by an indoor maze of sidewalks which connect buildings and food courts and offer some generally good walking trails for the worker downtown. Seriously, I thought the inside of my nose was going to get frost bitten just by breathing. Though the outside temperature was far from balmy, the conference was warm and moving.
The theme this year was evangelism, sharing with others the good news of Jesus Christ, with those God places in our paths. Mark Dever from Captial Hill Baptist Church delivered a great series of plenary talks while the secondary speakers knocked it out of the park as well. Matt Chandler, from the Village Church in Texas, exhorted pastors to center their teaching ministry in the gospel, particularly in our age of dumbed down preaching and teaching. Finally, Michael Oh, encouraged pastors and their churches to take more seriously the global mission of the church. Oh is a Korean American who is a missionary to Japan and has a facinating story. I want to hear more from Dr. Oh in the future...his introduction was funny.
Finally, I enjoyed the hang time I got with Garrett Kell, Doug Greene, Chris Wheeler and Greg Joiner - good to see you guys. Thanks for all the gifts you placed into my life this week with your time, your words, prayers and encouragement.
Here are links to all the messages in the order in which they were given - in audio, video and texteo:
A Shepherd and His Unregenerate Sheep
The Pastor and Evangelism
"I Will Not Be a Velvet-Mouthed Preacher!”
The Church and Evangelism
Missions as Fasting
Commending Christ, Q & A