Shepherd’s Conference – Day 2

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Recap:

Well, hello there.  Wow, what a conference.  Rick Holland (executive pastor & college pastor at GCC) set the mood and tone for today during the first morning general session.  He spoke on 2 Corinthians 11:3.  In the second morning general session, we had a little Q & A with John MacArthur…mainly, questions related to expository preaching and John’s ministry at Grace Community Church (last month marked John MacArthur’s 40th anniversary as pastor-teacher of GCC).

Men in prayer

During lunch, we received our bag of free goodies (complimentary resources/books).  I also took advantage of the discounts available at the conference store and bought quite a few books.  Oh, before I forget, the staff at the conference has been tremendously helpful.  There are volunteers everywhere, making sure we get everything we need and helping us in every way, from serving us food and drinks throughout the day to walking around and taking our trash.

Receiving our free bag of goodies before grabbing some In-N-Out burgers.

Thomas and Ray enjoying lunch, making sure “that’s what a hamburger is all about”.

After lunch, we had back to back seminars.  Matt, Wayne and I went to “Preaching with Precision: Studying the passage with accuracy and care” with Bill Barrick, followed by “Preaching with Purpose: Crafting an effective sermon that stays faithful to the text” with Tom Pennington.  I believe notes for these seminars will be available for download sometime in the near future.  Timon headed out to the “Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs: Striving for a balanced approach to music in worship” seminar with Clayton Erb, followed by “Throw Out Your Fleece: A guide to biblical decision making”.  (By the way, this year marks Dr. Erb’s 30th anniversary as minister of music and worship at GCC).  Hopefully we’ll be able to give a more detailed report on some of these seminars on Sunday.

During the break, I had a chance to do a quick, informal “interview” with Matt and Wayne.  I asked them what the main reason was in attending the Conference this year.  “Free snacks and ice cream!”  Besides the food, they indicated that this was a good chance to get a “preview” of what they may be learning in seminary later this year.  Matt also explained that this was a good opportunity to interact with people who have come from all over the world and with different backgrounds.

Bill Barrick, professor of OT and director of Th.D. Studies at TMS.

Wayne and Matt responding to Bill Barrick’s message.

Chatting with Wayne Hu during the “interview”

We’ll be heading out to dinner soon.  I’m sure some of you guys may be attending the general session with Al Mohler tonight or may be watching it online, so I’ll stop here and give a final update tomorrow.  Hasta luego…