Faith by Hearing
Sanctifying the MP3 RevolutionArchive for Phil Johnson
2012 Shepherd’s Conference
This year’s Shepherd’s Conference is now available online. The conference featured some speakers who are familiar to the Shepherd’s Conference, such as Phil Johnson, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, and, of course, John MacArthur. But this year there was a new face. Voddie Baucham was one of the keynote speakers this year.
The Gospel According to Paul
John MacArthur and Phil Johnson helm the 2011 Truth Matters Bible Conference, held earlier this month (September) at Grace Community Church. The focus of the conference is The Gospel According to Paul. Additional speakers are Don Green, an elder at Grace Community, and astronaut Colonel Jeff Williams.
All 11 messages have been posted online and are available as free downloads.
2011 Shepherds’ Conference
This years Shepherds’ Conference is now available online. General session speakers include John MacArthur, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, Phil Johnson and Nathan Busenitz.
More on this conference later.
2010 Shepherd’s Conference
The Shepherd’s Conference is one of those conferences that seldom disappoints, if ever. While this years conference didn’t have the “bang” of previous years, it was nonetheless edifying and challenging, with the old standbys in the pulpit: MacArthur, Johnson, Holland and Lawson.
The Life and Ministry of C. H. Spurgeon
Phil Johnson gave a series of excellent addresses on the life and ministry of Charles Spurgeon. Johnson has become something of a Spurgeon expert while running the fabulous Spurgeon archive, and he has given us a tremendous gift in this series of messages. Johnson looks at various aspects of Spurgeon’s life, such as his conversion, his marriage, his gout, his theology, his ministry and his battles. Very interesting and edifying. Don’t miss these gems.
Phil delivered these messages in 2006 at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Rio Rico, Arizona.
2008 Shepherds’ Conference
As to be expected, this years Shepherds’ Conference was great, and it focused on the prime responsibilities of the church which are being clouded by a wide array of church growth strategies. I was fortunate enough to listen to a few sessions through the live feed, which was real treat.
The concern of this conference is to examine and challenge the contemporary church’s lopsided attention to meeting the culture at the expense of the universality of the transforming message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
MacArthur kicks off with a look at what a church is, and compares today’s church growth movement with God’s church growth movement recorded in the church in Acts. An excellent, and even fearful, look at how God designed the church to function.
Rick Holland picked up the baton and examined lessons we need to learn from Nadab and Abihu, that those who approach God in leadership must approach God as a holy God. Phil Johnson looked at how Jesus and Paul engaged the culture in light of contemporary evangelicals focusing on trying to find ground for conversation and not confrontation as the New Testament outlines.
Steve Lawson brought out the big stick and hammered home the power and sufficiency of Scripture, and reinforced the truth that preachers are nothing without the power of Scripture at work behind them.
MacArthur did a Q&A.
Al Mohler trumpets the concern that we have lost the concept that Scripture is a matter of life and death, and have traded it for something far less and profane. He looks at what true preaching entails, as exemplified by Ezra. A true preacher must engage in exposition (read the text and explain it), and then apply that to the people. He focuses his message on Deuteronomy 4, and calls preachers to the urgency that exists for the church to recover true preaching as a matter of life and death.
MacArthur delivered two messages which his elders said were the two most important messages he preached the previous year. The first looked at Jesus’ words that pointed to the end of Judaism, which had deteriorated into a completely ungodly system. He concluded the conference by looking at the word ‘dulas’ in the New Testament which should be correctly translated ‘slave’, and shows how we have lost meaning by softening that term with the terms ‘servant’ or ‘bondservant,’ which according to MacArthur, is a tragedy in Bible translation.
This is a very important conference for church leaders to listen to carefully and examine their ministries under it’s light. The ramifications of missing the mark in ministry is not something to be taken lightly.
A Survey of Heresies with Phil Johnson
It’s important for Christians to have a grasp of heresies that the church has battled over the centuries, because they often return with new clothing, and the unprepared Christian is likely to fall into these old pits. Phil does an excellent job of looking at some of the major heresies that are revisiting the church today: Socinianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, Gnosticism, and Judaizing. This is an excellent 6 part series that will shore up some weak points in the church today.
Phil Johnson, Director of Grace to You, is pastor of Grace Life adult fellowship group at Grace Community Church, the pulpit of John MacArthur.
