Together for the Gospel 2018

The theme of T4G/18 is about being distinct from the world. The usual suspects led the conference: Mohler, Dever, Duncan, Mahaney, DeYoung, Piper, MacArthur, Chandler, Anyabwile, and Platt.

From the website:

What began as a friendship between four pastors from across denominational traditions has burgeoned into a biennial conference for thousands of pastors and church leaders who, for all their differences, are committed to standing together for the main thing—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Over a decade of consequential gatherings focused on expositional preaching (2006), biblical theology (2008), the gospel (2010), conversion (2012), evangelism (2014), and the Reformation (2016), T4G has sought to reaffirm and reiterate the central doctrine of the Christian faith and to encourage local churches around the world to do the same.

The ensuing years have brought with them many new faces, along with seismic cultural shifts and challenges for Christian ministry. And yet the conference has grown as more and more pastors discover that they share the same gospel-centered ambition.

Twelve years ago, at the inaugural T4G, we adopted a series of theological positions in the form of affirmations and denials. “We are convinced,” we wrote, “that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been misrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized in many Churches and among many who claim the name of Christ.”

As false gospels circulate and pastors are tempted to bow to cultural pressures, we remain convinced that the church is in a moment of spiritual crisis. Going on twelve years, buoyed by Christ’s promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against it, we remain convinced of the need for a full and gladdening recovery of the gospel in the church.

T4G/18 >>>

2015 Shepherd’s Conference

The Shepherd’s Conference has finished with a bang by MacArthur. This years conference has been titled The Inerrancy Summit, and it has assembled a stellar gathering of speakers: Alistair Begg, R. C. Sproul, Steve Nichols, Ligon Duncan, Carl Trueman, Mark Dever, Steve Lawson, Greg Beale, Derek Thomas, Al Mohler, Sinclair Ferguson, Iain Murray, Kevin DeYoung, and no I didn’t make this up.

Most of the sessions are on Vimeo, and more audio and video options will be coming later, I presume.

Shepherd’s Conference 2015 >>>

Taking God At His Word with Kevin DeYoung

Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and MeIn his book launch event Kevin DeYoung said that the most pressing need for evangelical Christians is to regain a conviction about the sufficiency of Scripture.  And I couldn’t agree more.  Kevin has recently released a book that many evangelicals are giving enthusiastic support to.  It’s called “Taking God at His Word.”   Westminster Theological Seminary was involved with a book launch event where G.K. Beale, David Powlison and Carl Trueman spoke and conversed with Kevin about his book.  The audio and video is available.

This is one of the most important books to be published for our generation which has an unhealthy fixation on “hearing the voice of God” from people who have trips to heaven or imagine God is writing them personal letters — all at the expense of where God is clearly and powerfully speaking: through the living and active Word of God.  If you listen to only one address, listen to Kevin’s opening address. I encourage you to buy this book that is relatively short, easy to read, and powerful.

Kevin delivered an 11-part sermon series on the doctrine of Scripture at his church, which formed the basis for this book.

DeYoung’s 1st Address

It can be found at the link below, as this particular video is, for some reason, unable to be linked.

Find Deyoung’s First Address here >>>

Conversation #1

Conversation #2

DeYoung’s 2nd Address

Book Launch Event >>>

Doctrine of Scripture in 11 sermons >>>

DeYoung: The Hole in our Holiness

Kevin DeYoung has recently released a book with the odd title “The Hole in Our Holiness,” and I recently found a sermon DeYoung preached by the same title.  The book is a look at how the Gospel was designed for more than our salvation, it was designed for our sanctification — or growth in holiness.  Michael Horton has this to say about the book:

Grace is too amazing to save us from sin’s guilt only to leave us under its cruel tyranny. In this book, Kevin DeYoung reminds us that the gospel is the ground of our justification and sanctification. At the same time, he reminds us of the many exhortations in Scripture to pursue godliness as the fruit of our union with Christ in the power of the Spirit. The Hole in Our Holiness offers important reflections on a crucial topic in the ongoing conversation about the joys and struggles of the Christian life.

John Piper says this:

This book is vintage DeYoung—ruthlessly biblical.

The sermon is titled “The Hole in Our Holiness: Piety’s Pattern” and is an examination of 1 Peter 1:13-16. CJ Mahaney calls this book the modern equivilent of J.C. Ryles classic work Holiness.

Interview on video with Kevin about his book >>>

The Hole in Our Holiness >>>

Think! 2010 Desiring God National Conference

Okay, the Think! Conference was in October.  It’s almost January and I haven’t posted anything about it. To be honest, I struggled with what I should and should not say about it.

Was it good? It was fabulous. Almost all of the messages were phenomenal: Piper, Sproul, DeYoung, Mohler, Anyabwile and Alcorn were very stong.  This was also my first taste of Francis Chan and Tillian Tchividjian and I was very impressed and humbled by their messages. A load of great material from this conference.

The conference opened with Rick Warren, and this is where I struggled. Ricks message was great, in fact excellent, until he got to the end. He discussed the reality that spiritual warfare presents against thinking and the truth of God. But at the end it all seemed to implode. Rick Warren’s view of application is horrific, because it drives him to believe that churches are preaching and teaching believers too much. In his reasoning, the more we preach and teach the more “applications” people have to apply to their lives, and we can only really apply so much in a given week.  A pseudo-therapeutic gospel? I also disagree with Warren’s view of “vision”, though that’s an unfair assessment since he didn’t have the platform to engage with Piper’s differing view of vision.  Piper does engage these two things in the follow up discussion, which unfortunately Warren was not able to participate in, but I wish he had been much stronger on the application issue.  I’ll leave it at that.

My recommendation: get these messages, including Rick Warren’s.  The first part was a message I would have been proud to have preached.

Think! Conference >>>

Kevin DeYoung & Genuine Love for the Church

Russell Moore discusses issues of the church with Kevin DeYoung and Dan Kimball on the Albert Mohler Radio Program.  The focus of the conversation is why the world likes Jesus and not the church, and what we can do about it.

DeYoung is author of Why We Love The Church and Why We’re Not Emergent.

Genuine Love for the Church>>>

Collections: Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung is pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing Michigan.  He has written numerous books that have been lauded by many well known evangelical leaders. These books include Just Do Something, Why We’re Not Emergent, and Why We Love the Church.

If you enjoyed his message at the Next Conference you might be interested in more of his sermons that can be found at these sites:

University Reformed Church >>>

University Reformed Church (new site)>>>

Justin Taylors spotlight on DeYoung >>>