For the first year the audio downloads of the Shepherds Conference are free of charge right out of the gate. You just have to sign up for an account if you don’t have one.
There are some great highlights for this years conference.
John MacArthur opened the conference with a careful and we reasoned address on 6 day creation. MacArthur contends that creation is a miracle and is therefore out of the bounds of science to analyze in any satisfying way, and therefore, we need to be careful that we keep science in it’s place. After all, scientific method is not perfect or infallible. Lazarus was raised from the dead, and Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves to feed 5000. Would science be of any service if it were able to analyze the fish or sample the blood of Lazarus? MacArthur offers a great many arguments that cannot be overlooked by Christians’ who engage in “Creation Science”.
The headliner to the Shepherds Conference this year belongs to Al Mohler, for his one address which powerfully exhorts preachers to authoritative preaching. To preach without an element of authority means 1. you don’t know your text, and 2. you don’t fully understand that Scripture is the very Word of God to man. If we believe that the power of God is in the Word’s of Scripture we will preach it as such. Our preaching will reflect this conviction. Phil Johnson writes a post on the conference, particularly highlighting Al Mohler’s address.
In General Session 3, John MacArthur talks about the history of his ministry and how he developed his convictions about how the church should operate. This was a very helpful address that will encourage pastors to remain faithful to Scripture while shelving the business and contextualization strategies that plague the church today.
General Session 5 is a Q&A with MacArthur on the subject of expository preaching. These are not questions from the audience, these are questions written by the elders and pastors at Grace Community Church. The result is a very informative and helpful session about the place of preaching, why expository preaching is so important, and what methods MacArthur uses. There is so much information here you will want to have pen and paper to take notes.
Phil Johnson steps up to the plate and completely dismantles the new trend toward vulgarity in the pulpit, and in my estimation, leaves those who engage in such a pulpit practice without any of their usual arguments for doing so. Phil looks to Paul’s letter to Titus for his exhortation. Titus was a pastor in Crete, which was a grunge culture of new converts, very similar to the target audience of most evangelical post-modern preachers who bring vulgarity into the pulpit. Paul did not suggest in any way that Titus contextualize his preaching in that culture. Phil’s arguments and biblical reasoning takes the wind out of their sails and calls them to repentence.
Rick Holland considers what it means to have a fearless ministry, to the likes of John Knox and the Apostle Paul. Rick looks at 2 Corinthians 11 and gives some strong and weighty exhortation to fearlessness.
Steve Lawson looks at Galatians 1 and considers what it means to defend the Gospel.
MacArthur closes the conference by addressing the common question, “Why does God allow suffering and evil in the world?” He does this by looking at different categories of evil.
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