Desiring God-2010-Conference Recap

I was blessed to go to the DG National Conference this weekend.  It was entitled "The Life of the Mind and the Love of God."  Let me say first off that my mind, after this weekend, seems to have little life left in it.  I feel wrung out.  I feel convicted.  I feel excited.  I feel. 

I initially entitled to write extensively on each of the speakers.  I don't have the energy.  Instead, I am going to write some brief reflections on what I did watch. 

Kevin DeYoung asked his audience to rethink the idea of being missional.  He argued that the term "missional" has lost meaning in the modern church and that we need to redefine what we mean.  He pointed out that too often, Christians are replacing what missions should actually do, with something else (e.g., social justice).  He argued instead that the purpose of missions is to make disciples.  His phrase, "get disciples, not decisions" seemed to capture much of what he said.  He pointed out that if those following the great commission are not actually preaching Christ, they are really not doing things any differently than...say...Angelina Jolie, or something along those lines.

Randy Alcorn preached excellently on Romans 8:28.  I didn't take many notes, but he pointed out that the evil and suffering in the world allows us to see the extent of God's grace. 

Rick Warren, of purpose driven fame, was telecasted in due to a number of family crises.  He is a gifted speaker.  He presented 5 principles to teach church members: 1) don't believe everything you think, 2) Guard your mind from garbage, 3) Never let up on learning, 4) feed yourself daily with God's word, 5) you must let God stretch your imagination.  Warren shared many useful ideas and practical strategies for continued growth.  I particularly appreciated two ideas.  First, he said that in fighting against sin, we should not just resist, but replace temptation.  Second, he said that we only believe the parts of the Bible that we actually do.  There were several concerns as well.  He has a strong self-help, pull yourself up by your bootstraps approach, which didn't seem to fit with the other speakers who are so utterly reliant on God's grace.  One thing he said that I really struggled with was "where there is no vision, people perish." I wrote in my notes, "where there is no Christ, people perish."  It was quite unfortunate that the Q&A between Piper and Warren did not happen though I hope it does in the future. 

RC Sproul opened the Saturday session.  I was tired.  He was deep.  Not a good combination.  He began by talking about the philosopher Thales who was looking for a singular explanation for all the diversity seen around him.  He concluded it must be in water.  He then traced the lines of philosophical thought through Aristotle finishing with Paul's ministry on Mars Hill and how Christ was the only explanation of unity in the diversity.  I need to listen to it again to see what I missed.

Thabati Anyabwile discussed sharing the gospel with Muslims and as a former Muslim who converted to Christ, he was uniquely positioned to give this talk.  He suggested that the goal for Christians was "truth entering the head, igniting the heart, and flowing out through the hands."  He noted that as Christians, we seem to assume the unreachability of Muslims and, out of fear, we don't evangelize these folks.  I thought the most important point he made was twofold: 1) "we need to work for the faithful containment of the established religion in the state" and 2) "defend Islam's ability to practice their faith."  He believes that the more firmly the separation of church and state is upheld, the less likely it will be that sharia law will dominate or take over.  Everyone should listen to this teaching.  It was exceptional.

Al Mohler preached on Romans 1 regarding how God gave us up to a depraved mind--all of us--at the fall and that our only hope is that God reveals himself to us.

Francis Chan preached on loving people.  A basic point that increasing in knowledge is for nothing if it is not used to love other people.  If you watch nothing else from this conference, please watch his teaching.

John Piper concluded the conference on how we might use our minds to the glory of God.  I particularly liked this quote, "There is an odd notion that, if we use our minds to grow in our knowledge of God, mystery will diminish and with it a sense of wonder and reverence. I call this notion odd for two reasons. One is that, no matter how many millions of ages I use my mind to know more and more of God’s majesty, his glories will never be in danger of being exhausted. What is not yet known of God by finite creatures will always be limitless. You honor this truth more by shameless growth in the knowledge of God."

I also had the opportunity to see a taping of the White Horse Inn, a favorite radio show of mine.  It was exceptional weekend with old friends and new.