I made it home from Banner late Thursday night and spent most of the day yesterday recovering and readjusting. What a blessing it was to be able to attend! Several times before I even registered for the conference, I almost changed my mind about going. Even after I registered I had second thoughts. Our enemy is crafty, but thanks be to God that the Spirit enabled me to overcome such temptation. Being fed by the fellowship with brothers and by the wisdom of the speakers was just what my soul needed.

On the way home we stopped for dinner and Rev. Welsford asked me to sum up the conference for him in three words or less. After talking him into giving me a fourth word, I said it was, "take my calling seriously". The theme of the whole thing was, "A Preacher's Task," and throughout the speakers focused on the calling and duty of the preacher in shepherding and feeding their flocks. Seeing all of these Christian soldiers gather at this event this week (some even being wounded from fierce battles) reminded me of just what the Lord is calling me to. I am not fit in and of myself for the task, that is sure. But I came away with a greater confidence and hope that God is much bigger than my deficiencies and is more than able to overcome any part of me that gets in the way of serving him.

To serve him faithfully, I must rest in his grace and take my calling seriously. This first hit home when speaker Craig Troxel reminded us Tuesday night of the picture painted for us in the words of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where Christian comes to the Interpreter's house and sees the men pouring water on a flame trying to put it out. But as they poured the water on it, they were unsuccessful. Why? Because there was another Man pouring oil into the flame on the other side and it was keeping the flame burning. Here we see that our Great Lord and Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is feeding the flame by the sufficient provision of the Holy Spirit (represented by the oil). So it is with us as men called to serve. Paul calls Timothy (and us) to "fan into flame the gift of God" in 2 Timothy 1:6. Surely we must fan the flame with our exercise of the gift that God is given but we must not forget that we did not light the flame. As Rev. Troxel put it, "we are called to fan what we cannot kindle." Oh that I would ever remember that the gift given to me by God is not of my own inherent ability but a precious gift; a gift given for the use and sake of the Giver of that gift. To take my calling seriously, I must serve to glorify and honor God in humble dependence and thankfulness.

On Thursday morning, Rev. Ian Hamilton spoke to us regarding the minister's character. He exalted the Lord Jesus as the ultimate model of true servant ministry by unfolding Isaiah 42:1-4 for us. From this passage he revealed four things that we must behold and imitate of the Servant Jesus: (1) His complete dependence on God, (2) His unyielding faithfulness to God, (3) his personal humility before God, and (4) His unimaginable grace that magnifies God. This was a fantastic message and I was specifically challenged by the calls to practice grace (not just preach it) and to have a deep and sincere heart for God's people. To take my calling seriously, I need reflect the ministry of the Servant Jesus in my own life and truly love and care for God's people in a way that they know that their good is of the utmost importance to me. The people I will be called to minister to must know and see in my life that I have a deep commitment to serve them - not just in word but in deed.

And this is but just a sampling of the way God worked in my heart this week...

Hey everyone! Things are going well here at Banner! The sessions have been excellent thus far and I really sense that the Lord is impressing upon me more and more the weightiness of the call to preach the gospel. I know that I am completely dependent upon him to equip me for the task, and it is refreshing to be reminded of exactly what it looks and feels like to trust the Spirit all along the way.

The living arrangements here are quite interesting. There are five of us in a sort of dorm-condo. Brandon, Andy, and I are in one room and two other gentlemen we don't really know are in the other room. To be honest, I forgot just how uncomfortable it was to sleep on dorm beds. And I forgot just how "interesting" dorm food is. Nonetheless, I try to press on with thankfulness for what the Lord has provided.

I have pretty much spent most of my book budget. I brought some money with me but an anonymous donor gave a considerable amount to the five seminary students in our group. This has given me the privilege of purchasing several commentaries as well as some biographies and other stuff. I still am trying to figure out how all of us will manage to get our boxes into the van. I guess we'll be holding them.

13 ministers and seminary students surrounded by lots of discounted books would be deemed by some to be a recipe for disaster - for those of us participating, it's called heaven on earth!

Here is the Rev. Iain Murray giving us Banner "newbies" a tour of the conference book room as well as announcing special discounts:

Well, we made it safely to Carlisle, PA. It was a fun trip, filled with good fellowship and conversation. I have met lots of wonderful men who love the Lord and delight in serving him. I am really looking forward to seeing how God works the rest of the week.

When we arrived at the hotel this evening, we played some whiffle ball until the guys from Canada showed up:


When they finally arrived, all of us went to dinner (20 total) at the Olive Garden. I really enjoyed it and was excited to hear how God is at work in Ontario through the ARP and the CRC.

Tomorrow is book shopping and then the conference begins later in the day. Should be fun!

What dictates the script of your life? The world or God's word? This is the question that Dr. Horton asks as he begins chapter two. Are we merely following the script that we have devised and designed for ourselves or are we being swept up in and carried along by the divine overarching plot of Scripture? This is a challenging inquiry. I know that I, like most, are often enticed and deceived into plodding along in the limelight of individualism along with its "I did it my way" mentality. But this is not God's design for his children. When we succumb to that, "God himself is 'appropriated,' drawn into our script, ending in futility". (p. 34) But, his design is different. Horton insists that "unlike most plays, which simply entertain or evoke various responses, the divine drama actually incorporates the audience in the overarching plot." (p. 34)

To support his thesis, he appeals to Romans 10 and says there are two ways of salvation: our way and God's way. Our way leads to death and God's way leads to everlasting life. Each way has its own method of redemption: works or grace. And not only this, but each way has its own means of attaining or receiving that redemption. To be sure, grace has its own method. It is not climbing up to God and bringing Christ down. This is idolatry - a sin that is still alive and well today. God's method is to deliver his grace to his people by grace alone. And how does God deliver his grace: through the preaching of the Word and the sacraments. These are his means of grace.

Horton continues with his knockout punch: "Too often preaching is primarily conceived as an event in which God is the topic but not the actor." (p. 38) Ouch. In other words, what he is saying is that grace's delivery cannot be separated from its content. Preaching must not be merely dull and lifeless discourses about this or that theological topic nor must it be solely about personal subjectivity and experience. Preaching is a retelling of God's great dramatic script and how believers are to live and move and have their being in accordance with that script. This includes both information about God and application of his ways and laws to the believers' lives.

There is much out there to compete with preaching. We live in a visual world and people are beginning to demand more than just the preached word. But this is God's means. The power of God is in the preaching of Christ and Paul calls even this medium itself "foolish" and "weak". Nevertheless, Horton states that, "more than good acting, good sound, good staging and lighting, what we need most is a good script. We have that in God's Word - and the extent to which we are confident in the power of that weakness, we will be faithful as preachers and hearers of God's good news." (p. 44)

Take some time to reread Romans 10 and consider how it fits with today's new and emerging methods in the church. What lies behind these methods? Are they merely methods of climbing up to God and bringing Christ down? Or are they a method of standing in the light of grace and receiving God's grace by his gracious means alone? (That's a lot of grace!) Horton says it well: "Methods are not neutral; they are always indicative of a particular set of beliefs. One may hold tenaciously to the view that God alone saves and that he saves by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and yet attempt to climb up into God's presence or bring him down through the techniques and programs that promise a divine encounter. Paul's logic [in Romans 10] should warn us against separating the message from the methods. " (p. 45)

Today I began reading "A Better Way," by Michael Horton for a class that he is teaching this summer at RTS-Charlotte called Ministry in a Postmodern Context. I am really excited about this class and am really looking forward to reading this book. I'll provide thoughts, comments, smart remarks, etc. here as I progress.

Dr. Horton introduces his subject well when he states that "the goal of this book...is to recover the sense of redemptive drama that we not only see illustrated in Scripture but that the Word and Spirit actually bring into our communal gathering." (p. 13-14). It's clear that he wants to move beyond the typical vernacular present in current worship wars and literally bore to the center of the issue and thoughtfully consider not only the nature and purpose of Biblical worship but the reality of the believers' position and response in worship services as well. The intro worked: I'm interested.

Chapter one is designed to set the stage and right of the bat, he mentions a subject near and dear to me: the covenant renewal ceremony. He doesn't necessarily fully unpack this important concept as much as I would like in this chapter, but I hope he does so in the ones to come. He does, however, spend quite of few pages taking us on a grand and sweeping overview of the basis of covenant in the Bible (taking into account both the covenant of works and the covenant of grace). How he manages to do this so well with brevity and precision is beyond me; it truly is impressive.

From here Dr. Horton proceeds by making his case very clear: we gather as God's people on the Lord's Day not just out of habit, etc. but to receive God's gifts. Worship has unfortunately become identified only with what and how we sing on Sunday mornings and too often the church has neglected to see that worship goes beyond just that: it includes all that is done in service. Worship is not merely subjective experience. Worship is objective response; response to the redemptive work of God. "The triumphant indicative concerning God's action in Christ establishes a safe foundation on which to stand as we seek to obey the divine imperatives. That's why worship is dialogical: God speaks and we respond." (p. 26) Clearly, praise is one way that we respond to God, but how does he speak to us? Dr. Horton contends that the ordinary way that God does this is through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments (i.e. baptism and the Lord's Supper). "As in the vision of the smoking firepot with a blazing torch [in reference to Genesis 15], God walks down the middle of the aisle in our worship service, assuming the judgment that his own justice requires and his own mercy satisfies. He circumcises our hearts." (p. 25)

The stage is now set. Chapter two will focus on the Ministry of the Word. Should be good...