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| T4G 2010: The Un-Adjusted Gospel |
I was truly blessed last week to attend Together for the Gospel in Louisville, KY. I, along with 7,000 other believers, were poured into by the Lord under the teaching of Mark Dever, RC Sproul, Al Mohler, Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, CJ Mahaney and Matt Chandler. As you can see from the list above - all of these men come from many different backgrounds. They hold different views regarding certain theological and philosophical matters ... items ranging from baptism to eschatology, but all agree and hold fast to the key element of Christianity ... The Gospel! Although these men have varying backgrounds ... it was refreshing and eye-opening for me to see and experience so many men come together on the solid truth of the Gospel.
The event started off with Pastor Mark Dever asking a very simple, yet complex question - Is your church reflecting the gospel to the outside world? It seems like an answer should be uttered almost instantly, but after pondering the depth of the question it required more critical thought and evaluation. He supported his question with 4 key sub-questions or characteristics that need to be evident within your church.
1) How is your church displaying the character and nature of God?
2) Is your church telling the truth about human beings? (The reality being that the church is filled with sinners)
3) Is your church reflecting the truth about The Savior, Jesus Christ?
4) Does your church have the right response to the gospel? (repentance and faith)
The sub-questions are key to answering "Is your church reflecting the gospel to the outside world?" Key scriptures that Dever utilized are Ephesians 3:10-11, Leviticus 19:2, 2 Samuel 23:3-4, James 2 and Romans 6. You can listen to the entire keynote "The Church is the Gospel Made Visible" by clicking here.
R.C. Sproul followed Dever via satellite. Although Sproul was not physically at the venue, the power of his message resonated throughout the audience. Sproul began his address by reading II Corinthians 6:11 regarding being unequally yoked and expounded on how this text has been utilized out of context for radical separation. He then proceeded to address what he felt were the biggest concerns for the church. Sproul stated his two concerns were: "The Danger of messing with Mr. In-Between" and "The Danger of messing with the gospel". Mr. In-Between was an excellent overview of the Hegelian Dialectic Process - meaning that you begin with a thesis, that thesis is met with conflict or anti-thesis, the two collide and produce a new synthesis - aka The Third Way. He emphasized that the church has lost its ability to give an antithesis ... a statement which I found to be very profound and telling about the church. Messing with the Gospel entailed Sproul reinforcing imputation. Sproul included a rebuke of those who reject the idea of justification by faith alone. This point was underscored when he stated "We, as the church, must have imputation to have justification and without justification there is no gospel". Sproul concluded his address with a warning to us all - STOP TRYING TO IMPROVE THE GOSPEL! (emphasis mine) ... It's not our gospel, it's God's gospel and there is no way to humanly improve upon what God has already done. To listen to the entire address "The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel" by R.C. Sproul ... click here
Al Mohler was next to speak to the crowd of nearly 7,000. Mohler gave a thoughtful address regarding the examination of the "CRASH" of the gospel ... the adjusted gospel. His talk began by pointing out the assumption that the world has changed and that is why we have adjusted the gospel ... the gospel needed to keep up with the "intellectual era". Mohler reinforced that this "adjusting" has been going on since the beginning of the church - referencing I Timothy 6:35, II Timothy 1:8-14 and Jude 3. He then went on to explain eight trajectories that lead to an adjusted gospel. These trajectories are as follows: 1. The Modern Trajectory, 2. The Post-Modern Trajectory, 3. A Moral Trajectory, 4. The Aesthetic Trajectory, 5. The Therapeutic Trajectory, 6. The Pragmatic Trajectory, 7. The Emotional Trajectory, and 8. The Materialist Trajectory. You can listen to the entire presentation by Mohler if you click here. Mohler concluded by giving the audience 2 key items to consider; Do not succumb to doctrine fatigue and embarrassment will be a result within our world if we are not rooted in truth ... 2 items of compromise that we should all prayerfully consider.
Thabiti Anyabwile reinforced what Mohler had covered with his address on "Wrongly Engaging the Culture". He posed several questions to begin his presentation; At what level are we to address or attempt to change the culture? What does it even mean to engage the culture? How do we know if the objective is met? Thabiti answered all of those questions by biblical explaining what the role of the pastor should be within culture. For his explanation he guided us through "The 4 P's of Paul" - Paul's Purpose, Philosophy, Practices, and Perspective ... referencing Colossians 1:24 through 3:4 throughout his address. Listen to Thabiti by clicking here.
John MacArthur stepped to the stage next to speak to the audience regarding the "Theology of Sleep". Simply stated, "We sow the gospel and we go to sleep" ... MacArthur utilized Mark 4:26-29 to illustrate his point. "It" grows and we do not know why ... "Its" growth has nothing to do with us! He reinforced the sovereignty of God with the historical account of Nicodemus from John 3. Its emphasis being that new life is beyond our power ... it is a divine miracle. To drive the point home even further, MacArthur directed us to Luke 23:39-43. The power of God on the soul of the thief on the cross offered no human explanation. He then went on to detail the approach we must take regarding evangelism. He stated that evangelism must consist of: 1) humility 2) obedience 3) diligence 4) confidence ... to listen to the entire presentation click here.
John Piper concluded our evening teaching/preaching on the topic "Did Jesus Preach Paul's Gospel" ... a response to the perspectives vocalized by N.T. Wright. I will let Piper speak for himself - you can to by watching here.
Ligon Duncan reinforced the dominance that scripture must play in our lives with his presentation regarding the "Early Church Fathers". The conclusion of the conference came with addresses from Matt Chandler and C.J. Mahaney. To say the least, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the testimony of Matt Chandler. I still cannot articulate my thoughts and feelings regarding what I heard from Matt, but it was a blessing and I promise you ... if you watch the video ... you to will be moved and blessed by his words.
I encourage all of you to check out all of the resources from T4G 2010. Not only were the speakers great, but so was the worship time, and the fellowship that I had with some dear brothers in Christ. I hope to see many more people there in 2012. Until then .... continue to fight the good fight!
For more resources, check out:
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