Together for the Gospel

Well, we had a fantastic week at Together for the Gospel 08. Thank God for this wonderful conference, the men who lead it and the 5000+ church leaders who participated in it.

Jeff Haavisto, Phil Lowther, Chris Knowles and I attended and were very encouraged by the excellent teaching, fantastic fellowship and wonderful corporate worship. We came back really jazzed. May God prosper us in these truths to give away what we received!

Bottom line lesson for me: By God's Grace Keep the Gospel Pure and It Will Keep Us for God, His People and His Purposes in love, joy and all the fruit of the Spirit.

Check out the messages here:

T4G 2008

Tuesday April 15 - Thursday April 17, 2008
Kentucky International Convention Center | Louisville, KY

Session I Ligon Duncan - Sound Doctrine – Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry | Play Now|Download

Session II Thabiti Anyabwile - Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church | Play Now | Download

Session III John MacArthur - The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability | Play Now | Download

Session IV Mark Dever - Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology | Play Now | Download

Session V RC Sproul - The Curse Motif of the Atonement | Play Now | Download

Session VI Albert Mohler - Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution | Play Now | Download

Session VII John Piper - How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice | Play Now | Download

Session VIII CJ Mahaney - Sustaining a Pastor's Soul | Play Now | Download | |

Preach the Word!

We are in a series as a church entitled, "Walking with God Along Pathways of Grace" or, "Pathways of Grace" for short. We have been talking about the importance, blessing and function of the word of God in the life of a believer and the church.

This past Sunday I preached from 2 Tim 3 & 4 on the importance of the preached word. You can check out the message on our web site here.

Three quotes describe the vital relationship between a healthy congregation and the preacher of the word – check these out from Calvin and then about Spurgeon:

"Now the fact is that it [the church] cannot be built up, that is to say, it cannot be brought to soundness, or continue in a good state, except by means of the preaching of the Word. So then, if we earnestly desire that God should be honored and served, and that our Lord should have his royal seat among us peaceably, to reign in the midst of us, if we are his people and are under his protection, if we covet to be built up in him and to be joined to him, and to be steadfast in him to the end; to be short, if we desire our salvation, we must learn to be humble learners in receiving the doctrine of the gospel and in hearkening to the pastors that are sent to us."[1]

"A group of American clergy traveled to England in the nineteenth century to hear the great Charles Spurgeon preach and to tour his church’s facilities. After showing them through the massive sanctuary and remarkable buildings, Spurgeon asked whether they would like to see the "boiler room." The visitors politely declined, but the pastor insisted. He then led them to the church’s basement, where they found a hundred people on their faces in prayer. 'This,' Spurgeon said with a smile, 'is my boiler room.' "[2]

"When people asked the secret of his success, Spurgeon replied, 'My people pray for me.' " [3]

May God bless his under-shepherds as they preach his word to God’s people and may God’s people pray for the preachers that together we be built up for His glory and our good and the salvation of the lost around us!

God Bless, Paul


[1] John Calvin, (Sermons on Ephesians, Banner of Truth, 1973, p.374).
[2] Dr. Jim Denison, Pastor, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, “Studies in 2 Corinthians: Taking Ministry Personally” at http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Document.Doc?&id=1134
[3] Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The Greatest Victorian Preacher, By William P. Farley