TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL CONFERENCE
This past week I drove down with five friends to Louisville, Kentucky, for the Together for the Gospel Conference, at which Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, R.C. Sproul, John Piper, C.J. Mahaney and John MacArthur—a who’s who of the conservative Reformed world—spoke. It was an awesome conference in so many ways—those who put together the conference served the 3,000 men who came with humility and joy, the messages delivered were all uniformly excellent and edifying, the worship solid and the fellowship tremendous.
One message in my mind stood out, though, and that was John Piper’s word on Thursday night. It was one of those occasions when the Spirit of God powerfully moved throughout the congregation. There was a palpable sense of awe at the weightiness of God’s holy presence as God’s Word was pressed home with deep conviction.
I have heard Dr Piper speak on four other occasions—at Heritage Seminary in Cambridge in the mid 1990s and then at ETS in 2003 on Jonathan Edwards. The Lord has made him a remarkable preacher: serious and weighty, filled with joy and delight in the Triune God, deeply versed in the things of God and the words of Scripture. I looked forward to hearing him and God did not disappoint.
In his message, he mentioned his conviction that Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the outstanding preacher of the twentieth century. I would venture to say that history may well view Piper as one of the outstanding preachers of the twenty-first century.
One message in my mind stood out, though, and that was John Piper’s word on Thursday night. It was one of those occasions when the Spirit of God powerfully moved throughout the congregation. There was a palpable sense of awe at the weightiness of God’s holy presence as God’s Word was pressed home with deep conviction.
I have heard Dr Piper speak on four other occasions—at Heritage Seminary in Cambridge in the mid 1990s and then at ETS in 2003 on Jonathan Edwards. The Lord has made him a remarkable preacher: serious and weighty, filled with joy and delight in the Triune God, deeply versed in the things of God and the words of Scripture. I looked forward to hearing him and God did not disappoint.
In his message, he mentioned his conviction that Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the outstanding preacher of the twentieth century. I would venture to say that history may well view Piper as one of the outstanding preachers of the twenty-first century.
Michael,
I totally agree with your analysis.
Certainly both ML-J and Piper are marked by that surprisingly rare, but Spirit-given quality:
-- unction.
Posted by
Unknown |
7:05 a.m.
I have only heard Piper once in person also when he spoke at Heritage Seminary in the mid-90's, and he has been given a great gift. He is given great unction by the Spirit. It is because of that, that he needs the prayers of God's people that he will stay true to the Word until the end without compromise.
Together for the Gospel was a conference I would have very much liked to attend, but I can only fit one big conference in a year, and this year it will be the Banner Conference, which has been a blessing to me every time I have attended.
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:27 a.m.
It was truly a great conference! The best I've ever attended. Dr. Haykin, it was great to meet you. See you in June!
Posted by
Steve Weaver |
10:10 a.m.
It was such a rare treat to attend a conference, hear seven speakers and not cringe at anything I heard. It was wonderful. Thursday night was indeed a highlight, though.
It is nice to be able to comment and say "thank you" for your blog as well!
Posted by
Terry |
12:13 a.m.
I agree with you, Michael.
The conference itself was quite excellent and Piper's message was clearly "annointed." Praise the Lord for letting us be a part of it all!
Posted by
Paul |
3:19 p.m.