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Shepherding Conference, Day 2 Wrap Up

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Was a full day at the conference, but I am finally back in the hotel and done with the conference. It was a full day, but so rich with such amazing content, challenging us to be better pastors.

Ray Van Neste got us rolling this AM. After dispensing with some common questions about how we go about shepherding and overseeing, this session got at some practical things including, among other things: praying systematically for people, teaching them our duty as pastors and having a plurality of leadership committed to caring for people. Doing this makes us more human and actually helps our sanctification.

Session 5 was Phil Newton doing an exposition of Acts 20:28-31. We have a need we can’t dismiss, with external attacks upon the body and deceit within the body. We also have a duty we cannot neglect, being on guard, shepherding the church of God and being alert to the schemes of our enemy. We are to do what God has called us to do so that God’s purposes are worked out in the body.

Tom Ascol returned after our lunch break encouraging a Gospel-Shaped Ministry. His outline was 4 ways Christ and ministry work together to shape Christian ministry:

1) The Lordship of Christ establishes the nature of ministry.
2) The sufficiency of Christ liberates us from self-consciousness in ministry.
3) The example of Christ calls us to self-denying consecration in ministry.
4) The glory of Christ delivers us from small-minded superficial success in ministry.

This sermon really functioned to get at how our modern ministry ethic is faulty and how we need to turn to the Lord. We must shape our ministry in Him.

Ray Van Neste returned with an exposition of Exodus 32 on the title “Shepherding A Rebellious People”. This sermon showed how people (including us) are rebellious, how we should not function as leaders (looking at Aaron) and how we should function (looking at Moses). I loved how Ray ended this ministry pointing us to the Chief Shepherd Himself, how we need Him to atone. This sermon really helped codify the content and bring it to focus. It was a great historical example of the principles we have observed.

Finally, Tom Ascol returned with a talk on Colossians 1:28. Jesus Christ is the Pastor’s message. The goal of preaching is the perfection of our people (in Christ). The content of our preaching is simply HIM. And the manner of our preaching includes warning, teaching and wisdom. We must preach and have Christ work in our hearts to pass this on to others.

All is all, this conference was a huge blessing and a reminder of some great things. I was encouraged that there are some things that we do well and humbled by things we don’t do well. If you are able to, I would try and access the Twitter feed and check out additional content. And, if you are reading this, pray that I would be the shepherd that God would have me be.

Shepherding Conference, Day 1 Wrap Up

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If you follow the blog, you know I’m in STL for a Shepherding Conference. The men I am here with and I got up and headed out for some lunch before registration, visiting historic downtown St. Charles, which was the First State Capital of Missouri, down on the Missouri River. After lunch, we headed to FBC St. Peters, MO for the conference.

The first session was by Phil Newton on 2 Corinthians 6:1 and following. It was entitled Pastoral Ministry, Part 1. Among other things, we were called to synchronization in ministry and dependability in ministry. It was one of the best messages I’ve heard on the list of afflictions in 2 Corinthians 6 and they were brought with great clarity to bear on pastoral ministry.

After a short break, Ray Van Neste (who blogs at Oversight of Souls) spoke on Oversight of Souls, Part 1. After highlighting how this practice of shepherding has waned in our day, Ray pointed us back to the Scriptures where we are told to shepherd the flock of God, give oversight. This talk was covered with Scriptural and historical examples. To put it simply: oversight of souls is the heart of pastoral ministry was the point of this talk.

Then, after dinner, Tom Ascol came and preached on how we should exemplify Gospel-Saturated Preaching. My heart resonated with this talk: I was convicted, I was encouraged and really benefitted from it. Ascol encouraged 3 aspects of Gospel proclamation: Who Jesus is, what He’s done and Why it matters. I found this helpful. His outline was: 1) We are to preach Christ exclusively — this is the one and only message we need to proclaim to everyone. 2) We are to preach Christ inclusively — both in evangelistic ways and in our most practical of preaching.

This was followed up by a Q & A, in which all men were humbly honest and excellent in answering questions prepared for them.

I’m full from a good day of teaching, and anticipating more good things tomorrow.

Shepherding Conference

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Today, I leave for St. Louis with some guys for the conference Pastoral Ministry: Shepherding God’s Flock at FBC St. Peters, MO (a church I was on staff at from 94-96, during my college days). It looks to be a good time. Here’s the updated schedule:

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
12:00 Registration
1:30 “Pastoral Ministry” Dr. Phil Newton
3:00 Break
3:30 “Oversight of Souls: The Heart of Pastoral Ministry” Part 1 Dr. Ray Van Neste
5:00 Dinner
6:30 “Gospel Saturated Preaching” Dr. Tom Ascol
Q & A Panel Discussion after Tuesday Evening session

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
9:00 “Oversight of Souls: The Heart of Pastoral Ministry” Part 2 Dr. Ray Van Neste
10:00 Break
10:30 “Pastoral Ministry” Dr. Phil Newton
Noon Lunch
1:30 “Gospel Shaped Ministry” Dr. Tom Ascol
3:00 Break
3:30 “Shepherding a Rebellious People” Dr. Ray Van Neste
5:00 Dinner
6:30 “Jesus Christ: The Pastor’s Message” Dr. Tom Ascol

Pray for humility for all the pastors present (since we tend to think we are doing better than we are) and for good fellowship among those present.

Pastor’s Conference Wrap Up…

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We are in KC today. We left the conference yesterday and drove in here. Ate some nice BBQ and visited with some old friends. Here’s the recap from yesterday:

We got up for a session called “Morning Devotions” with Paul Tripp. He masterfully encouraged us to be ambassadors for Christ in our families and churches (from 2 Corinthians 5:14-21).

The AM session featured the US Director of Frontiers, Bob Blincoe (Notes, Audio, Video). This session was a highlight for us. What stuck out was his phrase (borrowed from Dawson Trotman): “If you can’t see far ahead, go as far as you can see.” He related this to God calling him to serve in a missions context. Oh that we would have faith to go where we can see and beyond.

The conference wrapped up with a Q & A (Notes, Audio). There was some amazing interaction between the panel. Good stuff, really.

Our hearts are full and we look forward to getting back later today.

DG Pastor’s Conference – Day 2

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Today was the busy day at the conference. I started off with a breakout session featuring David Michael of Children Desiring God, which helped reaffirm my passion for training the next generation. I had a chance to visit with David and he was encouraging about things our church is doing to help children prize Jesus.

The 1st AM session featured Eric Mason from Epiphany Fellowship in Philly. (Notes, Audio, Video) His message was to pastors on having joy in suffering, especially as it relates to sanctification. It was a compelling call to this end.

The 2nd AM session was Sam Storms giving the foundations of Christian Hedonism (Notes, Audio, Video) I think what stuck out to me there was the reminder of God being the fountain of all joy.

After lunch, Piper gave his biography of C.S. Lewis (Manuscript, Audio). There were lots of zingers in this talk. Piper showed why he appreciated Lewis so much in his summary: he had an awesome experiential joy and a determined hold on objective truth.

After Piper’s talk, I was able to sit down with Matt Perman, Director of Strategy for Desiring God, and talk about vision planning, BHAG’s, and other things related to being organized and leading in terms of big picture direction. There were lots of practical helps in this time.

Finally, after supper, we were back for Sam Storms final session: Killing Sin with Christian Hedonism (Notes, Audio). This session got practical, again encouraging us to have joy in suffering. The session ended with Bethlehem’s Elders and Pastors praying for individual needs of the pastors present. Very meaningful.

Back at hotel, we are working to prep to leave tomorrow.

Session 1 – Sam Storms

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The conference kicked off with a video of a old guy playing with toys in a little kids play room with the quote from C.S. Lewis’ Weight of Glory about how we are satisfied with childish things while infinite joys await us.

From this, we sang about God being our Rock and Savior. We declared in song how Jesus is our Joy.

Sam Storms came and brought us a message from 2 Corinthians 1:23-24. The thrust? At the heart of pastoral ministry should be a passion to glorify God by shepherding others to find their joy in Him. This is the path that brings God the greatest glory. This message laid the foundations for Storms’ messages to us tomorrow. It was a deep way to begin, but helpful for establishing a foundation.

Check out notes taken or download the audio.

Review of Paul Tripp’s Seminar

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We attended the Pre Conference Seminar with Paul Tripp. Desiring God has posted notes from both sessions on their blog (Session 1 / Session 2).

Bob thought that what stood out to him was how he was able to relate every problem an individual or pastor would have needs to be brought back to the Gospel. He also appreciated Tripp’s sense of humor. And thought Tripp’s strength, real-life illustrations, were helpful in his communication of truth.

I thought that this session was personally convicting in many ways. Tripp was relentless in helping us see our hearts in ways that we maybe haven’t seen them in the past. He did this masterfully for all of us in that room. Question after question and example after example helped us see our hearts and how ministry temptations must be fled from for the help that is offered in the body of Christ.

I would encourage you to read through the notes from this session.

Getting Rolling with Pre-Conference Seminar…

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Today, at 1PM, we will be taking in the Pre-Conference Seminar here at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors. The speaker is Paul Tripp. Here’s a preview of what Tripp will be presenting…

For all of the excitement and privilege of ministry in the local church, it is important to remember that ministry with, to and for the Body of Christ is accompanied by a unique set of obstacles and temptations. Successful, God-honoring, productive ministry in the church is never just a matter of mastering the requisite body of information and possessing the right set of skills. Ministry in the local church, whatever it is, is always shaped by the condition of your heart. What are the issues that are at the heart of ministry struggle and failure? What are the protections that need to be built into the life of everyone who is active in ministry of any kind? How do we assure that the message of the transforming grace of Jesus Christ is not only operating in the lives of those being ministered to, but in the one doing ministry as well?

The schedule shows 2 sessions:

Session #1:
Title: The Pastor: Who Do We Think He Is Anyway?

Session #2:
Title: The Pastor: Not Yet Perfect, Still Under Attack

After this conference, we will register, grab some dinner, and prep for the evening session with Sam Storms. If I get a chance, I’ll update everyone later.