One highlight of my time in Minneapolis was finally meeting Sam Storms. I really enjoyed filming a series of interview clips which will be shared on the blog over the next three days. This first section of our time is about his set of two new books on the much neglected epistle of 2 Corinthians. This is probably the most important book of the New Testament for understanding how a minister can relate to his people through great difficulties in a christo-centric way. It is also one of the most neglected books in the Bible.

Here’s what I said about these volumes: In this set of two books, Storms in his usual clear, engaging, heartwarming style unlocks perhaps Paul’s most personal and Christ-centered letter. You will be reminded afresh that everything really is all about Jesus. Release the life-changing power of this much neglected letter as Storms demonstrates that its message can change you in every way.  BUY NOW

One of the joys of being a Christian is that we have brothers and sisters all over the world. One of the delights in being in a family of churches like Newfrontiers which has a strong set of core values and a shared story is that such ties are even stronger. Call it shared DNA, call it living in the shadow of Terry Virgo who’s example permeates the movement, or call it whatever you want, it is certainly very tangible.  From the moment I arrived in town and was met by a regular member who had given up his time to drive me from the airport I knew I was among my family here at Jubilee Church St. Louis.

I have had a great few days.  All the informal times spent over food, and around the Superbowl have been very enjoyable. It was also really good to worship in an environment where I totally felt like I belong.  Just the name of the church helped, since I attend a church called Jubilee back in London.  It also meets in a dark room with drums, keyboard and guitars blasting out worship, so that seemed familiar too! Seth urged us to be vigorous in our praise.  He said that it is like watching a football game when someone  has made a good play.  The crowd roars with delight and celebrates the success.  As he put it, “Jesus made a good play!”

It seemed like the congregation, mixed both in age and race as it was at each of the Sunday morning services did not really need that encouragement.  There was a clear sense of being caught up together to truly celebrate our champion.  The worship was punctuated in both services by some contributions, in the form of words of encouragement or prophecy. This tended to include some explanation of what the person felt God was laying on their heart linked to a Bible passage. In each service at least one of these was shared by a young woman.  Again it was obvious, as at the other USA Newfrontiers churches i visited, just how involved in the mission these women are.  Later in the week some of the women who work for the church took time out of their day together with some of the guys to watch me record video on the resurrection for their Bible training course.

The church was on the second week of their series on sex titled XXXposed. The pastor here, a considerate, intentional man called Bryan Mowrey spoke on building blocks to intimacy.  It was a message from the heart and one much needed.  I never tire of listening to sermons about how to be a better husband.  I surely need to hear them.  Of course, it made me long even more than I already do for my re-union with my ever-lovely Andrée.  Bryan’s talk would also be helpful for an unmarried person. I especially liked his argument that the word “single” is very unhelpful.  You do not have to be alone.  You have Christ.  You have Christ’s bride.  He wants you to be fulfilled whatever your marriage status.  A Christian man or woman can be secure and happy without a spouse.  Paul even seems to hint that such unattached people are more free to serve God’s purposes.

Bryan went on to point out that there is something far worse than being unmarried and lonely:  being married and lonely.  Marrying someone who makes your life harder and more miserable is a big mistake that it is almost impossible to recover from.  Worse still of course is realizing that you are the one making your partner’s life harder.  I pray that listening to this talk might help you to consider new ways of blessing your husband or wife if you have one, and may encourage you greatly even if you don’t.  You can download the audio.

It looks like I may well have to stay in St Louis for an extra day due to snow in Chicago.  It is a measure of how at home I feel here, that I am almost pleased at that (despite the inconvenience to my plans that may cause!)

St Louis is home to two churches I was keen to visit.  The Journey is lead by Darrin Patrick and I was so glad to be able to get there yesterday evening.  I’ll talk about Jubilee probably tomorrow.  First up, I think I like the idea of the time.  5 PM on a Saturday is “dead time” for many people.  To be done by 7 PM and have an evening left would be very attractive to many, I am sure.  I suppose that if you have grown up in a religious family it may take some getting used to. But if your preference is for a Sunday morning, that would be fine as they do have Sunday morning services also. The meeting certainly felt like an “event” and there was a lot of younger people almost filling the venue.  There was a pretty slick staging of the event, complete with a limited (and hence not too intrusive) use of video clips.  The band was very good technically, and we sung some songs I recognized from Newfrontiers UK circles.

It was very clear that for The Journey, the main event was the preaching of God’s word.  With a boxing ring having been built on stage to fit in with the theme of their series which was about basic training in the Christian life, right from the beginning of the service you were anticipating what was to come.  Darrin Patrick did not disappoint. This man is clearly intentional about everything he does, and a very gifted communicator.  I could definitely listen to him again.

The subject for the evening was prayer. Patrick took the Lords prayer and showed us the importance of prayer and having a structure and plan for that prayer. I cannot listen to enough sermons on prayer, for like Darrin confessed, I think few if any of us feel we pray enough. It was clear that this church was a well-lead, growing body of Christ. It was a pleasure to worship with them, and I commend Darrin to you as someone you will benefit from listening to. I understand he is also working on at least two books at the moment, and I hope to be able to tell you more about that at some point here on the blog.

As I continue my time with the Newfrontiers Midwest churches , I am reminded of the old-time pioneers.  They would load up their family in a wagon and head out to where no-one they knew had gone before.  Eager to put down a stake as a marker and claim the ground, some of the old towns were barely built when the relentless march westwards would continue.  There is something of the same spirit here.

I spent the last twenty-four hours with Tommy Stanley, his family, and church in the Kansas City area.  Some of my UK readers will remember Tommy from his days leading worship at the last few Stoneleigh Bible Weeks that Newfrontiers used to run.  When I met him, despite being told of this history, I did not recognize him.  We enjoyed much laughter and a Kansas BBQ before heading out to a special meeting they had arranged for me to speak at.  When Tommy went to the front during the worship time and led us by bringing a contribution, I had a sudden sense of déjà vu. In a flash I was back at that event which was such an important influence on me.  Perhaps not surprisingly the worship time here was powerful and refreshing to my soul.

I really felt like I was welcomed into the family of Grace Church, Lee’s Summit.  They were a great congregation to speak to, and I also enjoyed a Q and A they put on for some of their men on Saturday morning over breakfast.

The visit felt too short, despite my growing desire to be home with my gorgeous wife and children.  Being able to connect with them over iChat has made this trip so much easier.  I was especially pleased to hear that they had worked out how to make donuts (that could save me a fortune at Krispy Kremes in the coming years!), that my son Joel has been getting certificates for good behavior at school, and that my son Henry was so pleased to have got a 5a for his literacy at school. This is apparently the highest grade his teacher had given for a few years for a year six child.  He now wants to be an author like his dad.  Such little things make you still feel connected to home.

I am now in St. Louis, staying with Mike and Teresa Lawson.  Having so many brothers and sisters all over the world willing to open their home to you is one of the many wonderful things about being a believer. I look forward to visiting The Journey later today and Jubilee tomorrow.

I have had a great time here in St. Joseph, Missouri.  I traveled down with two men who I now call dear friends, Jeff Gates, the pastor at Living Hope Church, St. Joseph and Ben Roed, who with his lovely wife Peggy, are serving in Living Hope and are being well trained by Jeff. It was wonderful to see how clearly Peggy and Ben complement each other. They are relatively newly married, but it was obvious to see how much of a support Peggy is to him, and how her strengths will continue to complement and at times hide his weaknesses! A wife who will make you look better than you are is a gift from God.

Single men, if you think you may have God’s hand on you, make sure you marry such a godly woman who will help you achieve everything God has for you. Quite frankly, such a wife will be more important than anyone else in helping to shape you, all the time doing so in a submissive and honoring way. Beware, however, that as much as a good woman can make you, the wrong kind of woman can completely ruin you for any significant work for God.  The women I have met here, including Jeff’s wife, have all impressed me with their commitment to the cause, their warmth, and their loving support for their husbands. Anyone who claims that the women in our churches are somehow not valued and not given room to serve their Lord has not spoken to some of the incredible women we have in our family of churches, fully caught up in God’s mission and playing very significant roles.

All this, of course, makes me miss my own better half even more.  If ever a woman has had to put up with a busy husband who has needed a lot of help, a lot of “releasing” to do things like go on a two-week trip to the USA, and  a whole bunch of raw edges in him for her to lovingly confront,  it is Mrs. Andrée Warnock.  Thank you darling for being such a good wife to me, far better than I deserve.  I pray that I may be an ever better husband to you, and I long for our reunion!

Another woman I have met here was Gail Robins, who together with her husband Chris, have served me wonderfully by opening their lovely home to me.  Her passion to open a consignment store made me think of Proverbs 31:

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life . . .

She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.

I was also impressed by the many Christians I met here both socially and during the meeting that was organized for me to speak on the resurrection.  Nobody anywhere has yet disagreed with my claim that we have all been neglecting the resurrection.  Yet we saw in the resurrection yesterday a wonderful tool to bring unity. As one of the  leaders of the three campus organizations that cancelled their own meetings to attend the meeting co-sponsored by Living Hope and Frederick Boulevard Church, St. Joseph’s said, “How could we refuse to listen to a talk on the resurrection of Jesus?”

Speaking of Frederick Boulevard, meeting their pastor Micah Fries was an absolute delight. One of many things that has impressed me about Jeff Gates this week is his eagerness to reach out and partner with other churches and Christian groups. Micah certainly seems to have needed no encouragement to make such a connection. He is sharp, bright, self-deprecating, willing to speak of what he sees as his own denomination’s strengths and weaknesses, and eager to learn from others. Being placed on a list of ten influential young Baptist pastors has not turned his head. I saw in this man a servant of the Lord, and it was enjoyable to spend some time connecting with him. I feel that God has given us this opportunity to meet for a purpose. I hope we can serve the Lord together in some capacity, even if it’s just engaging with each other’s online material.

It has been a great time, and as I prepare to leave for Kansas (known to me mainly in my youth for the Wizard of Oz!), I have many great memories from my time in St. Joseph. I am very keen on God’s work being done in big cities. Though this place is not a big city, however, God is also very interested in towns like this. Even its residents would admit that there is not much that marks out this place as very different from many other American cities. They were the home of the Pony Express, and a place where trade happened in early times with local native Americans, but there are few other major claims to fame. God is very committed to a place like this. He takes the weak things to shame the strong, and the things that are not to shame those who think they are something special.

I met many people who God has made to be very special indeed. This place will always have room in my heart. This is not least because it is the very first town outside my own country where God has taken me to proclaim his word. Seeing a mix of students and older adults getting excited about the significance of the resurrection we have all so failed to celebrate  was obviously the highlight of my trip so far. Please pray with me that those who heard me last night will continue to study the wondrous implications of Christ’s resurrection, and that we all may be better equipped by our Lord to share the full gospel with those we meet.

The conference is now over.  Its reverberations now begin. And at the beginning of this post I want to say a massive thank you to all the staff and volunteers from DGM who ran this event.  Scott Anderson led the team and hosted the event incredibly well and the warmth and helpfulness from everyone involved was very much appreciated.  To partner in the gospel with so many brothers from another nation was a privilege.

Once again I found myself feeling very much at home in the worship time. Hands raised, great gusto in the voices, and a clear sense of the sweet presence of the risen Jesus. I’d take such a sense of Jesus’ presence over music that is stylistically identical to what we sing, but without that conscious awareness of his presence, any day.

The talk was on missions by the USA head of Frontiers, Bob Blincoe.  He laid before us the challenge of world mission, interweaving stories from his own life of being a missionary to Kurds in Northern Iraq with an explanation of how Christian hedonism helps the missionary not lose heart or give way to fear.  He said something which stuck like a dagger to me.  “I am naturally selfish and careless.” It hit me like a ton of bricks that the same is, of course, true of me.  I pray that my wife in particular will notice me becoming less selfish and less careless on my return from this trip.

Another great line from Bob went something like this: “If you cant see very far  go as far you can see and then see where God will lead you next.”

I found myself trying to really notice my surroundings today in response to Piper’s talk from yesterday, and experience afresh the wonder of the creation we get to enjoy.  God help me to change as a response to being among these people.

In the panel discussion the depth of insight and sharpness of thought these men demonstrated struck me, if anything, more than during the talks themselves.  It is worth watching the Q and A just to witness the discomfort on Sam Storms face as he was asked about the filling of the Holy Spirit.  As he considered what to say, Piper urged him on.  It will make a classic piece of video that I plan to watch again soon!

I don’t remember ever leaving a conference with as much to think about and process as this one.

A full day of further incredibly helpful and much needed pummeling about joy would be a good way to sum up today.  Worship continued to be meaningful and full of the presence of the Spirit.  The talks continue to be posted on the Desiring God site so you can read full notes, watch, and listen to them there.

Eric Mason is a very gifted preacher. He spoke about having written a Ph.D thesis on how suffering helps our sanctification. He shared how then God had required him to live in the good of it as his wife got very sick. Half way through the talk I realized with a jolt that I had been beginning to delude myself that life will always remain as sweet as it currently is. I have preached many times how Jesus promised us that in this world we WILL have troubles. To have such a strong reminder of the certainty of suffering and its role was good for my soul. I trust it will leave me stronger when I next face a significant trial. I trust it will also help me to keep the more minor hassles of daily life in better perspective.

Sam Storms served us so well, outlining in his first talk of today the theological principles that under-gird Christian hedonism. As I listened, once again a hunger rose within me to experience more of this joy that he was speaking about. I know I have been exposed to most of the ideas I heard today for at least a decade. But, like I suspect everyone in the room, I surely needed to be reminded of them, and there was much that seemed fresh and impacted me. I learned new nuances and an increased depth of understanding of these precious truths. True theology is so simple a child can grasp it, yet so profound we will be able to plumb its depths for eternity. As a result of this talk I felt a new confidence in the firmness of the foundation for Christian hedonism.

Piper’s very strong enthusiasm for the writings C. S. Lewis,  a dead man who he disagrees with on many points, was striking and informative. He claims to have discovered an almost immeasurable treasure by plumbing the depths of Lewis’ writings.  I found myself even more strongly convinced of the need for us to sometimes read people who we profoundly disagree with on even important matters in order to learn vital truths from them. One thing that stood out was  the need to recapture the wonder of ordinary things. Again, I pray that will help me to have a very different perspective on the daily minor frustrations of life.  In this session Piper was talking about one of his top favorite dead people outside of the Bible.  This is a classic talk which quite simply has to be watched, not listened to, by anyone who wants to understand John Piper properly.

This, and his biographical talk on Jonathan Edwards will surely form a pair.  I sometimes think that Piper is even more skilled at this kind of talk than he is at expositional preaching.  Perhaps because so few people speak in this way that is an unfair comparison, but certainly I can think of no better way to be introduced to some of the great heroes of church history, and understand their significance, than to work carefully through these talks, in many cases watching the talks more than once because of their profundity.

We might have thought that such treasure was sufficient for one day.  But Sam Storms switched gear in the evening session.  Having taught us well the theological underpinnings of Christian hedonism in his previous talks, he became less of a scholar and more of a pastor for his final talk of the conference.  He showed us how this teaching has its application in killing sin. This was one of the best explanations I have heard of why legalism or dwelling on the negative consequences of sin are totally insufficient to restrain it. The temporary pleasures of sin can only be expelled by the infinitely  greater pleasure of treasuring Christ. Having demolished the “prosperity gospel,” he then argued that everyone in the room has  been affected by it at least in part.  Have we accepted some of the lie of prosperity gospel?  Do we basically feel that God is obligated to minimize our suffering?  Are we surprised and indignant when he doesn’t? The truth is that there is something that God values more than our comfort! The treasure of us becoming more like Christ is of infinitely more worth.

Not only did this second day feed my mind, mold my heart, and enrich my Spirit,  but I also shared some fantastic fellowship with a number of different people. This included eating with some delightful pastors, and greeting many brothers around the conference center and specifically at the “greet the author” session.  Thanks to everyone who reads my blog who came and said hello. It was wonderful to put faces to some names, and to meet new friends.

Yesterday was an amazing day.  The relational warmth of the people here and their passion for Jesus is infectious.  It was exceptional to meet Sam Storms, who I interviewed via email back in 2006, and whose ministry I have watched from afar. Look out for a video interview with him in the not-too-distant future here.

I went to a “pre-conference” with Paul Tripp. He relentlessly pursued us all to make sure our private lives matched the public, urging pastors to make themselves vulnerable to others. He was so persistent, I thought he was almost like a dog with a bone. Not for the first time I found myself being glad that, although I get to serve in leadership, I am not at the helm of a church as the lead pastor. It can be a very lonely, and at times discouraging, task. We need to learn to do everything we can to support our pastors and be a blessing to them, not a curse.

I then had the opportunity to finally meet two of the many incredible people who have been working so hard behind the scenes at Crossway Books. I spent a few minutes drinking Coke (to help with my jet lag) with Angie Cheatham and Ben Krueger. To partner for the gospel with a group of people like those who work for Crossway is one of the many great privileges of my life, for which I am so grateful. Before I got involved in this whole process I naively thought that book writing was a solitary activity. It really isn’t.

Nothing I had heard about the conference prepared me for the exhilaration of joining my voice to what seemed like around 2000 other men as we worshiped King Jesus. It was great to see the way they enthusiastically welcomed the wives who had made the effort to come, and we all applauded them. As we sang arms were raised, and the presence of God’s Spirit was strong.

Sam Storms preached about the central place of joy in God. The message of Christian hedonism is intoxicating. It is well worth watching this message even if you think you know Desiring God inside out. We must be reminded often. I must be reminded often. Alhough I preached myself on “Rejoice in the Lord” not long ago, I so needed God’s reminder via this sermon from Storms of the need to really pursue joy in God. I especially loved a segment of this talk when he spoke about “joy inexpressible.” He explained that you know you have this joy when human words are no longer enough to express it. The joy rises to the point that mere words cannot express it.  Spurgeon described this well as follows:

“But there is yet another sense in which the Holy Ghost advocates, and that is, he advocates our cause with Jesus Christ, with groanings that cannot be uttered. O my soul, thou art ready to burst within me! O my heart, thou art swelled with grief; the hot tide of my emotion would well-nigh overflow the channels of my veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains my tongue. I wish to pray, but the fervency of my feeling curbs my language. There is a groaning within that cannot be uttered. Do you know who can utter that groaning, who can understand it, and who can put it into heavenly language and utter it in O celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear it? Oh! yes; is God the Holy Spirit; he advocates our cause with Christ and then Christ advocates it with his Father. He is the advocate, who maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.” Spurgeon “The Comforter”

Usually when I attend a conference, I sit through the sessions typing furiously trying to capture as much of what God is saying to us through his Word as I possibly can. This is not an easy task, but it is one I enjoy. It is something I am sure I will do many times over the next few years, as I have no intention of stopping.

However, preaching is not about making the process of transferring information from the speaker’s notes to the hearers’ notes as efficient as possible. We are meant to be impacted by the Word in the very core of our being, and allow our hearts and minds to be shaped by it. This is a holy moment. It is an activity of the Holy Spirit. It is something that does not happen to the same extent every time someone opens their mouth to preach. It seems to require the appropriate preparation of both the preacher and the hearers, not just the best preparation of his sermon notes. Over the years I have listened to many sermons that must have taken multiple hours to prepare yet had little effect on my heart. No doubt most of the time that was my fault rather than the preacher’s. But there have been times when I have not been well prepared to sit under God’s Word and yet a particularly anointed preacher arrested me and lovingly pummeled me with the Bible, leaving me forever transformed. I can point to messages I have heard more than a decade ago that are still having fruit in my life today.

So, in preparing for the Desiring God Pastors Conference that commences later today, I have felt led to on this occasion to lay aside my laptop.  This is to make it easier for me to  open my heart more fully to my Lord Jesus.  I long for him to lovingly confront me at a deep emotional level by his Spirit operating through speakers who are surely among some of the most anointed alive today.

Desiring God is very generous with, where possible, sharing notes of the sessions and both video and audio online. This made my decision to approach this event differently from a blogging perspective easier. As a result, here is my plan. I will not write notes during the sessions. But that does not mean I will not be blogging this event. Each evening I will write what will effectively be a public journal. I will document the effects the day as a whole has had on me, and the way I want to live differently as a result. I will actually share some things that stand out for me from the talks, but even more than usual, these will be described through the lens of my own encounter with God through his Word. Thus, for me a single throw away comment in the middle of a talk might be THE thing that spoke to me most. Don’t therefore look to me this week for an accurate summary of the main points of all the talks. Instead, feel free to join me as I chronicle the work of God on an individual’s heart. Please pray for me that God will shape me well through his word this week. It would be very embarrassing indeed to have to report that my mind had been wandering and I learned nothing!

To give you a taste of what is to come, I will begin this conference journal by reflecting on this weekend. I have had an incredible time. Memorable highlights for me begin with my delight in sharing prolonged times with my pastor, Tope Koleoso. His wisdom, kindness, and constant desire for me to be the best that I can be for Jesus is the chief means that God uses to keep me on track with him. His faith is inspiring to me. Flight time, restaurant time, and sharing a room in the hotel, has been precious. I want to follow this man as he follows Jesus for a very long time to come. His devotion to and dependence on Jesus, as well as his commitment to prayer,  is a constant provocation to me.  May God make me to be more of a man of prayer.

Yesterday we attended several meetings at Bethlehem Baptist Church. From the moment I walked into their building, and throughout every meeting we were at, I was struck by the clear sweet sense of the presence of the same Holy Spirit we enjoy back at home. We encountered God in every meeting. How appropriate it was then that God chose today to be the day they described a church plant called Jubilee Community Church to their congregation. Coming as we do from a church called Jubilee, we felt right at home!

John Piper’s sermon, and the talk by their new church plant’s leader, also resonated with me.  Their passion to serve the poor, but to do that while also sharing the gospel with them, is something that has been very much on our hearts back home.

As the planter pointed out so helpfully, the Spirit is on us in order that we can bring liberation to those who are poor.  In particular, Piper made the point that Jesus who is glorified and all powerful has promised that HE that will build his church.  A theme which seemed to underlie the day for me was the way they clearly felt needing to be good stewards of the remarkable outpouring of grace that their church has experienced.  Not every church is as blessed as Bethlehem.

It was a delight also to renew our friendship with some dear friends – David Livingstone and his wife Karin (as well as meeting one of their daughters).  They had previously visited us in London, but we turned up unannounced on Sunday morning at the Bethlehem campus David is the pastor of. We spent some precious time with them, and found in them such real kindred spirits. To visit a church for just a day and yet feel you are among dear brothers and sisters is something very special. It is a rare thing, but one in which I delight.

We also walked through the Mall of America, apparently we passed around 90% of the shops there, which is no small feat! I ended the weekend full of thankfulness to God for his abundant grace towards us. I was glad to hear that, as my wife put it, church back at home was “great” and when iChatting for just a few moments with the family back home, it was good to see that they all seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves without me!

Phil Johnson describes the release of a volume of previously unpublished sermons from the undisputed prince of preachers.  Pray that God will raise up men like this to declare boldly his word, going after lost souls and complacent saints in the same message.  His was a voice you simply couldn’t ignore. Out of love for Jesus, and his passion for the lost, his bold preaching gathered a truly large church.  Many preachers today would not dream of preaching about a passage before seeing what Spurgeon had to say about it.  Here are some words from Phil’s forward to this exciting new volume:

Charles Spurgeon’s published sermons undoubtedly constitute the largest body of significant literature from the mind of a single author in the history of publishing. It is a legacy that will almost surely never be surpassed. Comprising an estimated 25 million words, the 3,563 sermons of the New Park Street Pulpit and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit volumes contain more content than the Encyclopedia Britannica . . .

The fact that so many of Spurgeon’s messages have remained unpublished long after any paper shortage hindered the work is a decades-long travesty, and I’m thrilled Terence Crosby and DayOne are beginning to remedy it. The volume you hold in your hands is the first full-length supplement to The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit since my great grandfather’s era, and I am delighted to have it finally for my shelves.

via Pyromaniacs: New Spurgeon Sermons.

The publisher has put a sample online, and here is an extract of the treasures contained within this new book:

Well, now, for the noble rivalry, which of us shall love him most? Brethren, I hope you will every one of you excel me in this, but I will try my best to surpass you all. I should not like to sit down complaisantly, and say, ‘There, then, you may all love Jesus Christ more than I do.’ No; but I hope you will. And yet it shall be my aim by thought, by word and by deed, to offer the highest conceivable expression of my love to my blessed Saviour. I would, and I will, by the help of the Holy Spirit, give myself unreservedly to him. And then, if you take precedence of me, I shall have one consolation, like him of old in the Roman State, who, when others were elected to be consuls before him, said he was thankful that his country had better men than himself.

Let this searching question be seriously entertained by us all, ‘Which of us shall love him most?’ Let it not be which of us shall talk most pretentiously about him, nor which shall make the loudest profession. . .we do pray that our love to Jesus may increase in depth and volume, like the water of a full river fed by many springs; and that our love to Jesus may burn vehemently, and shine more and more brightly, like a fire which many waters cannot quench, neither can the floods drown it. May we be wholly given up unto him who loved us and gave himself for us! Which of us shall love him most? Let this question stimulate us during the week and throughout our lives, and may God help us to press forward in the sacred race, and win the coveted prize of his approbation, as disciples whom he specially favours and servants he delights to honour!  READ MORE

On my recent visit to northern England, I was able to interview the leader of the Newfrontiers North team. I was deeply impressed with what I saw and heard during the day as his team of around 100 people gathered. God is doing a great work in the North of England and many healthy growing churches have been planted. There was also an amazing sense of community and true friendship in the room. It was wonderful to see a group of leaders with very different gifts and personalities fused together into a team. The team laughed, but clearly also had a serious edge as they work hard together to continue the wonderful mission of seeing people meet with Jesus and be transformed by joining Christ’s church.   It was at the end of a day which excited me about what God is doing that I was delighted to film the following interview:

This weekend I embark on a two-week trip on the other side of what we affectionately call “The Pond.” I would value your prayers and look forward to meeting some of you. In some ways I wish I could stay longer and make it to more places, but this is the longest I would want to be away from my family. I thank God for iChat which will help me stay in touch with them.

I do plan to blog about some of my experiences. Then, once I am home, Raised With Christ information will, as much as possible, be confined to the book’s own website, though headlines will continue to appear in the sidebar. I am eager to get back to “normal” blogging, if there is such a thing!

Here is my schedule:

Saturday, January 30
Travel to Minneapolis

Sunday, January 31
Attending Bethlehem Baptist Church

Monday, February 1 – Wednesday, February 3
Attending the Desiring God Conference
1 PM CT (2 PM ET, 7 PM UK) on February 1 Live radio and Web interview with Janet Mefferd
8:45 PM on February 2 Taking part in a “Meet The Author” and book signing.

Wednesday, February 3
Traveling to St Joseph, Missouri

Thursday, February 4
4 PM – 6 PM Book signing and “Meet the Author” at local Borders Bookstore.
7 PM Speaking at joint meeting at Popplewell Room, Missouri Western State University co-sponsored by Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church and Living Hope Church

Friday, February 5
7 PM Speaking at Grace Church, Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Saturday, February 6
Traveling to St. Louis

Sunday, February 7
Attending both Jubilee Church, St. Louis and The Journey
Hoping to attend a Super Bowl party to enhance my American cultural knowledge!

Monday, February 8
Informal meeting with local church leaders and free time.

Tuesday, February 9
Traveling to Chicago area.

Wednesday, February 10
Free day, except:
1 PM CT Recording Interview for Bob Boyd

Thursday, February 11
Speaking at Crossway Books staff chapel service and having various meetings with people from my favorite publisher.

Friday, February 12
7 AM Live from the studio of the Moody Morning Show
Then recording an interview for Moody Primetime.
Flying home!

I won’t be on this for a while as I am going away with my lovely wife and some other couples, then attending Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting. See you when I get back.

R. Kent Hughes:

Gossip involves saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to his or her face.

Flattery means saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind his or her back.

Disciplines of a Godly Man, p. 139

via Justin Taylor.