Julie and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate some of the many evidences of grace we experienced at the conference. She has been amazingly gracious, supportive, and helpful to me during this season. One of the things I told her was that it was a joy to meet many of you who read this blog and are faithfully serving your local churches with integrity, passion, biblical faithfulness, humility, and a desire to see the Savior exalted. Thank you for coming to the conference. More importantly, thank you for honoring Jesus Christ with your lives.
If you weren’t able to make the WorshipGod06 conference, or if you’d like to listen to the messages again (which I’d highly suggest), you can download MP3’s of the main messages at the Sovereign Grace Online Store. In the coming weeks we’ll be posting the seminar messages.
For those who were able to attend the conference, we’re continuing the conversation at the WorshipGod06 blog. My first question is, “How did you encounter God?” One of my favorite responses:
“Add my name to the list of Reformed Baptist cessationists who were
extremely blessed by the entire weekend. I’ve got a LOT of thinking,
praying, and studying to do…”
For those who were wondering what songs we sang at the conference, I’ve posted the song lists along with the sources.
In the coming days, I’ll share some of the highlights from the conference, that I trust will help us apply what we heard and respond to what God did in our hearts over those three and a half days.
You said of your wife Julie, “She has been amazingly gracious, supportive, and helpful to me during this season.”
Please pass on to your wife that though she didn’t teach a workshop per se, I learned much by her example of biblical womanhood. What a gift she is. From warmly welcoming folks like me, using her creativity and good taste for the fantastic stage display, to running sound during the main session, your wife was truly an outstanding example of a wife using her gifts to make her husband a success! Thank you, Julie!
Laurie,
Thanks for your encouraging words to Julie. One of my very few regrets about the conference is that I didn’t thank her at the last session for designing, painting, and setting up the entire stage display. She did it over a period of weeks without experiencing any “last minute crunch,” while managing a household of three girls and supporting her husband. She was peaceful, gracious, and joyful the whole time. I have an amazing wife…
I want to echo Laurie’s encouragement. As an exhibition designer, I so appreciate the details Sovereign Grace puts into how things look. I was particularly impressed with the stage design; it looked fantastic! The banners, screens, lights, etc. added so much while being tasteful. Please pass on to her that her gifts are appreciated!
I have to agree wholeheartedly with that quote above from the reformed cessationist. I’ve always been leery of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Charismatic churches for most of my life because of the abuse I’ve seen and heard over the years. The Leadership of WorshipGod06 gave a clear, biblical, and careful treatment of the issues surrounding the presence of God in the church today and where the manifestation of the Holy Spirit fits into that matrix. I was deeply convicted of my being too quick to judge on some of these issues. As a result of attending this conference I love God more and am learning to pray with great anticipation that God make himself felt and known more in my life and in our gatherings as a church. Its been too long that I’ve dismissed the prominent ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Thank you for your careful explanations and for being patient with those of us who haven’t previously shared such experiences with Christians who call themselves Charismatic. I think that the fact that there were more non-Soveriegn Grace church people at your conference is an enormously encouraging testimony that God is using SGM in powerful ways in this country and around the world. Of course more than anything I am grateful to God for your commitment to biblical and historically accurate theology. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was the most refreshing week in years for me. May God continue to bless what He has so clearly begun in you and the ministries that surround you.
Thank you for an spiritually invigorating conference! A great shot in the arm! Take the comments which will benefit you to heart, and ignore the “elephants”. They will always look for a way to voice their complaints.
As an instrumental music teacher in the public schools, along with serving as a worship leader at church, you learn pretty fast that everyone has a critque for you, whether you desire to hear it or not! So I feel for you. But rest assured that God is pleased with your efforts since they obviously came from a humble spirit of service. That is really all that matters. I rest on the quote from Eric Liddell.”God made me for a purpose, but He made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure!”
He made you and I for a purpose, and He gave us a voice of expression-He gave us talents in music. When we play or sing, we bring HIM pleasure! That’s enough for me, but it’s an additional blessing to know that He has chosen me to help lead others in praise and worship of Him!
However, as a professionalal musician, we are on a different wavelength than others. One thing that really frustrates me is how casual most people are when it comes to playing and singing for the Lord. By no means am I the best musician around, far from it, but every note I play or sing, I honestly want it to sound the best it can because He deserves my best, and He digs it when I play for Him. I don’t want to give Him something that is any less! Am I human-yes. Will it be perfect?-no. But my desire is to “play my best for Him, (pa rumpa pum pum). I have a hard time understanding how others can be so flippant when it comes to their service in music for church. Even after some gentle prodding, it seems to happen week after week that some of our people will walk in very late to warm ups on Sunday morning, be unprepared with their music, delay practices with their actions and attitude, and try to justify it by claiming that “well, God knows my heart!” It is not a huge problem here (a few people) but in talking with other pastors and leaders that it is an ongoing problem, to one degree or another, in their churches . Maybe this would be a good topic for future conferences or a blog topic on what it means to “give of your best to the Master”.
Have to go to work. Thanks again, and God bless.
Vince