Next Conference

“Who is He?  If He was just another prophet, His resurrection is little more than a historic curiosity.” –Kevin DeYoung

The opening words of Kevin DeYoung’s main session sermon were these, “You don’t know me.  You don’t need to know me.”  Before the conference, many people such as myself has no idea who this man was.  Yet, after he spoke, all of his books sold out quickly and it was not because of his eloquence.  DeYoung had a passion for Christ and took the subject of Christ’s life, which some might ironically see as the most boring of the topics, as opportunity to explore Christ’s person.

DeYoung preached on a passage of Scripture where Jesus says very little, Luke 8:22-56, but says quite a bit about Himself.  This text contains the familiar stories of calming the storm, driving out demons from a possessed man, healing a sick woman and raising a child from the dead.  While the miracles are obviously miraculous in themselves, they testify to the power of Jesus Christ.  His wonders echo the words of Psalm 67 and Psalm 107, the latter of which reads, “He stilled the storm to a murmur, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” Luke 8:24 says that Jesus rebuked the winds and they instantly stopped.  No tricks. No magic spell.  Jesus simply commanded the winds to stop because, “That was Jesus’ storm.”

“This is not an ordinary man,” DeYoung said. “This is not a long shirt, soft-spoken, sheepish Jesus.” Read the rest of this entry »

“It’s one thing to say that Jesus is preeminent.  It’s another thing to live like Jesus is preeminent.” –Joshua Harris

In my Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary, the word preeminent means this, simply “having highest rank.”  A synonym for this word may be the priority.  When Josh Harris took the stage for Next 2009’s first session, he had a loaded topic to discuss. Many pastors, including his mentor, C.J. Mahaney, had preached on this topic before, even at New Attitude.  Yet, for the Christian, this old, old doctrine can never be outdated.  For while Jesus of Nazareth never ascended into nobility and died as a criminal, this man accomplished more in His lifetime than the human race has done in its 6,000+ year history. Read the rest of this entry »

“Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.  In these last days, He has spoken to us through His Son, whom He has appointed her of all things and through whom He made the universe.”  –Hebrews 1:1-2

Rarely will you pour your heart out to a stranger.  When I was assigned to my Next ‘09 small group, I was in a circle of strangers.  There were a few groups with other members of my church, but in my group, I was probably the only person there outside the Virginia/Maryland area.  And yet, when we began discussing Christ–His preeminence, His humility and His sufficiency–I found it rather easy to speak up in the group.  When you have Christ in common, geography and familiarity do not matter.  God showed me in those sessions the truth of those two verses above.  In these last days, He has spoken to us through His Son.  We all know the same Jesus.

Small groups benefit Christians where the messages cannot.  Preachers can teach the principle of Scripture and offer some application from the pulpit.  But daily application of the gospel is personal.  Not everyone is in the same season of life as the minister on stage.  Some may hear his words for the first time while others think about his words with a new perspective.  And some, who know the Scriptures and have sat under sound teaching for many years, may have wisdom even the speaker needs to learn.  To keep the application personal but true to the words, you need fellowship.  You need small groups. Read the rest of this entry »

“Never put the accent on the appearing and focus on that. Put the accent on Jesus.” –Sinclair Ferguson

“It’s almost a psychological-spiritual paradox,” Ferguson said as he began the final session of Next 2009. After learning about the glory of Christ in His preeminence, the miracle of His incarnation, His sinless life, His atoning death and His all-important resurrection, the Scottish pastor and seminary professor began his message with a peculiarity in the life of the Christian. Though there is a sense of eagerness to see the Lord in His journey, we joyfully and patiently await His miraculous coming.

Ever since our Lord and Savior ascended into glory, many people have come and gone prophesying the end of the world. Looking at “signs” from the world, at least a few people in every time period have thought they would see the world’s end in their lifetime. But their focus was not on that it was Jesus returning. It was about “ending the bad days.” It was about settling disputes on eschatology. It was about being “raptured up” before the rest of the world. It was not about Jesus. Read the rest of this entry »

“For (the Apostle Paul), gospel-centered meant gospel transfer.” –Dave Harvey

“I can very much relate to the description of Timothy: humanly speaking, hopelessly unfit.  I need a t-shirt with that on there…What God calls you to, God will give you the grace and the strength to carry it out.” –Jared Mellinger

Unlike the other sessions, this breakout told a story.  This story was about a man passing on the baton to the next generation.  You could almost say this was the goal of the Next Conference being played out in the Church.  One generation gives wisdom and trains the younger generation to hold fast the gospel.  When the time comes, the younger generation steps up and continues the work of the Church, to preach the gospel in all the nations and to endure until the Lord’s return. Read the rest of this entry »

“We can never think of His death too often.  Everything else can wait.” –C.J. Mahaney

Before C.J. preached this sermon, I prayed to God that he would preach a sermon on one verse.  Mark 15:34 was the verse.  God partially answered that prayer Monday morning when Sovereign Grace’s president exposited Mark 15:33-39 and discussed the all-important death of Jesus Christ.  He began with a story about Charles Spurgeon, who one Lord’s Day Morning at England’s Metropolitan Tabernacle came out and said that his message that morning would be one of repetition.  Like every Sunday, Spurgeon preached upon the cornerstone of the Christian faith, that Christ died for our sins.  The Apostle Paul said that this was a matter of first importance in 1 Corinthians 15:3, so much so that we he came to Corinth he decided to know nothing among the Gentiles except Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Read the rest of this entry »

“We are desperate for the will of God because we are searching for perfect fulfillment in this life.” –Kevin DeYoung

Out of all the sessions at Next, I believe I expected the least out of Kevin DeYoung’s breakout session for the men.  Having heard the phrase “equal in personhood and value, but different in role and function” so many times, I assumed this would be the same message on biblical roles.  I was wrong.  Though DeYoung’s message indirectly discussed the role of leadership for men, his talk delved much deeper into the problems with immature Christians in the Church.  Men won’t do anything.

If you have read DeYoung’s book “Just Do Something” (which sold out in the bookstore quickly after his message on Christ’s life), this message basically summed up the theme of that book.  Men don’t do anything anymore.  Outside in the culture, men will not make a decision because of all the choices.  In the Church, men’s lack of decision making has to do with a preoccupation with the will of God.  The evidence for this preoccupation is everywhere in the Christian culture.  You read seven-step books that have God’s will listed out as a formula.  In spite of Deuteronomy 29:29, “the hidden things belong to the Lord our God,” some minister from Atlanta in a pin-striped suit has the key to understanding God’s sovereignty.  As DeYoung explained, God’s will has only two aspects to it: His decree (His sovereign rule over the Universe) and His desire (His call to follow His commands by loving Him with heart, soul and strength).  The seven step plan assumes that a will of direction exists.  Somehow, this direction is a moment of epiphany where God opens up the sky and He makes your decision for you.  No such will exists.

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David and I found that it was difficult to blog a conference that you are attending. Usually the culprit was that little black “Next” wristband we all wore.  I’d be sitting down at Starbucks, just about to write my review of the session, when someone with the same wrist band would step up and say something like, “Are you enjoying Next?” or “How many Nexts have you been too?”  From there it just went down hill as far as blogging productivity goes. Which in my book, is good. Instead of forsaking fellowship for a blog, I was now partaking of fellowship. I never regretted one conversation that began that way.

The result, however, was that David and I got very little done in the ways of session review.  We posted one, and I think we have written two more, but we are going to hold off on posting.  Ffor every conference we attend (As an attendee and not a live blogger), we are going to do something we are calling Conference in Review. It will be different from live blogging in that we will blog about the sessions the week after as a type of review tool. So within the next week we will publish the other review posts along with links to the Next Notes and Sermon MP3s. Until then, we challenge you to get some rest and review the conference from your notes. 

I was so refreshed by Next ‘09. By God’s grace I have a fresh passion for the Gospel. I love it!

“The whole expression of God is Jesus.” -D.A. Carson

Rather than turning to the Christmas narratives for his sermon on Christ’s incarnation, Dr. Don Carson came to Next with one purpose.  He wanted to tell the Next generation about the gravity or the full implications of Jesus’ birth.  His humble descent from heaven’s glory to a stable is like packing the universe into an area the size of an atom.  Carson magnified the amazing grace of God embody Himself into a man.

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Only rich people can be bored. Though many people coming to Next would call themselves “poor” or “broke,” the fact remains that you cannot be bored if you have little money. A slacker expects and demands entertainment. Yet, the reason why many people didn’t come to Next was simply that they would be bored. Obviously the conference will be exciting. There will be bright lights and music and speakers and people and all kinds of exciting things. But the car ride is boring to some. And eight or more hours sitting in a car is not worth the time to meet Christ all over again. Read the rest of this entry »