2012 Shepherds Conference Update

Preaching Christ in Every Sermon

How do you get a fiery Greek preacher more fired up? Send them to the Shepherds Conference. Second year in a row, I got fired up again, but it was not because of anything new. My spiritual father, when I was a young Christian, used to tell me, in your Christian life, do not always look for something new.

Do not always look for a new experience or a new biblical truth. Many times, God wants to just deepen you in what you already know. And that's what happened to me this past Shepherds Conference. The one thing I took away was this.

The necessity and importance of preaching Jesus in every sermon. The necessity and importance of preaching Jesus in every sermon. Again, that wasn't something earth-shattering for me. I was already committed to it, but it was something that God took and deepened it in me in a deeper way.

Granted, when you're going through the Gospels or preaching through some of the great Christological passages in the Epistles, preaching Jesus comes naturally. But if you're preaching maybe through an Old Testament passage or somewhere else, you have to really work at drawing it out and really focusing on Christ.

I saw this as a major theme throughout all the messages. Steve Lawson, he preached on 1 Corinthians 2. And in verse 2 of that passage, Paul says, I have decided, I have determined, I have resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And he went on, Lawson did, to quote Spurgeon. Two quotes from Spurgeon. I take my text and make a beeline to the cross. And Spurgeon also said, as every road leads to London, so every text leads to the cross.

Then Pastor MacArthur, the first night when he opened up, walked us through the Gospel of Mark and how people over and over and over again were just astonished and amazed at this wondrous Jesus. And towards the end, he concluded with this quote, What's missing in today's pulpit is Jesus.

Al Mohler continued on this theme. He preached from Colossians 1 to 1 .8, our BBC verse, as we see on our programs every Sunday, where Paul said, we proclaim Christ. Tom Pennington continued on this. When he preached through Ephesians 4, he highlighted that the goal of the church was unity in devotion to Jesus and in likeness to Jesus.

And finally, Voti Bauschem, as he talked to the men about loving our wives as Christ loved the church, he said it flows out of the Gospel, out of the fact that what Jesus did on the cross for us, as Paul highlights in Ephesians chapters 1 to 3.

Preaching Christ in the Old Testament

Last Sunday, I didn't have an opportunity to be at the inaugural two services because I was preaching down on the Cape. So as a fresh reminder, I reread a section of a book that we received at last year's Shepherds Conference.

And in the book, it talked about preaching Jesus. And the example he used was about preaching on Samson, though I wasn't preaching on Samson. And the author quotes, says, Samson should indeed provoke our wonder, but our wonder at Christ, not Samson.

An expositional sermon on Judges 14 to 16 should be a Gospel sermon, not a sermon that could be preached in a synagogue or a mosque, end quote. As I close, I'm reminded of a group of Americans who went to visit London and hear two great preachers.

Sunday morning, they went to hear Joseph Parker. At the end of the message and the service, one of the men said, quote, I must declare, it must be said, there is no doubt that Joseph Parker is the greatest preacher there ever was.

At night, they went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear Spurgeon. After the message, the same man said this, I must declare, it must be said, there is no doubt that Jesus Christ is the greatest Savior there ever was.

I, Harriton Delegenitis, am resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Evangelistic Zeal and the Example of Spurgeon

Well, it's good to be back after the Shepherds Conference, but it was a wonderful time while we were out there. When I read the assignment to talk about something that impacted us at the Shepherds Conference, the first thing that popped into my head was a high fever that left me in the hotel room nearly speaking in tongues.

But the Lord was good. I got to go through all the conferences, the entire conference. I didn't get sick till Saturday, and then I had great brothers taking care of me, bringing me the all-important Jamba juice.

And it was a great time, and I'm thankful for those men that checked up on me and took care of me. But what impacted me most at the Shepherds Conference had to be Steve Lawson talking about Charles Spurgeon.

And what he was talking about was how Spurgeon, although a Calvinist, believing in the sovereignty of God and God's sovereignty in election, that he had an evangelistic zeal for the lost. He didn't just give the facts of the gospel and just put them out there and say believe, but he pleaded with people.

He wept for people, and he commanded people on the authority of Scripture to turn and repent and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a passion for the lost that we should all have. And that, although not something new for me, really, you know, the Lord really brought that out and deepened my understanding of that, my thoughts on that.

And so it really left me leaving there resolved to, in whatever I do, whether it be youth ministry or lost family members or people I run into on the street, pleading with them to turn and follow Christ because we know if people don't repent and believe upon the only way the Lord has made to be saved, that they are going to hell.

So it's an urgent thing, and seeing Spurgeon and the way he pleaded with people and tried to persuade people like Paul persuaded was just something that really stuck with me and really impacted me at the Shepherds Conference.

I just want to close by encouraging anybody who has never gone, any men, obviously, to go to the Shepherds Conference. It's really a time where you'll be refilled, you'll be encouraged with the other men there and preaching of God's Word and worshiping Him in song.

It's a wonderful time together and a wonderful time in God's Word. So thank you for listening to my update.

Studying the Word and Counseling the Lost

Good evening. I had always heard great things about the Shepherds Conference. Some of the notable quotes I've heard is, it will change your life, or it's like drinking from a fire hose. I've been invited to go previously, in previous years, by brother-in-laws on both sides of the family, but this was the first year that I actually had the vacation time and the resources to go.

I was a little apprehensive at first because it is designated for pastors and teachers. I never really considered myself either one of those titles until I started thinking about more of my own involvement in ministry.

I work at a Catholic college where most of the co-workers are Catholic with a faith based on traditions. I have shared the gospel with many, but it never seemed to have much of an effect. Recently, I'll admit my zeal for sharing the gospel with them has diminished.

I understand that as a father and a husband, I am also a teacher. As a family, we attend church, Bible study. The kids are very much involved with Awana, and I am always amazed at how much they absorb, and they're so much further along than I was at their age.

I have such high expectations of them, but I realized that I wasn't holding myself to those same expectations. Just like the zeal for the lost, my diligence for biblical studies had diminished, was minimal.

I needed a proverbial shot in the arm, something to get me going, and I was really hoping the Shepherds Conference would do that. I can assure you that I wasn't in the least disappointed. My first seminar, or one of the first seminars, was presented by Alex Montoya about preaching with passion and preaching for change.

Ironically or providentially, that seminar highlighted the well-known Awana verse, 2 Timothy 2 .15, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

We were encouraged to major on the major themes, the things that God speaks about. We should be teaching about the doctrines of the Bible and minoring in the things that are minor. However, in order to do that, we need to feed ourselves before attempting to feed others.

He used the quote, we need to read to feed. I found encouragement in the Q &A session with John MacArthur and Phil Johnson, besides being amusing, they were discussing how John prepares for preaching.

I was surprised to hear that John sometimes finds it hard to, as he put it, get off the launchpad while studying God's word. He also indicated that he is more energized by the time he gets to the end.

He referenced Proverbs 2, and verse 4 kind of stuck out to me because it says if you seek wisdom like silver and search for it as for a hidden treasure, then you will find the knowledge of God. Bill Shannon also emphasized the importance of studying the word when he stated, if you know and are trained in the word of God, then you can counsel others.

We are to persist in the things that God has given us. God has given us his word, and we are called to use it. Bill also pointed out that those enslaved to sin need to understand they are not dealing with a medical issue, but a moral issue.

I was also taught that you are unable to counsel anyone unless they are believers. They need to understand that they need the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and that they have exchanged the living God for an idol.

We need to evangelize to them before we can help them overcome their enslavement to sin. Scott Lawson gave a great reminder that we have a history of great preachers to learn from, specifically the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon.

He brought up a sermon entitled, Compel Them to Come, based on Luke 14, 23, and he stated that it isn't enough to just present the gospel. We need to persuade, compel, command, exhort, reason, entreat, threaten, weep, and pray for the lost.

I can't see how you can do all of that unless you love them first. As a result of the conference and the conviction of the word preached, I received that shot in the arm I was looking for. I'm compelled to get back into studying the word of God more diligently.

My options for studying are great since they gave us so many books along with the ones I purchased. A new battle plan has been implemented at the Thayer household where the television is off during the weeknights so we can read and study God's word.

I also recognize that I need to persist in sharing the gospel, but with something a little bit more. I need to pray for the lost and use what I learned from studying to persuade, compel, and even weep for the lost.

A repentant King David wrote, Psalms 51, 13 -14, Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. When I recognize what the Savior Jesus Christ has done for me and when we really analyze what it means to go to hell and what we have been saved from, I am compelled to love others even more and to share the gospel.

My desire is to lead others to the cross out of gratitude for what Christ has done for me and to give God the glory.

The Holy Spirit, Assurance, and the Trinity

Good evening. This year was my first time at the Shepherds Conference and let me tell you, it was an experience. Of course, Californian itself is an experience, but that's beside the point. While at the conference, I was privileged to sit under some amazing teachers such as Al Mohler, John MacArthur, and Steve Lawson.

Out of all of these, the message that impacted me most was John MacArthur's message on the Holy Spirit. MacArthur pointed out that out of the three members of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is most forgotten or most blasphemed, especially within the Charismatic and Pentecostal movement when they add things to what the Holy Spirit does, such as speaking in tongues.

They also blaspheme the Holy Spirit when they say there is no such thing as assurance of salvation. This takes away from the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, we have all heard it said that if we would lose our salvation, we could.

But that's not the case. Just look at Jude 1, verse 24, which reads,. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. The Holy Spirit also oftentimes receives the least amount of praise out of the Godhead.

Can you think of a song or a book written about the Holy Spirit? Because I couldn't, and that woke up within me a new interest for the rest of that message. The Holy Spirit is very active in our lives.

It is he who convicts us, who regenerates us, empowers us, and sanctifies us. Romans 8, 26 -27 says,. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. It is plain to see from this passage that the Spirit intercedes for us.

More than that, he intercedes in accordance to the Father's will. I guess I knew this as a fact, but I never really chewed on it for very long. I mean, we have two members of the Trinity interceding for us every day.

God the Son, who is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and God the Spirit, interceding with divine groanings. I just think that is awesome. Because of all this, I have resolved to give praise and honor to my triune God, God the Father, who is sovereign over all creation and knows all things.

God the Son, who came to this earth, fully God and fully man, to live a perfect life I couldn't live, to die on the cross as my substitute, taking the punishment of my sins for me, only to be raised three days later from the grave so that I might be raised with him.

And God the Spirit, who is actively working in my life, as one of two intercessors, interceding in accordance to the Father's will, and who secures my salvation, sanctifying me until this final day of glory.

All glory, honor, and praise to my triune God, without whom we couldn't and wouldn't exist. Thank you.

Evangelism and the Great Commission

This year, I was blessed by being able to go to the Shepherd's Conference. I was encouraged to be with brothers in Christ and sit under the teaching of great preachers like John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Al Mohler, and Phil Johnson.

The reason I want to focus on a message about a man... Okay, sorry. Although all of these men gave encouraging and convicting sermons, Steve Lawson's message on Charles Spurgeon is the one I would like to focus on tonight.

The reason I want to focus on a message about a man is because I believe that Charles Spurgeon is exemplary in many ways, especially in the area of evangelism. Spurgeon preached his first sermon at 16 years old and was already shepherding his own church at 17.

Throughout his life, Spurgeon hardly missed a chance to evangelize. He preached the gospel to everyone, even when he wasn't preaching a sermon. What about you? Do you need to preach to tell people about Jesus more?

I am motivated by the fact that lost people are running towards hell. They need a Savior. Also, the Lord has given all Christians a command to evangelize. It is the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 18 -20.

And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. I think that every one of us struggles in the area of evangelism, and we all need to be more like Spurgeon and obey the word of God in this area.

Although we might not want to talk to someone about how they can be delivered from eternal judgment, God commands us to. My desire is to be more concerned about pleasing and obeying God rather than worrying about what the world thinks of me.

Romans 10, 14 -17 says, How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. The day after the Shepherds Conference, my dad, uncle, and I were on a plane to San Francisco.

They were sitting next to each other, but I sat next to an older woman. I started talking to her about her sin, Jesus Christ being sent to live a perfect life, die in the place of sinners, and be raised from the dead.

She asked me why we had been in L .A., and I told her all about the Shepherds Conference and Grace Church. At the end of the plane ride, she thanked me for giving the gospel to her, and told me that she was going to visit Grace Church next time she was in L .A.

It was encouraging to have someone receive the gospel openly, and not push against it. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

1 Corinthians 9, 16. I think Spurgeon put it well on the topic of evangelism in this quote,. If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay.

If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for. We all need to be preaching the gospel day in, day out, to anyone and everyone who will listen.

We cannot do this on our own, so we need to be praying every day for strength to evangelize. The Shepherds Conference was a time of encouragement, conviction, and fellowship with brothers in Christ. I was privileged to be able to go this year, and I hope that I will go back soon.

I will end with another quote of Spurgeon's. If there existed only one man or woman who did not love the Savior, and if that person lived among the wilds of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of believers on the face of the earth should journey there, and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the zeal, labor, and expense.

If we had to preach to thousands, year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul would be full reward for all our labor, for a soul is of countless price.

Burden for Souls and Pleading with Family

As I sat in the living room with my parents, by marriage we were talking about the usual subjects, model airplanes, the weather, how my mom's health was doing, and I began to think about how there were merely eternal souls wrapped in flesh of fallen humanity, currently inflamed with the desires of their heart, and how this is merely a shadow of the uncontrollable flames of hell, the wrath of our holy, infinite God poured out for all eternity on them as they pay for their own sins.

My mind and my heart were burdened, yet my mouth remained shut. Flash forward to the Shepherd's Conference. During the session by Dr. Steve Lawson on Spurgeon, he shared perhaps with the passion of Spurgeon the evangelistic heart and fervor of a defender of the doctrines of grace.

With many of the men in this session, I started tearing at the thought of the urgency and the heart he had for winning souls, the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ and my own lack of evangelistic heart.

When speaking of the urgency and the immediacy of making a decision, Lawson quoted Spurgeon saying, you say, yes, but I should like to go home and pray. My text does not say it will be the accepted time when you get home and pray.

It says now, as I find you are a now in this pew. Now is the accepted time. If you trust in Christ now, you will be accepted. If now you are unable to throw yourself simply into the hands of Christ, now is the accepted time between God and you.

Later Lawson quoting Spurgeon again, speaking of Spurgeon's heart for people to come to Christ. Do you spurn it? Do you still refuse it? Then I must change my tone in a minute. I will not merely tell you the message and invite you, as I do with all earnestness and sincere affection.

I will go further. Sinner, in God's name, I command you to repent and believe. Lawson later went on. For some of you, this command will not be enough. So I shall plead with you to come to Christ. For some of you, this still will not be enough.

I shall beg you. For some of you, this still will not be enough. I shall pray for you. Flash forward to my father-in-law and I driving around looking for tools or looking at tools, bonding. And my plea with him to come to Christ started with an exposure of my heavy heart and worry for his final destination after death.

Telling him how his good works before a holy God only added to his condemnation, how if he did not believe and trust in the perfection of Christ's life, lived on his behalf that the wrath of God's judgment was poured out on Christ for his sins during the death of Christ.

The completeness of payment for his sins had been verified in the resurrection of Christ. And as a necessary result, repent and believe. Repent from his current ways. You will have to pay for his own sins in the eternal torment of hell where God's wrath will be poured out on him instead of Christ.

His response, I made my decision. To which I replied, I beg and I plead that you reconsider for today is the day of salvation and tomorrow is not guaranteed. And I shall now pray with a pleading towards God to change the will of a man who is blinded by Catholic doctrine.

It may have been tough to tell a person I love to repent and believe, lest he spend eternity in hell. Yet it is not the most difficult part. It is far more difficult. My heart is even more burdened for the person I love to reject his maker.

May I never shut my mouth again in the proclamation of the glory of God's salvation. May I always be able to give an answer for the hope that lies within me. May God Almighty use this frail, feeble creature to save some of his elect.

May the burden for souls that lies within me overcome my shut mouth. And may my tongue be loosened to show sinners their current fate and the beauty of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sole de gloria.

Leadership, Discipleship, and Training Others

I, like the other men, were thrilled and excited to be able to go to the conference this year. What is not to like? Let me tell you a couple of the reasons why it was special to me. I got to spend six days with my son, Scott.

It's not often that Dad can spend, as we get older, that kind of time with his son. I had lots of times when he was little, you know, changing his diapers and chasing him around the house. You know, love for a son just keeps on going.

So this was a joyful time for me. I got to spend time with 14 other men. I got to sit under some great preaching and teaching and music. I even got some opportunity to spend time with our pastors in a different setting, a more relaxed setting.

In Philippians 2, verse 4, let each of you not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. And Romans 15, too, let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. I've been thinking a lot lately, even before the conference, about the value in leading and teaching others.

This was confirmed by one of the seminars I went to at the conference. It was entitled Exemplary Spiritual Leadership. Many of us have ministries at BBC. I was convicted by asking myself about discipleship, training, preparing and equipping other men for ministry, leading others to be involved in ministries.

What I have to say, of course, applies to women, that is women leading women. Sometimes we refer to our ministries we are involved in as my ministry, like I'm the minister of visitation, like I lead a men's breakfast fellowship, like I have a part in the registration books and follow up with our people.

These are not mine. They belong to the Lord. They are for his church, his people. It is for the future and the growth of his church, the building up. You see, the church BBC is not ours. It's not Pastor Mike's.

It's not Pastor Steve's. It belongs to God. Others need to be brought along to take part in these ministries. So I believe that whatever ministry that you, each one of you, is involved in, you should be training and bringing others along.

So in your ministry, find someone who will come alongside and train them. We need to be able to say with Paul, follow me. 2 Timothy 2 .1 reads, And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Look for reliable, faithful men and women to bring along. This is nothing new at BBC. Pastor Mike has been doing this, he said, for 15 years, training men to preach, and we have had the pleasure and the joy of listening to several of them preach.

So I say it's not original with me. It is that I've been convicted of the need to be training other men for the work of ministry. It isn't just the work of the pastor. It's a responsibility for each one of us.

Too often we hear even Christians say, Why would anyone want to follow me? I'm such a sinner. If you're one who says this, you need to rethink about your relationship to the Lord. And then pray. As believers in Christ, we need a heart's desire to be like Christ.

We belong to him. If you're not living for him and like him, I want to encourage you to be on your knees in prayer. I want to close with what a friend shared with me. He shared his testimony even yesterday.

He said, Once I was blind, and now I see. And this is the case with me, too. Once I was blind, and now I see.

Justification by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone

I was greatly encouraged by the Shepherds Conference in so many different ways. And I can't even touch all the topics. But the one I wanted to talk about was the faith of our fathers. There was a very interesting session by Nathan Busen.

I'm never going to get his last name right. So you might as well just look it up on their website, because I ain't going to get it right. The essential question that he answered in that session was, Do we have the same gospel as the early church?

Did they believe in justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone? Do we believe the five souls? It's what we believe, do they? We remember the five souls. By scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, glory to God alone.

A secondary aspect of this session was that he brought up, What does the Roman Catholic Church teach? What do they believe? Let's start at the Bible and go back and find out. It would be strange if we didn't start at the Bible, because the authority of scripture.

That's what we believe. So, I have one scripture reference, because there are so many on justification by faith. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this, not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works. So that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. There are so many other verses that I could point to.

Romans, Luke, Galatians, Titus. But we have to move on. What about history? Does church history show us justification by faith too? The book of Acts is a place where we see biblical truth in church history meet.

There are three aspects of the true gospel appear right here. In Acts 13 and 14, we see the proclamation of the true gospel. I wish I could read them all. I don't have time. In Acts 15, verses 1 -5, we hear of the perversion of the true gospel.

This is where the Judaizers tried to add works to the gospel. And the preservation of the true gospel is in Acts 15, 6 -11. This is the first church council, the Jerusalem Council, which happened around 49 or 50 AD.

Where they said, works? No. It's justification by faith. We look in the book of Galatians for Paul's personal insights on the Jerusalem Council. But I don't have time. What about the fathers of church history?

Did they believe in justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone? Clement of Rome was a pastor of the church in Rome around 90 or 100 AD. And he was the fourth pastor in Rome after Peter.

The Roman Catholic Church considers him a pope. This is very interesting. Written in his epistle to the Corinthians in chapter 32, we see,. And we, being called by his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom or understanding or godliness or works, which we have wrought in holiness of heart, but by that faith through which, from the very beginning, almighty God has justified all men.

To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Origen said,. For God is just, and therefore he could not justify the unjust. Therefore he required the intervention of a propitiator, so that by having faith in him those who could not be justified by their own works might be justified.

None of us are justified by our own works. Hilary of Pretentia, Wages cannot be considered as a gift because they are due to work, but God has given free grace to all men by the justification of faith.

Ambrose had written,. Therefore let no one boast in his works because no one can be justified by his works, but he who is just receives it as a gift because he is justified by the washing of redemption.

It is faith, therefore, that delivers us by the blood of Christ, because blessed is he whose sins are forgiven and to whom pardon is granted. He had over 20 different quotes in this particular session, amazing quotes from the farthest of our faith.

He had 60 prepared, but we had to go to lunch, so we had to stop. I was so encouraged by this that I really want to learn more history. What about church history? Because we study scripture. It's wonderful.

I want to be encouraged and implored there so badly. Church history is amazing. It's replete with so many that truly see the true gospel declared. I also want to be pursuing being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

A lot of details. We're going to skip them. I could say a lot more. Hearing Pastor Lawson was amazing on Spurgeon, the way he brought it to life. I want to have a day where we get a bunch of guys together and we preach some of Spurgeon's messages.

I don't know when it will happen. We're doing it.

Preaching with Power, Passion, and for a Verdict

Pastor Mike gave me six minutes. I love it. Good evening. This has been a good night, hasn't it, hearing all these men? It's been a blessing to me to hear. I spent the whole week with them, so it's pretty cool.

If I could just take a moment to seize this opportunity to actually publicly thank Pastor Mike and Steve and the other men that were at the Shepherd's Conference. As Pastor Mike said, including the pastors, we had 14 men from BBC, which I believe is the largest group to ever attend the Shepherd's Conference in the history that we've been going.

Correct me if I'm wrong. With Harry's friend and Ferdy's friend, we had 17 of us all staying at the same hotel, three minivans, two cars, all having to get to Grace Community Church at the same time, on time.

If I asked them to meet at the lobby at 7 .15, they were there at 7 .10, and so the week went. So it was a good bunch of men, and thank you for that. I was just privileged and honored to be with you guys that week.

Also, just another quick note, this was the second time that I've attended the Shepherd's Conference, and as Dave can attest to and Pastor Mike, my son Josh was with me. So we had three father-son duos on the trip, a very special time for me.

I've told all three of my sons that when they're seniors in high school, they can do anything they want to do with Dad, a special trip or event, pretty much anything goes, and Josh said he wanted to attend the Shepherd's Conference, so how does a dad say no to that?

So what was the one thing that mostly impacted me from the Shepherd's Conference? I would have to say it was both the realization and reminder that as preachers we are to preach with power, passion, and for a verdict.

In his second pastoral epistle to Timothy, Paul wrote in 3 .16 -4 .2, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.