Shepherd's Conference.

I will not forget this past week. Why?

I attended the Shepherd's Conference. It was amazing. Awesome. Mind-boggling. Convicting. The highlight of my year. Need I say more? It totally went above my expectations. So much teaching, and so much worship took place at Grace Community Church. God certainly lit me aflame with passion there.

For those who don't know what the Shep Con is, it is a 3 day long conference where well known pastors and church leaders preach to other pastors and church leaders. There are other seminars through out the day tailoring to specific topics such as, "Why are we losing our Youth?" and "Preaching with Passion".

When my youth pastor had told me that some of the pastors who had been there in the past, such as John Piper and Mark Dever, were not going to be there, I had thought that the teaching was not going to be as strong. I was dead wrong. Way wrong.

To give you a slight taste of what I experience, I will write about the first sermon of the conference. John MacArthur opened up the conference with a sermon on Creation. How you could not possibly misread the Genesis account of Creation, in which God created the world in six days and rested the seventh. He based his sermon around 3 words; fidelity, simplicity, and priority.

In fidelity he stated that you can either believe Scripture or reject it, but you cannot alter it. If you don't believe the first 2 chapters of Genesis, then what chapters do you start believing in? If the first two are not true, then there are 66 books that have possible errors.

In simplicity, MacArthur argued that God's hand is evident in Creation. Psalm 104 states His sovereign control and care over all that was made. Colossians 1:16 shows that everything was "created through Him and for Him." Deuteronomy 4:32 asks a question whether something has anything been done "like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?" In Psalm 148, the Psalmist writes that Creation praises God. If you deny the Creation account...you diminish praise to God. Creation is a massive miracle.

In priority, he proclaimed that God, in His mind, had a purpose for His creation. Within the events of history, God is doing something. He has an objective goal. And when His divine plan is done, the earth will end. Isaiah 46:9-11 states that God's purpose WILL be established. If you tamper with creation, you tamper with the doctrines of salvation. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." As God created physical light out of the darkness, He creates spiritual light in the darkness of our herats. As the creation account progresses it becomes "very good" and more beautiful and this is the same as the believer's sanctification. God also sustains the world that He made.

This is a mere taste of what I experienced. What an event. What worship. I have been convicted of much things. God certainly used the Shep Con to help me recognize what I need to grow in. I've grown in a couple of relationships because of this and I've made a new friendship. Hopefully I can attend next year. After all, this was the first time I've heard a pastor said, "Go step on grass, kill a deer, and drill for oil."

By the way that was John MacArthur.