A pastor's reflections.

My pastor, Greg Dutcher of Christ Fellowship Church, was able to attend a conference at Sovereign Grace Mininsties last weekend, and he sent me some thoughts from his encouraged heart, which encouraged my heart, and so I thought I'd post them.

Here they are:


How good and pleasant it is when brother dwell together in unity-
epecially RC Sproul and CJ Mahaney!

How good and pleasant it is when brother dwell together in unity- Psalm 133:1

This is a great verse, but its not quite as meaningful when the two
brothers are carbon copies of each other. Unity comes easy when two
guys are cut from the same cloth. But when RC Sproul, the epitome of
the Presbyterian Teaching Elder, and CJ Mahayne, the Hand-Lifting,
Joyful Preacher dwell in unity, that truly is a beautiful thing!

I had the distinct privilege of attending the Sovereign Grace
Leadership Conference at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg Maryland
last week, and I still haven't recovered from it. It was one of the
most refreshing, Christ-centered, spritually edifiying experiences
I've had in quite awhile.

Let me first say that if you have not heard CJ Mahaney preach, then
google him today and stream anything you can get your hands on. He is
a preacher of the first rank, and his impassioned preaching will
richly bless you. CJ models joyful humility in the pastorate like no
one I've ever seen, and its a blessing just to watch him worship,
pray, preach and interact with others. CJ leads Sovereign Grace
Ministries (a family of churches in the US and growing in many other
countries) and is still baffling the evangelical multitudes with his
fusion of Calvinism and Charismatic (Continuationist as CJ prefers)
distinction.

And who was the keynote speaker at this conference: the distinguished
RC Sproul. Now I don't know Dr. Sproul at all, but as a former PCA
man, I suspect that this was a highly unusual setting for him to
preach in. Dr. Sproul even joked (after being given a Pittsburgh
Steelers helmet by CJ) that he should have worn his helmet during the
worship time. "Have you ever stood next to CJ during worship," Sproul
teased, "if the left hand doesn't get you, the right one will."

But true to form, Dr. Sproul gave two phenomenal messages on the
holiness of God (in the vision of Isaiah 6 and in the earthly ministry
of Jesus), and you could have heard a pin drop. Few can preach with
the rigorous intellect and intensity of a Sproul, and it was clear
that his messages left their mark on the pastors gathered there.

What could bring RC and CJ together? As evidenced by their shared
ministry (along with John Piper, John MacArthur, J Ligon Duncan, Mark
Dever and Al Mohler) at last year's conference in Louisville, KY- THEY
CAME TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL.

That's what I most took away from the gospel. If we can forget about
"rethinking church," endless discussions on how to be more hip to
postmoderns, programs, new monastic communities, "sacred space"
discussions (like where to put the cool abstract art and candles in
our Starbucks-esque worship settings) and JUST GET BACK TO THE GLORY
OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST- OH HOW OUR PASSION FOR HIM COULD BE KINDLED.
When we simply celebrate the wrath-bearing, sin-bearing work of Jesus
on the cross and bask in the glorious story of the gospel, things have
a way of coming together. People- like RC and CJ- have a way of
coming together too!

Thank you to Sovereign Grace Ministries for hosting this wonderful
conference. I look forward to coming back for more!