Conference Recap: Biblical Mennonite Alliance Annual Convention

Last weekend my wife and I spent a good part of Saturday at the annual conference of the Biblical Mennonite Alliance. If you have known me for very long you know that I am a conference guy, I would rather go to a church conference than go to Disney Land. In the early days of my awakening into Reformed theology I went to any conference within driving distance but I haven't been to any in some time so it was nice to get the chance to go and bring my wife along. One thing I noticed right away was that there were a lot of women there which is a stark contrast to Reformed conferences where the audience is overwhelmingly male. At Together For The Gospel I would say, conservatively, that the audience is 90% men. So having a lot of spouses means couples that are learning together, even though some sessions were specifically directed at men and others for women.

I had initially hoped to meet some online friends there but they were not able to attend although I did get to meet someone I wasn't expecting plus some local friends we have known for a while. The BMA is pretty far down the spectrum of Mennonite practice on the conservative side. As I said, there were lots of women there and I don't think any were wearing pants and I only saw one with her head uncovered. The topic was "Suffering Love: The Way of the Kingdom”, a topic that is pretty timely. The event was held in Shipshewana, Indiana, which is home to a huge population of Amish so adding hundreds of BMA conference attendees means that this might be one of the most densely populated areas of Anabaptists anywhere in the world for those days.

I think that the Anabaptist descendants, especially those who have held more closely to the original tenets of Anabaptism, are uniquely prepared for a time when the church domestically will suffer more than most of us can imagine so I was glad to see this topic come up. I am not sure that the topic was handled as deeply as it could have been with appeals to history as a guide but I also missed a couple of the keynote addresses so I will need to go back and listen to them at a later date.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how much was going on in domestic and international missions from DestiNATIONS International, the mission arm of the BMA. If there is a criticism of "conservative" Anabaptists, I would say it is that they tend to be more concerned with protecting the flock than they are with spreading the Gospel. So seeing all of the places that they are reaching with the Gospel was great.

What sort of surprised me a bit was how unprepared some of the speakers seemed to be when it came to facing the hard questions that invariably come up. I could sort of sum it up by describing many of the speakers as knowing what they believe without really knowing why they believe it. When compared with other conferences I have attended the speakers just seemed like regular guys, which is a lot different than listening to someone like R.C. Sproul or Albert Mohler. In some ways it was a little frustrating for me but in other ways it was actually kind of cool. These aren't professional theologians, they are just everyday Christians sharing on a selected topic. I am pretty sure you can't stump Albert Mohler with a question on theology because the guys reads voraciously and spends a lot of time answering questions for a living. The guys speaking at the BMA conference probably mostly have just regular jobs so there was a noticeable lack of preparedness and polish. Again that has some positives and negatives.

The conference also reinforced and highlighted to me the sense of disconnectedness I feel. Everyone else had the name of their local church on their nametags, we just had "Indiana" on ours. While I am largely in agreement with the brethren in the BMA we just aren't really that connected with any local fellowship and that is really wearing on me. All conservative Anabaptist groups have, in my opinion, the same problem, namely that people who are exactly like them always end up feeling like they are on the outside looking in. You are either 100% in lockstep, specifically on issues like dress and technology, or you are not really part of the fellowship. There is no room for growth, no place for compromise. I understand the reasoning, one only needs to look to the left wing of the Mennonite spectrum to see how haywire things have gone but it still is difficult for people who are cautiously moving in their direction but not there yet. We may find ourselves just fellowshipping somewhere with the understanding that we really don't belong and that is an uncomfortable place to be.

Overall it was a nice time, I got to meet some people, spend the day with my wife without kids around, and hear some good teaching. Hopefully it will be close to home again next year and we can go again because it was definitely worth  the time.

Pilgrimage to Louisville?

In 2008 I attended the Together for the Gospel conference and this morning kicks off the 2012 version. It was a great time in 2008, loved the singing and the teaching and especially the fellowship with some brothers I travelled with and others I met there. Looking back I have no interest in spending the time and money to go back. I am more than a little troubled by the frenzy to buy thousands upon thousands of books in the cavernous book hall. Plus I can listen to or watch the talks later for free. So it was nice to go once but once was enough for me.

Today? It seems to have taken on a life of its own. There are more speakers, a bigger venue and seemingly unlimited hype. Far more than just a conference to encourage, it has become an event where all of the cool kids go. It has even generated a blog post about how to cope if you can't go this year and another post on how to prepare yourself if you are going.

Brothers, can we get a grip here? It is a couple of days of listening to speakers, many that we have listened to dozens or hundreds of times before. If you go, that is fine and dandy but when you come back don't hide away in your office and read the dozens of books you brought back. Go out and preach the Gospel to the lost, serve the least of these in your community, visit the widow and the orphan. Together for the Gospel is not the pinnacle of the life of a disciple.

Thoughts on celebrity pastors

Kevin DeYoung penned a post titled 7 Theses on “Celebrity Pastors” that presents a counter-point to the growing murmuring about the dangers of hero worship and cult of personality that pervades the church. It is something of a self-serving post since Kevin is an up-and-coming “celebrity” himself but he makes some interesting points. I think in total that he misses the big problem with all of this hero worship, i.e. that most of the men who are “celebrities” in the church are followed by other men who don’t really know a thing about them.

Here was my comment:

The missing link here is subtle but important. We see these men on stage in their immaculate suits and their soaring oratorical skills and want to be just like them (or worse expect our local pastor to be just like them). We are often encouraged to imitate or emulate men in the Bible but what is it about their lives we are supposed to emulate? How well they speak, how eloquently they preach, their skill in teaching? In a word, no. Paul in 2 Thess 3:7-10 speaks of the example he set but it was not an example of writing swell books and speaking at the best conferences. It was working a job, not being idle, being an example of work for the church. In Hebrews 13:7 we are told to “Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”. Sound words but how are we to do that for men we don’t know?

Honestly, how many men who attend Together for the Gospel or similar conferences have a clue what sort of life Al Mohler or Mark Dever leads? I am confident that their lives are praiseworthy but I don’t KNOW them so it is pretty hard to “imitate” a man I don’t know. What I know of Al Mohler I know from reading his books and blog, listening to his radio show back in the day and his podcasts and following his Tweets. That is hardly solid ground on which to imitate a man.

Christians follow “celebrity” pastors like John MacArthur, John Piper and even Kevin DeYoung because of their books and their talks. I used to live about ten minutes from the church Kevin pastors and I know lots of godly men in that area who live lives worthy of emulation. I also know that if you invited these men to speak at a conference, few people would show up because they lack name recognition and are perhaps not as polished in speaking as some of the “celebrity” pastors. I would say the average Christian man can learn a lot more from another faithful and more mature Christian man that he actually knows and can have access to who works a regular job and cares for his family than he could by devouring hours and hours of sermons and conference talks from even the very best “celebrity” pastor. Even the most pious Reformed American is in danger of getting caught up in the desire for entertainment and performance and for many of us listening to a well prepared and presented conference talk is every bit as entertaining as Jersey Shore is for someone else.

We would all do better to quit spending gobs of time and money buying yet another book by a “celebrity” pastor or attending yet another conference full of the big name speakers and instead spend more time building relationships with other “regular” men, men we can develop actual relationships with (and following someone on Twitter is not an actual relationship) and observe their lives as examples for our own. That is hard work and sometimes messy in contrast to a neat and tidy hour long conference talk but it is also infinitely richer.

I honestly believe that and that is a radical change for me as someone who used to attend several theology conferences a year and I would pick them based on the "quality" of the speakers. I am also expecting some grief over the comparison between going to a conference and Jersey Shore but so be it.

Is there value in learning from men like Mohler and Piper? I certainly think so otherwise I wouldn’t read what they write and listen to what the say. I think what is crucial is that we recognize the inherent limitations in this long distance relationship. Just as I don’t personally know, as in never met or spent any actual time with, Alan Knox or Dave Black or Eric Carpenter, I still find reading what they write to be instructive. Of course given all of our rather limited audiences I also can have interaction online with these men, something that is not really feasible for a John MacArthur.

We need to cultivate relationships with other Christians where we are. Those are the relationships that will ultimately have real Kingdom impact on our lives as fathers and brothers and husbands (let’s be honest, this phenomena of celebrity in the church is largely a dude thing) are those relationships with men we know. The men who I know and who I interact with in real life are not famous authors and are not getting invited to speak at conferences in front of hundreds or thousands of people but they are real life influences that God has placed in my path and I am thankful for them. Sure they have quirks and foibles but those are the things you find out and eventually cherish about them, things that you never see in an hour long talk at a conference.

This is another good post from The Resurgence

I am not a huge fan of Mark Driscoll but his post on The Crisis of Conference Christians is outstanding and hit kinda close to home, at least where I used to call home! I don't agree with all of it and of course he uses some off-color examples but I think he is right on the money with the danger of the Conference Christian subculture...

The Conference Christian

By definition, a conference Christian is someone who spends a great deal of time (and often money) attending Christian conferences. They love hearing the speakers, love singing with the bands, love letting the world know who they meet and what they are experiencing via blog/Facebook/Twitter, and love meeting up with other conference Christians. Some of these conference Christians somehow manage to work a job in around all their conferences. Others are ministry leaders spending tithe dollars to pay for their hobby/vacation/fanboy obsession.

Desiring God conference 2010

I am pretty much swearing off theology conferences but I have to admit I am tempted by this one. I love the topic and the idea of seeing Al Mohler, Rick Warren, R.C. Sproul and Francis Chan sharing a stage makes me giggle!



What do you think? By the way, that might be the highest production value conference trailer I have seen.

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Together for the Gospel 2010

So I know it is a year away, but registration for Together for the Gospel 2010 opens tomorrow! Having learned my lesson from T4G ’08, I went ahead and reserved a hotel room at the Galt House hotel in Louisville this morning. Last time we stayed in a hotel several blocks away, which saved some money but made it hard to hoof back and forth when we got 2-5 books per session and yours truly ended up being the book Sherpa because I had a backpack for my laptop. The Galt House is very nice and is connected to the conference center by a walkway, so we will be able to go back and forth between sessions to check email and drop off the books we get or buy in the cavernous book hall.

There are not tons of details on the conference yet, but the title is The (Unadjusted) Gospel and the speaker line-up is the same as 2008: C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan and Mark Dever, joined by John Piper, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul and Thabiti Anyabwile.

Speaking of conferences

There is another one coming up in August, the 27th-29th. Sponsored by Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Calvin for the 21st Century. Pretty good line-up of speakers...

As a sponsor of CALVIN 500, an international event honoring Calvin in Geneva this July (see here), Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary will also be hosting a follow-up conference August 27-29 on the theme, "Calvin for the 21st Century." The conference will be held at the Prince Center in Grand Rapids, which offers first-class accommodations. The conference will feature nationally and internationally acclaimed speakers such as Jerry Bilkes, Ligon Duncan, Michael Haykin, Nelson Kloosterman, David Murray, Joseph Pipa, Neil Pronk, Donald Sinnema, Derek Thomas, and Cornel Venema. They will be addressing a variety of ways in which Calvin can assist us in understanding the Word of God, the love of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, redemption, reforming the church, ethics, the benefits of salvation, and reprobation.

Joel Beeke is also speaking. Should be a good one, and the price is right at $65 if you register by June 26th. I wonder if I can talk my wife into another conference this year?

As a special treat for book hounds, they are having a deal on books at the conference as well...

Our non-profit conference bookstore - Reformation Heritage Books - will sell many substantive titles at low prices. All RHB and Soli Deo Gloria titles will sell for 50% off the retail price! Don't forget to budget for books! Not only are you be able to purchase books at the conference center, you are welcome to visit RHB at their store located just minutes away.

Any takers?

If it is April...

...it must be Reformed Theology Conference time!

I am going to two conferences in April, the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in Grand Rapids, MI and the Toledo Reformed Theological Conference in (obviously) Toledo. With any luck I can catch a minor league game while I am in one or both locations. The Toledo Conference I attended last year, this year it features Tom Ascol of Founders Ministries, Steve Camp of Camp On This, Don Kistler of Soli Deo Gloria publications and Steve Lawson, author of the new Long Line of Godly Men book series. Should be good stuff, and four of the five speakers are Baptists! The Grand Rapids conference features Don Carson (who I am very excited to hear), Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan. Should be a great couple of weekends and I hope to come out with a greater understanding of Christ and of the Doctrines of Grace.