Expositors' Conference 2012

This week I had the privilege of attending the sixth annual Expositors' Conference at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama.  I've attended five out of the six conferences, missing only last year's event, as I was in my first month of ministry at Webster Bible Church and didn't feel right leaving for a conference just then.

The first Expositors' Conference in 2007 and this year's conference featured two of my favorite preachers:  John MacArthur and Steve Lawson.  You can read their individual biographical sketches on  several websites, including their own respective churches (Grace Community Church and Christ Fellowship Baptist Church).  But I want to share just a word about how each of these men have ministered to me personally.

I first became exposed to John MacArthur's ministry when someone gave me his landmark book The Gospel According to Jesus.  I was in Bible college when this was published, and it rocked my world.  I came to see from Scripture the implications of Jesus' lordship over my life -- what Jesus really meant when He said, "Follow me."  Since reading that book, I've come to appreciate just about every other book and commentary written by John MacArthur.  He is a faithful, accurate, uncompromising teacher of God's truth.  My guess is that, if the Lord tarries, John MacArthur will be one of the leading figures of church history in this generation (along with R. C. Sproul and John Piper).  I truly thank God for the impact this man has had on my life.  All things considered, John MacArthur is probably my favorite living Bible teacher.

Steve Lawson was the other keynote speaker of the 2012 Expositors' Conference.  In fact, Steve Lawson is always one of the two keynote speakers at this conference, for he is the host pastor and a very popular preacher himself, speaking at major events such as the Shepherds' Conference and the Ligonier Conference, which are attended by thousands each year.  I first met Steve at the 2006 Shepherds' Conference.  I'll never forget his sermon on Nehemiah 8.  After hearing it, I turned to one of my friends and said, "I've never  preached a sermon in my life."  That's how I felt after listening to the passionate preaching of Dr. Lawson.  In the spring of 2007 he visited New England to speak at a conference and to do research on George Whitefield.  I was blessed to spend several days with Steve and to have him preach at First Baptist Church in Weymouth, where I pastored (1999-2011).  Since then we have enjoyed a friendship built on our love for the Lord, our commitment to his truth, our passion for preaching, and our heart for the local church (plus a common sense of humor!).

At conferences such as this, relationships are formed with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ -- friendships that will last throughout eternity.  The idea of worshiping God together free from any taint of sin, and full of sincere love for God and one another, keeps me encouraged on the more mundane and doleful days of ministry.  It also reminds me of how important it is to keep sharing the Good News, so that others can join the ranks of the redeemed, and bask in the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

"Take Heed How You Hear!"

The following article was originally posted on TruthWalk in November of 2007.  Every now and then we could all use a refresher on these practical tips on hearing God's Word, which is why I'm reposting them today.

In his devotional book, Taste and See, pastor-theologian John Piper lists what he calls "ten practical suggestions for hearing the Word of God on Sunday morning." This is based on his meditation of Luke 8:18: "Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away." With this verse in mind, Piper offers the following tips:

1. Pray that God would give you a good and honest heart.
The heart we need is a work of God. That’s why we pray for it. "I will give you a new heart" (Ezek. 36:26). "I will give them a heart to know Me" (Jer. 24:7). Let’s pray, "O Lord, give me a heart for you. Give me a good and honest heart. Give me a soft and receptive heart. Give me a humble and meek heart. Give me a fruitful heart."

2. Meditate on the Word of God.
"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8). On Saturday night, read some delicious portion of your Bible with a view to stirring up hunger for God. This is the appetizer for Sunday morning’s meal.

3. Purify your mind by turning away from worldly entertainment.
"Putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which I able to save your souls" (James 1:21, emphasis added). It astonishes me how many Christians watch the same banal, empty, silly, trivial, titillating, suggestive, immodest TV shows that most unbelievers watch. This makes us small and weak and worldly and inauthentic in worship. Instead, turn off the television on Saturday night and read something true and great and beautiful and pure and honorable and excellent and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8). Your heart will unshrivel and be able to feel greatness again.

4. Trust in the truth you already have.
The hearing of the Word of God that fails during trial has no root (Luke 8:13). What is the root we need? It is trust. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "Blessed is the man who trustsin the LORD, and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream" (emphasis added).

5. Rest long enough Saturday night to be alert and hopeful Sunday morning.
"All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12,RSV). I am not laying down any law here. I am saying there are Saturday night ways that ruin Sunday morning worship. Don’t be enslaved by them. Without sufficient sleep, our minds are dull, our emotions are flat, our proneness to depression is higher, and our fuses are short. My counsel: Decide when you must get up on Sunday in order to have time to eat, get dressed, pray and meditate on the Word, prepare the family, and travel to church; and then compute backward eight hours and be sure that you are in bed fifteen minutes before that. Read your Bible in bed and fall asleep with the Word of God in your mind. I especially exhort parents to teach teenagers that Saturday night is not the night to stay out late with friends. If there is a special late night, make it Friday. It is a terrible thing to teach children that worship is so optional that it doesn’t matter if you are exhausted when you come.

6. Forbear one another Sunday morning without grumbling and criticism.
"They grumbled in their tents; they did not listen to the voice of the LORD" (Psalm 106:25). Sunday morning grumbling and controversy and quarreling can ruin a worship service for a family. When there is something you are angry about or some conflict that you genuinely think needs to be talked about, forbear. Of course if youare clearly the problem and need to apologize, do it as quickly as you can (Matt. 5:23-24). But if you are fuming because of the children’s or spouse’s delinquency, forbear, that is, be slow to anger and quick to listen (James 1:19). In worship, open yourself to God’s exposing the log in your own eye. It may be that all of you will be humbled and chastened so that no serious conflict is necessary.

7. Be meek and teachable when you come.
"Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21, RSV). Meekness and teachability are not gullibility. You have your Bibles and you have your brain. Use them. But if we come with a chip on our shoulders and a suspicion of the preaching, week after week, we will not hear the Word of God. Meekness is a humble openness to God’s truth with a longing to be changed by it.

8. Be still and enter the room and focus your mind’s attention and heart’s affection on God.
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10, NKJV). As we enter the sanctuary, let us come on the lookout for God, and leave on the lookout for people. Come with a quiet passion to seek God and his power. We will not be an unfriendly church if we are aggressive in our pursuit of God during the prelude and aggressive in our pursuit of visitors during the postlude.

9. Think earnestly about what is sung and prayed and preached.
"Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in yourthinking be mature" (1 Cor. 14:20, emphasis added). So Paul says to Timothy, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything" (2 Timothy 2:7, RSV, emphasis added). Anything worth hearing is worth thinking about. If you would heed how you hear, think about what you hear.

10. Desire the truth of God’s Word more than you desire riches or food.
"Like newborn babies, long for [desire] the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation" (1 Peter 2:2, author’s translation). As you sit quietly and pray and meditate on the text and the songs, remind yourself of what Psalm 19:10-11 says about the words of God: "More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb."

"Make Believe"

After the worship service this past Lord's Day at Webster Bible Church, several folks in the congregation asked me for a copy of my dad's poem "Make Believe," which I quoted at the end of the sermon.  Here is a copy of the full poem:

"MAKE BELIEVE"

by James W. Fletcher

I often watch my children play,

And how amazed I am that they

Are occupied for hours on end

By games that start with “let’s pretend.”

They play at “house”, they play at “store”;

They play at “school”; they play at “war”.

They play at “cops and robbers”, too—

There’s nothing little minds can’t do.

Yes, “let’s pretend” contributes joy

To every little girl and boy;

And drab and dull would childhood be,

If it were not for fantasy.

The thought that weighs upon my mind,

Is some don’t  leave those years behind.

Concerning things “beyond the veil”,

They still let fantasy prevail.

They make believe religion saves,

And scorn the thought that sin depraves;

And so delude themselves within,

That God is dead or winks at sin.

They make believe there is no hell;

They make believe their souls are well.

They reason, under false pretense,

That works will be their sure defense.

Behold the final, fearful end

Of those like babes, who still pretend!

For in eternal things, you see,

There is no room for fantasy.

For fantasy oft times conflicts

With that which God on high edicts;

And fiction from the days of youth

Must not displace the written truth.

Because the Bible doth reveal

That mankind’s need for Christ is real.

Imagination has a role—

But not in matters of the soul.

And what of you, good Christian friend?

Do you serve God or just pretend?

Do you the Holy Spirit grieve

With service only “make believe”?