Advance09 recap

I got back Saturday from Advance09 in Durham. The conference messages along with the quality time had with the guys made for a great time. Props to Whitney for hooking us up with a free place to stay in Raleigh AND for buying the tickets the day after they went on sale so we could sit in the second row, 30 feet from Piper and company. And we actually we able to move up day 2 & 3 where we were about 15 feet from them, close enough to where Piper looked directly at me several times while he was speaking. That will keep your attention. Here's a flash-less picture of him from where we were sitting:The messages basically centered around revitalizing the local church. The two basic ideas that all the speakers seemed to agree upon is the need to live a life of repentance as well as to keep telling people about the person and work of Christ. Most of messages were good, but here were my favorite 3:

1. Bryan Chapell - Communicating the Gospel Through Preaching
2. John Piper - Let the Nations be Glad Part 1 & Part 2
3. Mark Driscoll - Ministry Idolatry

To highlight my favorite, Dr. Chapell began talking about how the love of Christ should compel us to walk with Him. He then started talking about the supremacy and centrality of Christ in the Scriptures. My favorite point in his message came when he began talking about the idea of understanding our position in Christ as God's children. Don't sin because that doesn't reflect who you are. You are God's child. He loves you. That is the motive for fighting sin, not some kind of behavior modification. That thought is incredibly freeing and compelling.

Alright, so for the rest of the messages, click here. And here are a few more pictures:

This was the crew (Matthew not pictured)Here are the guys in front of Duke Memorial Chapel:Finally, we stopped by Greenville, SC on the way back. What a cool city.Click here for the rest of the pictures.