headed to the shepherds' conference

i'm headed to the shepherd's conference in a few days. this will be my third sc--my last one was in 2004. i need some time away from work and some extended time in worship and preaching. i may try to post from the conference, if not--pictures and comments when i return.

i've spent the past two days working on our church's website--complete revamp. it's nothing flashy, but it's functional. i still have a few pages to update. that will also have to wait until i return from ca.

blogging from my pda

i'm testing a program called pocketblogger which allows me to post to my blog from my pda. i don't have a huge need for that ability, but i'm hoping that while i'm at the shepherd's conference, i can post one or two updates. the software does exactly what it says it will do. very little editing capabilities though. i can't gripe-- it's "donationware."

i've been reading "heart aflame - daily readings from calvin on the psalms." today's entry:

'as for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried...' - psalm 18:30. the phrase, the way of God, is not here taken for his revealed will, but for his method of dealing towards his people. the meaning, therefore, is that God never disappoints or deceives his servants, nor forsakes them in the time of need...but faithfully defends and maintains those whom he has once taken under his protection.

i've got a lot going on in my life right now, but nothing so big that God cannot and will not see me through it. and as promised, "the testing of your faith produces endurance" - James 1:2.

president's day

i went to work today...i think george and abe would have wanted it that way.

my schedule for the shepherd's conference (march 1-5, 2006). three of us are traveling together and meeting some friends from kansas at the conference. looking forward to a GREAT week in Word.

wednesday, march 1

• morning general session: john macarthur
• preach the word: a case for expository preaching (dan dumas)
• justification: defending the heart of the gospel (phil johnson)
• evening general session: john macarthur

thursday, march 2

• morning general session: mark dever
• on the shoulders of giants: snapshots from church history- george whitefield (steve lawson)
• cutting it straight: understanding difficult passages- genesis 1/2 (bill barrick)
• evening general session: al mohler

friday, march 3

• morning general session: steve lawson
• absolutely not!: exsposing the postmodern errors of the emerging church (phil johnson)
• keynote panel q&a
• evening general session: r. c. sproul

saturday, march 4

• cbmw seminar: al mohler
• cbmw seminar: ligon duncan
• local attractions (in 2004, we went to a usc/stanford baseball game)

sunday, march 5

• the Lord's day at grace community church
• head home

save the planet

several days ago, i caught a news story re: rick warren and a host of phd's who are concerned about global warming. they have issued a document ("call to action") entitled evangelical climate initiative. during the press conference, warren stated: "millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors..." i made some comments on another blogsite that raised the ire of one particular canadian. we exchanged a couple of comments, but the dialog appears to be dead.

several bloggers, much better at this than myself, have checked in on this topic. steve camp had some really good (and funny) comments. as i stated in my other blog (currently in the process of being abandoned), i don't think we should trash the earth, but at the same time, i'm not worried that God can't take care of things himself. quoting isaiah 40:12-- "[God] has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens by the span and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair of scales." it doesn't sound like God needs our help to save the earth, if that is what he chooses to do.

along the same line, steve camp points to john calvin's comments "about man's relationship with God's creation:"

"It is clear," cites Jason Foster, "that for Calvin, the creation is subject to the ongoing sovereign and providential governance of God. Commenting on Psalm 104:4. Calvin says, 'By these words we are taught that the winds do not blow by chance, nor the lightnings flash by a fortuitous impulse, but that God, in the exercise of his sovereign power, rules and controls all the agitations and disturbances of the atmosphere.'(11) Calvin rejects the view that created things are infused with the necessary inherent energy to sustain themselves absent divine providence, and instead, insists upon the necessity of God’s sustaining activity in governing the world.(12) So even though God... commands man in the pre-Fall period to maintain the quality of the creation, it is God who ultimately controls and cares for it, both directly and indirectly."(13) (Reformed Perspectives Magazine, Volume 7, Number 51, December 18 to December 24, 2005 )

Note: References may be viewed at steve camp's blog warren's wacky environmental agenda

i think i once heard john macarthur (touching on a similar subject) say: "shoot a deer, eat a steak, walk on the grass."

calvinism?

my dad very much dislikes the "concept" of calvinism. mainly, i think it's because he really doesn't know what it is (or isn't for that matter.) one of his main arguments against calvinism is john 3:16. he says: "God...loved the world, therefore salvation is available to everyone. if God loves the world, there's no way that 'election' means that God sovereignly chose some for salvation and passed over others." i've tried to talk to him; given him some literature, but he's pretty much made up his mind.

here's a good blog on what calvinism is not.

edit: i'm pretty excited. i found a new, un-opened set of hendriksen commentaries on ebay this weekend for $135. the seller says they'll be here in 4-9 business days.

self portrait

i'm trying to learn a little about html, etc. spent some time today playing with the template tags and threw together a "self-portrait" for my profile. i wish i could put the picture on my driver's license.

the shepherd's conference begins two weeks from tomorrow (03.01). i'm pumped.

symptoms of PDL

nothing much going on today. gym, work, home, bible study. a good day.

i read several blogs today by people that were asked to leave their church because they didn't agree with the purpose driven model. it made me sad to know that there a more people like myself that were labeled and eventually ostracized because they believed that church or worship should center around the word of God and not around programs. symptoms of a purpose-driven takeover.