In no particular order after item #1:1. Seeing the Lord of glory in the preaching of the word!
2. Having team time with staff and members of the church who will be attending.
3. Reflecting, as I did this morning with one staff person, on the great privilege the saints at FBC have given us in attending the conference. And praising God before, during and after the conference for their partnership in the gospel. I rejoice that the Lord has placed us as staff at a church that invests in us so generously.
4. Fellowship with the thousands of pastors, elders, deacons and brethren from around the country and various parts of the world.
5. 5,000 people (mostly men) singing Jesus exalting hymns! There's no sound like it this side of heaven!
6. Speaking on the first day, getting out of the way, then sitting down to listen to the word from gifted and extraordinarily used of the Lord brothers. It'll be feasting.
7. Related to the above, I'm thankful for the kindness of the organizers in not scheduling me to follow Mohler, MacArthur, Dever, Mahaney, Sproul, or Piper. Duncan will do an outstanding job before me, but he is such a gentleman he'll graciously leave me something to say.
8. Fellowship with old friends.
9. Time away with my wife and without the children.
10. My wife not having to cook or clean for a week, but relax and enjoy the fellowship in the word.
11. Seasons. I think it's Spring in the States. We only have two seasons... peak and hurricane.
12. Band of bloggers panel discussion before the conference.
13. Meeting new friends.
14. Have I not mentioned the books? Both free and available in the much larger book store area.
15. Two talks I feel a special need for in my own soul: "How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Service" and "Sustaining a Pastor's Soul."
16. I didn't start this way, but I've grown to be excited and thankful about my particular talk. I pray the Lord bears fruit from it.
17. 2006 was easily the most edifying, soul-stirring fun I've ever had at a conference. I'm looking forward to more of the same.
18. I get to see a daughter I haven't seen in about a year.
19. As much fun as it will be, it will be great to come back to the family at FBC and continue together in our pilgrimage to glory and life together in Jesus Christ.
How about you? Looking forward to T4G?
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27 comments:
Pastor Thabiti,
Thanks for sharing some of the reasons you are excited about T4G.
I've been reflecting this week about one particular reason I'm excited about T4G: http://icet402.blogspot.com/2008/04/heart-of-being-together-for-gospel.html
So thanks again for giving me more to get excited about!
I look forward to seeing you at BoB and hearing you preach that same day.
Grace and peace,
Chris
"How about you? Looking forward to T4G?"
After going in 2006, BUT not getting to go in 2008, I'm only looking forward to a great deal of coveting and envy this time around.
;-(
I will do my best, however, to rejoice with those who rejoice!
What is T4G?
Thanks.
- steve
Thabiti -
It will be great to see you again (at least from a distance) and you can be assured of our prayer for you as you preach your head off! (And please do preach!!)
The excitement is growing in Canada!
To God be the Glory.
T4G is shorthand for a conference that happens every 2 years (at present).
It stands for Together for the Gospel and the bit is that there are various difference among the speakers (and among the audience members), but there's togetherness for the gospel's sake.
It tends to be a pretty Reformed (theologically speaking) conference as well.
Here's the link: T4G.
Thabiti,
Sorry I won't be there and not the least because I won't get to touch base with you again. Have a great time.
It promises to be a great time. Like you, I am blessed to serve a church that serves me so well. Our entire staff will be attending together.
Looking forward to your message. Thank you for taking the task seriously. Isn't it extraordinary how God uses men to bless His people?
You would be just as good after those other guys as they will be after you.
I'll be there. :) Driving down (9 hours) from MD. Leaving bright and early between 11pm and 2am so I can make Band of Bloggers as well.
Looking forward to the singing, fellowship (hope to spend a few moments with you, Thabiti!) and a more.
I won't be live-blogging, but I'll be blogging.
I am grateful that in one place and such a short space of time we will hear from gentlemen who have dedicated their life to God's word. As a result I look forward to the spiritual nourishment that God will pour into us all by gathering so many faithful in one place to discuss the central and most important thing to our faith and our lives - The Gospel!
Looking forward to gathering with the saints.
Meg
Hey Pastor T, you're right, it's spring here in The 'Ville, and it's GORGEOUS. Dogwoods will be just starting to bloom, good forecast -- sunny and in the high 60s or low 70s all week. Lucky you!!
My prayers go with you and btw, a most excellent work you did on "lust and chastity" in the most recent Tabletalk! My heart jumped when I saw you contributed in this edition, I literally ripped it out of it's package to get down to your piece!..Watch out for my Yellowjackets next year, Coach Hewitt will have a breakout(2nd one mind you) year with his squad!!
Thabiti,
I am very much looking forward to hearing you preach God's Word! The last time I heard you preach was via podcast of a sermon on Psalm 119 that you delivered at CHBC, and it fed my soul.
I am also looking forward to spending time with a number of ministry interns who are planning to come to Colorado to work with our church plant this year.
And I'm looking forward to eating a "hot brown".
Scott
I am saddened by the fact that I will not be able to go, but I rejoice that this is out there for those can. What an awesome thing.
May God richly bless those who are there (and those who support you), and may the Holy Spirit flood the entire conference, and may it be a palpable presence among you all.
T.A. was outstanding at the Desiring God pastors conference in 2007!
if you run into Lance from the Bible Church of Little Rock, look out. He's a wild man. He's been recommending your book. If he finds you, you'll find yourself preaching here in Arkansas. He's very persuasive.
Pastor Anyabwile,
I am presently listening to your talk at T4G entitled "Bearing The Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church."
It is so refreshing to hear the authority and historicity of Genesis preached! The first 11 chapters of Genesis hold the answers to so many questions the world has and is asking!
I'm wondering as I listen if you are going to be discussing the Tower at all during this talk. As newly-formed people groups migrated away from the plain of Shinar, their newly-limited genepools would surely have produced, over subsequent generations, the kinds of homogenizing effects that we see today and term "ethnicity". What was not lost, however, was our common ancestry through Noah and Adam, and our common need as brothers in Adam for a kinsman redeemer, Jesus Christ. Bravo on your willingness to speak the truth and may God bless you and your ministry!
Thabiti, I appreciated what you said last night at T4G (and Band of Bloggers) It was a real blessing for me, and very sobering as well. Some great thoughts on how to look at one another as the Bible describes us, not as how we grew up seeing each other.
"We believe that. How now shall we live that?"
Great! I knew your message would be great. I can't wait to listen to the rest. And may God grant us to live in the way that you described today.
God bless.
Thabiti, was great to meet you at the bloggers thing. But more so we're thanking God for your message last night. So helpful to my thinking - about "race" but even more just about the way I relate to people and equip students for that.
You can stream/download the audio as it becomes available at http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/.
Wayne
Thabiti,
I Praise God for your ministry to us at T4G this past Tuesday. I was very blessed as i know many of the men were. Thank you for serving the Lord as He leads you! God bless you as you as you follow Him!
Christopher
Thabiti,
You were in no way inferior to any of the men in preaching at T4G. I was challenged just as much, if not more, by what you had to say.
I talked with my wife after you spoke and told her that you had put words to many thoughts that I have had running through my mind over the past 2 months or so.
THANK YOU! I will continue to pray for you and your ministry.
Hayden
Thabiti,
Timmy Brister has some great photos of you on his Blog----thought you and your wife might enjoy seeing them!
www.timmybrister.com
Thabiti, hey, I really appreciated your talk at T4G. One question: before the conference, I had pretty much looked at "races" as teh result of God's intentional design to the end that He be praised for the glory of His diverse creation. Is it fair to say that I was right, only I should substitute the word "ethnicities" for "races"? Thanks, bro.
Thabiti, thank you so much for your message at T4G and for your answers on the band of bloggers pannel, listened your message last week and have been sharing it around work (a Christian mission), so thankful to God for it.
Anyway I just wanted to express my gratitude to you and to Christ for using you!
Pastor Thabiti,
Thanks for the wonderful session on Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church, I wanted to personally commend you on addressing a topic that is seldom address among Christians. After the conference, I re-listen to your talk with my wife and it has stirred meaningful discussion about how to apply this message among our fellowship of believers.
Please keep the good work up. Your heart is having an impact on the hearts of many.
Thanks,
OT (Dubai)
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