9 hours out, 9 hours back. I literally just stepped through my front door about 9 minutes ago. No speeding tickets, no accidents, no deer walking out in the middle of I-79, no driving off the edge of a mountain…. God is GOOD.

Of course, it’s now 1 am. So any in-depth analysis of Day 3 (C.J. Mahaney and John MacArthur) will have to wait until later.

But in brief:

C.J.‘s session started off like most C.J. sermons do – long introduction with what appear to be unrelated jokes and comments – and as he gets into the text, you find out all that stuff directly related to his sermon. His session – Watch Your Life and Doctrine – was a great one indeed and served as a call to self-examination for all of the pastors in the room.

I learned a lot about C.J. during this conference. One good thing about Charismatic folk is that they have a tendency to be very transparent. Yes, we know that doesn’t work for everyone in the body of Christ because some folks – especially the reformed – can be introverted. But it works for some folks and that’s a good thing.

and finally…..

John MacArthur finished off with his reflections on 40 years of ministry. Intersparsed with a few very informative anecdotes about his early days in seminary, MacArthur gave us 8 reasons to preach expository and 3 benefits of it.

C.J. and John MacArthur were a good ‘combo’ to end off the conference – C.J.’s session combined with MacArthur’s experience make for a GREAT bit of encouragement and sober reflection on the office of pastor.

The last panel talk was a good one.

There is much I have to say about T4G. I praise God that I was allowed to go to this conference. I learned much, my spirit was calmed, focused and centered by the messages given, the feeling of being around 2999 other men singing praise to God, encouraging each other and treating this whole thing like we were truly family – and we ARE!!!

There was nothing like being there. Yeah, you can get the messages online. But the fellowship and friendships that were formed at this conference made the registration fee worth it. And the corporate worship (loaded term! ) and singing of praise to God was PHENOMENAL.

I can’t even put it in words. Just listen.

(Lyrics located here: I will glory in my redeemer. )
(I Will Glory in My Redeemer, written by Steve and Vikki Cook, Copyright 2001 PDI Worship (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used By Permission. www.sovgracemin.org. )

and no, I didn’t record everything (and didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to be recording ANYTHING….). I bought CD’s (they’re worth it!). I just caught this song via cell phone and e-mailed it to myself.

Enjoy.

Good night.