Today was another great day at the conference. I must say that the conference hosts are very generous with books. I am loaded down with about 20 books that they have given to us for free.
John MacArthur, pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA started the conference this morning. He challenged pastors to preach the truth. He stated "Soft preaching makes hard hearts and hard preaching makes soft hearts."
Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC brought a message entitled, Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology. He challenged pastors to make sure that when preaching the Gospel, keep it pure and make it clear.
R.C. Sproul, minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel in Orlando, FL, also founder of Ligonier Ministries, and author of more than 60 books, spoke on The Curse Motif of the Atonement. He reminded us that because of the fall, we are under the curse of God. We live in a fallen, thus cursed world. In Christ, the curse is lifted off all of those who are in Christ. He said, "The Gospel is our only hope. And it's hope enough."
Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY spoke on The Doctrine of Substitution. The awesome love of God is seen in the fact that although we are deserving of the outpouring of God's wrath because of sin, Jesus took our place, He was our substitute and paid the price we should have paid for our sin. - - How awesome is the love of God!
Being a part of a choir of 5000 mostly men, singing with passion for the glory of God, is such an awesome and moving experience. I felt I was being lifted into heaven itself as we sang.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
