7 Highlights from The Shepherd’s Conference 2019

Fellowship with newer friends. As I did last year, I drove to Shepherd’s Conference (under 1,4000 miles) with my friend Josh. We have known each other for less than 5 years, but my love for this dear brother grows every time I am with him. It is rare to have someone your own age as a pastor who pours his life into you as you seek to do for him. The usual for pastors is to have one-way relationships; Josh and I have a two-way relationship. Conversation after conversation was stimulating, edifying, memorable and, at times, funny.

Fellowship with older friends. I always run into former classmates from my days at The Master’s College (now The Master’s University) and The Master’s Seminary. I expect those catch-up times. What I didn’t except within the first 5 minutes of stepping on campus was hearing someone yell, “Charles Heck” and it being an Indian Pastor I taught the Book of Daniel to about 10 years ago in Pune, India. Getting to hear how pastoral ministry is going for him and then walking around the book tent – per his request – making suggestions on what resources to build his library with was a joy.

Growing people

. Mark Dever’s gave a message during the general session in which he asked us the question whether we are more concerned about how a sermon went then if our people are growing. He exhorted us to plan to help people mature in their walk with the Lord and then gave us 12 suggests for how we could do that. I am always encouraged by how specific his ideas are in serving the body of Christ. A few of his ideas I am going to implement immediately, but I don’t want to share them here, because I hope to surprise my brothers and sisters at Wichita Bible Church.

Faithful Bunyan. During one of the day’s afternoon break-out sessions, each of the plenary speakers gave a talk on the faithfulness of someone in church history. I chose to listen to Joel Beeke (one of the modern-day resident scholars on the Puritans) talk about the faithfulness of John Bunyan. What a persevering brother Bunyan was! To spend so much of his life in prison writing some of the most important Christian works ever published shows you the dedication Bunyan had to building up the body of Christ. Bunyan’s blood was truly Bibline, as Spurgeon claimed.

Hospitality. One feature that stands out about Shepherd’s Conference over every other conference I have ever attended is the welcoming spirit of the volunteers. It is legendary! Grace Church has over 1,000 members take a week off to serve the conference attendees. And when you attend this conference, you cannot help but feel spoiled. Every day there is not only a hot lunch and breakfast provided, but the special treats throughout the day, the genuine smiles, the desire to pick up your gathered trash, and the help offered when shopping go above-and-beyond. What other conference can you have your dress shoes shined for free? What other conference has barrels of salt water taffy for snacking or a juice bar or an acai bowl bar? Oh, and did I mention that all of this is free?

Free books. Yes, you do get a box of free books when you attend Shepherd’s Conference. I usually have my own list of books I shop for. This year, I was able to come home with 25 books and I only paid about $22. Book nerds, you need to come to this Conference!

Celebrating 50 years. The primary reason I went was to experience a time of reflecting on MacArthur’s 50 years of pastoral ministry at Grace Church. Hearing this man preach and talk about God’s faithfulness to him was more than inspiring; it was worshipful. I couldn’t help but praise God for giving MacArthur all those sermons and books that have equipped millions of people in this lifetime, and who knows how many in the future.