Thoughts by Young Men

I an sure that all ten readers of the TBYM blog are aware that I will be departing with two other staffers and one student for the twenty-two hour drive to sunny Van Nuys for the 2009 Shepherd’s Conference. Once down there we will be joined by three other staffers bringing the one28 representation to a total of seven.
What you may not know (and more than likely “CARE”) about is why I enjoy shepherd’s conference so much. Shepherd’s Conference is, very plainly, a conference designed for pastors (shepherd’s). I am not a pastor. I am a right-brained, right-wing media guy that currently sells computers part-time at a retail store.

In a simple answer the reason I have attended SC the last few years is for the discipleship. By God’s grace my world currently revolves around ministry and over the last three years of college I have been in constant edification with some very amazing, God fearing, Christ pursuing, example living men. Attending the shepherd’s conference allows me to immerse myself in even greater tutelage of God fearing men. What follows is a quick list of reasons I am attending the 09 Shepherd’s Conference:

• Tiny pieces of steak
  Go with me on this, its an analogy I’ve used for three years now. If you try to feed a full fledged porter-house steak of the highest quality to a toddler, there is no way its all getting down - its too much, too soon. However, by God’s grace I believe that SOME steak will STILL GET DOWN. So, I am going for the sound teaching, for the little bits that actually stay after the massive deluge of theological truth.
• I go for 2007
  2007 was, in my mind, an amazing year. Two sermons that I have listened to repeatedly is Al Mohler’s message on the Power of (expository) Preaching and Mark Dever’s message on Opposition and Hope - both of which can be found here under Shepherd’s Conference > 2007 > General Sessions - you may need to register first.
• I go for the 4 am conversations
  Still to this day I received one of the most “gut checking” conversations of my life on the importance of protecting not only my purity but the purity of others around me as well - at 4 am on in the front (hot) seat of the tahoe on the return home.
• I go for the singing
  There really isn’t much more to say, if you haven’t experienced it you can’t understand it. It’s MEN praising their GOD.
• I go for the books
  While I might have a read a tenth of the books I’ve received by this point - the quality resources are excellent tools to supplement my spiritual walk.
• I go for the sweet tea
  Obviously this is a joke, but the sweet tea is pretty good - not to be mixed with the butter mints, a newbie mistake…
• I go for the friday night roundup with the men staffers
  Raw perspectives on the one28 ministry from the heart of staff attending that year.
• I go for the view
  When the world is inundated with weak Christians and weaker Christian men who sit passively by and let/force the women in the church to fill the gaps from their lack of spiritual hunger - it is a shot in the arm to see that there is still a population of God fearing men who are leading their congregations.

That’s it. This is my short post on why I am going to the shepherd’s conference. During the coming week the blog format will alter slightly as I put the “shepherd’s conference” blog posts into rotation in the blue banner area. The moment by moment featured posts in the grey box will stay the same but will take on a decidedly “conference-esque” nature. Thank you for reading and I trust you will be in prayer for us as we make or way to and from the 09 Shepherd’s Conference! Enjoy!