Of the four speakers at this years conference (John MacAthur, Jerry Bridges, Randy Alcorn, and Helen Roseveare) the most beneficial for me was Jerry Bridges. His “Four Essentials for Finishing Well” were biblical and practical. His second point in that list: Daily appropriate the Gospel in your life, was one of those “Aha” moments; a principle you knew you ought to have known but didn’t. His illustration of the sexton used on a navy ship to make minor course corrections at sunrise and dusk helped to make very clear the essential need for a daily time with the Word of God that goes beyond mere “devotions.”

Helen Roseveare, a “retired” missionary to the Congo from Belfast, helped focus me on doing the “one thing” God has called all of us to do - and she showed from Scripture how God’s “one thing” is really “three one things.”

MacArthur, as always, was just excellent exposition and practical application of 2 Corinthians 4 during his two sessions. The word coming through him was convicting and encouraging, and the Q & A session with MacArthur and Piper, hosted by Crossway’s Justin Tayler, was a study in contrasts: Piper with his melancholy, almost depressed, personality and MacArthur with his Type-A, “I don’t have time to be depressed,” personality made it clear that one’s spirituality doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with one’s moods! Both MacArthur and Piper are deeply spiritually disciplined men, yet neither approach the ministry and its burdens in quite the same way.

Each sessions time of praise and worship has been outstanding! At least 45 minutes at the beginning of each session of worship led by Bethlehem’s worship team. It has been God-honoring and Word saturated and I wonder why the worship at my own church comes no where near it. I know the answer - it’s the hearts of people and not the programming of the worship that make all the difference. You have to want God - really want God - to see Him on display in worship. You have to be willing to surrender - to let loose - and letting loose has never been at the top of the Baptist’s “To Do” list.

It’s Piper this morning and then off to the airport and home.