Content at Home

So we made it through the three days of excellent teaching from the T4G guys! We had a WONDERFUL time and are so very grateful for being able to attend. We were blessed in so many ways this week! There is so much we learned and are still trying to digest, plus we are seeking to learn how to implement it in our lives. Since Kyle is not an "official pastor" and I am not an "official pastor's wife" we are talking of ways that we can take what we learned and apply it in our own ministry context. It should not be hard because the Gospel applies to all contexts! :-)


As we ate lunch yesterday after the conference at a great sub place, Jimmy John's, with our friends from Texas, one friend asked each of us what one thing from the conference were we planning on putting into action in our lives when we returned home. As I listened to the other guys talk and reflected on the various messages that I really enjoyed, I realized that I really had two things, that in some way wrap up into one.


Thabiti Anyabwile preached an excellent session on "How Wrongly 'Engaging the Culture' Adjusts the Gospel." He pointed out that so many pastors and churches are now seeking to "engage the culture" and draw people in by becoming more like them. Yet he reminded us that we are not to be taken captive by the world but are to be captivated by Jesus Christ. In our day and age, everyone is defined by the culture they live in. Each country, state, community, etc... has their own "culture" that everyone knows them by. One excellent question he asked was: "If we are all defined by our culture, then what does it mean for us to be apart of God's people?" How does being apart of God's people define us before the world? Then he said this: "Christianity is multi-ethnic but it is not multi-cultural!" Wow! I was really captured by this comment! As the people of God, He has called us from every tribe and nation, so we are multi-ethnic. Yet, He calls us to all conform to the image of His Son... this produces a Christian culture in that we are all to be apart of. Thabiti pointed out that in the NT Paul writes to the church, not the culture. He sought to transform people by the cross and for them to become like Christ. It was through this gospel transformation that people could then make cultural judgments based on truth. In our churches, many people do not realize that they are captivated by the world and not Christ. They say they are living for Christ but really their lives show something completely different! 


So the first half of my application from this week is to be careful how I walk. I want to be completely captivated by Christ and not allow all of the worldly goods to distract me from my purpose here on earth.


This brings me to the second half.  We had the privilege of hearing Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas come and speak about what God has been doing in his life. On Thanksgiving day, just a few months ago, he suddenly had a seizure right in front of his children. Rushing him to the hospital,  his family found out that he had a tumor on his brain. They got him in for surgery that next week to remove part of his frontal lobe. He has been undergoing chemo treatments since. He was told that a person his age could live for about 2-3 years depending on everything. (Now, I don't know about ya'll, but if I was just told that I possibly had 2-3 years left to live, I would be doing some drastic rethinking of how I spend my time and energy!) Yet, through God's grace, Matt has continued to trust the Lord and continued to preach and teach and literally live before a nation of people who are watching him online as he lives out his faith and trust in God! After Matt talked for a few minutes he ended in praying. As he prayed, he lifted up each of his young children before the Lord asking that God would draw their hearts to Him and that if he died that his children's hearts would not be hardened towards God because of that. He also prayed for his wife. (I lost it! I was totally crying during this prayer, hurting for his wife, who was there listening to all of this.) He said that his wife had so much faith and trust in God that she was even encouraging him to continue his ministry and not holding him back or trying to keep him home while sick. 


After Matt finished, C.J. Mahaney got up and taught on suffering and how pastors should prepare their congregations for suffering before it happens! He gave a list of book recommendations to read and have as resources for people. Then after C.J. finished, all of the T4G guys (Mohler, Dever, MacArthur, Piper, Duncan, Anyabwile, Mahaney) stood up with Chandler on stage and John Piper prayed for him, asking God to heal him, if that is His will, and to give Matt grace and peace. I was still crying and there were many grown men wiping their eyes at the end of the prayer. Afterwards, all 7,000 men and women stood up and sang "It Is Well." You should have heard the humility and gusto that this song was sung with. This verse in particular caused me to weep for Chandler and his family:


"Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul." 


As C.J. Mahaney stated about a dear friend of his who is dying, he has joy in his trial because he knows that his greatest need was already met on the cross through Jesus Christ. No earthly need will ever equal that of forgiveness and saving grace bestowed from God, our Father. 


After hearing this message and being reminded that our lives here on earth are not guaranteed, I was quickly convicted about how I spend my time, thoughts, and energy throughout the day. So for my goal in applying what I have learned this week, first off I desire to release worldly expectations and desires for myself and be focused solely on Christ and the gospel. Secondly, I plan to use my time more wisely, making the most of my brief stay here on earth as I seek to live out the gospel in my marriage, home, church, and community. Now I understand this is a tall order and that I cannot do this alone in my flesh. However, I seek to be obedient to the gospel call that God has placed on my life in calling me as His child. 


My first plan of action is to begin cultivating my time with God even more. Not only in the scripture I study but in the books that I read, my goal is to understand the doctrine of the cross and my need of grace more fully. One of the free books I got this week was "Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I believe and Why It Matters" by Joshua Harris. I have started with this book and plan to read "Big Truth for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God" by Bruce Ware. This is a book focused on teaching children about the big truths of God. I bought it to help us teach our Baby Roland about God, but know that it will benefit me as well! There will be many other things that I will be seeking to do as I seek to "declutter" my life from worldly priorities and seek to focus on God, but I am encouraged that I can take these things step by step. 


Here are the videos from the two sessions I have just talked about. Take time to listen to these sessions. They are so good! Be patient and give them time to buffer or else it'll be choppy. Click play and after it begins, click pause to let it buffer. 


T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.


T4G 2010 -- Special Session -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

We just got home from our first day of the Together for the Gospel conference. It's been fabulous! I'm not going to write much now because it's 11:00pm and I need sleep. But I did want to leave you with a couple pictures!

Here's my stack of free books from just tonight. Kyle has an identical stack! We've been so blessed so far!

Titles include:
The Holiness of God - R.C. Sproul
The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation - Michael Reeves
It is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement - Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline - Jonathan Leeman
He Is Not Silent - Al Mohler
Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology - T4G Guys
The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything - Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
ESV Study Bible

Our first conference as "The Roland Family" and residence of Kentucky! :-)

This week, Kyle and I have the wonderful privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel conference here in Louisville, Kentucky. Our apartment is just a few miles from the convention center and we are so excited about being able to attend and hear these great leaders and theologians who are coming to bring the Word of God to us!

The main speakers are Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Al Mohler, along with Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. We have the special honor of hearing Matt Chandler as well, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas.

Breakout sessions will be held one afternoon with various speakers. Kyle and I will be attending Josh Harris' session: Dug Down Deep: Helping Others Build Their Lives on Christ-Centered Doctrine.

Check out this video about Josh Harris' new book: Dug Down Deep.

We are super excited that we have friends coming in town for this conference as well from Kyle's church in Georgia and my church in Texas. We can't wait to see them and hopefully get a chance to hang out with them some!

I'm hoping to update throughout the week on here, but we'll see how busy we stay. Please pray that my nausea stays at bay during these sessions. As I drove to work nauseous this morning I began to pray that God  would keep the nausea away at least through this week!

Check out this site for some fun T4G videos.

Lastly, here is a video of some T4G participants from a couple years ago:

Southern Seminary is hosting the Adopting for Life Conference in February. We are really excited to hear teaching regarding adoption from speakers Dr. Russell Moore, David Platt, and Jedd Medefind. Kyle will be running sound/media for it but I'm hoping to go and be apart with him.

One note on David Platt, a couple semesters ago he preached in Chapel at Southern and held the audience in amazement as he quoted from memory the first 8 chapters from Romans while preaching on the Great Commission. Many were brought to tears. Check it out at the above link. You can't tell that he's quoting it on the recording, but I was there and saw it happen with my own eyes! Does the word of God bring us to our feet to shout "amen"?

Here's a video about the Adoption Conference that one of the guys Kyle works with put together:

Adopting For Life Conference- Friday & Saturday, February 26-27th 2010 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post on Kyle leading worship for a Single's Retreat in Indiana. I also mentioned that I had the privilege, for the first time in my entire life, to accompany my husband by singing backup vocals on a song. A friend took pictures of us and we just got copies of them yesterday. I thought I'd share them with you. It was such an honor to go alongside my husband and support him as he ministered to these people!

Kyle leading worship for a breakout session...
Chit-chatting before a session...

Yesterday and today Kyle and I had the privilege of joining Ninth and O Baptist Church's Single's Retreat. Phillip, the Single's Pastor, asked Kyle to lead worship for the weekend. Kyle excitedly accepted the offer and has enjoyed spending time praying and thinking through the songs to sing. We arrived at the retreat grounds, Wooded Glen Retreat Center, in Henryville, Indiana yesterday and the sessions started that evening.

The theme of the weekend was "One Life, One Story"... teaching singles how to engage in personal evangelism here in the states, as well as internationally. Phillip pulled together a great team of young leaders from here in Louisville to speak. We were all very blessed by the main sessions and break out sessions. I'll be posting on them more once I've had a chance to go through my notes and pull together my thoughts.

Probably the most exciting part for me about this weekend was being there with my husband and watching him lead people in worshiping God through song. He did such a great job and I am so proud of him!!! He even asked me to sing backups on one song with him, which was so much fun to join him in his passion.

Here are a few snap shots from the weekend. I've uploaded many more on facebook if you want to check them out here:

Facebook link

I believe you have to log into your facebook account to access these pictures.

My hubby and I walking around the retreat grounds...

The backside of the retreat center... so pretty!

Some new friends we made. Adam and Andi were missionaries overseas for a couple years and are hoping to go back. We really enjoyed getting to know them.

Kyle getting ready to lead worship...

More to come from our weekend...

On Friday Kyle and I drove up to Henryville, Indiana to visit Wooded Glen Retreat Center where Ninth and O Baptist Church will be having their Single's Conference next month. Kyle was asked to lead worship for it, so we joined the Single's Pastor, his wife, and another lady from the church to go view the grounds.

As we drove up, we quickly fell in love with the scenery. I wanted to give a quick snapshot of where we'll be staying in a few weeks. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post after that.

The retreat center sign. Sorry for the sunlight rays in the picture...
The covered bridge you have to cross in order to get to the retreat center. It was so fun for both of us! We'd never driven across one before.

Looking back at the covered bridge and ascending a hill.
A beautiful little pond
A deer that was grazing by the road. I can't believe it let us take this picture!
A beautiful plant outside the rooms.

More pictures to come in September after the retreat. I don't want to spoil it now!

Here are the long awaited pictures from NA. I must say that I didn't take near as many as I expected. However, because we were so busy with sessions and learning about the Lord... I have a good excuse! :-)

Arriving at NA



On Saturday morning I flew up with Adam, Noah, and Vonni. Once we got into Louisville, Vonni had to go study but the guys and I hit the streets, searching out the town. As soon as Adam saw the hotdog stand he wanted to stop and try it out. At first Noah and I protested, but we gave in and were surprised at how good the hotdogs actually were! Haha...




Right... so here is Noah and I eating our hotdogs... the guy sauteed onions and put them on the dogs... oh yum!!! A new favorite! If you ever come over to my house for hot dogs... you can expect this new addition to the condiments platter!


Vonni and I after checking in at NA...

Adam and Noah...

My sweet friend!!!

Roommates

This is how Paige and I portray our excitement about being at New Attitude...

This is how Cherith and Vonni portray their excitement...

Haha... all four of us got a kick out of these pictures!!! :-)



Since we didn't have silverware in our hotel the girls figured out that you can spread peanut butter on bagels with a banana chip... such ingenuity!!!

Friends

My friend, Nicole, and I right before a session... It was so much fun to see her again! We went to school together at Criswell and hadn't hung out for a long time. Ahh... for the old days of sitting in class together...

Adam and Noah... I really enjoyed spending time with them! We used to hang out a lot (back when Jess and Mark were dating...) ... Mavs games at Main Event... remember those days guys?



Two guys from my church in FW... Jake and Josh... we went to a Japanese Steak house our last night together at the conference... Josh, Nicole, and I all walked across a really long bridge to get to Jake's hotel room... in Indiana... haha... it was a long walk but very much worth the trip for the food and fellowship! I think the steak and stir-fry I got was some of the best I've ever had! :-)

Andy, Josh, and I at the end of New Attitude... we all had such a great time! Andy and I were talking this morning at church about wanting to go back next year! It's going to be in Maryland ... yea!!! Who wants to come with us???

Ninjas

By the end of the conference, Ninjas are dearly loved by the early morning risers because they are a group of married couples who meet everyone outside the doors in the mornings with free coffee and donuts... oh yes!!!

Here is a coffee ninja with his coffee "back pack" on... just hold out your cup... wha la... coffee!

haha... he posed for me...

C.J. Mahaney

This man has influenced my life SO much through his preaching and writings! His example of humility and cross-centered living has had such a profound impact on me! I was so honored to meet him! (and yes... there are tears in my eyes... he had just preached on our adoption as children of God... you should listen to his sermon! Also, I was so grateful to him...words could not express...)

Also, the NA blog just posted up the Spurgeon quotes that Mahaney gave us at the conference. To download them, click here.

Video of Singing...

Here is a short video I took during one song at the conference. I took it on my camera so the quality is pretty low but hopefully it will give you a feel for what it was like to sing with 3,500 people!