Resurgence!
March 5th, 2008 by Pastor JohnThis year’s Resurgence conference in Seattle (2/25-2/27) was a truly inspiring event. Dave Woods, good friend Jess, and I all agreed that it seemed to address most of the important issues of our day that are somewhat controversial within ministry. Mark Driscoll, the founding Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and John Piper, Pastor, Writer, and Theologian, were the main speakers.
Those who attended the event (it was sold out way before the time) received first copies of Driscoll’s new book “Vintage Jesus” and also a copy of Piper’s book “The Future of Justification.”
These are both excellent books, in my opinion, and everyone who cares about how Jesus is talked about in our times should read them.
During the conference, Driscoll roundly dispelled the notion that preaching has become irrelevant or unnecessary in church. In fact, 
preaching is central to all of God’s activities with man from the Garden of Eden to the end of the Tribulation period. This was especially refreshing for me because a few years ago when serving on staff at a Southern California megachurch, I was taken to task for suggesting that people coming to the Thanksgiving eve service would not be better served by giving them chocolates in place of preaching or even teaching the Word. The prevailing thought was that anyone can just turn on the radio and hear “teaching” but how many people can go to a church and find out that it’s a pleasant experience instead of being preached at.
I’m very encouraged to know that there are men of God out there who are reaching the lost without compromising the mission of Jesus (and yes, He preached all the time). And that there are men who truly know the Jesus that the Scriptures tell about and are committed to Him above their own institutions and visions.
Spending time with Dave and Jess was a blast too. They are “late-nighters” and we had several long converstations into the night about ministry and life. All in all, it was an awesome three days.
March 8th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
haha, i still cant figure out why you didnt wait until the needle was in full-view, Johnny! clearly you are an artist and i cannot put you in a box…haha, a great conference. PREACH!
March 9th, 2008 at 12:18 am
This was a Gem of a week!
Next year will be even better.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Sorry for the random comment, haha. I just happened upon your post. I agree, preaching is so necessary! But, I also think it needs to not be the center of attention nearly as much as it has been (with out devaluing it - that’s key!). The way we do preaching is more of an inherited tradition than a Biblical mandate. First, Jesus went around both proclaiming and bringing the good news (Luke 8:1). Second, He usually did the latter before the former. People would ask Him about the tangible, Kingdom-oriented things He was doing and He would then speak and explain, usually (but definitely not always!). Third, Jesus focused much, if not most, of his teaching on His disciples. The difference between that and what we do is that they were with Him everyday and learning through shared-life experiences as well as His verbal teaching. Lastly, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 14, advocated that when the Corinthians came together they should have several people speak, but in orderly fashion, and he paints a picture of all coming with something to contribute. Further more, Hebrews 10:25 seems to say that the opposite of not meeting together regularly is coming together to encourage one another. I think trying to defend preaching sometimes is a bit like the tail wagging the dog. It distracts us from the fact that we have allowed the church to be relegated to a few hours a week in a particular building instead of a shared mission to incarnate the Gospel of Jesus into the world. (I wrote a post about this on my blog called “Breakfast” if anyone is interested).
All that being said, I totally agree, lets continue to value preaching in its appropriate context. I have been thinking a lot about how preaching (proclaiming) is so needed because it allows someone to impart passion and faith into others (in a matter of speaking, not necessarily theologically). I think that is a way of encouraging each other towards truth and action.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hello John! Been a LOOOOONG time. Ha! The compromising “Megachurch”. Yeah I remember those days.
Well…. seems the face of the chruch (at large) has changed a bit since that time.
Too bad I wasn’t aware of Driscoll and Piper’s involvement at the conference in Seattle. Turns out Seattle is one of my all time greatest city’s to visit. I’d have loved to have been a part.
I’m now in Vegas - been here about 5 months now and what a place in need!!!
Hey I don’t have a current email of yours and there is something that I would like (need) to speak with you about. Thank you John
Peace and Blessonz!
Todd
August 15th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!