It’s been a few days since, but in case you missed it, The Albuquerque Journal wrote a nice piece about our Clarus conference.

In it, Tom Lambelet, Pastor of Faith Church in Rio Rancho, gave us some props (or cred or … whatever the kids call it these days):

Pastor Tom Lambelet of Faith Church in Rio Rancho is bringing a group from his church for the second year in a row. The church provided tickets for those in leadership positions. “We see this as a real rich opportunity to hear deep teaching and theology,” he said. “It’s a real quality thing (Desert Springs) is doing.”

Thanks, Tom! Looking forward to seeing you and others from Faith.

The rest of the article is available online here if you’re interested (FYI: it’s free, but you have to click on “Trial Premium Pass” and watch a brief ad, then you can “Enter ABQ Journal” and read the article…if you’re not already an ABQ Journal online subscriber).

Now available online for free:

Plenary Sessions

• Tim Keller: The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry
• John Piper: Feed the Flame of God’s Gift: Unashamed Courage in the Gospel
• Phil Ryken: The Pattern of Sound Words
• Mark Driscoll: Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
• K. Edward Copeland: Shadowlands: Pitfalls and Parodies of Gospel-Centered Ministry
• Bryan Chapell: Preach the Word!
• Ajith Fernando: Gospel-Faithful Mission in the New Christendom
• Panel Discussion: Tim Keller, John Piper, Ligon Duncan and Crawford Loritts
• Ligon Duncan: Finishing Well
• Don Carson: That By All Means I Might Win Some: Faithfulness and Flexibility in Gospel Proclamation

Workshops

• Buster Brown: Preaching in a Christianized Culture
• Graham Cole: Homosexuality and the Bible: Texts, Hermeneutics, and Pastoral Wisdom
• Joshua Harris: Ministering in a Church-Hopping Society
• C.J. Mahaney: The Pastor’s Charge

On his blog, Ray Ortlund, Jr. suggests that God may be doing something special these days, and The Gospel Coalition is one indication of that. After returning from the national conference, he wrote:

Clearly, the Lord is at work. He is creating new conditions for the future. In the 90s, we had nothing of the magnitude of The Gospel Coalition, Together For The Gospel, Acts 29 and other obvious indicators of a new movement of God. We did have, say, Promise Keepers, which helped many. But PK was not explicitly gospel-centered, not aggressively theological. Its impact was unsustainable. But now the Lord is giving us something new, something better. Let’s be thankful to him. This doesn’t come along every day. Let’s steward the blessing well. If we bungle this, I doubt we will see it again in our time. But if we are wise, not intruding our own self-centered complications but humbly keeping Christ first, the blessing will grow. And maybe, in the mercy of God, we will see awakening in our time.

I was privileged to be in a small meeting in Chicago this week where Ray said something very similar to this (and he said it with tears). I thought then, Ray is in such a unique position to make a comment like this: he has dozens of years of ministry experience in various ministries and denominations, and has been thinking about and praying for revival through it all. I certainly don’t have the length of experience or depth of thought that Ray has, but, for what it’s worth, this is absolutely consistent with what I’ve seen in just 13 years of being in the ministry. Things have indeed changed. There is a new inter-denominational cooperation in the gospel of the reformation and partnership in ministry and hope for revival that seems to be a special gift from the Lord.

Just a reminder that, though we normally have our Lord’s Supper on the last Wednesday of every month, this month it is one week earlier. We do this in April so as to avoid an overloaded week with our Clarus weekend.

So, that means that the next Lord’s Supper is tonight (at the usual time, 6:30 PM). Zach Nielsen will be switching hats,preaching on and leading in Communion. Hope you can make it!

Tomorrow morning a handful of DSC leaders will, Lord willing, leave for The Gospel Coalition‘s national pastors’ conference in IL. The speakers include Don Carson, Tim Keller, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Bryan Chapell, Phil Ryken, and Ligon Duncan. The messages will expositionally work through the whole text of 2 Timothy, in addition to the smaller break out sessions on more practical topics.

Please pray for us while we’re there. Pray for refreshment, growth, and fellowship in Christ and in his Word.

Let me add a few comments more financially related, while I’m at it.

Normally, we would take almost all of our staff and elders to an event like this (20+ people). It’s in our budget to do one big conference together a year. Or at least it was. With the giving being what it has been, and budget cuts being unavoidable, conferences were one of the first places we started “trimming.” We’ve cut the overall number of conferences we attend, and cut how many will attend. I don’t know the numbers, but I know it’s a significant change from a year or two ago. This may be the only conference any of us attend this year.

Why do I tell you that? Well, not at all so that you’ll feel sad or guilty for our conference hardships! It’s not even a subtle reminder that “parentheses are bad” …and the parentheses are growing. I tell you that so that we remain above board with you about your giving and our spending – especially in these fiscally-tight times. Your giving will send a handful of us away for a conference this week. Yet, with that in mind, please know that we are constantly trying to wisely make cuts toward a budget that more closely reflects our present state of giving.

On the one hand, we want to be wise and careful stewards of what the Lord gives us through you, and not presumptuous that the Lord will do tomorrow what he has done yesterday. But, on the other hand, we’re not doing the church-equivilent of cashing in your bonds and burying the cash in the backyard. We’re in a recession — as a country and as a church — but, praise God, the gears are still turning, and oil on those gears is still needed. This conference is the equivalent of some oil applied to the gears of our church leadership. That benefits you; it is ultimately (under God’s glory) for you, the church at DSC.

We go with that firmly in mind. You sent us (even if you didn’t know it until now!). We go to hear, talk, grow, and learn so that we’re better equipped and more refreshed to serve you in and through Jesus Christ. We take none of that for granted. Please know that. And thanks for sending us.