NEXT Highlights

I just came home from the NEXT conference in Baltimore, MD. The past few hours were spent "debriefing" with my family, eating dinner, enduring a fairly severe thunderstorm (wow, it feels like summer here, hot, humid, and stormy), and checking my work inbox, which is flooded with 40 new messages (I'm happy to report that they are mostly notifications). Despite feeling an oncoming cold, most likely my body's response to not getting it's fill of rest this weekend, I am very refreshed and thankful to God for his faithfulness and kindness to me in so many ways over the past few days.

I want to pour over my notes and the scripture passages from this weekend in the upcoming days, weeks, months, etc. (I love how I can often come back to NEXT messages throughout the year). Please follow-up with me on this; good intentions are not enough. But before I go dig back into the specifics, I want to recount the highlights, so I can remember how the Spirit ministered to me. He did meet me - very deeply, graciously, lovingly, and oh so clearly did he meet me where I was and reminded me of his love and gospel mission in my own particular circumstances.

So, the highlights for me were CJ's message on Sanctification, Kevin DeYoung's message on the Church, and the fellowship of my family group. I'm so thankful for CJ. I feel his pastor's heart when he preaches, and I'm so glad to be under his care in Sovereign Grace. He's such a spiritual father type figure - I love how I've benefitted directly or indirectly from his ministry for my entire life. In this weekend, I was served immensely in how he fleshed out Sanctification. I've been needing this so much, to see broken down before me how man's responsibility and God's sovereignty play out in my life. To leave behind discouragement and be encouraged that God is constantly at work - his part and my part are not equal. God fed my soul through CJ's message, and I thought for sure that it would be my highlight sermon to take home. It was, but God was not finished. Kevin DeYoung spoke on the Church. And the Holy Spirit melted my heart. He cut me open and placed a direct IV line to my soul, that is how specifically his message ministered to me. I do believe that it, at least by the end of his message, affected my soul in the same way as a specific prophetic word, and the tears flowed. "Do not despise the little things." "Be plodding visionaries." "Get on the right road and keep going." "You can be just part of the crowd because God knows your name." I was reminded that the mundane is glorious; the little things are not insignificant, no matter how much they seem to be so. I am not alone, but Christ's church is filled with servants, plodding visionaries.

God did much in my heart through these sermons, but I am also so thankful for CJ's exhortation to not give more credit to speakers like these at a conference than to our own pastors at our home churches. They have faithfully been planting the seeds. Those who get to reap the harvest did not play a bigger role than those who planted and built.

I am also very thankful for how God used my family group. By halfway through NEXT, our group had dropped in numbers significantly to be only 5 people. I like small groups best. :-) We were able to genuinely spur one another on, and I developed new friendships that span across the US. Even if these cannot be continually built upon here on earth (although modern technology may assist with that), they certainly remind me of one of the joys that await in heaven in the fellowhship of the saints.

oh, another highlight was that we only needed to drive 1 1/2 hours to get there and the same to get home! I soaked that in, especially on the way back, knowing that next year's conference is in Orlando, FL.

The kitchen is calling me, dishes in a household of 7 do not pause. And interestingly our dog is currently giving birth to her first litter of puppies. There is much activity in this home. I hope mine will be the same someday.

photo: NEXT 2008

(sorry, I did not bring a camera this year)