This was my first time at a DG conference, so I have nothing to compare it to as a means of judging this year's event from previous events. All in all, I thought it was an excellent conference. The conference theme was"The Rebellion of Man and the Abundance of Grace." There were six plenaries (DG has made the videos available), each of which addressed an aspect related to this theme.
- The Origin, Essence, and Definition of Sin (John Piper)
- In Adam All Die: Sin's Guilt and Curruption and the Remedy of God's Grace (Bryan Chapell)
- The Wages of Sin: The Punishment of Evil at the Cross and in Hell (Conrad Mbewe)
- The Guilt of the Nations and the Gospel of Repentance (Steve Childers)
- Make War: The Pastor and His People in the Battle Against Sin (John Piper)
- O, That Day, When Freed From Sinning (Sam Storms)
In addition to the plenaries, there were workshop tracks for participants to attend, including tracks for elders, pastors, worship leaders and women (as I understand it, this was the first year that DG invited women to attend the pastor's conference). I wish that there had been more workshops available. As it was, they only offered them on the first day of the conference.
I enjoyed a series of short talks on the seven deadly sins. A new book on the topic has been published on the topic and each of the authors took turns talking for about 10 minutes each on one of these besetting sins. It was a unique approach to a subject that usually doesn't find a lot of attention in protestant circles. You can view these talks here.
The bookstore was typical, with recommended reading on the conference theme, and there were the usual representation of seminaries and colleges. A number of ministries were on-site as well, and it was neat to talk with their representatives and hear how God has been working through them.
I was impressed with the music that led off each session. It was deep, theologically rich, and Christ-centered. I heard a number of songs that I was unfamiliar with, but they were easy to pick up and sing. Far from being performance-oriented, the music was clearly designed to invite conference attendees to participate in worshiping God. I have already recommended several songs to those involved with music at my home church to consider including in our repertoire.
All in all, the conference was excellent and I enjoyed it a great deal. The plenary messages were the highlight. Each speaker was passionate about his material and subject and crafted his message with pastors in mind. Each speaker is himself a pastor and so understands well the challenges of ministering to people.
Finally, the conference is in the process of transferring from Desiring God to Bethlehem College and Seminary. This year (and next) was a cooperative effort between the two, after which Bethlehem will be taking over organizational responsibilities.
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