Next Conference – All I Have Is Christ

Last year, Leah and I went to the New Attitude Conference, which has since been renamed “Next.” I posted then about how much I loved the worship music we sang. Extremely Christ-centered lyrics and musically moving.

You can get a feel for that in this video, which shows pictures and video from this year’s conference set to the song, “All I Have Is Christ” (probably my favorite song we did last year, too). I remember being powerfully moved by this song when we were there, and just watching this video brought that back as people pour their hearts out to God. Moving worship.

If you’re interested, the song is on the Live CD from the conference (for only $5!) as well as the studio version on the CD produced by the NA Band, which they used to be called when the conference was still New Attitude. A little confusing, but you get it.

Here are the lyrics:

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

All I Have Is Christ from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

HT : JT

Sovereign Grace Music – Psalms (and Other Music Recommendations)

I’m a huge fan of Sovereign Grace Music. They’ve released a ton of CDs and keep coming out with more. Great music, amazing, bible-based lyrics…God-glorifying worship. They have a new CD called Psalms that will be released at the WorshipGod 08 Conference in August. Also, check out the NA Band’s CD Looked Upon (this is the band that led worship at the New Attitude Conference my wife and I attended…amazing stuff).

A sneak preview showing the vocalists, including John Reilly from the band Reilly (one of my new favorite bands):

Sovereign Grace Music – Psalms (and Other Music Recommendations)

I’m a huge fan of Sovereign Grace Music. They’ve released a ton of CDs and keep coming out with more. Great music, amazing, bible-based lyrics…God-glorifying worship. They have a new CD called Psalms that will be released at the WorshipGod 08 Conference in August. Also, check out the NA Band’s CD Looked Upon (this is the band that led worship at the New Attitude Conference my wife and I attended…amazing stuff).

A sneak preview showing the vocalists, including John Reilly from the band Reilly (one of my new favorite bands):

Final NA Post (maybe…)

Just ran across a couple of links that I found interesting:

This article talks about the aim of the conference and has quotes from most of the speakers.

This post from Bob Kauflin’s website has all of the songs that we sang during the conference with links to where you can find them if you want. My favorites were from the NA Band and Fee.

…I still have some small videos from the conference, so you may have to put up with just one more post related to this amazing conference.

Final NA Post (maybe…)

Just ran across a couple of links that I found interesting:

This article talks about the aim of the conference and has quotes from most of the speakers.

This post from Bob Kauflin’s website has all of the songs that we sang during the conference with links to where you can find them if you want. My favorites were from the NA Band and Fee.

…I still have some small videos from the conference, so you may have to put up with just one more post related to this amazing conference.

New Attitude Audio and Summaries

If you weren’t at New Attitude (and even if you were), it would be very much worth your time to head over to their site. They have audio of every talk given at the conference (don’t miss John Piper’s talk on fighting for faith with God’s word…amazing). Justin Buzzard live-blogged the conference with some great summaries of the talks. Additionally, you can get a bunch of Crossway books for 35% off with free shipping on orders over $30 through their site. Bob Kauflin’s book Worship Matters is definitely on my list after hearing the songs at the conference.

It was an amazing weekend and I plan to listen to most, if not all, of the talk again. They are all from the Bible, about the Bible, and committed to making you love the Bible because of two things: it’s true and it’s about Jesus. The teaching was really edifying and encouraging. I highly encourage you to check it out.

New Attitude Audio and Summaries

If you weren’t at New Attitude (and even if you were), it would be very much worth your time to head over to their site. They have audio of every talk given at the conference (don’t miss John Piper’s talk on fighting for faith with God’s word…amazing). Justin Buzzard live-blogged the conference with some great summaries of the talks. Additionally, you can get a bunch of Crossway books for 35% off with free shipping on orders over $30 through their site. Bob Kauflin’s book Worship Matters is definitely on my list after hearing the songs at the conference.

It was an amazing weekend and I plan to listen to most, if not all, of the talk again. They are all from the Bible, about the Bible, and committed to making you love the Bible because of two things: it’s true and it’s about Jesus. The teaching was really edifying and encouraging. I highly encourage you to check it out.

NA Sessions 5-7

So unfortunately, we had to check out of the hotel this morning, so I haven’t had internet access all day. Now, it’s 12:05 AM and Leah and I finally made it back to Cincinnati (we have to miss C.J.’s talk tomorrow morning because I can’t take the day off work). So not only am I tired from an amazing weekend, but I have to get up early to go to work, and I fly out tomorrow for a business trip to Wisconsin for the rest of the week.

Therefore, all I’m going to say about the talks we heard today from Eric Simmons and John Piper (twice!) is this: AWESOME. Eric preached on the point of the Bible and how to develop a vision for studying it (great talk that really convicted me), Piper showed the amazing sacrifice of William Tyndale to get us the English Bible and rescue theology from the Roman Catholic Church, then Piper finished the day by teaching us how to fight for joy with God’s Word.

John Piper was, is, and will always be my favorite speaker. He is not the Messiah, but he is for me the man who most clearly points us to the Messiah.

An amazing day that I’d love to say more about, but I’m hardly awake. Check out Justin Buzzard’s live-blog if you need more.

Thanks guys at NA for an amazing conference.

NA Sessions 5-7

So unfortunately, we had to check out of the hotel this morning, so I haven’t had internet access all day. Now, it’s 12:05 AM and Leah and I finally made it back to Cincinnati (we have to miss C.J.’s talk tomorrow morning because I can’t take the day off work). So not only am I tired from an amazing weekend, but I have to get up early to go to work, and I fly out tomorrow for a business trip to Wisconsin for the rest of the week.

Therefore, all I’m going to say about the talks we heard today from Eric Simmons and John Piper (twice!) is this: AWESOME. Eric preached on the point of the Bible and how to develop a vision for studying it (great talk that really convicted me), Piper showed the amazing sacrifice of William Tyndale to get us the English Bible and rescue theology from the Roman Catholic Church, then Piper finished the day by teaching us how to fight for joy with God’s Word.

John Piper was, is, and will always be my favorite speaker. He is not the Messiah, but he is for me the man who most clearly points us to the Messiah.

An amazing day that I’d love to say more about, but I’m hardly awake. Check out Justin Buzzard’s live-blog if you need more.

Thanks guys at NA for an amazing conference.

NA Session 4 – C.J. Mahaney

“God’s Word and Our Feelings”

(Sidenote: Josh Harris introduced C.J. Mahaney as someone he met 12 years ago, while he was working on a book “that would ruin many of your lives.” I Kissed Dating Goodbye…Considering this was directly towards almost entirely college kids and mid-20′s people, I thought the comment was hysterical.)

C.J. Mahaney preached tonight on Psalm 42. The Psalm deals with a man struggling with despair and a “downcast soul.” He feels an apparent absence of God and is enduring trials of some kind that is only exacerbating his turmoil. The Psalm, C.J. pointed out, is essentially the internal, unending conversation the Psalmist is having with himself.

C.J. made the distinction between the Troubled Soul and the Hopeful Soul. For much of the Psalm, the writer is Troubled, but then he begins to speak to himself instead of listening to himself. This is how we can move to the Hopeful Soul: by talking truth to ourselves. This requires perseverance (the Psalmist had to do it multiple times), and it must depend on God for the transformation.

But what exactly do you say to yourself? C.J. points out the Psalmist’s example is a good one: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

He essentially rebukes his soul and commands it to hope in God and know God’s promises. C.J. quoted Spurgeon about using God’s promises, saying we should “draw the sword from its sheath and use it with holy violence.” Also, the Psalmist will praise Him again. C.J. – “Troubled Souls become Hopeful Souls as we sing Truth to our souls.”

Finally, C.J. closed by making an amazing point: “The Psalmist felt forsaken by God. The Savior was forsaken.” Not only does Psalm 42 give us an example of what we should do when we feel forsaken, it shows us something that Christ actually experienced. Powerful thought.

We closed the night after this emotional talk by having the entire conference sing “It Is Well With My Soul” a cappella. One of the most moving experiences ever for me. I don’t believe I’ve ever sang that loud in my life or felt the Spirit more closely. Truly humbling and amazing.

Again, these are just my thoughts about the talks. For more in-depth summaries of the different talks and much better analysis, be sure to check out Justin Buzzard’s live-blog of the conference. He’s much better at this than me, and I’ve been encouraged by reading his posts. Also, you can get audio of all the talks very soon after they’re done there.

NA Session 4 – C.J. Mahaney

“God’s Word and Our Feelings”

(Sidenote: Josh Harris introduced C.J. Mahaney as someone he met 12 years ago, while he was working on a book “that would ruin many of your lives.” I Kissed Dating Goodbye…Considering this was directly towards almost entirely college kids and mid-20′s people, I thought the comment was hysterical.)

C.J. Mahaney preached tonight on Psalm 42. The Psalm deals with a man struggling with despair and a “downcast soul.” He feels an apparent absence of God and is enduring trials of some kind that is only exacerbating his turmoil. The Psalm, C.J. pointed out, is essentially the internal, unending conversation the Psalmist is having with himself.

C.J. made the distinction between the Troubled Soul and the Hopeful Soul. For much of the Psalm, the writer is Troubled, but then he begins to speak to himself instead of listening to himself. This is how we can move to the Hopeful Soul: by talking truth to ourselves. This requires perseverance (the Psalmist had to do it multiple times), and it must depend on God for the transformation.

But what exactly do you say to yourself? C.J. points out the Psalmist’s example is a good one: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

He essentially rebukes his soul and commands it to hope in God and know God’s promises. C.J. quoted Spurgeon about using God’s promises, saying we should “draw the sword from its sheath and use it with holy violence.” Also, the Psalmist will praise Him again. C.J. – “Troubled Souls become Hopeful Souls as we sing Truth to our souls.”

Finally, C.J. closed by making an amazing point: “The Psalmist felt forsaken by God. The Savior was forsaken.” Not only does Psalm 42 give us an example of what we should do when we feel forsaken, it shows us something that Christ actually experienced. Powerful thought.

We closed the night after this emotional talk by having the entire conference sing “It Is Well With My Soul” a cappella. One of the most moving experiences ever for me. I don’t believe I’ve ever sang that loud in my life or felt the Spirit more closely. Truly humbling and amazing.

Again, these are just my thoughts about the talks. For more in-depth summaries of the different talks and much better analysis, be sure to check out Justin Buzzard’s live-blog of the conference. He’s much better at this than me, and I’ve been encouraged by reading his posts. Also, you can get audio of all the talks very soon after they’re done there.

NA – Sessions 2&3

Session 2 – Mark Dever: “The Authority of Scripture”

After some amazingly good worship, including my new favorite hymn (“My Lord, I Did Not Choose You“), Mark Dever spoke on the authority of scripture.

He began with 4 common objections unbelievers (and some believers) typically have to the reliability of the bible.

1. Has it been translated accurately? What about the different translations?
2. Is what we have what was actually written by the original authors?
3. Is what the original authors wrote accurate?
4. Is the bible true?

Dever made the point that seekers should not waste their time on the first 3 questions. The main question is #4, because if the bible is true and really is God’s word, that changes everything.

In the 2nd part of his talk, Dever addressed the authority of scripture. Addressing the postmoderns, he made the statement, “Just because I don’t know everything doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.” This is actually a powerful statement that young people need to be armed with against people who tell them there is no way to have anything objectively known. Dever then walked through basically the entire bible, showing what the bible says about itself and its claims to authority.

Nothing in the talk I hadn’t really heard, but it was great nonetheless and Dever is really a very intelligent man.

Session 3 – Al Mohler: Q&A

At the 3:00 session, Al Mohler fielded questions from the crowd on a variety of topics. Can I just say, the man is a genius. Some of the questions, I felt like I could have answered them, and then when I heard Mohler’s answer, realized I knew absolutely nothing. Not only were his answers concise and answered the question well, but he is one of the most articulate people I’ve heard.

My favorite questions related to the role of the Law for Christians today, the inerrancy of scripture, and the Doctrines of Grace.

Favorite lines:

“Without the doctrine of inerrancy, we can’t be certain we have the Word of God.”

“There will be plenty of people in heaven, saved by grace, who knew nothing of the doctrines of grace, but only knew grace.”

Great conference so far, aside from the ridiculously long lines at the food court. Great speakers, amazing worship. I’ve never seen so many young people worship God so fervantly and get so excited by lines like this:

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my darkened mind
The world would have enthralled me
To Your glories I’d be blind
My heart knows none above You
For Your rich grace I thirst
I know that if I love You
You must have loved me first

It’s truly an encouragement.

NA – Sessions 2&3

Session 2 – Mark Dever: “The Authority of Scripture”

After some amazingly good worship, including my new favorite hymn (“My Lord, I Did Not Choose You“), Mark Dever spoke on the authority of scripture.

He began with 4 common objections unbelievers (and some believers) typically have to the reliability of the bible.

1. Has it been translated accurately? What about the different translations?
2. Is what we have what was actually written by the original authors?
3. Is what the original authors wrote accurate?
4. Is the bible true?

Dever made the point that seekers should not waste their time on the first 3 questions. The main question is #4, because if the bible is true and really is God’s word, that changes everything.

In the 2nd part of his talk, Dever addressed the authority of scripture. Addressing the postmoderns, he made the statement, “Just because I don’t know everything doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.” This is actually a powerful statement that young people need to be armed with against people who tell them there is no way to have anything objectively known. Dever then walked through basically the entire bible, showing what the bible says about itself and its claims to authority.

Nothing in the talk I hadn’t really heard, but it was great nonetheless and Dever is really a very intelligent man.

Session 3 – Al Mohler: Q&A

At the 3:00 session, Al Mohler fielded questions from the crowd on a variety of topics. Can I just say, the man is a genius. Some of the questions, I felt like I could have answered them, and then when I heard Mohler’s answer, realized I knew absolutely nothing. Not only were his answers concise and answered the question well, but he is one of the most articulate people I’ve heard.

My favorite questions related to the role of the Law for Christians today, the inerrancy of scripture, and the Doctrines of Grace.

Favorite lines:

“Without the doctrine of inerrancy, we can’t be certain we have the Word of God.”

“There will be plenty of people in heaven, saved by grace, who knew nothing of the doctrines of grace, but only knew grace.”

Great conference so far, aside from the ridiculously long lines at the food court. Great speakers, amazing worship. I’ve never seen so many young people worship God so fervantly and get so excited by lines like this:

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my darkened mind
The world would have enthralled me
To Your glories I’d be blind
My heart knows none above You
For Your rich grace I thirst
I know that if I love You
You must have loved me first

It’s truly an encouragement.

NA – Session 1: Joshua Harris

We’re here! The New Attitude Conference is officially under way. We started with some amazing worship…complete with a tambourine lady (poorly) trying to play along with the band from the back of the room…hmmm….

Joshua Harris kicked things off last night with a talk on Jeremiah 15:16:

“Your words were found,
and I ate them,
and you words
became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart.”

Josh hit on 3 different Old Testament characters and their different responses to encountering God’s word: Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Jeremiah. He used 3 words for these resonses: Tearing, Burning, and Eating.

Josiah (Tearing) – Josiah encountered the Word of God after it had been lost for a time. When he heard the word and realized the people had not been obeying it, he tore his royal robes in humility and repentence.

Jehoiakim (Burning) – Jeremiah wrote the Word of God down and sent it to Jehoiakim, but when he encountered the Word, he cut the scroll into pieces and burned it.

Jeremiah (Eating) – Even though Jeremiah was dealing with despair, he spoke of God’s Word as the thing that helped sustain him. It was also a delight.

Highlights for me (not direct quotes, but pretty close):

“When was the last time you wept before God’s Word? When our hearts are affected by something, there are emotions. If it’s been a long time since the Word affected you that way, what is it that’s been moving your heart?”

“All Reformation in the Church stems not from learning new techniques or something that hasn’t been there, but about a return to the Word of God. That’s all you need.”

“We have an iTunes mentality with the Word sometimes. We pick out the tracks we like, but don’t buy the whole album.”

Great message by Josh, and it really convicted me about being broken by the Word. Then, in the community groups afterwords, we were split into groups of about 9 to talk about the message and other things. Hearing other young people talking about having a passion for God’s Word is truly encouraging and convicting. I’m really excited about the rest of this conference. I think it’s going to be amazing.

NA – Session 1: Joshua Harris

We’re here! The New Attitude Conference is officially under way. We started with some amazing worship…complete with a tambourine lady (poorly) trying to play along with the band from the back of the room…hmmm….

Joshua Harris kicked things off last night with a talk on Jeremiah 15:16:

“Your words were found,
and I ate them,
and you words
became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart.”

Josh hit on 3 different Old Testament characters and their different responses to encountering God’s word: Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Jeremiah. He used 3 words for these resonses: Tearing, Burning, and Eating.

Josiah (Tearing) – Josiah encountered the Word of God after it had been lost for a time. When he heard the word and realized the people had not been obeying it, he tore his royal robes in humility and repentence.

Jehoiakim (Burning) – Jeremiah wrote the Word of God down and sent it to Jehoiakim, but when he encountered the Word, he cut the scroll into pieces and burned it.

Jeremiah (Eating) – Even though Jeremiah was dealing with despair, he spoke of God’s Word as the thing that helped sustain him. It was also a delight.

Highlights for me (not direct quotes, but pretty close):

“When was the last time you wept before God’s Word? When our hearts are affected by something, there are emotions. If it’s been a long time since the Word affected you that way, what is it that’s been moving your heart?”

“All Reformation in the Church stems not from learning new techniques or something that hasn’t been there, but about a return to the Word of God. That’s all you need.”

“We have an iTunes mentality with the Word sometimes. We pick out the tracks we like, but don’t buy the whole album.”

Great message by Josh, and it really convicted me about being broken by the Word. Then, in the community groups afterwords, we were split into groups of about 9 to talk about the message and other things. Hearing other young people talking about having a passion for God’s Word is truly encouraging and convicting. I’m really excited about the rest of this conference. I think it’s going to be amazing.