Saturday is for Seminars

Saturday June 6, 2009 ~ 5 Comments

It has been three weeks since I have been in the office. We (parts of my family and I) have been in 6 states and 5 countries since last sitting in my office chair. (My travel details are here). As weird as it sounds, I miss my office chair (and, of course, my co-workers).

Here is a recap of this week:

Southeastern

As I post this, I just got home from a week in Raleigh-Durham. I had a great time teaching at Southeastern Seminary and, if I have not mentioned it, you should be going to school there (and check out the Ph.D. program in missiology with a focus on North America that I have been helping develop). It was a great week and I look forward to much more interaction at SEBTS.

Advance09

At the end of the week, I had the privileged to speak at Advance09. Here is a panel we did including Tyler Jones, Eric Mason, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and J.D. Greear. I preached from Matthew 16 on how the Kingdom births the church in its wake.

The venue was pretty impressive. The attendees were enthusiastic. The music was amazing (good to hear the Sojourn Church band again).

I was blessed to hear preaching from several amazing leaders, most of whom I also know as good friends.

Thanks to the folks at Desiring God, you can find all the audio from the conference here.

Next Up

I am home this week and will be in the office five (count 'em, five) days in a row.

We hit the road just a bit next weekend.

I will be preaching Sunday in San Antonio at Grace Point Church. They have three services (which I did not remember when I agreed to do so about a year ago!). I am taking Jaclyn with me and we are planning to Remember the Alamo.

From San Antonio, I will be flying to Anaheim, CA to speak at the Southwest Baptist Conference, a regional gathering of Converge Worldwide (formerly the Baptist General Conference).

And, then, of course since I am in Anaheim, CA and have Jaclyn with me, we have plans on Tuesday:

Posted on June 6, 2009 at 7:02 PM ~ 5 Comments

Tagged with: sebts, seminars, teaching

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5 Comments

By John Alexander on June 6, 2009 9:22 PM

Hi,

Just read iMonk's comments about Advance 09. Spencer gave you a rousing review. Do you plan to post your remarks in written form? I tend to read and ponder information far more thoroughly than when I hear it.

By Ed Stetzer

on June 7, 2009 6:29 PM

Thanks, John, I did read the review. It was very kind.

By michael Dennis on June 7, 2009 10:46 PM

Why do you think so much time and money is being spent on conferences and workshops?

It seems like every time I turn around the same speakers are speaking on the same subject at different locations and it seems confusing.

This has been something I have pondered on and yet to voice because I am sure it is easy to be misunderstood but then I thought surely these are questions that have been asked by others and one you have wrestled with:

1. Is it necessary to have so many conferences?

2. Is it potentially distracting to younger leaders giving the impression of "stardom" in the church?

3. How do we justify spending that much money on conferences over the last 10 years when the church is in decline? It doesn't seem like it is working?

Thoughts?

By geoff on June 8, 2009 11:17 AM

Michael,

I tend to agree with you, but have no good answers. But decline ought not keep us from learning. The web does help me learn (I am listening to all the ADVANCE stuff now) but sometimes we just need to say it is ok for the pastor to get out of town to rest and learn. AND TAKE YOUR WIFE!

By Michael Dennis on June 8, 2009 11:52 AM

Geoff,

I agree it is good to learn and good to get away, but it just seems like it could be different and more effective.

Maybe it would be more effective to have more local efforts that could focus on discussion and application after listening to messages and learning? Instead of going to another conference that gets swallowed up with tweets and ideas that never transpire.

When I think about the amount of money spent on conferences, the distraction to younger leaders, and lack of application...just doesn't seem effective.

I am assuming that I am missing something and these speakers and conference organizers see something greater being accomplished than what I see at the surface?

Thoughts?

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