Last week I had the privilege of participating in the Sovereign Grace Leader’s Conference. What a fire hydrant of grace, encouragement, truth, conviction, and fellowship. RC. Sproul spoke on the holiness of God and the holiness of Christ, David Powlison helped us apply the doctrine of indwelling sin without getting morbidly introspective, and C.J. Mahaney spoke to us on the final night on "Trinitarian Pastoral Ministry" from 2 Cor. 13:142 Corinthians 13:14 [14]The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (ESV)

This was our bi-annual leaders and wives conference and it was a joy catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. We had over 200 non-Sovereign Grace folks there which amazes me. It was great to meet some of you who read this blog, and hear reports about how God has been using it in your life and your church. Thanks for your very meaningful encouragement.

On Thursday morning I led a seminar with Josh Harris on "Watch Your Sunday Meeting." We covered principles for planning your meeting. Josh did an outstanding job sharing how he’s been seeking to put those principles into practice at Covenant Life. I thought I’d pass on some of his thoughts.

On Creativity: "Let’s not seek to be creative - let’s be intentional." I’ve also heard someone say, "Creativity isn’t something we do; it’s a way we do something." We’re not called to think creatively; we’re called to think biblically. That doesn’t mean we should be content with dull, boring meetings, or never put any time into thinking about how we might communicate the truth more effectively. But it does mean we should seek to be Word-centered rather than WOW-centered. We want our people to value truth over production.

Seven "P’s" of Planning: Josh said that intentional leadership involves the following:

1. Prayer. Before and after meetings. We need God’s help and power.
2. People. Don’t plan alone. Having other people involved provides different perspectives and gives me an opportunity to evaluate ideas before trying them out.
3. Priorities. We need to have a theology of the corporate gathering, as well as creativity. We need clear biblical standards by which we can measure what we’re actually doing.
4. Planning. There’s no contradiction between intensive planning and being Spirit-led. Make your plans but don’t worship them. Josh reminded us that every minute in the Sunday meeting is precious. Are we taking the time to cut out excess and aimless talk and activity?
5. Palette. Josh admitted this "P" was a stretch, but I thought it was a helpful analogy. Just as an artist has a range of colors on his palette to choose from, so we should have a range of tools, elements, and resources to draw from. Video, testimonies, special songs, staging. But our goal is to use them purposefully to exalt God through his Word, the Gospel, and the active presence of the Spirit.
6. Practice. Those of us who love spontaneity don’t always see the need for practice. But rehearsal can free you to listen to God’s Spirit and attend to more important things during the actual meeting.
7. Post-meeting Review. On Tuesdays our team gathers to celebrate evidences of grace and share inspiring stories from the past Sunday. Then they evaluate what could have been done better, focusing on the areas that we’ll do again.

As I mentioned, the conference seminars will be available from the Sovereign Grace website after April 30. They’re worth checking out.

I"m now off to a three day book-writing retreat. Appreciate your prayers.

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