Relational Reflections on TGC 2011

Late Thursday night I returned from The Gospel Coalition 2011 National Conference in Chicago. It was a fantastic week. In 2007 I attended the first TGC conference at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School with about 400 other people. It was there that I first heard TGC's vision and grew excited over how God might use TGC. It was also a great few days of making new relationships. It was there that I first met Tim Keller and met some other men that have become friends of mine: Stephen Um, Jonathan Kerhoulas (I now make sure to see Stephen and Jonathan whenever I visit my wife's family in Boston), and Collin Hansen.So it is in the spirit of relationships that I want to write some reflections on TGC 2011, reflections about the people at TGC 2011 and the exciting things God has them doing. This year I only attended a few of the speaking sessions. I instead felt led to spend most of my time with friends old and new, and to listen to the audio of the sessions upon returning home.TGC has come a long way in four short years: 5,500 people attended this week's TGC gathering. What follows is a reflection, in chronological order, of my time with some of the 5,500 people at TGC 2011. I hope to point you towards some lesser known and well known people and make you aware of how God is using them to advance the gospel. My time with these people made me freshly thankful for the diverse personalities and talents God has given to his church. In many ways the best part about a conference is the people. I want you to get to know some of these people. Beware, this is a long post.MONDAYI flew to Chicago with Toby Kurth. I spent most of my time in Chicago with Toby Kurth and Eric Simmons (my hotel roommate). Toby and Eric are two of my best friends. I couldn't imagine the past four years of my life without the friendship and counsel of these two guys.  Toby recently planted a church in San Francisco and Eric recently planted in Arlington, VA. God is using these two men to build solid churches in two incredible cities. If you have friends in these cities who need to be directed to a good church, you know where to send them.Toby's high school friend, Nate Palmer, flew in from Dallas and joined us on Monday night. Nate is a great guy, a business consultant who has written a  book that I endorsed and that I encourage you to buy: Servanthood as Worship. Monday night was the first time I'd met Nate and I liked him right away because he bought us the best pizza I've ever had and he let us eat most of it because he's on a diet.Later that night I met some of the guys from Eric's church: Josh Deckard and Mike Allen have wild lives and are busy with important work in D.C.. I'm now subscribing to Mike Allen's Playbook. I feel like I'm the only one who didn't know about Mike Allen and Playbook before this week. Josh Deckard is good at encouraging people. Hanging out with Josh reminded me how powerful it can be to speak an encouraging word to someone.I bumped into my insurance agent, Tim Reilly, who is an evangelist at heart who has been leading many people to Jesus here in the South Bay. I'm so glad he came to TGC. Contact Tim if you need a new insurance agent.TUESDAYThe conference began Tuesday morning. It was amazing to see a crowd of 5,500 people singing to Jesus in the massive McCormick Place auditorium. Tim Keller delivered the second message and, while delivering it, became a trending topic on Twitter.Earlier I'd walked straight into Dustin Neeley from Louisville who has developed a great blog and video ministry: Church Planting For The Rest Of Us. Instead of waiting for our scheduled slot of Wednesday night, we found a quiet stair well and Dustin interviewed me about church planting and the book I'm writing. I really like Dustin and his heart for the church worldwide. Dustin's church planting intern, James, shot the interview and is praying about where God might be calling him to plant a church after his two-year internship. I think James should plant in Athens, Georgia. If you're looking for a new church plant in Athens, pray for James to come to you.I spoke with my friend James Kinnard and was once again impressed by James' godly character, his heart for his family, and how hard he works for Crossway as their Marketing Director. If you get the chance, get to know James Kinnard. Men like James are rare.I enjoyed chatting with my friend Justin Ruddy of Boston, one of the two main guys on the worship cd that gets played the most in our home. You can click the link to sample the music.I met Kevin Meath, one of the guys behind Cruciform Press. Multiple people have told me that Kevin is one of the best editors in the business. You might want to pursue submitting a book proposal to Cruciform Press.Owen Strachan, Toby, Eric, and I had a good talk about American church history and the fate of institutions that don't define their doctrine. Owen is always so nice to me. Owen is the coolest and shortest church history and theology professor I've ever met. He's about 14x smarter than me. Owen also works with Bible Mesh, and you need to explore how you can use Bible Mesh.Next, a guy stopped me in the hall to tell me he's praying every single day for our church plant. This was one of the highlights of the conference for me: A man I've never met has felt burdened by God to pray daily for Garden City Church. I'm so glad he stopped me and told me this.Scotty Smith and I exchanged a big fat hug and updated each other on our lives. Scotty played a key role in my life eight months ago through his friendship and gospel preaching. If you could pick anyone in the country to come speak to the men of your church, pick Scotty.Next I spoke at the Band of Bloggers event along with Justin Taylor, Tim Challies, Collin Hansen, Jared Wilson, Joe Thorn, Trevin Wax, Owen Strachan, Steve McCoy, and John Starke. It was fun. If you're not doing so already, check out the great content these guys are spitting out on their blogs. Google their names and you'll find their blogs. I loved the very different personalities and ministries represented by all these guys in their service to the gospel.Over dinner at the Band of Bloggers event I talked with four guys from New Jersey who have planted a church together and are dreaming about what God can do through their church. I also chatted with Aaron Armstrong who is advancing the gospel in Canada. I met Zach Nielsen after dinner. He's an even cooler guy in person than over the internet. Listen to Zach's jazz. And pray for the church he's planting in Madison, Wisconsin. I loved hearing about the team preaching approach at Zach's church.Justin Taylor is a jolly giant. He's always smiling and happy looking. After talking to Zach, I bravely asked jolly Justin if I could get a small extension on the manuscript deadline for my book, which is due in two months. Justin kindly said yes. If you don't have it yet, ask somebody to buy you a copy of the ESV Study Bible, which is the best study Bible on the market and which wouldn't be here if it weren't for Justin Taylor.It was good hanging with Travis Marsh, a friend and pastor from here in the Bay Area. Travis is excited about the seventeen free books we were given at Band of Bloggers.Next I spent some time with Collin Hansen, John and Jenna Starke, and Pen Peays. If you appreciated the conference and appreciate TGC, take time to thank Ben, Collin, and John. These guys work so hard. I'm amazed at Ben's ability to run such a giant conference.Tuesday night I got together with all the Acts 29 pastors who were in town for the conference. We gathered at Iwan Ries. I was so impressed by the camaraderie shared by the Chicago area Acts 29 pastors. It got me excited about how God is moving in our NorCal/Nevada Acts 29 region under the leadership of Harvey Turner. I loved listening to Joe Thorn brag about what a great job Ryan Huguely is doing as a church planter in the Chicago area. Ryan gave me something I've been wanting for a long time: a tool for cleaning and packing my pipe. From now on I will think of Ryan when I use the tool. The night continued with great conversations, mostly with Acts 29 guys who are advancing the gospel in exciting ways across the country. Though he isn't an Acts 29 guy and though wears a suit most of the time, I had a great time talking with Burk Parsons. Burk is such a great guy. If you want more gospel content in your life, listen to what Burk has to say. The night closed with a lengthy talk with Steve McCoy. Steve has a great heart for his family and for his church. After the conference I sent and email to my brother and another friend directing them to talk with Steve about autism, as Steve's autistic son has experienced major progress through the years.WEDNESDAYOver 70 workshops were offered on Wednesday. I signed up for three of them, but only made it to the last 15 minutes of Mark Driscoll's session on the Holy Spirit. Those 15 minutes were golden. I look forward to listening to many of these workshops (I especially want to hear Mary Kassain's workshop: The Genesis of Gender) once the audio is posted on The Gospel Coalition website.I spent a chunk of the morning goofing off with Toby, Eric, and Kenneth Maresco. Kenneth and his wife, Valori, are raising five sons who seem to be turning well even though they live in Maryland. Contact Kenneth if you have five sons and you need help parenting them.It was good seeing Matthew Elliot, president of Oasis International. Oasis is putting the Bible and good books into the hands of Africans. I love what they do. Peruse the link and consider supporting Oasis International's mission.Stephen Um and I had a good meeting with Ryan Pazdur, an Acquisitions Editor at Zondervan. Ryan's reputation precedes him. Everybody who works with Ryan says great things about him and his skills as an editor. Stephen Um and I pitched Ryan on a book we're writing. We've also submitted the proposal to Justin Taylor at Crossway. We'll see what happens. The book is tentatively titled, Why Cities Matter.I enjoyed meeting Scott Kauffman, Executive Director at Redeemer City to City. I loved hearing Scott's heart for church planting in global cities. I'm still trying to convince Scott why San Jose needs to be included in his short (only four cities made the cut) list of American cities that are receiving City to City's attention. City to City's web presence is a tremendous resource that I encourage all of you church leaders to make use of.Seeing Dan Orr was a joy. I really like Dan and his gospel-soaked blog.I had lunch with Matt Perman, director of strategy at Desiring God. Matt and I have been emailing each other, praying for each other and swapping notes as we write our books. I see an exciting future for how God will use Matt. Presently I subscribe to eight blogs. Matt's blog is one of them. I think Matt's book is going to be a truly special book. It's going to be a better book than David Allen's, Getting Things Done. It's a book about how the gospel should shape our approach to getting things done. Consider praying for Matt as he writes this important book.After lunch, Brian Larson introduced himself to me. It was good to meet Brian in person. Brian and Matt Woodley are doing a great job running Preaching Today. Preaching Today has featured some of my sermons. Brian asked me for a list of preachers to listen to and feature on Preaching Today. I gave him this list: Reed Jolley, Steve Fuller, Stephen Um, Tullian Tchividjian, R.W. Glenn, Eric Simmons, and Toby Kurth. I give you the same list: listen to the preaching of these seven men.I was encouraged over meeting Nigel Hunter, a Social Studies teacher in Wenatchee, WA. It's great to talk with a teacher so passionate for his students and for Jesus. Nigel married a friend of mine from my year and a half at Whitworth University.Next I met Matt Chandler and told him how we're looking forward to having him in the Bay Area in June.I did a lot of  fundraising for Garden City Church on Wednesday. I directed people to give to the Garden City vision by following the simple instructions here.For dinner I met up with my good friend, Tullian Tchividjian. If you're looking for help in thinking carefully about the good news of the gospel, read Tullian's blog. Tullian is only able to do what he does because of the good men he has around him: Rob Pacienza, Duane Mellor, and Mark Miller. We had an episode at the steak house where a guy stole Mark Miller's iphone. Fortunately the crisis was averted when Tullian and I approached him, doing our best to look tough and mad. Along with Toby and Nate, the seven of us guys used our time around the table to talk about the gospel, church cultures, leadership development, sports, and how to confront guys who steal iphones.Next a large group of men and women congregated at a nearby watering hole. I enjoyed talking with Jared Wilson. Jared's forthcoming book, Gospel Wakefulness, sounds like a book worthy of a wide readership. I gave our waitress a sample copy of Joe Thorn's new book, Note to Self. I hope a lot of you read Joe's book. A few blocks down the street we met up with some other friends. I was encouraged when Kevin DeYoung told me about his friend Joey Wang and the work Joey is doing in San Jose. Small world. I'm excited to meet up with Joey soon.Eric and I stayed up late into the night talking about the difference between being on staff at a large church and planting a church. Thursday came fast.THURSDAYI was fascinated by Makoto Fujimura's The Four Holy Gospels exhibit and lecture. I think you'll enjoy watching this video all about it. I'm eager to learn more about Fujimura's work and to get my hands on one of these Bibles. I enjoyed lunch with Ian McConnell, a church planter in Philly. Ian was the only guy at TGC who I was pretty sure could beat me up if he wanted to. If you have friends in Philly, tell them about what's going on at Ian's church.The Gospel Coalition Conference came to a close and The Christ and City Conference commenced. Tim Keller's opening address about urban church planting was very good. I'm not sure if the audio will be made available. Does anyone know? It was good talking with Jeff Vanderstelt. I am learning so much from Jeff these days. Jeff is a great thinker and I encourage you to read his content.Next, I spoke on a church planting panel along with Alan Barth (New York), Jonathan McIntosh (Memphis), Doug Logan (Camden, New Jersey), and Filipe Assis (Miami). These four men are doing exciting things for Jesus in their cities. I'm now following all these guys on twitter because I want to keep learning from them. Consider doing the same.Then thirty of us attended a dinner with Tim Keller where we ate good food and shared our dream for our cities. Dave Helm of Chicago was there and if you need a good children's Bible, get the Bible that David put together. I enjoyed meeting Mike Cosper of Louisville, he is a musician and writer who has important things to say. Michael Stewart has big dreams for Austin. If you're in Austin, learn from Michael Stewart. I loved hearing Jeff Vanderstelt's big dream for the 50 biggest cities in America. And I loved hearing Thi'sl talk about how God transformed his life and his big dream for St. Louis. Listen to Thisl's rap. It was good seeing Ed Blott there, get him to help you with your video needs. Matt Chandler gave a closing prayer and did it with his eyes open, which I thought was cool and which meant I had my eyes open part of the time. We should do more praying with our eyes wide open, looking at the people and the burdens we are praying for.Immediately after the dinner I rushed to a taxi, asked the driver if he drives fast, and when he said yes I hoped in and we made a mad dash to the airport. While sprinting through the terminal I ran past Dave Lomas and the guys at Reality San Francisco. I yelled at them, asking them to pray for me to make my flight. The prayer worked. It's a miracle I made my flight and met up with Toby on the plane. Dave Lomas and his team at Reality San Francisco are being used of God to do a great work, I encourage you to check out and pray for what they're doing if you are in San Francisco. Dave Lomas is a good dude. A few weeks ago he and Tarik El-Ansary took me to lunch and gave me a check in support of our church plant. And yesterday Dave confronted me when I said something stupid. I'm thankful for his accountability.HOMENow I'm home. TGC 2011 is over. Over the next month I will build upon the relationships that were started or strengthened at TGC 2011 and I'll start listening to the messages that I missed. Go here to listen to the TGC messages. While there, explore the website and think about making plans to attend the next TGC conference. God is doing an uncommon work through The Gospel Coalition. Become a part of it. You'll meet people and catch a gospel vision that will change your life.UPDATE:I forgot to mention three people:-It was so great to see Owen Lee, one of the most encouraging men on the planet and pastor of New Life Burbank. We met last December when I preached at Citylife Church in Boston. I'm looking forward to bringing Owen up to preach for us at Garden City. I love Owen.-Carolyn McCulley is always fun to talk to. She's charging forward, telling compelling stories with Citygate Films.-I met Justin Holcomb on Tuesday night. Nice guy. You or someone you know need to read his book, Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Abuse.