Radical Womanhood

NEXT and a Free Song

What are you doing Memorial Day? If you are a young adult (married or single), you may want to consider attending the NEXT Conference in Baltimore, MD. It's a weekend soaked in the glory of God. The theme of the event is the knowledge of God:

We all base our lives on what we think God is like. We act on what we know—or believe we know—about God. The question is whether what we believe about God is true.

Here's a promo video for NEXT, produced by my friends at Vinegar Hill Picture Works. It features a new song called "Oil Lamp Life," by Caleb Murphy. For long-time readers of this blog, Caleb is Ian Murphy's brother. I had the chance to meet him while he was recording this song. In the past three years, he's lived through his brother's near fatal accident and the loss of his father to brain cancer. Yet out of those experiences, he was able to write this song. As he explains:

It’s really about how life is hard but that we should have faith in God for the future. It’s about how we have no idea what is going to happen at any point in time, we just see what’s in front of us. I remember my dad explaining to me what the phrase “You are a lamp unto my feet” meant. He said that the oil lamps that they had back in the day only showed them their feet and a few feet in front of them. This is walking in faith, trusting that God will lead us and not worrying even though we can’t see far ahead.

And now I have the pleasure of letting you know that you can download the entire song for free. To learn more about the music behind the video, visit the NEXT blog and follow the link there to get the song.

This Is NEXT

I'm speaking to the young women at the NEXT conference today in Baltimore. The main-session speakers at this conference are Sinclair Ferguson, Kevin DeYoung, D.A. Carson, C.J. Mahaney, and Joshua Harris. You can follow along from afar by reading the conference's liveblog and eventually downloading the messages from the same site (where you can currently download all the messages from prior conferences for free--a real goldmine!). The conference theme this year is exploring the life and work of Jesus Christ -- Christ's preeminence, incarnation, life, death, and resurrection.

What's NEXT?

It used to be called New Attitude, but now the Sovereign Grace Ministries conference for young adults is called NEXT. This year, it will be held in Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend and I have the privilege of being one of the breakout-session speakers. During February and March, NEXT's webzine is running an excerpt from Radical Womanhood about the female raunch culture and the often unrecognized third wave of feminism that is unabashedly pro-porn. Part one is up now and part two will be up in March.

In addition, my friends at Vinegar Hill Picture Works developed and produced the NEXT promo video (below). I'm excited about their visual story-telling skills because we've worked together for years and plan to do so in the future with the documentary film company I am developing. More importantly, Vinegar Hill principals David Altrogge and Michael Hartnett are eager to use their skills and creativity to glorify God in both what ends up in the finished product and what emanates from their life, words, and deeds as they work. This is the basis of a discussion they held with Stephen Reed from Breakpoint's "Discourse" podcast.

The Troubled Soul, Fighting for Faith

Sorry for the long pause here on the blog. I was back on the road again--this time to Louisville, Kentucky, for the New Attitude conference. I was working onsite and didn't attend but just a few minutes of the conference. However, I had a chance to meet Justin Buzzard, who has been live-blogging the conference. And I'll be downloading the messages, too. Thanks to the Na team, they are already posted, though the conference just ended this afternoon. Even better: they are free! Two messages that I am eager to hear are C.J. Mahaney's "The Troubled Soul: God's Word and Our Feelings" and John Piper's "Fighting for Faith with God's Word." But the whole line-up looks very good.

Lord willing, this blog will return to a more normal schedule this week! Thanks for visiting...

Discernment: The Messages

The theme of this year's New Attitude conference for single adults and young married couples was discernment. The speakers were John Piper, Albert Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, Josh Harris, and Eric Simmons. You don't have to exercise much discernment, however, to decide whether or not to download the conference messages. Firstly, the messages are free. Secondly, look at the list of speakers. You know it's going to be rich, deep material. So visit the Sovereign Grace Store to download one or all of the messages listed below:

Discernment (Joshua Harris)
Discern Your Doctrine (Mark Dever)
Discern Your Culture (Albert Mohler)
Discern Your Heart (C.J. Mahaney)
Discern the Graymatters (Eric Simmons)
Discern What Pleases God: Himself (John Piper)
Discern What Pleases God: Personal Obedience (John Piper)
Discern How to Apply (C.J. Mahaney)

And check out the Na blog for photos and reflections.

UPDATE: Our apologies! The high demand for these messages caused the store's website to crash. We hope it will be revived shortly . . . so if you can't get through now, try back in a day or two.

Free Stuff!

Awhile ago, I promised the semi-regular Happy Hour on Fridays--the notification of valuable free stuff on the web that should make you happy, happy, happy. Today's free notification is the message I heard many people say was one of the most informative and helpful at the recent New Attitude conference: Justin Taylor's "A New Kind of Christianity: A Look at the Emerging Church Movement." You can download it free from the New Attitude website.

Have a great weekend!

It's Better to Hear the Messages

I know I said I'd move on to other topics, but I want to add an important postscript to the New Attitude conference: The main session messages are now available to download from the Sovereign Grace Store. You can download the complete set at one time or pick individual messages.

I want to strongly encourage you to get these messages and not rely on my live-blogging summaries as sufficient. Live-blogging is meant to provide a taste of the event, not serve as the definitive summary of the teaching. At least here that's the case! I was doing my best to capture the event, but there were some statements or facts I didn't note accurately and had to correct later on. So I especially want to encourage anyone who takes issue with the teaching as summarized here to get the message and listen to it in its entirety before you comment or critique the messages.

These are the main-session messages. The breakout sessions will be up at the end of next week. Come back then to get the messages from Justin Taylor and Al Mohler that Josh urged us to hear.

Reflections on New Attitude (and Shout Outs to My Friends)

On the way home yesterday, we all learned that those nifty metal cases that we were given with the Na schedule and other pertinent info will set off the metal detectors. So many people had them in their back pockets or shirt pockets that the Louisville airport security people knew to tell us to take them out before walking through the detector.

I caused a number of people to have a good belly laugh in the airport Starbucks when I turned my head to greet people I recognized from my seminar and didn't see that the woman in front of me had stopped. I was waving hi, looking the other way, when I walked right into her. All I saw at the last moment was gray T-shirt, but it was too late to stop. What a class act! I only wish I could have seen that smooth move from the perspective of the people I was waving to! It still makes me laugh to think of it.

So here are some random thoughts as I process the weekend. First, props to Drew Garfield, who volunteered two nights in a row to walk me back to the hotel. It is immensely gratifying when men take active notice of things like this and ensure a woman isn't walking alone at midnight. That is an expression of the masculine benevolence that our pastors are constantly building into our guys. Props to him, too, for being willing to be included in Eric Simmons' sermon illustrations! Second, thanks to Phil and Nathan Sasser for lunch and personal theological instruction from the Dynamic Duo of Doctrine.

And let me not forget to mention the "reunion" dinner, as it were, of two of the original members of The New Attitude Band--Eric Hughes, who is still a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church in Chesapeake, VA, and Ted Slater, who is now the editor of Focus on the Family's Boundless webzine. Good times. Speaking of Boundless, it was great to meet Suzanne Hadley! Thanks for all the time you invested in interviewing our speakers. I can't wait to see the articles you write.

I'd also like to report that I was up and rocking at midnight Monday for the Telecast concert. What a talented group of musicians! They sound as good live as they do on their recordings. Lead singer Josh White is very good at weaving personal testimony and exhortation between well-crafted songs. Several people around me commented on how much they like his vocals.

However, better than all the people at the concert were all the people in the prayer room. A number of "prayer point" banners were set up inside a softly illuminated circular structure (they call this a boma in South Africa, if memory serves). These banners had Scriptures for each theme, accompanied by a selected prayer adapted from The Valley of Vision. It was a peaceful oasis in the midst of all the frenetic activity. (This would probably be a good time to plug the forthcoming worship project from Sovereign Grace, Valley of Vision, which is inspired by this book. It will be out, Lord willing, in mid-August.)

Personally, one odd highlight was seeing a number of young adults there that I once babysat. It is bittersweet to see children become young adults--and join me in the singles ministry. However, when viewed from an eternal perspective, it is a reason to rejoice. When I feel awkward about this, it's because I am not seeing life through Kingdom eyes. The fact that these young men and women are there and wholeheartedly participating is an evidence of grace, as we Sovereign Gracers like to say. But even if we use that phrase a lot, it's still not drained of its meaning. Psalm 145:4 calls us to proclaim God's works to the next generation. When the next generation is worshiping with us, it's cause to celebrate, not to be concerned. I have participated in passing the baton to them and it is more sweet than bitter to see them receive it and press on.

Finally, I want to make sure that Katherine Reynolds, the hard-working and faithful assistant to Joshua Harris, gets her 15 seconds in the blogosphere. In your service to Josh, you are showing numerous single women what it means to cultivate the qualities that will one day, we pray, bless a husband. Either way, it glorifies God now. Well done! (And a shout out to Paul and Ken from 9Marks for making this a much better photo than we had planned. And I don't care what the real story is, Paul. I'm spreading the rumor that when single men visit Solo Femininity, they are inspired to pursue a courtship. I'm overlooking how many other steps occurred in between. There's a link and I'm claiming it!)

Thanks for reading this and have a happy day. The New Attitude coverage is now concluded. Upcoming posts will tackle other topics!

The Family—Taking It Home to Your Local Church Community (Final Na session)

It's the final session of New Attitude 2006. Josh wrapped up the conference by going through various aspects of the prior messages and encouraging those present to take this experience home to their local churches and apply this teaching to their lives.

"I want to challenge you that regardless of how the band sounds, that when the worship ends you have the kind of passion you had here," Josh said. "Just be thrilled that you are worshiping Jesus and that God's Word is going to be preached....I want to challenge each one of you to be the kind of people down front each Sunday morning asking your pastor how to apply the message in your life."

He also had specific encouragement for the men and women present to continue to grow in biblical manhood and womanhood.

"Men, oh, men, LEAD. Lead in godly conversation and fellowship," he said. "You don't need somebody to come along and give you a title like Family Group leader for you to lead...You know what? You are going to do a bad job. That's okay, just keep practicing. Ladies, encourage them. Be patient to them, be a sister to them. Root them on. Look at your brothers not as what they are. [Laughter] Look at them at what they can by the grace of God and support them. [Applause.] I am so grateful that my wife does not look at me as what I am!"

His exhortation was to "go home and live the truth personally." Josh encouraged us all to listen to Justin Taylor's breakout session on the emerging church and Al Mohler's message on cultural discernment from a biblical worldview. And then to seek the input of others in our lives, the wisdom of our parents and pastors, in order to grow.

"There's no Christian life presented in the Bible apart from being connected to the people of God," he said. "Let's go home and let's live it!"

After a time of enthusiastic praise and worship, Josh concluded the conference with a prayer for relationships. He said the conference's main goal was to direct our hearts toward God, but he also wanted to give us the opportunity to meet each other. After many jokes on this theme, he ended with a heartfelt prayer: "We want to desire You more than life itself...We want to have hearts that long for You and are satisfied in You...But we also know You made us to be in relationship and we long for that...For those here that are in relationships, I pray that they would be marked by purity and sincerity...For those that are waiting upon You, would You remind them right now that You are the faithful God, that there is nothing that You can't do, that You are good and that You are always good? ...Lord, bless these men and women, every person here, married or single....And Lord we pray that if it be Your will, that You would bring us back in 2007."

(The photo of Josh is from an earlier session at New Attitude and is, of course, courtesy of the Na blog.)

The Mission—Reaching the World Next Door (Na Session Six)

What a full day! In addition to fruitful lunch and dinner meetings, I also spent the better of the afternoon with the enthusiastic women who attended my breakout session. I truly enjoy the Q&A time that inevitably follows a message. Thank you, dear sisters, for passing up an opportunity for a nap to listen to me. It was a treat to meet you and to talk to so many of you!

This evening I met a woman who is a missionary to Sudan on furlough. She was doing me a kind favor, but I was grateful to meet a woman who is ministering in such a difficult area. It was appropriate to encounter her right before Eric Simmons' message on evangelism. Eric is the pastor who leads our singles ministry at Covenant Life Church. His message tonight was energetic, humorous and passionate, which was a blessing to weary conference attendees. He had us cheering stories of God's work among unbelievers. It was truly a motivating message.

"Sometimes I think the most unreached people group is the one next door," Eric said. "Do you think of yourself as a missionary to the world next door? Do you just go to Starbucks or do you see yourself as being sent to Starbucks? Do you go to school or do you see yourself as being sent to your campus? Do you go to work or do you see yourself as being sent to your job?"

Eric said that Colossians 4:2-6 gives us three things to do as local missionaries: We pray, we live, and we talk. This passage reads:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

So, point one, pray for opportunities--every day, in every situation. "This point needs an asterisk underneath it: Pray for it at your own risk," he said. "Because opportunities will come at awkward moments. You're never quite prepared for them."

Then, point two, live. Live lives that glorify God. "Effective missionaries live a distinctly life among a specific culture of people," Eric said, urging us to write this down. "Verse five tells us to conduct ourselves wisely among people, making the best use of the time....I want you to sow the kingdom of God effectively--and here's how. Pick one. Meaning, pick one unbeliever in your life. If you pray for opportunities, God will give you opportunities to sow broadly in your community. I'm not saying be quiet and not sow broadly. But what I am saying is sow strategically in a friend. Pursue genuine friendships--don't make them your mission, make them your friend. Love, care, and serve them. You must enjoy them as a friend."

What is Paul saying in this passage? Your conduct must match your message. "We must live among the culture, but we must have a distinctly different life," he said. "Brothers and sisters, make sure that they get a glimpse of Jesus when they are around you."

Eric reminded us that our holiness and the fruit of the Spirit that is working in our lives is one of the most strategic and effective tools in evangelism. "Love, joy, peace, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control, all these things will provoke people who are watching," he said. "But yeah, Eric, what about being relevant? That's a term that gets thrown around a lot in our generation. Truth is essential. Relevance is just a nice package. Godliness and fruit of the Spirit are much more important than being relevant."

To underscore that point, he pulled out the package his original iPod came in. He's had this package for more than three years, but he can't part with it. Lovingly and carefully, he showed us the great design he appreciates so much. Then he honed in on his point.

"Packaging is important, but if the people around you start opening the package and see nothing in you that's different, that's compromise," he said. "So how can you be an effective missionary? Have conversations with people about Jesus. But these conversations need to be marked by something. They need to be gracious conversations, not arrogant conversations. What is Paul saying in this passage? 'I want people to understand grace by the way you talk to them.'"

I wish I could tell all the great illustrations Eric used tonight. But I don't want to steal his thunder. Just get the message when it becomes available shortly. The stories about sharing Jesus in a saloon in Colorado and Michael Hartnett's response to a gamer's threat to "eat his soul" are priceless. We laughed, we cheered, we admired the boldness of God's servants in these stories. And we have the opportunity to do the same ourselves.

"Tonight we represent 218 churches, 38 states, and four continents. This represents a vast number of communities," he said. "And you get to represent a part in God's kingdom as a missionary with this incredible message of good news to a dying world. Isn't that incredible?"

The session closed with everyone breaking down in small groups to pray for ourselves, for our boldness to share the word, for opportunities to do so, and for the salvation of those we know. Then we sung "Your Great Renown," an appropriate response to such an inspiring message.

(This photo is from the New Attitude blog.)