The most impactful lesson learned from the Shepherds' Conference this year came from a seminar session taught by Rick Holland on "Preparing Your Heart for Preaching." What is funny is that I was actually intending to attend the seminar taught by Phil Johnson but was in the wrong room. Thankfully, there are no accidents with God and what I heard in Rick Holland's seminar was very much needed.
He didn't teach on anything that I didn't learn in seminary. It was going over the basics like praying for your sermon, meditating on your passage, and preaching from the heart. What was most convicting was how far I saw myself straying from these very basic principles. Rick Holland talked about how you can identify if you are being self-reliant by examining your preparation for preaching to see if you are not praying for your messages. This came at me like a stake through my heart.
I had a chance to thank him for his seminar later in the week and he was honestly surprised because I told him that his seminar was the most impactful thing for me from the week. I was glad that he also shared that much of what he taught on he received as a personal rebuke as well.
As pastors, it is easy to make excuses not to pray. The busyness of ministry sometimes drowns out the fundamentals that are vital. How could I possibly think I could preach week after week without depending on the Lord to teach His Word through me? No wonder ministry was becoming so burdensome! I'm so thankful for this year's Shepherds' Conference because it was like a soothing balm for my soul and in the Lord I found great refreshment. It is great to walk away with lessons that I am joyful in being able to apply.
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Im so very glad that you guys update this blog. It is always good to read what you guys are thinking about and at the same time challenging for us readers. It seems both of you have commented on how our lives should be ones of prayer. A man should be characterized by prayer. It brings so many blessings and a great dose of humility too. Gosh the shepherds conference seems great. One day hopefully everyone will be able to attend it at least once. OH and this new church will be exciting. Hopefully it makes reaching out to college people easier as they will think "oh this will be easy church time since its so close, i can just stay up late sleep in and then wake up 5 min before service." haha and then they'll be exposed to the truth and have their world "turned upside down". Ah exciting.
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