In less than a month, I will have the privilege of live-blogging a great conference in my own neck of the woods. The conference is called "
True Church Conference" and is taking place
May 3-6, 2007 at
First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The theme of the conference is "
The Miracle of Conversion." I have included in this post the conference distinctives, bio sketches of the speakers, and the schedule (you will see that Dr. Moore is kicking off the conference Thursday night). If you are interested in registering or in need of directions, I have included the links to those as well at the bottom. You can download this information by going to their online brochure (click
here).
:: Conference Distinctives ::
Doctrine Aflame
We desire to focus on the passionate preaching of the great doctrines of Scripture that are being neglected in today's church. I'm convinced no doctrine is more neglected or misunderstood than the doctrine of conversion. Easy believism, decisionism, and manipulative altar calls have replaced the sound preaching of the Gospel calling sinners to repentance and faith. The result is an unregenerate church membership and bloated membership rolls. As
Dr. Al Mohler writes, "We are reaping the harvest of doctrinal neglect. The urgency of this task cannot be ignored. Baptists will either recover our denominational heritage and rebuild our doctrinal foundations, or in the next generation there will be no authentic Baptist witness."
Theology and Methodology
The conference will give much attention to how sound doctrine must govern the life of the local church. Today's evangelical church is often driven by man-centered pragmatism, worldly marketing approaches, and entertainment. And all this with a veneer of Christianity! We need the passionate, expository preaching of the truth, accompanied by an unswerving commitment that ALL methodology in the church MUST flow out of sound theology.
Local Church CenteredThe conference is being held at the
First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The church is located in the northwest part of the state and has about 1,000 active members. Jeff Noblit has been on the pastoral staff for 26 years and has been the Senior Pastor for preaching for 18 years. For the last two decades God has been blessing First Baptist in reforming both its policies and procedures to become more biblically healthy.
Application Intensive
During the conference, time will be set aside to discuss the practical "working out" of sound doctrine in the life of the local church. Plus, materials on baptismal counseling, membership policies and procedures, church discipline, and other matters will be made available to conference participants. There will be a large bookstore featuring trustworthy books and commentaries by both past and contemporary writers.
Evangelism and MissionsSound doctrine will always promote the preaching and sharing of the Gospel! If a passion to glorify God by winning lost souls is not present, then our doctrine is invalid. A strong emphasis on evangelism and world missions will permeate the conference. All conference attendees are invited on Saturday afternoon to accompany members of First Baptist Church in street preaching and door-to-door visitation. True doctrine never results in cold intellectualism.
Modeling and Mentoring
Our first goal is that God will use the conference to continue the maturation of First Baptist, Muscle Shoals, in the truth. We believe the church should be reformed and always reforming. We also have a strong desire to encourage and help mobilize sister churches who are on the same pilgrimage.
To help serve this goal, each participating church will be assigned a private area for discussion and seeking God concerning the application of sound doctrine into the life of their church. We believe the conference will be used of God to strengthen your church's pilgrimage to a more biblical and healthy church life.
:: Conference Speakers ::
Voddie Baucham is an author, Bible teacher, professor, and pastor. He currently serves as Pastor of Preaching at
Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. He is also an adjunct professor at
The College of Biblical Studies in Houston and
Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. His own post-graduate study focused on Cultural Apologetics. Voddie is the author of
The Ever-Loving Truth, a book which helps twenty-first century Christians apply God's Word to contemporary life.
David Miller has been preaching for 42 years. He pastored for five years before serving as Director of Missions for Little Red River Baptist Association (Arkansas), a position he held for 25 years. An itinerant preacher, David has been in full-time evangelism (Line Upon Line Ministries) since 1995. He served on the Board of Trustees of
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, for eight years. He currently prefers the title "Country Preacher-at-Large."
Russell Moore serves as Dean of the School of Theology, Senior Vice President for Academic Administration, and Associate Professor of Christian Theology at
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of
The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective and co-editor of
Why I Am a Baptist. He has written articles for various publications including
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society,
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology,
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and
SBC Life.
Jeff Noblit is the Senior Pastor-Teacher of
First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He has served on the pastoral staff for 26 years, the last 18 as senior pastor. Jeff is the founder of
Anchored in Truth Ministries, an expository preaching ministry, and is the author of
The Accountability Notebook and the witnessing booklet, The Great Answer to the Great Question. He has written articles for various magazines and journals.
Paul Washer ministered as a missionary to Peru for 10 years, during which time he founded the
HeartCry Missionary Society to support Peruvian church planters. HeartCry's work now supports indigenous missionaries in Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. An itinerant preacher, Paul also teaches in the internship program at his home church, First Baptist Muscle Shoals. He is the author of
The One True God: A Biblical Study of the Doctrine of God.
:: Conference Schedule ::Thursday, May 31:00 p.m. Registration / Bookstore Open
6:30 p.m. Worship
7:00 p.m. Session 1: The Sovereignty of God & The Miracle of Conversion - Russell Moore
8:00 p.m. Session 2: The Sovereignty of God & The Miracle of Conversion - Russell Moore
Friday, May 4
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast8:30 a.m. Worship
9:00 a.m. Session 3: The Power of the Holy Spirit & The Miracle of Conversion - Voddie Baucham
10:00 a.m. Session 4: The Power of the Holy Spirit & The Miracle of Conversion - Voddie Baucham
11:00 a.m. Individual Churches Prayer, Discussion, & Lunch
2:30 p.m. Session 5: The Preaching of the Gospel & The Miracle of Conversion- David Miller
3:30 p.m. Session 6: The Preaching of the Gospel & The Miracle of Conversion- David Miller
6:30 p.m. Worship
7:00 p.m. Session 7: Church History & The Miracle of Conversion - Jeff Noblit
8:30 p.m. Q & A
9:30 p.m. Individual Churches Prayer & Discussion
Saturday, May 58:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast9:00 a.m. Worship
9:30 a.m. Session 8: Evidences of the Miracle of Conversion - Paul Washer
10:30 a.m. Session 9: Evidences of the Miracle of Conversion - Paul Washer
11:30 a.m. Individual Churches Prayer, Discussion, & Lunch
2:00-3:30 p.m. Street Preaching & Door-to-Door Visitation (optional)
4:00-6:30 p.m. Individual churches prayer, discussion, & dinner
7:00 p.m. Session 10: Believer's Baptism & the Miracle of Conversion - Jeff Noblit
8:00 p.m. Q & A
Sunday, May 6Sunday morning worship at First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals
9:30 a.m. Session 11: Missions & the Miracle of Conversion - Paul Washer
10:30 a.m. Session 12: The Glory of God & the Miracle of Conversion -Jeff Noblit
>>
To download or view their online brochure, click
here.
>>
To register, click
here.
>>
For directions, click
here.
