ray choi

Christian husband, father of 3 and bi-vocational pastor

Highlights of the Desiring God 2014 National Conference

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Here are some highlights from the final Desiring God 2014 National Conference:

Ben Stuart

Executive Director at Breakaway ministry, a college ministry serving Texas A&M students
http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/pure-and-simple-devotion

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/the-next-generation

The first is about 30 minutes and the second is 10 minutes. Both are very good.

Nancy Gutherie

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/the-bible-s-big-story

Really enjoyed this. Gives me some food for thought as the book of Revelation and the start of our trek through the Old Testament looms.

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/the-best-things-about-the-boring-parts-of-the-bible

Daniel Montgomery

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/doctrines-of-grace-and-mission

He provides a good critique of the ethos of the Reformed tradition.

Five Sermons on Romans 8

John Piper #1: Scripture: The Kindling of Christian Hedonism
http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/scripture-the-kindling-of-christian-hedonism

John Piper #2: Free from Judgment, Fighting Sin, Full Assurance
Rom 8:1-8
http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/free-from-judgment-fighting-sin-full-assurance

John Piper recites the entire Rom 8 by memory – you must watch the opening minutes

[Ask Brother DY to recite Rom 8 – he already memorized it! Praise the Lord!]

John Piper #3: Groaning Creation, Groaning Saints, Groaning Spirit
Rom 8:9-25
http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/groaning-creation-groaning-saints-groaning-spirit

There are 2 ministries of the Holy Spirit discussed in Rom 8:12-17.

First, through the Holy Spirit, we receive the Spirit of adoption and the He enables us to cry out, “Abba, Daddy,” with our own lips.

Second, by the Spirit, we are able to put the deeds of the flesh to death.

On the one hand, there is the dependent humility of a child crying out, “Daddy!” On the other hand, there is the ferociousness of a lion when it comes to personal sin. Not focusing on other’s sins, but our own.

Reminiscent of the Lamb of God slain who is also known as the Lion of Judah.

John Piper #4: Predestination, Justification, No Separation
Rom 8:26-39

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/predestination-justification-no-separation

You have to watch from 1 hr 5 min mark to the end.

John Piper #5: Greatest Book, Greatest Chapter, Greatest Joy
http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/greatest-book-greatest-chapter-greatest-joy

Closing excerpts from John Piper #5 (final sermon of the conference)

The word “Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit 30 times in the book of Romans. Twenty of those are in Romans 8. And 15 of those 20 are in the first 16 verses. In other words, the Holy Spirit is a very prominent reality in Romans 8 and the dominant reality in the first 16 verses.

The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts. That means we feel it. We experience. We sense ourselves possessed by the love of God. That is the work of the Spirit.

Joy in God is not native to fallen people. It is foreign, alien. But in the Spirit, it is native — natural. This is the native air we breathe in the Spirit. Because the Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts. The Spirit removes the blindness to the glory of the facts.

The God of hope fills with joy. He does it through our believing. And thus we experience the power of the Holy Spirit filling us with hope and joy. So here are the pieces of this wonder-filled verse: The God of hope. The awakening of faith in glorious facts. The abounding of hope. And the wonderful sway of peace and joy.

The point of these three clues is this: the reason that the chapter with the most sustained description of joy-awakening, hope-giving facts is also the chapter that begins with the greatest focus on the Holy Spirit, is that without the work of the Holy Spirit we could not see or savor the glory of the Himalayan magnitude of these facts. But the greatest joy in the greatest chapter in the greatest book is in fact to see and savor and share in and show the glory of God.

Without the Holy Spirit none of these — seeing, savoring, sharing in, showing the glory of God — would happen. But by his awakening, life-giving power they would. The greatest joy will happen in the chapter with no reference to joy, and no commands. Three of these — seeing, savoring, sharing in — are relatively clear.

John the apostle said it: “When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). And even now, in measure, Paul says it is happening: “Beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This will not just be the joy of our seeing, but of being. The child of God does not just want to see his Father, but be like his Father. The child of God does not just want to see perfect holiness. He wants to be holy as his Father is holy. We don’t just admire the sinless purity of God. We ache to be done with our own sinning forever. We want to share in the glory of God. Be gloriously holy and full of purity and love and righteousness and wisdom.

And Paul says that, by the power of the precious Holy Spirit, we will.

So the greatest chapter in the greatest book in the world may not mention joy or have any commands in it. Only hope-giving, joy-awakening facts. And the power of the Holy Spirit. And by his power in us those Himalayan facts change everything. We see, we savor, we share in, and one day we will show the glory of God through all creation. And that will be the greatest joy.

David Platt – Relenting Wrath: The Role of Desperate Prayer in the Mystery of Divine Providence

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Desiring God: Sovereign Grace, Spiritual Gifts, and the Pastor–How Should a Reformed Pastor Be Charismatic?

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This sermon was preached by Pastor Tope Koleoso at the 2013 Desiring God conference.

SBC Annual Meeting 2012: David Platt’s Sermon

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Several things stick out for me as I reflect back on my trip to the SBC 2012 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. First, I enjoyed hanging out with PJ Tibayan of Crossview Church and Kevin Nguyen of Cornerstone Bible Community Church. They are great brothers in the Lord with godly wives. Second, it was meaningful to be part of the historic election of the first African American president of the SBC, Fred Luter, and along with it, the adding of the name/tag line–Southern Baptists, also known as the Great Commission Baptists. Third, I am increasingly encouraged by what God is doing in our denomination in terms of its local missions strategy spearheaded by NAMB as well as the resurgence of young SBC pastors with an interest in a more reformed theological position as evidenced by the establishment of Baptist Twenty One. Lastly, I was greatly challenged by Pastor David Platt’s sermon.

David Platt addressed the Pastor’s Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention yesterday from John 2:23-3:16. Platt emphasized the danger of spiritual deception (a deadly reality for perhaps millions around the world), the mystery of biblical conversion, and the urgency of global mission.

While there are certain issues that Bible-believing Christians may disagree on, Platt was adamant about the fact that we cannot afford to be unclear when it comes to calling people to follow Christ. A true understanding of conversion should lead us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, calling everyone to repent and believe.

A few quotations from each section can be found below:

The Danger of Spiritual Deception

  • “Many people in John 2 believed in Jesus…but Jesus did not believe them. Many people in John 2 accepted Jesus… but Jesus did not accept them.”
  • “This gospel (John) revolves around the necessity and centrality of belief in Christ… John makes clear to us that there is a kind of belief, a kind of faith, that does not save.”
  • “Jesus is not talking in Matthew 7 (13-23) or in John 3 about irreligious pagans, atheists, or agnostics. He’s talking about deeply, devoutly religious people who are deluded into thinking that they are saved when they are not. He’s talking about men and women who will be shocked one day to find that though they thought they were on the narrow road that leads to heaven, they were actually on the broad road that leads to hell.”

The Mystery of Biblical Conversion

  • “The Bible is clear about the sinful deadness of man, and we cannot dumb it down.”
  • “What we don’t need is superficial religion; we need supernatural regeneration.”
  • “Our problem is not that that we’ve made some bad decisions. Our problem is that we are dead in sin.”

The Urgency of Global Mission

  • “Could it be that one of the reasons why so many people in our churches are not praying with zeal or giving their resources away or going with the gospel into their neighborhoods or the nations – could it be because they’ve not been born again?”
  • “Born again believers don’t have to be cajoled to obey the Great Commission. Born again believers are compelled to accomplish the Great Commission. And born again pastors are charged with leading them on that mission.”

Final Exhortation

  • “Brothers, pastors, we have all kinds of differences and disagreements in this room, but brothers and sisters all across this room, we are men and women who all were once dead in our sin, who all were once hopelessly condemned to an eternal hell… but now, by the grace of God, we have life! So together, we are constrained to work against division and to throw aside distraction, that we might lead our churches and give our lives, even lose them, if necessary, in order to tell the world that God loves sinners so much that He has sent His Son for their salvation.”