I am Louisville this week, along with 7,000 other brothers and sisters in Christ, for T4G 2014. Here are some random reflections from Day 1 @ T4G.

DAY 1 MISCELLANIES

• The singing was, as always, awesome. Kauflin introduced a new hymn from Anne Steel entitled “Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul.” The melody is strikingly similar to “How Sweet and Awful is the Place”, but the lyrics offer great encouragement and reflection.
• Dever had first-time attendees stand up and I was quite surprised to see what seemed like a majority rise to their feet. Encouraging for sure! But does it also say something about attrition from 2012’s crowd?
• Dever’s talk from Isaiah 37-38 showed once again how expert he is at the rhetorical question.
• I can’t think of another preacher whose delivery contains such consistent warmth and clarity as Thabiti’s. His reflections on struggles in personal evangelism were especially illuminating.
• The panels on “D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Pastor-Evangelist” and “Homosexuality: Our Third Rail?” set a high standard for the ones to come.
• Iain Murray is a wonderfully engaging interviewee. I do wish he wouldn’t so naturally dip into hagiography of MLJ. But maybe there is something to be commended here: need all historians be concentrated critics? Methinks Murray’s influence on evangelicalism will resound for decades to come.
• Mohler is brilliant, simply brilliant. Has anyone else ever noticed how naturally diplomatic his cadence is?
• 9Marks and Crossway hit a home run in timing four volumes of their “Building Healthy Churches” series to roll off the press this week.
• Downtown Louisville and the KFC Yum! Center are an ideal pairing for a conference like this.

Let Day 2 begin.