T4G concluded yesterday with tears for the lost and prayers for evangelism. It was a most appropriate ending. The day contained many things of note, but here are a select few.

DAY 3 MISCELLANIES

• Oh wow, Piper stepped into the depths of Romans 9 and brought out treasure untold. I know many have a favorite Piper sermon, but this might just be mine.
• DeYoung was right to say – via Twitter – that Piper is a living embodiment of “logic on fire.” Fiery logic and logical fire, when coupled with exultational gestures, make for mighty fine preaching.
• While on the topic of fine preaching, we all should say, “Well done Lig Duncan, well done!” His sermon on Numbers 5 was Christ-centered biblical theology at its best.
• Praise God for live streaming. Over 25,000 people from 100 countries tuned in to some part of the conference.
• Some people may have felt bamboozled by dedicating the longest panel to denominations, but I suspect that every pastor was well served by the discussion. I know I was.
• Kudos to Crossway for giving every attendee a copy of From Heaven He Came and Sought Her. May it be a gift that brings much fruit on the often thorny issue.
• Pay attention to the hymn “He Will Hold Me Fast.” The melody is awesomely simple and we all need songs of truth for times of misery and suffering.
• Al Mohler was visibly teary-eyed at the conclusion of the conference. The Spirit, through Piper, had revealed truth in a powerful way.

We came expectant and left eager for more. And so we excitedly await T4G 2016.

Day 2 at T4G featured DeYoung, Platt, breakouts, Chandler and the thunderous singing of hymns old and new. Here are some random thoughts of another day in Louisville.

DAY 2 MISCELLANIES

• DeYoung was simply marvelous in his talk; I have never heard him better in content or delivery. Chandler was right to hope that people will still be listening to the message’s content decades from now.
• The panel on “Preaching Sanctification” was as fine a conference panel discussion I have ever heard. Listen to it as soon as you can.
• Piper’s musing about “tree heaven” during the sanctification panel was quite hilarious, but marvelously crafted.
• There is a gravitas to Platt’s preaching that all pastors would do well to learn from.
• Quickest book to sell-out at the bookstore? Mark Jones’ Antinomianism. What a blessing that book will be to many.
• “Loudest Congregational Praise of the Day Award” goes to “The Solid Rock”; “Behold our God” was a very close second.
• There is a continual, and helpful, dialogue about creating a culture of evangelism in the church, not mere programming.
• Poor Simon Gathercole was invited to the “Stump the Panel” discussion and his presence was virtually forgotten. He really only got included on one question.
• Just in case anyone was wondering, Tex-Mex in Louisville is not real Tex-Mex.
• Mohler was asked if he would run for president in 2016 and his constituents found out they will have to wait until at least 2020.

Macarthur, Duncan, “future theological battles”, and Piper are all on the docket today. I am expectant.

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.

Today marks the beginning of Together for the Gospel, that marvelous biennial conference started by the veritable force of Al, Lig, CJ, and Dever. This year thousands of Christians gather in Louisville to consider the always timely task of evangelism. And I am near giddy with anticipation.

I first went to T4G in 2010 and have been hooked ever since. The conference is not without a least one noticeable shortcoming – which Challies ably pointed out last week – but, on the whole, it is the only event for me that falls in the category of “must attend.” Throughout the years I have found four reasons for the joy of T4G.

4 REASONS TO LOVE T4G

The singing. If ever there is a subjective proof for the power of congregational singing, this is it. Thousands of men singing hymns with the backing of a mere piano is a wonder to behold. I find myself regularly moved to tears by the songs. Also, I have left the conference each year with at least one song that I wanted to introduce to my congregation.

The fellowship. How blessed indeed it is when brothers dwell together in unity – unity in the gospel. It is true that most of the attendees are firmly planted in the “all things gospel-centered” crowd, but there are fun exceptions to the norm. In 2012 I had some good conversation from a few men on staff at a hugely influential mega-church that would rightly be labeled as liberal. We nonetheless had wonderful fellowship.

The books. T4G has to be the pinnacle meeting of broadly Reformed bibliophiles. Attendees get back their registration in free books and the freebies are not mere throwaways from publishers. Also, the bookstore is simply spectacular.

The preaching. The popular heavyweights that occupy T4G’s vaunted pulpit are not popular without reason; they can preach. Even today there are select messages from each conference to which I regularly refer for discipling purposes. I have particularly high hopes this year for the scheduled talks from Platt, Piper, and Dever.

If you are attending, I’d love to see you there. If you can’t attend, check out the live stream here.

I hope to have daily reflections and pictures posted each morning.