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. 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). Let me know if anyone is interested in going to the conference. The date is fast approaching. This is a conference with a great topic and great line-up of speakers. You won’t want to miss it!
:: 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 Centered
The 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 Missions
Sound 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 3
1:00 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 Breakfast
8:30 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 5
8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 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 6
Sunday 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.
Man! Right smack before exams, too!
Timmy, just what does this scedule item for Saturday mean?
2:00-3:30 p.m. Street Preaching & Door-to-Door Visitation (optional)
Is this a seminar on the practices, or will attendees be encouraged to go out and preach the gospel, going door-to-door?
Is this a seminar on the practices, or will attendees be encouraged to go out and preach the gospel, going door-to-door?
They will go out with local church members to share the gospel in the community.
Man! Right smack before exams, too!
Yeah, but it will be worth it. You ought to come . . .
Praise God the SBC is starting to reform. I hope this is the first of many experience for thousands of SBC churches in the future.
Man, I would love to go, but I don’t know if I can make the four hour drive from Atlanta. I was happy to see Voddie’s name, but as I scrolled down I was even happier to see Paul Washer. Great!
Maybe I can go…who knows….if not I will just have to wait for the audio. The witnessing section sounds awesome!
Mark
Mark,
If you do end up going, let me know. I would love to take you out for lunch or dinner.
Paul,
Indeed, this conference is great news. Anyone who knows a little bit of the recent history of FBC Muscle Shoals knows they have been through the fire. They have paved a very unpopular path, but it is a glorious path nonetheless.
The significance of this conference cannot be underestimated, including the fact that this is being done through the local church equipping leaders of other local churches, by giving them a sound and robust theology of conversion and a corresponding methodology that honors God as the author and finisher of our faith. I concur and share your sentiments that this spreads through the SBC for years to come.
Semper reformanda,
Timmy
My husband and I are interested in going to this conference, however we aren’t pastors or church leaders. Is it open to laypeople?
Bretta,
I check the FAQ for the conference, and here’s what it said:
Q: Who can attend the conference?
A: While the conference is directed toward church leaders, the theme is one that will resonate with any born again believer, therefore, women and those not in church leadership are welcome to attend.
I hope that helps!
Timmy
Thanks, Timmy! Guess I could’ve done that myself, but thanks for pointing it out to me…duh!
No problem. I’m glad I could help. 🙂
Hope to see you there!
I’m bring 8 students from WKU in Bowling Green! Leaving tomorrow as soon as students finish some tests.
Kevin B. Hash
Kevin,
Great! I look forward to meeting you and the students as well. I should be driving through Bowling Green around 2:30 this afternoon. I frequenly stop at exit 22 on I-65 because of the eating options. 😉