Day Two First Thought

This has been a very good conference so far. There is no doubt that God has laid this topic on Jim’s heart, for he has been driven to study this material for several years and has only just compiled it into a book. He was introduced as one of the most humble people you will ever meet, a description given far too often in the church. But in this case I will have to agree. I spent a little bit of time speaking with him before the conference began and he is approachable and very easy to speak with. When he asks how you are doing, he actually listens to your response. That’s not easy to find anymore. Jim may one day inadvertently hit the “big time” as Mark Dever became a Christian celebrity by accident, but I don’t see him losing his humility.

David Ward is another pleasant surprise here. I linked to the “about us” page of Reformed Praise, where you can also see a picture of Eric Schumacher, the paster of Northbrook Baptist. David has been leading our worship on the piano, singing traditional hymns as well as some newer music. Here is another picture of humility. David is well aware of the sin in his heart and acknowledged that each one of us came to the conference with dirty hands. In his prayer, he asked God to remove our burdens that we may glorify God with the conference and I am most thankful for that.

Our worship is our lives. There is no division. The only division to be found is in who, or what, we worship. David and Jim are two men who drive a person’s worship to the cross of Christ, where our sins were covered and the righteousness of Christ is our only hope. For that, I thank them both.