Friday, April 18, 2008

T4G 2008 #4

The ride home from T4G went great! It was a beautiful day to drive and take in some lovely American countryside and the fellowship in the van made the 12 hours feel like two.

The highlight of this conference in my eyes took place late Wednesday night. Tim Challies and I had the idea of gathering together all of the Canadian registrants for a few minutes of meeting each other and forging relationships. I was greatly encouraged when (by my rough count) 60 or so men from over 20 churches met us in the hardly visible Room 112... not to be confused with Room 110 where I had told a whole whack of guys to meet us.

I gave a few words of thanks and introduction, and then each person told us their name, church name and where in our country they had come from. All we had hoped to do next was gather some email addresses to further our communication down the road and leave a few minutes for fellowship. But the few minutes went on for over an hour.

I was thrilled to meet some guys I had only heard of before, and to watch as others (some who lived in the same neighbourhood) got connected. I was also glad to meet Francois Picard, the director of SEMBEQ, the seminary of the Fellowship Baptists in Quebec. The Lord had done some remarkable things in Quebec over the last 20 years and I have always wanted to pray more intelligently for that part of my country. Initiating a friendship with Francois is a great first step to that goal.

Much thanks to the T4G team for allowing us to use the room in the convention centre.

This morning I was met with the smiling faces of 3 of my 4 kids (one is on a school trip and gets back today, d.v.). We all sat around the bed while I told them about the conference. My son wanted to know if there were any sheriffs preaching! I think John Piper would be the most likely to be a sheriff if not a pastor... a good sense of justice and all that.

And now, a full day in the study, pre-marital counseling all of tomorrow morning, some time with the family in the afternoon and then our favorite day of the week with my favorite church in the world.

6 comments:

  1. Glad you all got home safely. It was a pleasure meeting you, Paul. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us for breakfast on Wednesday.

    The T4GCAN gathering was a highlight for me as well. The meeting of Canadians continued on into impromptu meetings at SBTS and then at the airport. At the airport, I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Francois. God is doing great things in Quebec. On the plane, I read about Don Carson's dad, Tom and the work he did in Montreal and Drummondville in the 50's. May God be pleased to do that again a half century later.

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  2. Dan -
    The pleasure was all mine getting to meet you in person, brother. And great to hear that the fellowship continued.
    Thankful for you and your ministry,
    PWM

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  3. Hi Paul,

    It was great to meet you at BoB. I learned alot during that edifying time (before T4G even started!), one of which is that when you go to a meeting with bloggers, be prepared to tell them where you blog... and it needs to be a name they can remember! I've applied at least one thing I learned so far. =)

    Here is a link to my church's ministry equipping center that I was telling you about: http://www.spurgeoncenter.org

    Grace be with you brother,
    Chris

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  4. Chris -
    It was a real delight to meet you, brother! All that living on the Left Coast might be preparing you for a ministry in Canada some day. Come north!
    Thanks for the link.
    Paul

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  5. Kerux,

    Thanks to you and Tim for the T4G Canada supplement on Wed night. What a highlight!

    The time you took out of your schedule for an early morning breakfast meeting with me was deeply appreciated.

    I am struck by the tokens of renewing hope which God kindly granted to us this past week.

    May we hope in God for the reviving of Christ's Church in Canada.

    Clint.

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  6. It was good to meet you brother. I enjoyed running into you so many times throughout the week. We should definitely grab a bite to eat the next time our paths cross.

    Brother Hank

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