Are We Gospel-Centred in Practise? – Ray Ortlund

Centered on one or the other – Ray Ortlund:

"The one deal-breaker in a gospel-centered church: anyone for any reason turning it into a culture of legal demandingness and negative scrutiny. Few would do that in the theology, of course. But still, a church with a message of grace can stop being gospel-centered in real terms.

A major part of pastoral ministry is preaching the doctrines of grace and managing an environment of grace. The latter is harder to accomplish than the former. It is more intuitive. It requires more humility and self-awareness."

Big News! Toronto Pastors Fellowship 2010 is Coming!

I am thrilled my friend Mike Bullmore has agreed to come and teach us.  Mike is not as well known to our Canadian brethren as some, so we asked Don Carson and Josh Harris to give us their introduction and recommendations (see below).

I am also really glad to be having Dan McDonald, a newer friend from right here in the city and Robbie Symons, a dear brother pastoring my old church in Oakville filling out the teaching schedule.

I will be writing more about the conference soon, but for now... SAVE THE DATES!

From the TPF website:

Announcing TPC 2010!

We are thrilled to announce the dates and lineup of preachers for the 2010 Toronto Pastors Conference!

This year the conference will run June 14-16 and will feature Mike Bullmore as the plenary speaker. Mike is the former Professor of Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, and Chairman of the Practical Theology Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and brings years of pastoral experience to the table.
Mike will be joined by Dan McDonald (Pastor of Grace Toronto), Robbie Symons (Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville), and Paul Martin (Pastor of Grace Fellowship Church).
Registration will be available online shortly (stay tuned!) and at all monthly TPF meetings.
Check back soon for fuller details! For now, here are a couple endorsement's of the conference's main speaker, Mike Bullmore.

• D.A. Carson: "Mike Bullmore is not as well known as some because he has written relatively little -- but he is one of the most engaging, penetrating, insightful preachers I know. Moreover, the quality of his mentoring of young men in the church he serves is simply stellar."
  
• Joshua Harris: "Mike Bullmore is one of the best kept secrets in the larger body of Christ today. He is a masterful, passionate, precise teacher of God’s word. I’ve described him as a cross between John Piper and CJ Mahaney. And I can’t think of a higher compliment to pay a preacher."