NEXT-itude

Last weekend I attended the Next Conference put on by Sovereign Grace Ministries in Baltimore, Md. The conference used to be called New Attitude & sometimes I get confused about what to call it. Either way, it was as incredible as ever. The theme of the conference was Jesus. Well "duh!" you might say, it is a Christian conference after all. But let me explain, the first message by Josh Harris was on Christ's preeminence. Followed by DA Carson on Christ's incarnation, Kevin DeYoung on Christ's life, CJ Mahaney on Christ's death & 2 messages by Sinclair Ferguson on Christ's resurrection & return. (you can download all the messages for free from the website) It was such a refreshing time, which is what I was praying for. As I learn more and more about my Saviour, my love for Him continues to grow. I am so amazed at His complete power and sovereignty coupled with His love for me and willingness to become both fully God & fully man and suffer complete seperation from the Father on my behalf. One thing I am also more and more aware of is what it meant for Jesus the Son to be forsaken by God the Father. Jesus Christ had always known communion with the Father, even in His time on earth. He suffered seperation from the Father on my behalf when he was put to death on the Cross - that is the punishment that I should know, but because of His mercy, I to can experience communion with God the Father. And Praise be to God! not only did he die for my sin, but he conquered sin & death so that we can live in freedom & faithfully await His return.

One of the other things I love about this conference is spending time with people from my church as well as seeing friends from other churches aroud the country . I was really looking forward to spending time with some of the girls from bible study and the Lord was so kind to really grow our friendships during this trip. I feel so much closer to these lovely ladies and am so thankful that they are in my life.

Here's a few pictures from the trip....all 3 that i took...

Got a 'lil cap'n in ya?

I don't even know what's going on in this picture....

because its tradition, we took our self portrait...