daddy4ms

Here is the final post by speaker/topic from Liberate 2015. Previous posts are organized the same way for the pre-conference and Thursday-Friday noon. Blessings! Eric Metaxas-"Transformed by Amazing Grace" here Ray Cortese-"It is Finished-The Present Power of These 3 Words" here Tullian Tchividjian-"It is Not Finished" here David Zahl-"It is Finished: The End of Score-Keeping" here Steve Brown-"Relax, It Really is Finished" here

While I was at Liberate 2015, I posted several quotes on the blog.  Below I have provided links to find specific pre-conference speakers more quickly.  I will post main conference speakers later. Enjoy! Steve Brown-"Is it finished for your church?" here Shari Thomas-"Is it finished for your relationships?" here Paul Tripp-"Is it finished for you?" here Scotty Smith-"Liberating the heart of the church" here Jono Linebaugh-"Liberating Preaching" here Jessica Thompson-"Liberating Kid's and Family Ministry" here

As you read this, I am in flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the Liberate conference.  Last year, I went alone and this year I am bringing 6 people with me.  I will be sharing notes from the speakers on this site throughout the week.  Return Thursday-Sunday for new posts.  We are also including a little rest and relaxation today and then on Monday.

Happy Valentine's Day to my beautiful, smart, caring, loving, kind wife.  It sounds like a cliché, but I really do love her more today than we got married.  The love grows and grows and I am blessed to get to spend my days with her.  Since we will gone for a week, we plan to celebrate with the kids today, but I am looking forward to a date night while we are in Ft. Lauderdale.  Any good restaurant suggestions? I love the picture below and her amazing bouquet of roses paled in comparison to her beauty that day. If all of this mushy Valentine's Day makes you gag, check out a  post I wrote about another amazing love available to us.

I am continuing posts of pictures from Ft. Lauderdale, FL as Liberate 2015 is coming up soon.  I have included verses that connect with the image. He will again have compassion on us;      he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins      into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)

As I prepare to head to the ocean for Liberate 2015, I thought it would be fun to share pictures from the ocean with verses from Scripture that relate to them. I don't know how many posts this will be, but here is the first one. so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV)

Below you find a post that I shared about a year ago.  It was written after returning from Liberate 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I leave for Liberate 2015 in just 27 days.  I cannot wait to hear good news on the theme, "It is finished." Another bonus is the time to spend at the beach and ocean. The picture below was taken last year.  Enjoy my thoughts on grace and the ocean again:   Grace is like an ocean because: It is deep .  When we think we have understood its depths, there is more. It is far reaching .  No matter what you have done in your past, God's grace can reach you. It is free . Isn't it amazing that you can go the beach for free?  No admission fee. It draws you in .  Just like the undercurrent in the ocean, God draws us. It is rest . Listening to the waves is relaxing and peaceful. It is unpredictable . You cannot predict the pattern of waves. You cannot predict how grace will affect a person. ...

Elyse Fitzpatrick was one of my favorite speakers at Liberate 2014.  And when I went to post my notes following her talk, my iPad crashed.  Anyway, I had to listen to her message again so I could get all of the great wisdom and truth she shared. She is author of Found In Him . I highly recommend this book to you.  I will be writing a review of the book in a few weeks on the blog. Here are my notes from her message entitled, "The Fruit of One Way Love": Are you thirsty for good news? This One Way Love is free to us, but it was not free for Jesus.  What did it cost Jesus?  He had to leave heaven, he had to be born, he had to learn, he was weak, he suffered like us. He paid for it on the cross. Why?  We need a perfect representative.  We need someone like us. We need someone to fulfill the Law in our place.  Jesus came to fulfill all of the Law in our place so that as God's perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God who takes a...

Here is the devotion I shared with BOAM at our retreat yesterday.  The quotes I am sharing are by Paul Tripp from the Liberate 2014 conference I attended a few weeks ago.   After reading, spend time reflecting on them. We will look at four things. Gaze We have spent enough time meditating on our sin and brokenness and the fallenness of the world, we need to instead run to His beauty. King David knew there is One that exists that is awesome and glorious and way more beautiful than any ugly thing you will face in this life and grace connects you to this beauty. Gaze at the beauty of God from Isaiah 40 Remember After we have gazed at the beauty of Father, Son, and Spirit, we need to remember who we are in Christ. Remember these truths: You Are Chosen-Ephesians 1:4 You Are Loved-1 John 4:9-10 You are Redeemed-Galatians 3:13-14 You Are Forgiven-Colossians 1:13-14 You Are New-2 Corinthians 5:17 You Are Righteous-2 Corinthians 5:21 You Are ...

Several of the videos are now available from speakers at Liberate 2014.  Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from each speaker.  You can read all my notes on blog posts from February 20-23.  The King has banged the gavel and pardoned our past, present, and future sins.  If you don't get justification, you will run from God not run to Him. (Matt Chandler) Grace isn't just a doctrine. It's 24/7. It's a pool where elephants can swim and children can play. (Steve Brown) Home is not a place to settle, but a place to set out from. (Sally Lloyd-Jones) Two preliminary points in making connection with others: you have to get to the end of law (sanctions don't work with kids, spouses, or others) & the name of the game is healing. (Paul Zahl) Three things the gospel does that religion cannot do    1. Gospel reveals to us God is more glorious than our idols (2 Corin. 3:18)    2. Gospel overwhelms us with grace (1 John 4:19) ...

I just returned from Liberate 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Below is a picture I took. It was a great conference and you can read my notes from many of the speakers on earlier posts.  Today, I wanted to share some thoughts I had while sitting on the beach one morning about the similarities between grace and the ocean.   Grace is like an ocean because: It is deep .  When we think we have understood its depths, there is more. It is far reaching .  No matter what you have done in your past, God's grace can reach you. It is free . Isn't it amazing that you can go the beach for free?  No admission fee. It draws you in .  Just like the undercurrent in the ocean, God draws us. It is rest . Listening to the waves is relaxing and peaceful. It is unpredictable . You cannot predict the pattern of waves. You cannot predict how grace will affect a person. It is bitter .  We avoid drinking it.  To those who want to live b...

Paul Tripp was last speaker for 2014 Liberate Conference. His topic was "Who Am I? One Way Love and Personal Identity" There is a plague that has infected the church of Jesus Christ. It has left us broken, discouraged, afraid.  It robs you of spiritual vitality, joy, & rest. It reduces you to timidity & doubt. We don't know we have it. It is identity amnesia. You are in a constant conversation with yourself.  You are always assigning to yourself some kind of identity and potential. Who do you think you are? Where will you look today for identity? In ministry, in relationships, in possessions, in achievements,  What does that do for how you live your everyday lives? Psalm 27-where our identity can be found. A psalm of trouble written by David during two possible times: hiding from Saul in cave or David fleeing his son, Absalom. This psalm does not begin with trouble, but with theology.  True rest is rooted in sound, scriptural ...

David Zahl was first speaker on Saturday morning. His topic was "All We Need is (One Way) Love" Website is mbird.com 3 things came across his screen as he was preparing for his message: The Onion-love is unconditional, Depressed man tries to feed himself to tiger but was rejected, & effect of loneliness on 3000 older people-twice as likely to die Why are we so lonely? The church is not immune from loneliness. It has everything to do with the Law. We are focused on self-actualization. The price we pay for ambition is loneliness. We are lonely because there is a shortage of love. There is a whole lot of law & not enough gospel. Sin isolates. It inspires hiding. We block intimacy. Hiding makes us even more lonely. How do we deal with loneliness? We distract ourselves from it and keep ourselves busy. Everyone needs to stop.  The gospel allows us to do that. Another way we deal with loneliness is to buy people's love. We make it tr...

Saturday night, Tullian Tchividjian shared about One Way Love. One of the greatest draws of Liberate is Ft. Lauderdale in February. His topic was "Inexhaustible grace for an exhausted people" What is main problem in evangelicalism? Most would answer related to cultural wars.   20 years from now his hope is people will respond "forgiveness of sins." We should be good news specialists. When it comes to the gospel, there is no "and then." Luke 4:16-21-May God use the mission statement of Jesus to blow our minds. We live our lives under a banner that reads, "it is finished." The church should be one place in all of society where people can find rest, but instead they get a to do lists. Life places many demands on us. Life is long on law and short on grace. Where does our exhaustion come from?    Often we think it comes from outside of us.  But it is not. It is from inside of us.     Robert Capon quote (further, better, more aggressive)    It is...

Scotty Smith spoke second in the afternoon session. Romans 5:15-17-"The Revolution Continues" 4 Dimensions of the Depth of Gospel    1. I am discovering the much moreness of God's love           Contrast of guilt & shame           I have something to offer as a person not just what I can do     2. I am discovering the much moreness of God's laughter           Psalm 2-He who sits in heaven laughs           Love people without trying to fix them.     3. I am discovering the much moreness of God's heaven           All things--people, places, and things are made complete. We need a bigger view of God.           Everyone of us matters, but none of us are the point.      4. I am discovering the much moreness of God's Son, Jesus.           Re...

"Grace From Beginning to End" was afternoon session with two speakers J.D. Greear & Scotty Smith. J.D. Greear spoke first on "Recovering the Power that Makes Christianity Revolutionary" Author of several books and lead pastor in North Carolina. What does gospel mean? How does it change us? Genesis 3-conditions sin left us in: spiritually dead & naked Human heart became an idol factory.   God's law on our hearts makes us respond in one of two ways: when law no longer present, we go back to old way of doing things or spiritually snap (I can't do this!).   Good works are done for self-justification. Every religion in world teaches "I obey therefore I am accepted." Christianity teaches "I am accepted so I obey." Three things the gospel does that religion cannot do    1. Gospel reveals to us God is more glorious than our idols (2 Corin. 3:18)    2. Gospel overwhelms us with grace (1 John 4:1...

I attended a luncheon with Paul Zahl whose topic was "Preaching Grace from the Pulpit" The opening of your message will be entirely forgotten by your congregation. Two preliminary points in making connection with others: you have to get to the end of law (sanctions don't work with kids, spouses, or others) & the name of the game is healing. "If you are trying to find God, go back to where you lost him."  3 pointed star of communicating with others.       1.   Healing work of the preacher (everyone needs a Savior) You are absolutely nothing until it gets into your system as a preacher. You have to get deep enough in yourself that it connects with others beyond gender, history, etc.        2.   Sermon Illustration from life People are altruistic in the pew.  It's about me. It can be the heavy lifting.          3.  Humor It cuts down the resistance. 

I attended breakout session led by Sally Lloyd-Jones entitled, "Communicating Grace Through Story" She is the author of several books including the "Jesus Storybook Bible" There's no ifs and maybes with God.  To show God loves us no matter what she wrote "Just because your mine." A story slips up on you and catches your heart.  A picture book tells us a story in two languages: words and images. What I knew about America came straight out of the movies. Home is not a place to settle, but a place to set out from. How do you choose the 44 stories in Jesus Storybook Bible? Need stories to help explain the plot, those with good illustrations like Noah, and then stories that moved her.

Steve Brown started Day 2 of #2014Liberate. "Everyday Grace" was his topic. If you don't live in God's grace when you spill water, you won't be able to live in God's grace when you get cancer. Grace isn't just a doctrine. It's 24/7. It's a pool where elephants can swim and children can play. It's not following in the mud that is terrible.  It is staying there that is. Grace doesn't define us in church, but in every place we go and everthing we do. "He's not what you think."  That's how I feel about God sometimes. Jesus is very fond of you. God is good & He is sovereign. Sometimes I say this to God, " I don't want you to fix me.  I want you to hug me."

Matt Chandler was up first at Liberate 2014. His message was from Romans 8. "The older I get, the busier life gets." The tendency, if I am not careful, is to take my relationship with Christ and add it on to my busy schedule rather than let it be the defining relationship. If God is an add on, then we are saying we are own god. How does our relationship with God function and work? His focus: those he called If you got saved by saying the prayer, we are witches. God was wooing me, but it was not because I was trying to get better. It was when I was at my worst. To those he called, he also justified. We as a culture should get this doctrine. We love the law. Justification means to be pardoned. Galatians 2:15.  Our story is not I helped myself.  I pulled myself up by my bootstraps.  The King has banged the gavel and pardoned our past, present, and future sins.  If you don't get justification, you will run from God not ru...