Megan and I drove to Chattanooga Monday evening and settled into our room. Then, early Tuesday morning, we began four days of preaching and teaching (and drumming). The conference went wonderfully well. Or, as Elder Spotts put it, "God has kissed this conference." I think that's an apt description of what we all felt.
There had been some consternation about moving the conference from Lexington to Chattanooga. But, the folk at New Home Baptist Church and Resurrected Baptist Church went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable and enjoyable. As I said at the beginning of my message on Wednesday afternoon, "It's a new location, but it's the same Spirit."
I have begun the process of converting the sermons and teaching sessions to mp3's. It's a time-consuming process because of how the original recordings were made. But we'll be posting them on the conference website in the days ahead. Just click on the title of this post to be redirected to the conference website. I converted my message (entitled Jesus Said, "Follow Me") last night and it will be on the GCA home page today, at the same time that yesterday's morning message is posted.
One of the highlights of the conference occurred Friday night when it was time to hand out the banners for conference attendance. Although there were 45 churches represented at the conference, GCA took third place! And we came home with a banner, which is now proudly hanging on our foyer wall.
Every year I make a point of attending this particular conference -- both the men's conference in March and the general conference in August. It's a time to recharge my batteries, listen to men I trust, and fellowship with like-minded saints and preachers. I always come home focused and fed. And, this year I played more drums in four days than I think I've physically played in the last two years. It was both challenging and encouraging to discover what my old bones were still capable of. I got to play with some stellar musicians, whose coattails I clung to and tried to keep up. It was great fun.
So, all in all, it was a mighty fine week. Megan had to return home midweek in order to play at her recital Friday night. (She's been playing cello for only six months and she's already second chair in the local string ensemble. She's a born cellist. Who knew?)
I'll post updates here when the conference messages start hitting the website. Do yourself a favor and make sure to listen to Roger Skepple's four-part teaching on discipleship from Matthew 11. You won't regret it. Oh, and pictures from conference will be posted once I compile them all, sort through them, and get them up on Picasa.
It was a grand week, but it's good to be home.
