Band of Bloggers

We are officially less than a week away from the 2008 Band of Bloggers fellowship, and I am really excited about how things are shaping up. Registration is maxed out (doubling the 2006 attendance), and preparations are being made to host what we hope to be a wonderful time of fellowship, discussion, and prayer together.

Many of you already know that the theme for this year’s meeting is “The Gospel Trust” (I have written briefly about this earlier). To set the stage, I would like to briefly share some thoughts about three areas for our consideration by way of prolegomena: thoughts on the Christian Writer, on the Content of our blogs, and the Communication of the Gospel.

Thoughts on the Christian Writer

First and foremost, as Christians, we must consider how the gospel is affecting, influencing, and transforming our lives. Perhaps this might sound elemental, but we cannot and will not graduate from the daily experiencing and applying the good news of Jesus Christ to our lives as we seek to be conformed into His image on a continual basis. Some questions we might ask ourselves include:

1. If someone were to ask us, “What is the Gospel?” would be you be prepared to share that with them?

2. How are you applying the gospel to your own heart and life on a regular basis?

3. Are you paying close attention to your heart’s affections, your mind’s thoughts, your conscience and will as to how the gospel is shaping and transforming your moral faculties?

4. Has the “gospel-centered life” become a slogan that has been embraced but is lacking in substance?

5. What are some ways to be gospel-driven in the ordinary, day-to-day scheduling of your life?

When we gather together around the theme, “The Gospel Trust,” it is important that each of us consider what kind of steward we are when it comes to the gospel and our own soul and personal sanctification. It is very easy to meander away from the center, to view the cross at a comfortable distance. Yet, the life of repentance that sings and faith that treasures all that God is for us in His Son Jesus Christ should lead us to greater enjoyment of our Savior whose face radiates “the light of the glory of God”. As we near our time together, let us consider ourselves in light of the gospel trust–a trust that begins first and foremost as we live coram deo.

We are less than a week into the registration, and we are now at 40% capacity which is great! Thanks to all of you who have registered early. For those of you who are thinking about coming, I would encourage you to register early as we will be getting close to maxing out in registration capacity.

Also, I would like to draw your attention to two things: the attendees page where you can find the names of all who have registered, where they live, and where you can find their blogs. Perhaps you will find folks in your area you might want to hook up with in the days to come. Secondly, I have also created a Google map marking the location of all those attending as well. I will be updating both these as more register in the days to come.

Lastly, I need to mention something I had assumed and did not realize that I need to address. The Band of Bloggers fellowship is a gathering evangelical Christian bloggers who are confessionally united under the banner of the Together for the Gospel Statement. If you desire to attend this fellowship and do not agree with the confessional statement under which the Band of Bloggers gather, I would encourage you to not register for this event. If you happen to register for Band of Bloggers, and it is brought to our attention that you are not together in the same evangelical convictions, we reserve the right to refund your money and decline your registration.

I will have more updates to come in the near future. Please stay tuned as we prepare for this year’s event!

2008 Band of Bloggers
“The Gospel Trust”
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 :: (11:30 – 1:30)
The Galt House (Louisville, KY)
Tim Challies, Justin Taylor, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Mark Lauterbach

After a long process of working out the details, the 2008 Band of Bloggers fellowship is open for registration! The window of registration will be from February 18-March 31, 2008 (a total of six weeks). So be sure to help us get the word out to all the bloggers attending T4G this year.

A few things to note:

1. $15 for Registration

The Galt House (where the T4G conference was held in 2006) has agreed to host this year’s meeting and will be catering the attendees with a boxed lunch. Those of you who have been around downtown Louisville know how difficult it is to find a place to eat, moreover, a place that is affordable. We are committed to making the cost as affordable as possible, but given that we are working with no budget or any outside financial support, a small registration fee is required. Included in this cost is lunch and other treats TBA. If you plan to attend and cannot afford the $15, please email us at thegospeltrust@gmail.com.

2. Limited Capacity

The current conference room will allow us to seat approximately 150 people. Therefore, it is important that you register early. If perchance, we exceed this capacity in short order, we will pursue the possibility of a larger meeting room. We would like to make this open to as many as possible, so please do not procrastinate in signing up!

3. Location, Directions, and Time

The Galt House is located just one block away from the Kentucky Convention Center and can be accessed indoors (less than a five minute walk). For those traveling from the airport, I have created a Google Map and have pin-pointed the locations for both the Galt House and Convention Center. For those of you concerned that you will miss the first session of T4G, it does not begin until 2:30, and Band of Bloggers is scheduled to end at 1:30 p.m. that afternoon.

The purpose of this event is to provide all attending bloggers of the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference an opportunity to meet, fellowship, and engage in a fruitful, gospel-centered discussion with some of the leading bloggers today. It is our desire that you to be refreshed personally, connected corporately, and fueled Christocentricly. May the Lord use this time to burn in our hearts a love for the gospel and for one another.

Below are some of the verses which speak the matter of having been entrusted by God, whether it be “the good deposit,” “the gospel,” the faith,” or the “ministry of reconciliation.” What is fascinating to me as I have been examining some of these verses is that the same word which denotes saving faith (pisteuo) is the same word to denote what we have been given by God (in Greek: pisteuqh/nai, pepi,steumai, and evpisteu,qhn). In other words, we entrust our salvation into the hands of our Savior Jesus Christ; yet, Scripture reveals that God entrusts to us the gospel, the most glorious message in the world! So as we continue to think about The Gospel Trust, perhaps some of these passages would be some food for thought and meditation.

“On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised . . .”. Gal. 2:7

“but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” 1 Thess. 2:4

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18-19

“. . . in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” 1 Tim. 1:11

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.” 1 Tim. 6:20

“By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” 2 Tim. 1:14

“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Tim. 2:2