The Gospel Coalition Conference. Chicago.

Karen and I had the privilege of taking in the GCC in Chicago, at the end of April. Quite simply, it exceeded my expectations. With speakers like.. Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, D.A. Carson, James McDonald, Alister Begg and others, I knew it was going to be good. But it was better....

One of several panel discussions in the plenary sessions

Actually, the reason it was originally on our radar was the invitation of our recent friends, Nancy and David Guthrie. Nancy was speaking in a workshop about helping people through grief. They were the leaders of a retreat that Karen and I went to last year which helped us immensely.

The conference theme was finding and preaching Christ in the Old Testament. I have to tell you that as a preacher who has long wrestled with that very topic, this was simply great stuff - seeing the big boys go at it.  


Anyway, here were some of my concerns going in. Whenever a group defines themselves as orthodox over and against other groups, there is a certain danger of smugness and even a polemical spirit. Fortunately, there was little of that at this conference. Even though the GC figured prominently in the hubbub over Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins, it did not over emphasize the controversy. They held a special early morning session on it which was not only well attended but done with clarity and considerable grace.

The highlight? Well, it was Tim Keller. Beyond all of the hype and the fact that he is the new IT Man in evangelical/reformed circles, he struck me as a unique convergence of experience, personality, brilliance and gifting. The whole shebang. Who I want to be if I ever grow up. He is a pastor, leader, apologist, communicator, writer, biblical exegete and expositor all wrapped up in an absolutely enthralling package.

 Very few people can completely disarm my radar and built in skepticism. By skepticism, I mean that I delay the verdict. I want to check sources and make my own opinion thank you very much… Yet, I found as he spoke that I just had the sense that well.. if Tim said it , it is just so darn reasonable that it has got to be true. I guess that it flows from Credibility. He is genuine. So is his core message and the way he delivers it.

Mark Driscoll

Another highlight was hearing Mark Driscoll speak on the role of the Holy Spirit in ministry. Rolling through the book of Luke, he developed the Lucan theology of the Spirit in a way that reminded me of our own Roger Stronstadt who has argued long and well that Luke needs to be taken seriously as a theologian in his own right. While Driscoll gave some funny tweaks in the direction of pentecostals, he was powerfully affirming of the major sweep of charismatic spirituality when it is combined with biblical orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Just one more. Matt Chandler, who is surviving a devastating bout with brain cancer was simply amazing. His words rang with truth and power, as he challenged the group to deal with eternity. A ridiculously gifted speaker, his words came with great weight as he spoke.

The Conference was at the McCormick Conference Centre near downtown. The word monstrous comes to mind. We had perhaps 6 to 7 thousand people at this conference, complete with hundreds of thousands of square feet of displays and extra breakout rooms. And we were simply squirreled away in one part of the complex. It was unbelievable.