After weeks of anticipation since Amanda and I spontaneously decided, 'we need to be there!' after watching the Advance09 teaser on youtube it's now over. What a stunning few days. One of the fascinating things to watch was how this generation of 'New Reformers' *cringe*, or whatever you want to call us, utilizes the internet. The hashtag '#advance09' was one of the top trending tweets over the conference and I've been told that 'Matt Chandler' made it way up the rankings too. Of course there was the usual liveblogging, but 'tweeting' really has changed things. I don't have an iPhone or net compatable phone of any type yet so I had to get home to see what people had been tweeting. What a useful tool this has been to share notes, or more accurately, short moments of brilliance. Here are a few examples from only the most recent twenty of the hundreds, probably thousands, of tweets from the conference.
teamallred Piper: 'Missions' is not being invited. If there's someone to invite you, it's not a mission field. #advance09
jaysonwhelpley Driscoll: Evangelicals are blind to the idol of family. Don't worship family; worship God as a family. #advance09 - @PiperTravel
sistrbride RT @ggrobinson #advance09 orthodoxy + orthopraxy -love = the death of the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7). Matt Chandler
danwadams RT @PiperTravel: Piper: Missions is not the ultimate goal of God and history; worship is. #advance09
myklf RT @NationsBeGlad: Piper - Don't let your theology get in the way of the Bible. #Advance09 (via @lovebrokethru) GREAT!
You may not be immediately struck by the usefulness of Twitter, but in this context it's certainly been helpful for sharing notes.
Now, to the conference itself. The title of this blog post was featured multiple times on different men and women's twitter streams. I have to agree. These three days really have been 'drinking from a fire hydrant'. The sheer amount of wisdom made it almost impossible to remember anything once the day was done. I tried to shoot vlogs (video blogs) at the end of each day but found myself just friend and unable to remember much at all. It will be necessary to listen to all of the messages again taking notes. I knew this might be the case, so during the messages themselves I just sat there, soaking it in, allowing them to affect me. I'm not ashamed to admit that when Piper spoke of the glory of God, or when Chandler hit hard, there were a few tears of both joy and repentance in my eyes.
Once I've had more time to relisten and reprocess maybe I'll post some thoughts, but I don't think you'll really care. I wouldn't waste time reading my thoughts about the messages before listening to them yourself.
PLEASE VISIT the Advance 09 messages to listen for yourself. If you're pressed for time, I'd recommend Chandler's first, Akin's second, and - if you're feeling brave enough - endulge in both of Piper's messages. That said, all of the messages, without exception, were excellent.
On a personal note, Amanda and I are now sitting, well, she's sleeping, in Raleigh-Durham International waiting for the next flight to Seattle via Atlanta. We were supposed to stay until Wednesday, arriving back on the Thursday, but we simply did not enjoy the Carolinas (North and South) at all. Our experience was rather disappointing unfortunately. We have saved our money for months to take this vacation so it's a shame that we're now having to spend it on early flights home. But we'd rather cut our loses now rather than waste any more of it down here. Maybe we'll take a night or two in Tofino or Whistler if we've got any of our savings left by the time we get home. We're obviously very disappointed, and quite upset, but it's been a good lesson to learn. It's very difficult to have a good holiday anywhere else when you have some of the most beautiful places in the world in your backyard.
Signing Out,
Tired But Thankful Dave
QUESTIONS FOR YOU (Use the Comments Section Below): What do you think about Twitter? Any recommendations for a relaxing break next time we can afford to go anywhere? What did you think of the Advance09 messages?
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