Resolved to Retain Some Resolution

Finally the blog post about Resolved!! Hooray! For those who don't know let me give some background as to exactly what the Resolved Conference is and what it's meant for me.

The Resolved Conference was a conference (in my understanding) originally targeted at young(er) adults to take four days and center it around Christ-exalting expository preaching, scripture-saturated music, and God-exalting fellowship. It has the over-arching theme of the 18th Century theologian, Jonathan Edwards who, at the age of 19, penned 70 resolutions by which he would live his life. They can categorically be viewed here. This past weekend was the seventh year the Resolved Conference has been put on. It was the second for Sergio and the fourth for me.

Resolved will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons. It was the first time I was challenged to learn about church history, was motivated to be really proactive about the complacency of my spiritual life, but most importantly, it was the first time I was introduced to giants of the faith.

Resolved was the first time I heard of Randy Alcorn, Steve Lawson, C.J. Mahaney, and (my favorite - and no stranger to the subjects of my blogs) John Piper. All these men, along with Rick Holland, Al Mohler, and my pastor, John MacArthur have brought the conviction of the authority of scripture and the passion of the saving reality of the gospel with them to every message they've preached at Resolved. God uses them mightily year after year in their home ministries, but uniquely as a collective at Resolved. Each bring their own style and flavor to the pulpit (particularly C.J. :) ) but a love for truth and commitment to their calling radiates equally from each of them.

This year, the speakers were Rick Holland, John MacArthur, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson and C.J. Mahaney. I'll briefly go over the schedule and what they preached. Here are the first four sessions and they're available for download for free. I'll post the link again when I know they're up. I'd really encourage you to listen.

Session One
Rick Holland preached on Hebrews 12:1-3 with this challenge: "An appreciation of a truth does not equate to the application of that truth. Liking Jesus does not equate to living for Jesus. How can I get traction in my spiritual life?"

Session Two
John MacArthur preached, but unfortunately, Sergio and I were at the hospital. Story will follow shortly.

Session Three
Al Mohler preached on Romans 12:1-2 and argues that by the twelfth chapter of the book of Romans, if you truly understand the first eleven chapters (the gospel) then the truths of chapter twelve should naturally follow. He then asks, "Do we really believe the will of God is perfect? And if we do, do we truly seek it?" and he puts a rest to those debilitated by the question "How do I know the will of God?" and gives fifteen (FIFTEEN) areas in our life that we already do know the will of God with certainty and to pursue Christ-likeness in those before we start worrying about the unknown part of God's will.

Session Four
John MacArthur preached from Isaiah 6. He actually starts with Isaiah 5 and asks, "What kind of person do you need to be in a society on the brink of destruction?" Spoiler Alert: My favorite quote from this message: "The superficiality of Christianity is rooted not only in our over-estimation of who we are, but a horrendous under-estimation of who God is."

Session Five
C.J. Mahaney preached on Jude 22. Man oh man can this guy preach! He's definitely on the list of my top 5 preachers. This message was one really geared towards something that affects all believers at some point (often many points) in their walk: doubt. He really distinguished the difference between doubt and unbelief and discussed the reality of doubt and the appropriate approaches to it.

Session Six
Steve Lawson preached on Ephesians 1:3-14 and described how all three persons of the Godhead are involved in our salvation and really gave an excellent break down of the doctrine of election. That's really all that there is to say about this sermon. It was clear. Simple. But powerful. So powerful that the power could not be contained in a usual 1-hour sermon. No. It needed 92 minutes. Highly recommended!

Session Seven
Rick Holland preached on Lamentations 3:1-39 and gave us three theological reminders when facing difficulty/suffering and it came to the reality that God's sovereignty is either our greatest comfort or our worst nightmare.

Session Eight
Steve Lawson preached on Ephesians 5:3-14 and discussed our relationship with our surroundings/circumstances in light of a desire to be holy/pursue holiness. It comes to the fact that God will not use an unholy vessel.

Session Nine
Al Mohler asked, "So I really do need the law?" and answered, "Yes!" He preached from Romans 5:18-20; 7:4-25 and argued that there are at least seven uses of the law for Christians. For those of us who know that it was the law that condemned us, and Christ who freed us from it, this will prove to be a VERY interesting sermon.

Session Ten
C.J. Mahaney preached on Jude 1-2. This was a sermon whose radical foundation comforted and affirmed God's love to believers. It was AMAZING! All I'll say is, "Called. Loved. Kept." Hallelujah what a promise! He quoted John Owen, "The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do is not to believe he loves you."


What was most practical for me this trip was the in ability to do much singing/speaking. On our camping trip, I caught a bug. By the first evening of Resolved, I had a terrible sore throat. I woke up on Saturday morning with an unbearable pain. I could barely speak, it hurt to breath out of my mouth. It hurt to drink anything. It was strep throat. Saturday morning, instead of going to John MacArthur's first session, we decided to go to Kaiser and figure out what was bugging me. My diagnosis was confirmed and I was put on antibiotics.

Here was the hard part for me. One of the greatest joys I have at Resolved is the worship music. I LOVE singing praise. I believe singing is the closest depiction of what we'll be spending the majority of time doing in glory and so doing it in this life is the closest thing to "Heaven on Earth." Worshiping with thousands of other brothers and sisters in the faith creates and atmosphere where the holiness and worthiness of God is most evident and properly exalted.

Well, I couldn't do it. I really had to learn that both outwardly and inwardly my worship of God could not be dependent on a circumstance that could so easily be affected/compromised. Just because I couldn't sing, that couldn't mean that my worship would be sacrificed. I had the opportunity to learn to worship with music without actually participating in it. I mediated on the truths in the lyrics thanking the Lord for revealing them to my heart. I enjoyed the sounds knowing that all of creation is collectively making noise pleasing to his ears and thanked God for the gift of music an musicianship for his glory. I noticed something interesting once I was able to sing again. When I was singing, I was more easily distracted. My voice was engaged by my mind wasn't. I was worshiping more effectively when I couldn't sing than when I could! I have known for sometime that the tendency for my mind to wander while singing was there. I didn't realize quite how bad it was until this weekend. Now, I'm resolved to hate my proneness to distraction.

This does serve as a reminder of the depravity of my nature and the overwhelming grace that I'm showed. I want to come before the Lord and worship wholly and with a focused heart and mind. I'm thankful for the strep throat :) It helped me realize an area of my life that was lacking in my worship. Though I'm still not 100% recovered, I'm getting better day by day with the strength provided.

On a side note, once I was able to sing, I wasn't able to sing in tune. It was pretty bad. I don't have a great voice to begin with, but I'm generally able to be in the right key. It was pretty bad. But thankfully, the music was too loud for it to be a distraction to anyone AND it preempted any attention I would have otherwise given the art of singing and focused the attention to whom I was singing.

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100