The Shepherds’ Conference – or – What I Did During My Spring Vacation

It was a great joy and blessing to get to travel to the Shepherds’ Conference at Grace Community Church two weeks ago. – I am so very grateful for God's providence through the generosity of His people – Especially you and you (& you know who you are!) There is no way I could have made this trip without your help!

I had intended on doing a bit of blogging each day I was there, but, wow! Did they keep us busy! From early Wednesday morning until late Friday night, the schedule was pretty well packed full.

I had been told that they really took good care of the pastors who attended the conference, and boy, were my sources right! They really gave us 5-star treatment the whole time. It was a hot week for early March, and there was cold water available at stations all around the Grace Community Church campus. They had breakfast available for us every morning and snacks between each session. And, everywhere, there were smiling faces. It was plain that they were very glad to have us all there. My thanks to the conference staff and volunteers who worked so hard and treated us so well!


There were a lot of seminar sessions available to attend. Here are the ones I went to:
Day One – Wednesday

General Session 1 - Phil Johnson
The Forgotten Field - Alex Montoya
General Session 2 - Tom Pennington
General Session 3 - John MacArthur

Day Two – Thursday

General Session 4 - Rick Holland
General Session 5 - John MacArthur
Exegesis and the Powerful Pulpit – Bill Barrick
Exposition and the Powerful Pulpit – Rick Holland
General Session 6 - Al Mohler

Day Three – Friday

General Session 7 - Nathan Busenitz
Delivery and the Powerful Pulpit – Alex Montoya
General Session 8 - Steve Lawson
General Session 9 - John MacArthur

Saturday, I had the pleasure of spending most of the day with Fred Butler. I was treated to breakfast at his home, and enjoyed spending time with his lovely wife and their children (to whom I am now known as "Mr. Squirrel".) After breakfast, Fred and I drove out to Semi Valley and toured the newly-renovated Reagan Library. Considering how much I admire Reagan, it was a very moving experience. Then, after lunch at Chick-fil-A, Fred gave me a short tour of the Grace to You offices.

Afterwards, we drove south to Bellflower, stopping in Van Nuys to pick up Tony Bartolucci (my roommate for the week), to attend James White's lecture on Conducting Debate to the Glory of God.

After a late-night nosh at Olive Garden, Tony and I drove Fred home and got back to our hotel after midnight -- and that was the night that the time changed! After a good, solid 4 hours of sleep, it was time to get up and go to church. Tony and I met up with Fred and his wife again, and attended GraceLife Fellowship, where Don Green preached on The Pastor, His Pulpit, and His People. In the main service that morning, John MacArthur preached on Paul's Philosophy of Ministry.

After church, Tony and I made the drive to Phoenix, where we met up with his family for dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. After dinner, it was straight to bed - without setting an alarm clock!

Monday morning, after breakfast (at Chick-fil-A!), I was on the road home! I got home Tuesday night around 11pm. (And, no, I didn't sleep in my car. I got a motel room in Beaver, Utah.)

All I can say is that it was a fantastic trip! I heard some great preaching and teaching, made a lot of new friends, and got to eat at IN-N-OUT Burger twice and Chick-fil-A four times!

That's the big picture, anyway. I'll post a few stories from the trip soon.

(There are more pictures here.)

Shepherd's Conference - The Trip Down

Well, I made it! I'm typing this in my hotel room in Los Angeles, and the Shepherd's Conference begins tomorrow.

The trip down was fairly uneventful, with two exceptions. One good and one not so good.

The good part was getting to enjoy my first Chick-fil-A sandwich in over 25 years!

I've always loved Chick-fil-A. Unfortunately, we moved from Atlanta, GA, to Missoula, MT, when I was eleven years old. Back then, there were no Chick-fil-A restaurants outside of the south-eastern states. But, every time I'd travel to Atlanta, I'd always make sure I got to eat at Chick-fil-A at least once. But, the last time I was in Atlanta was 1985. 26 years is a long time to go without Chick-fil-A, let me tell you!



Well, yesterday that dry spell ended, as I enjoyed 2 original Chick-fil-A sandwiches, with Waffle Fries and a sweet tea. It was Wonderful!


The second event was less enjoyable. After leaving the Chick-fil-A in Ogden, it started raining. The rain soon turned to snow as I made my way through Salt Lake City during the 5 o'clock rush hour. South of the city, things seemed to clear up, and I made good time until just south of the I-15/I-70 junction, when it began to snow again. Hard. So hard, in fact, that I-15 was closed for two hours (approximately 10 pm to midnight). There I sat, part of a long line of cars and trucks, motionless on the freeway. By the time they got us moving again, all I wanted to do was find a place to nap. I spent the night in a rest area north of Cedar City.


But, morning dawned sunny and clear! I drove to Los Vegas, fueled up, grabbed some breakfast, and headed on into LA.

And now it's bedtime again. Conference starts in the morning! Looking forward to it!

Shepherd's Conference - On My Way!

The bags are packed, the car is loaded, the coffee thermos is full. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but, that's just the way traveling is! By the time you read this, I should be on the road, heading for the Shepherd's Conference. The route I'm taking is 1,279 miles and will take approximatively 20 hours to drive (not counting naps and stops at Chick-fil-A, of which there are eight along the way!)

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Not only am I going to get to hear some great preaching from men I respect and admire, but I'm going to get to finally meet in person some friends I've made these last few years over the internet.

Then again, I get to stop a multiple Chick-fil-A's on route...



Here's a map of my route, if you want to come out and wave as I go by!


View Larger Map

Thank you again to all who have made this trip possible! It wouldn't have happened without your generosity. I am humbled and so very very grateful.

Frozen Squirrel on Ice

Your faithful arboreal rodent will be off-line for the next 3 days. I'm going to our Baptist association's Pastor's Retreat at Thompson Lake Baptist Camp. No internet, no phone, just a bunch of pastors in the snow. (&, yes, I'm really looking forward to it!)

Sure, it looks all nice in the photo, but don't let that picture fool you! It's a snowed in summer camp on a frozen lake right now. I'm taking my camera, so I'll post some wintery pictures when I return!

There will be no Nut Cache on Thursday. Lord willing, there will be a Saturday Nut Special!

Please pray for safe travels for all attending. Thanks!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

As you've no doubt noticed, I've not done much blogging this week... or last week, either, for that matter. Anyway, I've been busy. It happens. There's no Nut Cache again this week. In fact, I don't have a recipe ready for tomorrow's blog, so there will be no The Squirrel Can Cook this week. (I'm cooking a great hashbrown casserole for my hosts in Oregon... I'll blog that recipe sometime soon!)(Especially if they like it...)

Today, I'm driving to Newberg, OR, to meet up with some friends, hang out all day Friday, and then go watch James White debate Robert Sungenis on the topic of purgatory at the Believer's Reason Conference 2010. Then it's into the car right as the debate ends, drive all night to get to home, nap a few hours, and then drive to Missoula to watch my Montana Grizzlies play Northern Arizona University on Saturday.

I hope to return to a more normal bloggy schedule next week.