Our Hearts Burned (Wednesday)

The day started off pretty early.  The Fellowship of The Wheel (FoTW) members were rising for showers by ~4:30am.  Mostly driven by anxious anticipation.  At first Kelley and I wondered "where's Rod?"  The forward fold out bed was empty. We discovered that Rod had retreated to aft berths.  There is a compressor on the bus that powers various systems.  The cycling on and off in the night defeated Rod's pursuit of sleep and he retreated to the very quiet and cozy berths.

It did not take long for the Aero press to put into high volume mode for coffee production.  About this time Jason came by to check on us.  He had been resting in Marv's RV to spend time with his dad.  The following photo was snapped just as Jason shouted "Don't!".  

Later we learned that Jason's wardrobe is structured with a sequence of what shirt will match which trousers.  Seems the placement may have become confused curing the transfer to Marv's RV.  I consulted Rod and in sound legal advice he recommended, as a mercy and kindness, the image with the trousers should be redacted.  

The following photo is provided with out comment, the title is "Does this Work?".

Overjoyed and ready for the day ahead.  

I your name begins with the letter "U" the registration is always quick.  Other letters, not so much. A quick registration does not mean without issue though.  Many of you may not realized my first name is Larry.

For a brief moment there was a thought, "how could they get this so wrong" until realizing that by definition on a QWERTY keyboard, T is before Y.  Self inflicted error once again, *SIGH*.

After we were all issued our credentials we convened near the bookstore.  Rocky came by and whispered the go-codes for the time we could be escorted into advanced seating.

 It was an amazing mercy.  The photo below is of the leadership, giving commands to those holding the doors at bay.  The staff at the doors positioned their feet for a quick pivot out of danger.  Once confirmed all the staff were at the ready, the command was issued-"OPEN THE DOORS".   

For the protection of all involved, no photos were taken of the the subsequent 20 seconds it took for ~3500 men to sprint into position.  Honestly though it was an amazing and beautiful thing to see such hunger and desire for that which is great.  The Countryside team filled two row tightly with just under 30 attending. 

A quick note regarding the desire of these men.  Near the doors in the picture below you will see a couple-of-dozen men standing near the door.  There may have been 80-100 or so men in total that could not find a seat and stood the entire time for the opening message from Dr. MacArthur and for good reason.

His message was terrifically engaging and relaxed.  It felt like a loving Grandfather sitting down and telling you wave after wave of compelling truth.  The message was comprised of a ~40 minute introduction to the text (Gal 4:19).  That laying of the table, then progressed into a reading of the text. The text then just unfolded into meaningful understanding. 

A couple of illuminating quotes:

• "Dear idiots how could you be do stupid"
• "You should feel pain in your soul if your people are not being sanctified"
• "Longings of the selfish human heart are legitimized"
• to learn about sanctification we "need to go back a few hundred years to find a book"
• "Freud and I had a meeting, he was dying, I was being born"
• "antinomianism and legalism are two sides of the same coin; both define relationships by law rather than by a relationship with Christ" 

After Dr. MacArthur completed he message he sat down for a just a moment and a short video played.  The video outlined the new Preacher's Bible.  It is an amazing creation.  The finest leather from Italy and Norwegian paper.  It is bound in a manner to lay flat and has very wide room in the margins for notes.  It also carries an amazing level of heft.  After seeing what they have created, Dr. MacArthur then said, "Grace to You has arraigned for each one of you to have one as our gift".  When he said this there was a gasp from the men.  

We departed for the lunch lines and noticed Justin Peters and Astronaut Jeff Williams

As always the lunch was wonderful and efficient.  We had salad, garlic potatoes,BBQ tri-tip and chicken with a brownie.  For the morning we had a stack of cards we had been giving to various volunteers we interacted with.  In each case they were all genuinely surprised and would answer with a question; "for me?".  Yes, for you.  Earlier I had wondered to the South edge of the campus.  There is a staging tent for the volunteer.  Dr. MacArthur had stated there were over 800 on campus.  In the tent they were singing Hymns and worshiping there also.  I stood outside a listened for a while-wondering about love such as this.

Lunch was finished and we had to hurry back inside for the Q&A session.  This year's theme is "Christ will build His Church".  The discussions centered around their experiences and interactions with the Church while growing up and has a Pastor.  Mr Duncan attacked a lot of attention with his socks.

After the Q&A, next up was H.B. Charles.  To keep the lunch from weakening our alertness, Bob Kauflin led us in rousing Hymns and worship songs.  It is was loud.  I mean, really loud.  But not just loud.  Bob is a man that radiates a burning love for Christ.  The songs he selects and his framing during the introductions can be quite emotional.  I snapped a picture of this hymn at first because Kelley thought it important to point out 2/2.  of course I knew the answer-1.  This was a song I had never heard before.  I would describe the message as; 'please send me any trial Lord, any trial that is required that I might be like you'.  A universe away from "Your Best Life NOW".

H.B. Charles has a presentation style that is straightforward like a theological 2X4 to the skull.  He read John 13:1-17 and focused on the unity of the Church and abiding value of that unit to Christ.  He then pointed out the implications of the washing of the feet in the context of Judas.  

"Would you have washed his feet?  I would have, but it would have been scalding water to be sure"

H.B. then went to recount a story his father often told. You need to hear it for yourself.  But I will share the key point; "Excuse my appearance, I am not home, Yet".

We stepped outside and noticed the Wretched team at found the LA Motorcycle officer.

Austin Duncan was next. His message was the same one he delivered at Countryside last Spring.  Focused on PS133.  Wow.  Austin is the most poetic of any Pastor I have ever hear.  He blends 35 word sentences into couplets of paragraphs, punctuated at the with a sharp and unavoidable point.  Like a Mongolian throat singer, he seems to be able to breath and speak simultaneously. We loved it.  One of the most interesting points he made was with regards to the type of the Trinity that is reflected in the harmony of music.

Just before Al Mohler we got to hear several song by a trio and two soloists.  When we heard "Give Me Jesus" you could not escape a feeling of longing.

Al Mohler was outstanding.  Focused on Matt 16:23, he took the ideas of Christ building His Church and amplified them, turning the knob to 11.  We did not shy away from the objective doctrine and used the verse to outright refute the religious heresy others derive from these words. Then went onto to explain how all Pastors experience a kind of wisdom from the spirit.  "Stuff comes out of you, that is clearly not in your notes..  we're not smart, we're blessed..."

We left at at ~7:45 but were trapped in parking-lot traffic for quite a while.  We caught up with Countryside at Claim-Jumpers, enjoyed great fellowship and a great meal.  We were all silly and glassy-eyed.  Pouring ourselves into bed.  

Marv, returning the favor all the photos. Notice Jason's trousers are not shown.

Today awaits, lots of breakout sessions and new experiences to share.