Conference Update

Last night, Anne Graham Lotz (yes, Billy Graham's daughter) spoke on the person, power & priority of the Holy Spirit. I caught most of it, but I was tired & having a lot of trouble focusing, so I left early.

This morning, Clark Whitten of Grace Church spoke. He, as always, was amazing. I met him earlier in the week and had the opportunity to share with him how his teaching from the Exodus Freedom Conference in 2004 on "Grace" & "The Law" were really transformational for me (they are available through Christian Audio Tapes). The MC announced that Clark's life message is grace, so of course, he spoke on grace. It was also interesting to hear how he was introduced because I'm pretty sure my life message is freedom. (Side note, the MC introed me by saying I drink green smoothies & am a recovering hippie!) Anyway, Clark spoke on Hebrews 6:13-20. I'm including it here because it's so interesting & so much of it, I had never thought about before.

"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, 'I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.' And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."

(I had never thought about the fact that God had to swear on His own name since there is no one greater.)

"Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

As believers in Christ & His saving grace, Jesus is our High Priest who lives forever. Whereas in the Old Covenant, there were many high priests since death prevented them from continuing in office (Hebrews 7:23), Jesus now holds that position permanently. "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25 Wow.

So judicially, we are fixed. Experientially, we may not be.

We tend to be more conscious of our sin than we are conscious of God's grace.

If we are living in the knowledge & reality of God's grace, we ought to be happier than we are.

All covenants are conditional: you do your part, and I'll do my part. The New Covenant is between God & Jesus for me. My part is to believe.

We got a good deal :)

I always enjoy hearing Clark speak. I wanted to ask him after he spoke what, if any, books he recommends on the topic of grace. I always struggle when I speak because I do believe having a correct understanding of grace is absolutely essential in our journey toward freedom. In fact, that was one of my points in my workshop yesterday :) At the end, I recommended some resources & wished there was a book on grace that I could wholeheartedly recommend. Instead, I recommended getting Clark's teachings on Grace & The Law. Anyway, there was a long line of people waiting to talk to him after, and I was headed to a workshop, so I might write him a note or something.