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| reFocus speaker John Piper |
THE SANCTUARY was full of pastors, elders and Bible
students as reFocus commenced
at Burnaby’s Willingdon Church.
The event, whose theme was ‘Christ: No Other Name,’ emphasized the all-sufficiency
of Jesus, as the only way of salvation.
According to Willingdon senior pastor John Neufeld, the
goal of the April 18 – 20 event was to “unite pastors
around a resurgent historical evangelicalism, and equip them to preach the
full counsel of God in an age of relativism. The effects of pluralism have
created a sense of uncertainty in the hearts of many Christian leaders and
preachers.
“Whether it is intimidation because of cultural
pressure to conform, or theological confusion in today’s bewildering
milieu of competing answers, Christian leaders need a clearly articulated
message that proclaims the centrality and supremacy of Christ.”
Plenary speakers at the event were John Piper of
Desiring God Ministries and Mark Driscoll, pastor of Seattle’s
fast-growing Mars Hill Church. Other speakers included Neufeld, and
J.I.Packer of Regent College.
On opening night, the large Willingdon choir led
worship. Then a pastor in his 20s interviewed Piper, asking: “Is
preaching the first business of the pastor?”
“No,” responded Piper, “God
– knowing and loving him is the most important thing.”
Piper went on to passionately advocate for faithful
preaching. Asked if pastors should preach about such terms as
‘propitiation,’ he adamantly responded: “There is nothing more important, than that
the wrath of God has been dealt with!
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“After the Virginia college massacre, our
Desiring God website – that normally gets around 18,000 people
visiting – got over 30,000!”
Piper quoted a message from someone in great anguish,
who stated: “We would have gone insane without the understanding of
God’s sovereignty.”
Driscoll followed, challenging the gathered leaders:
“Your nation is a mess! Mine is a mess – but Canada is
worse!” Quoting 2001 Census figures, he said barely eight percent of
Canadians are evangelical.
His exhortation to Christ-centredness preceded an
ucompromising appeal to focus on male leadership, and reject women elders.
“Go after the men, don’t make them into
nice little church boys. We call boot-camps; our last one had 800 guys
attend,” he said.
In terms of missiology, he advocated church
planting in centres where culture is produced, such as Vancouver,
Toronto and Montreal.
“Decide what you are going to fight for and die
over,” he said. “There are some issues we are going to dialogue
over. But the inerrancy of scripture, and for me the issue of gender in the
church, are issues I’ll die for.”
Neufeld said he hopes an ongoing network of pastors
will coalesce around the values of reFocus.
– Peter Biggs
May 2007
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