NEXT 2009

Hey there everyone! I have been thinking and thinking and thinking this last week trying to come up with something to blog about. I know, that's really lame, but seriously, I couldn't think of anything. Moving into a new house is exciting for us, but does not create much exciting conversation for those outside the house. We have been painting and getting rust off of some metal yard furniture for the past two weeks. Not exactly the most interesting thing for me to blog about unless you too are trying to get rust off of metal furniture. Anyway, I finally figured out something to write about. 2 things actually :) Only one today though.



Josh Harris is a preacher at Covenant Life Church in Maryland. If you've never heard of him, you may recognize his popular book's title I Kissed Dating Goodbye. It's a fantastic book. All about why Christians should not give their heart away to a boy or girl before they get married to them. It's just great. Anyway, Josh Harris' church puts on a conference every year called NEXT. You can see all about it at www.thisisnext.org . Although I have never been to this conference, it looks really good. According to the site, "Next isn't built on 'new.' It isn't about the next trend or fad. Next is built on the old, treasured, and true. It's about rediscovering old truth and recommitting to it." What I have learned about this church and its ministries is that they work hard to teach and practice biblical doctrines. They do not follow the fads of "common christianity" today, but learn from great Christians of history. The important thing is unity between brothers and sisters in Christ to live their lives to glorify God.

Another one of my favorite preachers C. J. Mahaney preaches there. There are other great preachers too that you can read about at the website. Last year I was bummed that I couldn't go (reason being that I live far away from Maryland, have no money, transportation, or place to stay), so I instead had a great time listening to many of the sermons from the conference. All of them that I listend to were so encouraging and challenging. So if you are looking for some good sermons by some good pastors with firm doctrine, check out some of these sermons from last year and the new ones that will come out this year. They are made available on their website underneath "resources."

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!