Gospel Centred ministry, 10-12th May, Geneva

From 10th to 12th April 2012, the Geneva Bible Institute managed to gather 730 church leaders, Christian workers and Theological students for a conference on « a Gospel-centred ministry. The main speakers were John Piper, Don Carson and French theologian Henry Blocher. I had the great privilege to attend of this event. It was an opportunity to hear the Word preached, catch up with friends and meet new people. The weather was hot and sunny, with only a little rain on the Saturday morning before.

The ministry of the Word was excellent. The main addresses consisted of a series of sermons on 2 Timothy and what constitutes a Gospel centred ministry. John Piper challenged us several times to build our whole lives and ministry on God’s Word. But his greatest challenge was for us to preach the Word, in season and out of season. He was bold and courageous even though the vast majority didn’t share his calvinistic theology. Don Carson was also challenging in his applications, reminding us that we should expect opposition if we are faithful to the gospel. It was the first time for me to hear Henri Blocher. He said good things, but his style of preaching was typically French : very Intellectual and detailed, with beautiful oratory, but vague in the applications.

David Brown, a France Mission worker and leader of the GBU’s also spoke at one of the main sessions. He talked about the emergent church. But he has already written a book on the subject and didn’t say anything new to me. Alarm bells rang in my head when he said that in a few years time all french evangelical churches would be emergent.  I hope not. It would have been nice to have a panel discussion on that subject with Don Carson who has written a detailed study on that movement and would have probably disagreed with David Brown.

In the afternoons, there were workshops on a wide range of subjects, from planting churches in the city to personal godliness. The one I attended on mission was quite disappointing. One of the speakers was so clearly Arminian that he said the exact opposite to Piper in the morning session. Another one on reaching out to Muslims was very helpful.

There was good fellowship and the breaks were long enough to catch up with friends and meet new people. I found many people friendly and looking for contacts, although some kept to their own circles. The helpers were amazingly efficient. Serving so many people is a difficult task, but they managed to feed us and serve us swiftly.

There are a few things I didn’t enjoy though. On thursday evening, there was a one man show by a pastor who works among muslims. He was good, but there was nothing in the program saying it would be a show rather than a conference. He said a lot of good things, but I would have liked to know in advance. But If I had known I probably wouldn’t have attended that session. The musicians who led worship were very good, but the music was too loud to my taste.

The accommodation was rather unusual for those who are used to attend conferences in the UK. Those who opted to be hosted on site slept on bunk beds in nuclear bunkers. It was fun and quite comfortable, but a few people didn’t enjoy the experience.

It was a helpful conference. Our prayer now is that those who attended will be clearer and bolder in their proclamation of the Good news, but especially that they would preach the word and that God would use their preaching to transform France.