Scott Anderson is the Director of Events & Bookstore at Desiring God.

If you've registered for the upcoming DG Conference for Pastors and you're on Twitter, tell us (in 140 characters or less) why your wife is a gift to you in ministry. Be creative and honor her well.

Use the hashtag #dgpascon.

We'll give the best 120 responses (as judged by a panel of DG employees) a free copy of the book One with a Shepherd to be picked up at the conference. (And we might even read some of the best of the best responses at the conference).

Just a friendly reminder if you plan to stay at the conference hotel, you must  make your reservations by January 19 in order to receive special pricing on your room.

And there is still plenty of space at the conference itself, so please share the word with other pastors, elders, and church leaders that you know. We look forward to seeing you there!

Come meet Elyse Fitzpatrick! She'll be talking with attendees at the National Conference and signing copies of her various books, which will be available at a significant discount.

Elyse Fitzpatrick has been counseling women since 1989, holds a M.A. in biblical counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary, and is the author of numerous books including the award-winning Women Helping Women.

Married for over 35 years, she has three children and six grandchildren. She is a frequent conference and retreat speaker and, along with her husband, Phil, is a member of Valley Center Community Church in Southern California.

Her latest book, co-authored with Dr. Dennis E. Johnson, Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ, demonstrates the “why” and “how” of consistently biblical, cross-centered counseling. Her passion is to help women become equipped to mentor and disciple one another in applying the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to their daily lives.

Besides the talks, the wonderful times of corporate worship, the opportunity to pray and fellowship with other believers, and the chance to be some of the first to screen the movie Collision, there are a couple more reasons we're stoked about this year's conference.

1. The Conference Bookstore

Fifteen-thousand square-feet of helpful resources at great prices, with lots of friendly people to serve you.

2. The Conference Exhibitors

We have invited a select group of other ministries and publishers in order to expose you to different aspects of how God is working in the Church in our day.

• Action International
• Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
• Baker Books
• Banner of Truth
• Bethlehem College & Seminary
• Canon Press
• Christianaudio.com
• Christian Focus Publications
• Covenant College
• Crossway
• Children Desiring God
• Desiring God International Outreach
• Evangelical Press
• P&R Publishers
• Reformation Heritage Books
• Reformed Theological Seminary
• Table Talk Magazine (Ligonier)
• TCT Church Planting Residency Program
• World Magazine

If you're attending our upcoming national conference, don't forget to make your hotel reservation soon. Many of the hotels have cut-off dates, after which the special 'conference rate' will no longer apply.

Check out a list of hotels offering special reduced rates for our conference.

Check out the new trailer for Advance09:

We are excited about this event that we're putting on with The Resurgence to be held in Durham, NC, on June 4-6.

Hope to see you there!

In his biographical talk at our recent conference for pastors, John Piper noted that one of George Whitefield's most frequently preached sermons was, "The Lord our Righteousness." It is very much worth reading because it exalts the beauty and sufficiency of Christ's righteousness.

Here is a tremendously encouraging excerpt:

The Lord, the Lord Christ, the everlasting God, is your righteousness. Christ has justified you, who is he that condemneth you? Christ has died for you, nay rather is risen again, and ever liveth to make intercession for you. Being now justified by his grace, you have peace with God, and shall, ere long, be with Jesus in glory, reaping everlasting and unspeakable fruits both in body and soul. For there is no condemnation to those that are really in Christ Jesus. Whether Paul or Apollos, or life or death, all is yours if you are Christ’s, for Christ is God’s.

My brethren, my heart is enlarged towards you! O think of the love of Christ in dying for you! If the Lord be your righteousness, let the righteousness of your Lord be continually in your mouth. Talk of, O talk of, and recommend the righteousness of Christ, when you lie down, and when you rise up, at your going out and coming in! Think of the greatness of the gift, as well as the giver! Show to all the world, in whom you have believed! Let all by your fruits know, that the Lord is your righteousness, and that you are waiting for your Lord from heaven!

Thank you for assisting at the pastors conference again this year! Each person who served is a gift of grace from the Lord.

On the subject of temptation and testing, John Owen writes,

The duties that God, in an ordinary way, requires at our hands are not proportioned to what strength we have in ourselves, but to what help and relief is laid up for us in Christ; and we are to address ourselves to the greatest performances with a settled persuasion that we have not ability for the least. (emphasis mine)

The same could be said for all the projects we do here at DG, including conferences. The Scripture confirms this with texts like this:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Cor. 4:7)

. . . whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet. 4:11)

Whether long hours or mundane, unseen tasks—we labor for the Lord, who works through our weakness and provides the strength, joy and privilege of service.

For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. (1 Chron. 29:14)

I pray that the Lord will multiply one-hundred-fold the effects of your service to those pastors. Thank you for all you did. It is pure joy to serve alongside so many God-entranced volunteers.

May God magnify his grace and mercy to you and to all who benefitted from the fruit of your labors.

If you intend to stay at the Hilton for the upcoming Conference for Pastors, make your reservations before this Monday, January 12.

This is an excellent hotel and is where most of our attendees stay, so there's lots of opportunities for fellowship and networking.

Also, this is the same hotel where the CBMW pre-conference event with D. A. Carson will be held. Another great reason to make your hotel reservation soon!

Are you planning to attend our pastors conference in February? Well here's another excellent reason to do so!

Just prior to the conference, at the Minneapolis Hilton (where most of the pastors stay), CBMW is hosting the "Different by Design Conference," featuring D. A. Carson.

This event with Dr. Carson is from 1 - 4 PM. And it is only $20! Seating is limited so register soon.

Afterward, there is plenty of time to eat dinner and get over to the convention center for the first session of the pastors conference.

We thank the Lord for the national conference, and now we turn our prayers toward the regional conference in Austin, Texas. Please considering attending. We'd love to have you with us.

And here are two other excellent events that you may want to consider:

The Purpose-Driven Death conference (October 18-19 in Austin, TX), and the Together for Adoption conference (November 1 in Greenville, SC).

Both have needed themes, solid speakers, and low costs.

For those who plan to attend our national conference, please consider making your hotel reservations as soon as possible because many of the hotels are near capacity during the conference weekend. Additionally, next week is the cut-off date for getting special conference pricing at many of the hotels.

Also, if you'd like to come to our regional conference in Austin, remember to register before next week to get the early bird registration rate.

As an event planner, I am often tempted to worry as I look toward upcoming conferences. Silly questions (that don't sound so silly in my head) come to mind and plague my heart:

• "Will people want to come? Will the conference be a blessing to them? Will the event be edifying and God-glorifying?"
• "Did we do enough promotion? What if no one finds out about it? What if the Google Ads don't work?"
• "What about all the things yet to be done? What if we can't get all the projects done on time?"
• "Will we meet budget? What if things end up costing more than we thought?"

And so I have to battle against the temptation to sin by casting my cares on the Lord through prayer and his Word.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

So how do we pray in such a way that the worry fades and the anxious thoughts dissolve into strong confidence in God? I think one answer is this: anchor our prayers in the promises of God.

Another way to say it: Anxiety-defeating prayers spring from promises.

As the DG staff met last week to pray for the upcoming DG 2008 National Conference, I tried to illustrate this in a simple way.

The Lord impressed on my heart the awesome promise of Isaiah 41:10.

• God is with us
• He is our God
• He is our strength
• He is our help
• He upholds us with his righteous right hand

What an amazing word! Our faith rests in God—who he is and all that he has promised to be. And from that mighty promise springs forth all of our prayers about the stuff written in red on that marker board. These are the things we would otherwise be tempted to worry about, but when our prayers are informed by good news like Isaiah 41:10, the silly voice of anxiety is silenced.

One helpful way that I feast on the Gospel is by visiting Of First Importance, which provides a thoughtful, Gospel-rich quote every day. In fact, I use their dashboard widget so that I can access the daily quote with a simple click of the mouse. Of course, you can subscribe by RSS or Email, too.

These quotes provide much needed instruction and rescue by causing me to fix my mind on the beauty and power and ultimate good of the Gospel. Very helpful in the fight for a joyful faith.

If you weren't able to get tickets to our Regional Conference this weekend in San Luis Obispo, California, we have good news. A limited number of tickets are available in an overflow room at the Performing Arts Center (PAC).

This room is adjacent to the main auditorium and features a large screen, great sound, and comfortable seating. Attendees who sit here are able to partake of the same conference amenities as everyone else: access to the Don't Waste Your Life resource center, custom DG tote-bag filled with free resources, resource giveaways, fellowship with other attendees, etc. The ticket price is only $20.00 (half-price).

You can get tickets by calling the Box Office at the PAC: 805.756.2787 (phone number updated).

Over the last 3 days, over 1,400 pastors (many with their fathers and sons) from around the world tasted afresh the goodness and mercy of the Lord during the Desiring God 2008 Conference for Pastors. We were greatly blessed through the teaching ministry of D. A. Carson, Crawford Loritts, Greg Livingstone and John Piper (whose biographical message was on his father, Bill Piper). This was the 21st annual conference and it again proved to be a wonderful time of encouragement, fellowship, and heart-probing teaching for the men attending. Be encouraged by comments from some of the pastors:

"Thank you! Thank you! I am SO thankful for this conference. It is the highlight of my pastoral year!"

“The atmosphere of kindness and helpfulness and joy fills every moment and every face of the DG staff. You are so gracious to provide this event for us. Thank you!"

“God is good! I was challenged and encouraged in so many ways to pursue more of Christ in my life and ministry. Thank you for hosting this event. It was my first time to come, I can't wait to come back!”

It was a great privilege to have so many God-entranced staff and volunteers who worked behind the scenes. They made the conference what it was! Their humility, patience, charity, and servant-heartedness are a wonderful testimony to the grace of Christ. It’s a joy to serve with them each year.

May God glorify his goodness and magnify his mercy to all the pastors who attended.

I love the prayer of David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-14. It has been on my heart during this conference season. David's prayer perfectly expresses the amazing grace of God that any of us has the privilege of serving the Lord ("who am I?"), and our utter dependance on the Lord for all things including the strength to serve him!

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you."

So as we serve at the pastors conference next week, we have the sheer joy of rendering back to God what he has so graciously given to us because of Christ.

Here are a few facts to let you know what things will be like at this year's conference:

• About 1500 attendees (our largest pastors conference to date)
• Nearly all 50 states represented
• 10 other countries represented: Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, and the Philippines
• New venue this year: the Minneapolis Convention Center
• Speakers: D. A. Carson, Crawford Loritts, Greg Livingstone, and John Piper
• A 9,000 square foot bookstore and a 12,000 square foot fellowship hall.
• 10 ministry exhibitors
• Nearly 130 staff and volunteers working during the conference

And if you would like to join us in prayer, please ask God to...

• prepare the hearts of attendees and pour out his Spirit on them; that he would use the father-son dynamic to bring relational healing and blessing to many father, sons, grandfathers.
• provide traveling mercy to all; that the international attendees would have easy logistics in travel and find the conference uniquely refreshing to their souls.
• bless the convention center staff; that He would keep us safe and cause all the logistics to run smoothly; that they would see Christ in us and then want to know him as their treasure and joy, too.
• grant the empowering of his Spirit to each speaker as they study and prepare; that each speaker would find joy in his ministry and would truly sense the Spirit carrying him along and leading him; that each speaker would be refreshed and encouraged in the Gospel as a result of being here.
• cause the books in the bookstore "to run" and the truth in them "be glorified"; that the bookstore and fellowship hall would be an oasis of grace and encouragement and joy.
• cause the exhibitors and attendees to connect in providential ways; that relationships between exhibitors and pastors would be initiated that might bear spiritual fruit for the sake of the Kingdom.
• cause the staff and volunteers to serve in the strength that he supplies so that, in all the conference details, he would get the glory; that we would walk by the Spirit; that we would constantly breath up prayers for help and strength and guidance; that our speech would minister grace; that, in serving attendees, each staff member and volunteer would experience the blessing of knowing that it is better to give than to receive.
• give good health to all involved.

Thank you for praying!

1. Registration is reaching capacity, so if you plan to attend please register soon!
2. Today is the last day for a full refund, so if your plans have changed and you are unable to attend, be sure to email us. (Read more about our cancellation requirements.)
3. The early bird registration rate ends tomorrow—then the price jumps $10.

We look forward to seeing you at the end of September!

We’re pleased to announce that registration is open for our second regional conference this year. This time it will be held October 12-13 in Sacramento, CA. The theme is The Pleasures of God.

Please pray for this event, that God would cause many to see and savor his glory more as a result of attending.

Don Carson has accepted John Piper’s invitation to be the keynote speaker for our 2008 Conference for Pastors, February 4-6, in Minneapolis. The tentative theme is “The Pastor as Father and Son.” Carson will address fatherhood and sonship in the Trinity, in the family, and in the church. Both Pastor Piper and Dr. Carson will speak about the significant and lasting effects of their own fathers in their lives--Carson during his keynote addresses and Piper in his biographical lecture. Pastors will be encouraged to bring both their sons and their fathers. The pastoral and missions speakers are pending.

In addition, the venue for the conference has changed. Instead of meeting in the hotel (as we have done for the past five years), the 2008 conference will move to the Minneapolis Convention Center. Those who have attended our National Conferences will be familiar with this spacious, comfortable, and functional facility.

Please pray with us that God will bless all the preparations for this event.

At the conference last weekend, we were challenged to see anew and savor more deeply the precious treasure of Jesus Christ. One helpful way to do this is by meditating on the humiliation of Christ; by pondering and contemplating the cross-work of Jesus Christ. On the flight home yesterday, my soul was (again!) aided in this regard by our friend Jonathan Edwards:

[Christ’s humiliation] was never so great as it was, in his last sufferings, beginning with his agony in the garden, till he expired on the cross. Never was he subject to such ignominy as then, never did he suffer so much pain in his body, or so much sorrow in his soul. Never was he in so great an exercise of his condescension, humility, meekness, and patience, as he was in these last sufferings. Never was his divine glory and majesty covered with so thick and dark a veil. Never did he so empty himself and make himself of no reputation, as at this time. And yet, never was his divine glory so manifested, by any act of his, as in yielding himself up to these sufferings. When the fruit of it came to appear, and the mystery and ends of it to be unfolded in its issue, then did the glory of it appear, [and] then did it appear as the most glorious act of Christ that ever he exercised towards the creature.

- 1736, "The Excellency of Christ"

This past Saturday over 1,200 people came together for worship, teaching, and fellowship at our regional conference in Gresham, Oregon. John Piper addressed the theme “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ” in three messages and a session of Q&A. It was a wonderful event and God was glorified as we were challenged to gaze more intently at the beauty of the person and work of Christ. We thank Good Shepherd Community Church for their amazing partnership in providing not only an excellent venue, but scores of volunteers who happily and generously labored for the joy of the attendees. We pray that God might bless all who took part in this event with a deep passion to know the Savior more fully.

If you would like to listen to the messages from this event, the audio is now online.

There are many things in this world that compete to capture our hearts and minds as entertainment. Here, Jonathan Edwards exhorts believers to choose Christ as their all-satisfying treasure in this life, thereby securing him as their entertainment for all eternity.

When the saints shall see Christ’s glory and exaltation in heaven, it will indeed possess their hearts with the greater admiration and adoring respect, but it will not awe them into any separation, but will serve only to heighten their surprise and joy, when they find Christ condescending to admit them to such intimate access, and so freely and fully communicating himself to them. So that if we choose Christ for our friend and portion, we shall hereafter be so received to him, that there shall be nothing to hinder the fullest enjoyment of him, to the satisfying the utmost cravings of our souls. We may take our full swing at gratifying our spiritual appetite after these holy pleasures. Christ will then say, as in Song 5:1 “Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly O beloved.” And this shall be our entertainment to all eternity! There shall never be any end of this happiness, or anything to interrupt our enjoyment of it, or in the least to molest us in it!

-1736, “The Excellency of Christ”

Please join us in prayer for the Desiring God 2007 Regional Conference this coming Saturday, April 21 at Good Shepherd Community Church near Portland, Oregon. This sold-out event will draw 1200 attendees from all over the country but particularly from the Pacific Northwest. Pray for God’s blessing on John Piper as he preaches on the theme Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.

Please pray for safety for all who are traveling and for the staff and volunteers as they prepare to serve hundreds of guests. And please pray that all who attend will meet God profoundly and come away worshiping, loving, treasuring, and longing for King Jesus like they never have before.

Thank you for your prayers!

(The audio of this event will posted as soon as possible.)