Top Ten: Meeting Kevin DeYoung

Today, Drew Papillon and I drove down to Moody to hear Kevin DeYoung speak at Founder's Week. Kevin DeYoung is one of my favorite people to read, because he loves the gospel and communicates it clearly and understandably. He blogs, writes books, and, like today, speaks at conferences. While this list will be meaningful to just me, here is a top ten list of the trip:

10. Cake Shakes--A trip to Chicago is never complete until one hits up Portillo's for a cake shake. They are delicious. Despite being mocked (by me) and threatened with a mysterious "thighmaster" (by David), Drew refused to get one.

9. Directions--As we pulled up to Moody, we approached a Moody security guard who was handling parking for the event. We rolled down our window and asked where to park. He directed us to a parking garage, which was directly across the street (and in plain view). He then proceeded to give us several steps of directions to get to this parking garage (again, which was right across the street). Thankfully, we didn't get lost.

8. Seeing LT--Surprisingly, I got to see my old roommate, who was also in town bringing some of his high school students to the conference. He's doing well, teaching high school in Ohio. It is really cool to see old friends that God is using in ministry.

7. Happy Day--Ride home. Pitch black outside. Blasting Tim Hughes. Air drums and guitar. Rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins. Real joy because of Jesus' love.

6. David--Since David works for Moody security, Drew and I had a good time needling David about his job and security guards in general.

5. Picture--I wanted a picture with DeYoung. So, we got in line to meet him after his message. As we inched closer to him, I showed a guy standing next to me in line how to take a picture with my phone. He failed. No picture. Not even a blurry one. I almost cried. So, we had to naggingly ask him to take another one with us (shown above).

4. Memorizing Romans--I meet with Drew each week and we spend a few hours together, mostly made up of me whining about my sin and Drew encouraging me with the gospel. Its great (for me). Drew also keeps me accountable in memorizing verses. We worked on 1 Peter 1 and 2 this fall with the youth and now we're starting Romans 3. I really appreciate Drew helping to keep God's Word in my thinking.

3. My Interaction--So, I get up to DeYoung in line to meet him. I should have rehearsed some lines or something. I got nervous. I stumbled my way through the conversation. It was about as smooth as asking a woman who's not pregnant if she is having a baby. It was about as smooth as getting someone's gender wrong. It was about as smooth as my interactions with girls in middle school. In short, I choked.

2. Drew's Interaction--Not surprisingly, Drew immediately brought Bob Kauflin up in conversation:

Drew (to DeYoung): "I only like you because Bob Kauflin likes you."

DeYoung: "Oh, I love Bob. He's a great guy. How do you know Bob?"

Drew: (in tears) "I don't really know Bob" (then softly, to himself) "But I wish I did."

Ok, I made that last part up.

1. DeYoung's Message--The message he gave was really good. He preached out of Leviticus 1 and did an excellent job of explaining the chapter (tough to pull off in Leviticus) and applying it to us today. Take home points:

A. True Worship of God is Costly

B. God Is Holy and Without His Provision, We Are Not

C. God Provided an Acceptable Substitute for Our Sin

D. Christ Is the End of the Law for Everyone Who Believes

He closed by connecting the sacrificed lambs of the Old Testament to the Lamb of God (Jesus) in the book of John. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, our sin has been paid for. We are covered by His blood. When God, then, looks at those who have been forgiven, He can say to us: "You are My beloved son, in you I am well-pleased."

Talk about a reason for a joy. Jesus loves me.