John Piper's Invitation

Dear Brothers,

The theme of the Desiring God 2008 Conference for Pastors is owing most immediately to my father’s death on March 6, 2007. He was a fruitful evangelist. He preached the gospel for over seventy years, if you count the final testimonies in the nursing home. I loved him. I admired him. And I wondered how I might honor him.

The thought came to me: “Make him the subject of your biography at the Conference for Pastors. Tell his story and the impact he had on you.” Then I recalled that Don Carson of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School had lost his father, a Canadian pastor, and was hoping to write a book about him. (In fact, the book is written and will be ready for the conference in February, Lord willing.)

It occurred to me that Don might find it enjoyable to celebrate his own father’s ministry while instructing the rest of us about lessons learned from him and from the Word. Maybe, I thought, we should build the whole conference around the pastor as father and son, that is, the pastor as father of a family and father of a church; and the pastor as son of an earthly father and son of a heavenly Father. I wrote Don and told him my vision. He embraced it and agreed to come.

At that point, the Desiring God staff got excited about doing something totally unusual with this conference, namely, encouraging all the pastors to bring their sons and their fathers. Amazing. We all loved it. So that’s the plan. Come. And if you can, bring your sons and your dad.

Then I wondered who the pastoral spokesman should be. I heard Crawford Loritts speak at the Gospel Coalition and knew that I wanted him to come. Besides the powerful word that he brought at the Coalition, I knew he had written a book titled Never Walk Away: Lessons on Integrity from a Father Who Lived It. Clearly, his father was a massive force in his life. This was the man for the job. Dr. Loritts spent most of his adult ministry with Campus Crusade, and in 2005 he became the senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia. I am deeply thankful that he has agreed to be a part of this conference.

That left the missions speaker. Who should it be? I thought: It would be great if we could hear from a veteran missionary father who not only raised children but also fathered a mission and a movement. My thoughts turned to Greg Livingstone. Greg founded Frontiers. He agreed to come. I asked him to speak out of that family and leadership experience and put fire under us pastors to dream great things for the nations and the glory of Christ.

So there it is. We have never done it like this. If you have sons, and if your dad is living and able, bring them. We will try to make it affordable. Please don’t let money stand in the way. If we can help, tell us what you need.

I am very eager to see what God might do among us in this new kind of gathering. We will sing the great truths of the gospel together. We will eat and talk and pray. And we will listen for God’s word in these messages concerning The Pastor as Father and Son. I would love to worship with you.

Expectantly,