C.J. Mahaney interviews Mark Altrogge

C. J. Mahaney interviews Mark Altrogge, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and one of my favorite living songwriters:

1. Meet Mark Altrogge (1)
2. Meet Mark Altrogge (2)
3. Meet Mark Altrogge (3)

I'm not sure how many songs Mark Altrogge has written, but a songwriter search of his name using the Sovereign Grace Ministries Song Database will result in 104 items. I highly encourage everyone to listen (and read the lyrics) to Mark Altrogge's songs, as well as the other music offered at SovereignGraceMusic.org.

Thanks Mark for the music and your service to Christ's church. I'm glad you didn't pursue your "dream" of becoming a professional athlete.

Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors Conference audio now available

From the Sovereign Grace Ministries blog:

Audio and PDFs from the 2009 Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors Conference (April 6-8) are now available for download. Here is a list of the conference messages:

General Sessions

• The Pastor’s Charge, Part 1 (C.J. Mahaney)
• The Pastor’s Teaching (Jeff Purswell)
• The Pastor’s Mission (Dave Harvey)
• The Pastor’s Legacy (Jared Mellinger)
• The Pastor’s Charge, Part 2 (C.J. Mahaney)

Seminars for Men

• The Pastor and Christian Liberty (Craig Cabaniss)
• The Pastor and College Ministry: Compelling Reasons to Take the Gospel to the Campus (Bill Kittrell)
• The Pastor and His Community: How the Gospel Informs Our Mission beyond the Church (Mark Dever)
• The Pastor and His Older Children: The Possibilities and Perils of Parenting Teens (Bob Kauflin)
• The Pastor and Preaching: How to Start a Sermon, End a Sermon, and Prepare the Middle of a Sermon (Mike Bullmore)
• The Pastor and Small-Group Leaders (Jim Donohue)
• The Pastor and the Counseling Process (Andy Farmer)
• The Pastor and the Priority of Plurality (Dave Harvey)
• The Pastor and the Spirit: An Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12–14 (Jeff Purswell)
• The Pastor and Titus 2 (Aron Osborne)
• The Pastor and Youth Ministry: The Priority of Teaching for Parents and Teens (Steve Whitacre)

Seminars for Women

• The Pastor’s Wife and Culture: What Feminism Has Done to Femininity (Carolyn McCulley)
• The Pastor’s Wife and Ministry Opportunities: Five Great Deals She Won’t Want to Miss (Carolyn Mahaney)

Visit the Pastors Conference page to download the audio recordings and all available PDFs.

(HT: Tony Reinke )

The Valley of Vision

Here's a prayer titled "The Valley of Vision" from "Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions" edited by Arthur Bennett (pages xxiv-xxv):

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine; let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley.

Sovereign Grace Ministries produced a music CD with the same title containing songs inspired by prayers in the book. The first song on the CD is based on this first prayer in the book. I highly recommend purchasing the Valley of Vision, the music CD and the book.