I think the title of this conference says it all -- "Together for the Gospel."  I am incredibly thankful for my friendship with Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and C J Mahaney.  In recent years, I have come to a new and deeper understanding of what these friends mean to me.  It may well be that reaching middle age has something to do with this realization, for I have come to prize most highly those friendships that can last a lifetime.

Yet, I am confident that something deeper and more important is at work here.  The friendship that binds us together is a friendship that is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Here we have found our shared redemption, our shared identity, our shared calling, our shared commission, and our shared passion.  Of course, this means that we also share concerns about how the Gospel is being misunderstood and misconstrued in our postmodern times.  We are together . . .  in and for the Gospel.

I can't wait to join with our friends John MacArthur, John Piper, and R C Sproul at the T4G conference in April.  We hope to see pastors from all over the country here to be together with us . . . for the Gospel.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  [Romans 15:5-6]