A friend recently pointed me to an interesting approach to communicating the gospel in multiple languages.

Hollywood veteran Bruce Marchiano (who played Jesus in "Matthew") is developing a film on the life of Christ and scripted word-for-word from the Gospel of John.

Funding wont be coming from a major movie studio, but from millions of Christians around the world. Specifically, the goal is 10 dollars each from 4.5 million folks, most of it raised online from their web site. Each contributor is considered a "producer" and can provide filming input to Bruce. I don't think that's ever been done, Christian or secular.

"A movie for the next generation" is how it is being billed. Using the latest in movie technology and techniques, the film is expected to be used around the world (read: translated into many languages) to impact millions for Christ.

I though it worth passing on.

Here's the movie promo. Go to www.newjesusmovie.com if you'd like to be a part.

Tomorrow, I will be in an all-day conversation about what we need to know about church planting and evangelism (details here). Although this meeting is related to the North American Mission Board, I'd like to open up the conversation to all my blog readers and ask you:

• What do we need to know about church planting and evangelism?
• What research is already out there that needs to be considered on the subject?

For decades, the phrase, "If you were to die today, do you know for sure you would go to heaven?" was associated with evangelical attempts at sharing their faith. My guess is that millions of people have been asked that question over the last few decades-- and I would not be surprised if God used such a conversation and question and many many became followers of Christ.

But, the question itself always intrigued me. And, one of the great things about my job (as a researcher), is I get to say, "I wonder..."

And, in this case, I wondered how many people really ask that question. In other words, how often to people wonder if they were to die today would they go to heaven. My first assumption was that only a few people really would think about their eternal destiny and, thus, thought the question might be less helpful today if few asked that question.

So, to test my informal hypothesis, we commissioned a poll.

About three years ago, while I was serving at the North American Mission Board's Center for Missional Research (now led by my friend Richie Stanley), Richie and I did a poll on that very subject.

Interestingly, "Will I go to heaven when I die?" is not a question most Americans ask themselves with much frequency. The North American Mission Board's Center for Missional Research conducted a survey that give some insight into what Americans are really thinking.

There are a good number of people who ask that question and do so frequently, but most do not.

Perhaps in previous generations people were asking questions about life after death, and so evangelistic approaches that focused on that issue were contextually appropriate. But the times - they are a-changing.

It appears that more people are thinking about meaning and purpose than life after death. (And it is important to note that the Bible provides the answers to all these questions.)

More people are thinking about is the purpose of life. People are looking for and thinking about purpose: perhaps one of the reasons that Purpose Driven Life has been such a best seller.

Why are we here? How can my life have meaning, value and significance? Explaining what the gospel says to these questions will more readily demonstrate just how relevant the gospel is to their lives. What happens after death is eternally important, but the world isn't always ready to see that. But they are somewhat prepared to consider that because we are made in God's image we have infinite value and dignity; that sin is what robs us of experiencing the reason for which we have been made - to glorify God and enjoy him forever; that Jesus alone is our only hope of redemption - that in him our sins are forgiven, the image of God is restored in us and by him we can glorify God and enjoy him now and forever.

This is the work of contextualization. Answering the questions the world is asking from God's word, pointing them back to the gospel. This is why I value research (asking questions, and really listening). Let's be about the business of making the gospel clear. To do that you will have to do more than speak. You'll need to do some listening as well.

My friend Ray Wickam passed this article on to me after reading my post from yesterday mentioning Michael Jackson's funeral.

My twitter-friend Tim Wade has written a thought-provoking article on what the Michael Jackson funeral should say to the church. Here are some excerpts. You can find the full article here in the Raleigh News Examiner.

Several members of the media commented that Jackson's memorial service contained a spiritual tone- the gospel choir, the golden casket, the cross of light...

While the theme of Michael Jackson's memorial service was indeed spiritual, it certainly could in no way be mistaken for a Christian funeral. During the performance of We are the World which was sung by a Who's Who of musical icons, symbols of every major religion were displayed on a giant screen behind the stage including a larger than life picture of Jesus. The message could not have been clearer...

Clearly it is time for the Protestant Church to wake up and realize that the world is finding faith apart from the fulfillment of the Great Commission...

I admire the work of Michael Jackson and mourn his passing. Truly the legacy he leaves behind is immeasurable. But holding hands and singing to the glory of a dead pop star will never replace the spiritual needs of the human condition. The world needs to hear the truth of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ for only under the blood of Jesus will we be part of God's great big family.

As I mentioned on Twitter last week, I received an email from Barb Winter that the great American missiologist Ralph D. Winter passed away Wednesday night May 20th. Ralph had been battling the resurgence of the multiple myeloma that has plagued his body since 2002 and the lymphoma diagnosed in early February of this year. Several mini strokes plus drop foot in both feet following his surgery in March complicated his recovery. Ralph was 84.

His influence in the church and the world for missions is unrivaled. Time Magazine tagged Winters as one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals. His book, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, is an essential read, proving formative and motivational for thousands of believers who begin to see God's heart for world evangelization.

I had the chance to know Ralph when he contributed an essay to a forthcoming book I am editing with David Hesselgrave. His keen insights are, as always, challenging.

He will be missed.

Updated: You can find the PowerPoint with the questions and data at LifeWayResearch.Com.

Yesterday I talked with Cathy Lynn Grossman for USA Today about Americans' receptivity to evangelistic contacts and outreach from a church. I pointed to some recent research done by Lifeway Research and the North American Mission Board where we surveyed over 15,000 people (read more on this report via Lifeway Research). It turns out most people said they would be willing to receive information about church in a personal conversation with a family member, friend or neighbor.

This next week I'll be traveling back and forth between TN and the Midwest.

First, it is off to Michigan.

Michigan State Evangelism Conference, near Flint/Detroit, MI (March 2-3, 2009)
Next week I'm heading into the Midwest for the Michigan State Convention Evangelism Conference.

it will be good to see some old friends, but my time will be short since they have me speaking five (that's right, five) times in 24 hours. I am eating my Wheaties in preparation.

Then, it is back to Tennessee...

Chattanooga Pastors Conference, Chattanooga, TN (March 5, 2009)
Then I'm coming back to TN to speak at the Chattanooga Pastor's Conference at the invitation of the good folks at the Maclellan Foundation. The focus is on my new co-authored book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them.

This is actually the first time I have presented on Lost and Found since the book has come out. So, it is a bit of a "launch party." In the Fall, Thom Rainer, Jason Hayes, Sam Rainer, and I will be doing a road tour around reaching and keeping young adults-- but this is still the launch for Lost and Found. So, I hope you can come and see us in Chattanooga.

They're making this very affordable - $15 per person or $50 per church (up to 4 people).

So, I hope you see you in Chattanooga.

Reaching The Next Generation, Granger, IN (March 7, 2009)
Then I'm heading back into the midwest for an "Enrichment Seminar" with the Missionary Church North Central District in Indiana. There I'll be addressing two topics: 1) Reasons 18 to 22 Year Olds Drop Out of Church - Can the Church Close the Door? and 2) Connecting Young Adults.

The Missionary Church is a remarkable small denomination. Of all the denominations we looked at in our Leadership Network church planting study, they had the highest church planting rate. If you have ever been to their home office, it is small and functional-- and has church planting literally written on the walls.

Good people-- and I am looking forward to being with them on Saturday.

Now, for an upcoming seminar.

The Flourish Conference

This one is a bit unusual for me. Actually, it is the first time I have spoken at such a gathering.

May 13-15, I am going to be a part of one of a unique conference. Flourish 2009 (www.flourishonline.org) will be hosted by CrossPointe Church in Duluth, GA. Sponsors include Southeastern Seminary, David C. Cook Publishers, and the National Association of Evangelicals. The subject is how to live as missional, evangelistic followers of Christ in a world full of poverty, injustice and environmental degradation, but that is not the most interesting part.

To me, the speaker line-up is most fascinating.

it is an interesting to see an unusual mix of speakers, For example, well known Southern Baptists such as James Merritt and Al Mohler will be speaking along side a whole assortment of authors and speakers including Chris Seay, Rick McKinley, Joel Hunter, Margaret Feinberg, Gabe Lyons, and a whole bunch of others from all kinds of denominations and perspectives.

The MCs for this event will be Jonathan Merritt, a faith and culture writer and well-known SBC troublemaker :), and Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making and Senior Editor of Christianity Today.

This will obviously be an event you won't want to miss.

My goal: get Chris Seay and Al Mohler together in the green room and start up a conversation.

The organizers asked me to pass on two things especially for my blog readers. First, there will be a church planters track led by Rand Clark, a church planter in Colorado (http://genesiscastlerock.com/), and Dr. Jack Allen (http://www.nobts.edu/Faculty/AtoH/AllenJ/Default.html), Director of the Nehemiah Center for Church Planting at New Orleans Seminary (nobts.edu). I will be some part of that, but I am not sure yet what that is. More on that soon...

Second, they are offering my blog readers a 25% discount if they register soon. Simply go to FlourishOnline.org, and when you are registering enter "Stetzer25" into the discount section. With the early bird discount, this will give you all three days for about 100.00, which includes a personal meet-and-greet / Q&A with many of the conferences speakers at a party the first night.

This is going to be a unique and enriching experience that you won't wanna miss. The early bird special ends tomorrow, although the discount code will continue to work throughout the month of March.

This Sunday, I gave a "beginning of the year" message. I make it a practice to make my first message of the year about the nature of the gospel. We asked people to respond via a communication card at the end of the service (something the church does not usually do). I was encouraged to see 10 people indicate first time commitments to Christ, 40 want to get more information about connecting through membership, and hundreds committing to grow deeper in 2009.

I promised the church I would post my notes here. So, they are below.

Late yesterday I posted about the economy and church attendance. Many in the media are asking if this is really a trend. LifeWay Research will soon be adding more research to the conversation.

If there is a trend and churches do grow during hard times, the growth should come through evangelism. And, it appears to me that Christians today are less focused on evangelism today than they have been in times past-- with some considering evangelism to be too impolite or old school. They believe it is better to "show" and not "tell" (when it should be both).

So, this video from Penn (of Penn and Teller) is worth your time:

Penn says:

I don't respect people who don't proselytize. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, 'Well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward'... How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?

I'm speechless. (HT: Dashhouse)

I did an interview this morning with a national secular magazine about the efficacy of "door-to-door outreach" and will link to the story as soon as it's available. Much of what I shared came from some research we did at the Center for Missional Research on whether or not door-to-door is an effective tool.

Here is what we published last year:

Every Saturday morning at First Church, dedicated church members meet to do something both their parents and grandparents did before them--door-to-door visitation. They visit people in the neighborhood who might be new church prospects with the hope they'll begin personal relationships with Christ either that morning or the next Sunday at church. Recently there has been a growing debate among those assembling for outreach as to how to approach their task. Some on the team want to share the gospel with every person they come in contact with--or they believe they're putting the person's eternal destiny at risk. Others suggest that the team should simply invite people to hear their biblically faithful, gospel-preaching pastor tell them about Jesus during his Sunday message.

Who's right?

We (the North American Mission Board's Center for Missional Research) decided to find out. By partnering with a polling firm1 to ask 1,200 random Americans we discovered that the answer just might be--"both."

When you knock on a stranger's door, more people are open to a church invitation than a gospel presentation--but a significant minority are open to both. According to the survey, Americans are far more open to people coming to their door with that simple invitation than trying to tell them how to get into heaven (53 to 35%). The only exception to this trend is among African Americans, nearly half of whom are okay with someone coming to their door with an evangelistic message--15 percent more than any other ethnic group surveyed.

These stats tell an important story--many people are open to an invitation to your church and some are open to hearing about heaven. Even 40 percent of the most unchurched are open to an invitation to your church, which is something that the whole church can do-- something that's much less scary for the typical believer and takes less training. It is helpful to know that many people are open to a church event invitation where, perhaps, they can hear the gospel in an understandable way. Imagine how many more houses your church group could visit if every person could be convinced to make one visit and one simple invitation.

Many people, including me, were surprised that the negative reaction was not more pronounced. But, the numbers are here and, surprisingly, more people are open than we think--particularly if they are approached in a respectful manner.

This survey also contradicts the long-held belief that young people would outright reject church groups coming to their door. In fact, despite being known as one of the most difficult to reach demographics in the country, people between the ages of 25 to 34 were virtually just as likely as their next elders (ages 35 to 54) and considerably more likely than the 70+ crowd to appreciate someone coming to the door and inviting them to church.

As you'll see in the chart below, it's only those on the low and high ends of the age spectrum that will generally shun a door-to-door invitation to church more often than not.

Ideological and socio-economic factors also play a part in how open people are to door- to-door church invitations. More than two-thirds of those who call themselves conservative would likely listen to your church invitation, should you come to the door. But churches in "blue states" should take note--only a little more than half of self-described liberals would do so.

In fact, as you put together different components of the research, you begin to see a clear picture of the type of community where door-to-door church invitations could be most successful. If you were picking such a place, you'd probably settle on a poor to working class community that's ideologically conservative with a high number of Protestants. All three of these demographic groups recorded higher than average openness to church invitations through the door-to-door method--all were above 60 percent. Conversely, it's not as well received in a liberal, well-to-do or middle class, non-Protestant community.

Yet any good news about door-to-door church invitations can only be limited as we look at the study. The fact remains the unchurched are far less interested in being invited to church by someone they don't know knocking on their door. Only 39 percent of those surveyed who attend church rarely, on holidays, or never would be okay with someone coming to their door and inviting them to church, according to the survey. The numbers are consistently worse when asked about "counseling" for "heaven," or what we would call personal witnessing. In other words, the very people we say we want to get into our churches the most are the people least likely to be impacted by one of our favorite outreach strategies.

Now more than ever, we need to look toward new methods to get the unchurched into our churches. Some people will be reached through door-to-door methods. Others will not. While more than half of Americans would listen cordially as a stranger at their door invited them to church, more than 60 percent of the unchurched might tune us out before the invitation left our mouths. Now, the cross is always a stumbling block, but we also want to be sure that our methods are less so.

The message of the gospel is too important to be spread through just one strategy--and if God leads you and your church to a certain strategy, you should use it. Door-to-door methods can be and are used to reach people. At my own church plant, we went door-to- door passing out flyers and free popcorn to invite people to our preview service. This method can still be an important part of our evangelism strategies, but our study shows that not everyone is open to such an approach. Let us ask God to show us additional ways to reach the unchurched--through relationships, service, ministry, and invitations to visit. Remember, God wants to see the unchurched connected to a family of faith even more than we do.

I have attached a PowerPoint presentation covering the same data. You can download it below.

Brady Cooper is the pastor of New Vision in Murfreesboro, TN. Brady and I recently met at The Standard, a restaurant in downtown Nashville and had a little too much fun.

I wrote an article for the September/October issue of Outreach Magazine called, "Learning from Each Other." In it, I point to those I call the "theologically preoccupied" and the "evangelistically fixated" and encourage us all to learn from one another. If you are not a subscriber, you can and should be: click here.

Here's the article as it ran in the magazine. I will follow it with a few additional comments.

I am a blogger. Just thought I should get it out there in the open. Mind you, I am not a member of the Pajamahadeen--you know, one of those Bible bloggers who lives in his mom's basement, sleeping till noon and writing theology in his pajamas. But I have met them--and they've partially inspired this column.

Moths drawn to the flame

Certain blog posts seem to attract the Pajamahadeen like moths to a flame--for instance, when the post contains key words like "Rick Warren," "missional," "emerging" and "loving people." They seem to hate these topics and post 3,800-word comments with 27 links proving they've exposed the evildoing of their latest heretic du jour.

Well, these bloggers provoked me--and you're reading the result. Whenever I blog about a growing church that is reaching people, I get comments like, "They're growing because they're not preaching the Gospel." Or if I pose some theological questions, I get it from the other side: "Why bother with theology, let's just do whatever it takes to reach people."

In this column three issues ago, I defended Bill Hybels and his view of rel­evance, mentioning John MacArthur in the process. To some, it was as if I decapitated a goat and threw it on an altar--"How dare you defend Hybels and not fully support MacArthur?"

When I had questions for multi-site churches two issues ago, one person expressed concern that I would "denigrate what others have given their lives to." Raising questions is denigrating someone's ministry? Oh, really? (Come by my blog and check out the discerning and charitable conversation multi-site author and pastor Geoff Surrat and I had about multi-site: EdStetzer.com--click on the multi-site info on the right.)

"Theologically Preoccupied" vs. "Evangelistically Fixated"

Blogs seem to magnify an existing problem in the body of Christ: We don't do a very good job listening to and learning from one another.

It seems large numbers of the Theologi­cally Preoccupied scowl across the pages of their study Bibles at the Evangelistically Fixated and accuse them of being culturally adrift--in some cases rightfully so. Many of the Evangelistically Fixated chuckle when they see books on evangelism written by many of the Theologically Preoccupied who sometimes consider the smallness of their churches a sign of their faithfulness.

Let me propose a different way: Learn from one another and take the best from one another's approaches. Theologically deep believers with a passion for those far from Christ--I want both.

Back to balance

The first chapter of Acts closes with the disciples sequestered for days praying and waiting. Jesus kept talking about the Holy Spirit coming next. They weren't sure what that meant exactly, but there was no mistaking the power when He arrived. The rest of the book is replete with rock-solid, wrath-propitiating, substitutionary-atoning, life-giving, grace-filled, Kingdom-centered, culturally relevant, Gospel preaching. You read it from Peter, John, Philip, Stephen and Paul. They began with a deep, fun­damental teaching of the Gospel and went out from there in love for people, preaching and serving in the name of Jesus Christ.

I don't see enough of this type of balance across Evangelicalism. As I move in and out of groups across the spectrum, I see a growing polarization between those who embrace and teach doctrinal orthodoxy and those who are aggressively reaching a lost world.

We desperately need each other and we need to strike the biblical balance of doctri­nal soundness with missional engagement and creative action.

In the next issue of Outreach, I will share some insights from the largest and fastest-growing churches in America. Some will say, "But are they faithful?" Others will say, "But are they missional?" Those are fair questions, but can we also ask, "What can we learn from them?"

Originally published in Outreach Magazine Sept/Oct 2008

I hope we can all agree that theology should always give birth to word and deed, and evangelism make no sense apart from doctrine. To share the gospel is to articulate unchanging truths about God and man. Nevertheless, it is easy to drift into imbalance. For some theology is treated lightly and all serious efforts are poured into methodology. For others evangelism is put on the back burner in order to clearly develop a robust "body of divinity." This all amounts to serious illogical and unbiblical deficiencies in our churches. While God continues to use us in spite of our errors we are not excused from the pressing need to change where necessary.

Passages of Scripture like 1 Peter 2:9 speaks well to both camps. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Those who are distracted from the mission because of theology are missing the point entirely. God has created us in Christ to be a people who proclaim his excellencies. This is essentially the dissemination of doctrine; the beautiful, life changing truths about God that, when received by faith, unite sinners to a holy God. It is unfortunately easy to see that some of us are better at knowing doctrine than sowing doctrine. Let me be blunt, amassing a knowledge of God and shelving it instead of sharing it is sin. We are made to distributors of his glory.

On the other side, the same passage of scripture challenges the evangelistically fixated. Eagerness to tell others about God is undermined if our theology is weak. Let me say it this way, you cannot proclaim God's excellencies if you do not know what they are.

I have been saying it for years, and I don't mind saying it again; we need to be both biblically faithful in doctrine and practice, and missiologically sound in our approach to people and cultures.

I believe many of us are in need of repenting of our willful weaknesses in one of those areas. Along the way, we would do well to listen to one another in those areas where we do excel.

We just released some new evangelism research. You can find the full story here. Here are some excerpts from the article.

Unchurched adults interested in finding a congregation aren't nearly as likely to visit one in person as a church member who is shopping for a new congregation. That means effective evangelism must begin outside the sanctuary in relationships between Christians and unbelievers, according to research from several recent studies from LifeWay Research...

"The location of our evangelism needs to shift if we want to reach the unchurched and not just move sheep around," said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research. "At LifeWay Research we want to encourage churches to grow through conversion. To do that, they must not rely only of the unchurched visiting our churches. Church switchers are primarily the ones who visit churches. The unchurched stay home...