I have a new article featured at Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders website that focuses on how a local church should discover their particular calling to its larger community. You can read it below. Be sure to check out the BCL site. It has a lot of helpful resources for pastors and church leaders.

Discerning Your Church's Call to Ministry

How does a church discern its call to ministry--creating ministry space that lines up with its mission and vision? Often believers and churches seem to be waiting for God to strike them with a lightning bolt, to reveal what he wants them to do through some spectacular event. But God isn't a genie who pops out of his bottle if we rub it hard enough. A church that waits passively finds itself beset with ministry paralysis.

Then there are the churches that show a degree of life and energy and have significant percentages of the local body engaged in ministry, yet what they do is routine and ineffective. Call it "ministry calcification." Maybe what they are doing was effective five years ago or even last year, but communities can change rapidly. Many churches are ministering to people who have long ago left the community. The missional church constantly assesses what God is doing in a community and what needs are emerging--and adjusts its ministries accordingly.

Do I believe God reveals himself and gives us direction in life? Yes, absolutely. But I also believe he reveals himself more specifically as we obey the commands he has already given us. In other words, God will show us how he wants our church to minister to the community when we act on the directives he has already given us.

Four of the last things Jesus said to his disciples in his final days on earth are a good place for his followers and his churches to seek direction:

Continue reading Discerning Your Church's Call to Ministry.

Yesterday, we finished up a meeting in Nashville with denominational leaders from over 20 denominations. More than half of the churches planted in the U.S. each year were affiliated with the denominations represented in the room.

You might find my opening words of some interest. In some ways, they relate to comments I made at the Advance09 panel.

It is a bad idea theologically, with bad results historically, for us to partner and jointly plant churches. But, it is a bad stewardship and irresponsible missiology for us not to find ways to learn from each other.

When it comes to church planting, it is not really the same as evangelism. In church planting, we need to plant our own gardens. But, we will consider this an agricultural co-op where we learn to do it better by learning from one another.

So, that is why we are here: to learn and share best practices with other Christian denominational leaders committed to plant churches.

We had a great meeting with much helpful interaction.

Here are the presentations that each of the speakers shared:

Ed Stetzer (LifeWay Research), The State of Church Multiplication and the Causes that Hinder It (no PowerPoint)
Thom Rainer (LifeWay Christian Resources), Twelve Axioms for Leading a Christian Organization
Ron Sylvia (Next Coaching Networks), Church Planting Coaching Networks
Larry McCrary (The Upstream Collective), Creating Church Planting Recruitment Systems for Denominations
Steve Pike (Assemblies of God), Influencing Your Denomination for Church Planting
Bob Harrington (Church Coaching Solutions), Understanding and Harnessing Networks: Part 1, Part 2
Chris Conrad (Wesleyan), Church Planting Assessment (no PowerPoint)

We are also undertaking two research projects with different denominations participating in each. One will focus on urban church planting and the other is on church planting assessment. Drop a comment below if you are interested in being a part of either one.

This meeting is the beginning of our leaders fellowship that will meet three times a year: November 18-19 is the next meeting. This is not an open meeting, but if you are the denominational head of church planting, you can leave a comment here and we will send you a network application. (Feel free to email this page to others who you think might be interested.)

Here is a pic from our first meeting (courtesy of Ron Sylvia).

We look forward to more to come.

I need your help in finding anyone and everyone you know who is actively working to reach first generation immigrants in the U.S. and Canada. Please email them a link to this online survey, www.LifeWay.com/immigrantsurvey and ask them to tell us about the work they are doing. I'm looking for EVERYBODY working with immigrants: it can be someone working at the national level with a denomination, missionaries, church planters, or it can be a lay believer in a church who coordinates a small local ministry.

We have been working on this for several months and have connected with quite a few leaders, but we are discovering new groups everyday-- but, I would like to ask for some help to make sure we get the word out to as many churches, networks, and leaders among immigrants as possible.

The survey is at www.LifeWay.com/immigrantsurvey and is in English and 19 other languages. Individual surveys are confidential, so you can feel comfortable sharing this information with groups concerned about security issues. The North American Mission Board is sponsoring this project and they have offered to share the results and insights from this study with partnering leaders and organizations across the U.S. and Canada. Our hope is that the results will assist everyone in more effectively sharing the gospel and planting churches among the immigrant groups in our communities.

Please forward this link and blog post to as many people as you know who are connected to this type of work! And, feel free to post this on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I shared this message July 5th at my church (weekly audio is here). This was the week before the church considered a new pastor. (He preached on Sunday and I will share his name in a few days.)

My focus was helping the church to consider both the qualifications and call of a pastor. That certainly could take weeks, but I wanted to share an overview that I hoped would be helpful at this crucial time in the church's life.

Here is the video:

What's a Pastor to Do? from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Here are my notes:

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, has a solid article at Christianity Today responding to - and somewhat sympathizing with - Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori's remarks about "the Great western heresy." And what is the "great western heresy" the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America wants to warn us of? Individualism. Mouw writes,

In her opening address to the Episcopal Church's recent General Convention, the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori... made a special point of denouncing what she labeled "the great Western heresy"--the teaching, in her words, "that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." This "individualist focus," she declared, "is a form of idolatry."

Dr. Mouw rightly agrees that there are dangerous forms of individualism that had plagued the church, and points out that Christianity Today has articles reflecting a call back to a more corporate understanding and experience of the Christian faith.

It is certainly true that God is saving a people (corporate) for himself, and with them all of creation so that in the end his redemptive work through the death and resurrection of Jesus is truly cosmic in scope. Yet this does not take anything away from the reality that God saves individuals. Mouw explains,

We evangelicals never downplay the importance of individuals--as individuals--coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We never say that an individual's very personal relationship to God is not important. What we do say is that individual salvation is not enough.

Some who are talking through this very issue are simply talking past one another - some wanting to talk about bricks (individuals) while others wants to talk about the building (the community of faith). Yet others are clearly talking about another gospel altogether.

Dr. Mouw's article is a good, short read, as is R. Scott Clark's response to Schori (via Justin Taylor). Wes Kenney agrees with the Presiding Bishop here (something I am sure was difficult for him). You can also download Katharine Jefferts Schori's address here.

What do you think? What are the dangers at play here? How is the Presding Bishop right, how is she wrong? Why does it even matter to us?

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.

LifeWay Research recently finished a survey that reveals the ministry priorities of pastoral leadership in churches of various sizes in the SBC. The study, "Critical Ministries and Their Leadership," surveyed 801 Southern Baptist pastors about what they believed were the most critical ministries in their churches, whether those ministries have effective leadership in place and how they relate to those ministry leaders. Mark Kelly unpacks some of the data in an article written for Lifeway news.

When pastors were asked to list up to five ministries in their order of importance, the largest group (24 percent) identified evangelism/outreach as the most important. The next six ministries identified as most important were Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (17 percent); worship/specific worship services (13 percent); preaching/proclamation/preaching (10 percent); children/youth (9 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (7 percent); and prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups (5 percent).

When a list of the five ministries mentioned most often was compiled, however, children/youth moved to the top, identified as one of the five most important ministries by 85 percent of the respondents. The other four most-mentioned ministries were evangelism/outreach (68 percent); Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (53 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (37 percent); and worship/specific worship services (33 percent).

One of the interesting finds what that the size of a church determined which of the ministries described above were considered most important. Churches with fewer than 100 in worship attendance are much more likely to see evangelism as a critical ministry than churches with 250 or more in attendance (72 vs 60 percent). Churches with worship attendance between 100 and 249 are more likely to list children's or youth ministry as critical compared to smaller churches (90 vs 83 percent).

Larger churches (worship attendance of 250 or more) are more likely to include worship or worship services as a critical ministry (46 percent) compared to small (30 percent) or midsize churches (33 percent), McConnell noted. Smaller churches (worship attendance under 100) are significantly less likely to include missions or Sunday school/Bible study/small groups among their most important ministries.

The study (and Kelly's article) goes on to examine effective leadership. Read the article, it's all very interesting, and come back to discuss.

Churches of differing sizes have different ministry priorities. Is this good or bad, or is it just the natural and/or necessary prioritization that stems from the nature of a local church and it's size?

Barna Research has published the results of a survey that "explored how many [adults] have what might be considered a 'biblical worldview.'" This is a helpful study that will confirm the conclusions many have already drawn - and may surprise some of us as well. What does Barna mean by a "biblical worldview?"

For the purposes of the survey, a "biblical worldview" was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.

The research indicated that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview as defined above. The Barna study also indicated that a minority of people who describe themselves as "born again" actually share this worldview. So while "they were twice as likely as the average adult to possess a biblical worldview... even among born again Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life."

This is a survey Barna has conducted before in 1995, 2000 and 2005. Has the percentage dropped? Are their less or more people who hold to this "biblical worldview" today than a decade ago? Barna says the number have remained the same.

Take note that "less than one-half of one percent of adults in the Mosaic generation - i.e., those aged 18 to 23 - have a biblical worldview, compared to about one out of every nine older adults." Those who are working to share the gospel with the young are finding this out, and it has some serious implications for how we practice evangelism and ministry targeting younger generations.

Breaking it down:

One-third of all adults (34%) believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances. Slightly less than half of the born again adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.

Half of all adults firmly believe that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches. That proportion includes the four-fifths of born again adults (79%) who concur.

Just one-quarter of adults (27%) are convinced that Satan is a real force. Even a minority of born again adults (40%) adopt that perspective.

Similarly, only one-quarter of adults (28%) believe that it is impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior. Not quite half of all born again Christians (47%) strongly reject the notion of earning salvation through their deeds.

A minority of American adults (40%) are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Slightly less than two-thirds of the born again segment (62%) strongly believes that He was sinless.

Seven out of ten adults (70%) say that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today. That includes the 93% of born again adults who hold that conviction.

George Barna points out several implications, but I wanted to share just one set. He said,

There are a several troubling patterns to take notice. First, although most Americans consider themselves to be Christian and say they know the content of the Bible, less than one out of ten Americans demonstrate such knowledge through their actions. Second, the generational pattern suggests that parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview. One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have, and most parents do not possess such a perspective on life. That raises a third challenge, which relates to the job that Christian churches, schools and parachurch ministries are doing in Christian education. Finally, even though a central element of being a Christian is to embrace basic biblical principles and incorporate them into one's worldview, there has been no change in the percentage of adults or even born again adults in the past 13 years regarding the possession of a biblical worldview.

Go and check out the article an come back to discuss. What does all of this, or some of this mean for us as the church? In one sense, it changes nothing - we are called to preach Christ and him crucified and make disciples. Yet our context and culture does impact how we go about this. What are your thoughts?

I just returned from vacation and then several days of travel. The vacation was needed and is what prompted this post. Donna and I went on a cruise and had an excellent time hanging with some old friends and decompressing a bit. It was a welcome respite from the cold weather back home. In Nashville it was frozen, but in the Caribbean it was very warm.

I love getting away with my wife, and we work hard to invest in our relationship. Why? Because it pays dividends.

People often ask me how I balance work and travel. Sometimes it is really a question. Other times, they are just reminding me to be sure to do that. By no means, do I think I have it all figured out, but my wife says she thinks we have a good balance.

When I invest in relationships it is the same as putting money in the bank, and that's important because I have to make frequent withdrawals. I travel a lot, work a lot, and am probably not easy to have as a husband or father. Those withdrawals demand frequent deposits.

With that in mind, and knowing that I am not the perfect example by any means, let me share how I try to make relational deposits in the life of my family.

I've written an article for the Exponential 09 website on how to plant a church without losing your soul. I've seen many leaders, including those who would be considered successful, and those whose work failed to produce lasting fruit, crash and burn while doing the very thing God called them to do. If you're planting, or thinking of planting, these words are for you.

Do bad economic times bring more people to church?

Gallup just released data that is has, as of today, not done so.

Despite some news reports to the contrary, a review of almost 300,000 interviews conducted by Gallup so far in 2008 shows no evidence that church attendance in America has been increasing late this year as a result of bad economic times. In September, October, November, and so far in December, about 42% of Americans reported that they attended church weekly or almost every week, exactly the same as the percentage who reported attending earlier in the year.

Their whole report, written by the ever-articulate David Newport, is here.

The New York Times says they do. Their headline "Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches" explains their view. The Times explains:

But since September, pastors nationwide say they have seen such a burst of new interest that they find themselves contending with powerful conflicting emotions -- deep empathy and quiet excitement -- as they re-encounter an old piece of religious lore:

Bad times are good for evangelical churches.

The Times cites a study by David Beckwith.

A study last year may lend some credence to the legend. In "Praying for Recession: The Business Cycle and Protestant Religiosity in the United States," David Beckworth, an assistant professor of economics at Texas State University, looked at long-established trend lines showing the growth of evangelical congregations and the decline of mainline churches and found a more telling detail: During each recession cycle between 1968 and 2004, the rate of growth in evangelical churches jumped by 50 percent. By comparison, mainline Protestant churches continued their decline during recessions, though a bit more slowly.

I read the study a few weeks ago and thought it was well crafted.

The Times does not tell you where to find it, but let me help... it is right here.

Here is the key:

The findings of this paper suggest there is a countercyclical component to church growth for Protestant denominations, particularly for evangelical Protestants.

Or, put more simply, when the economy goes down, evangelical attendance goes up (with a smaller shift among mainline churches).

What are you thoughts? Have you observed the "crush" that The Times mentions in their full article?

Eric Geiger is the Executive Pastor of Christ Fellowship in Miami, and the co-author of Simple Church. His latest book, Identity, is a challenge to believers to live out the reality of their God-given identity. You really should pick up both books. (Eric will also be part of a forthcoming interiew in my leadership book interviews.)

Eric and I wrote an article for Neue Quarterly. You can find our article on page 84, but there are lots of other articles you will want to read and all are available on-line here. You can read "Simply Missional" in its entirety below and feel free to comment.

Simply Missional
Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger

Dell Computers has shattered the warehouse myth. Most companies love big warehouses. They feel safe with lots of inventory on large shelves in massive warehouses, always ready for that next order. In their minds, the well-stocked warehouse confirms the belief they will always be able to meet customer demands and customer expectations.

Dell disagrees with the warehouse approach. In the technology business, the product literally rots in value on the shelves. Because Dell does not want their best resources on the shelves, they only keep two hours of inventory. Which means that if you order a PC on dell.com, the parts will not arrive to Dell until two hours before your PC is shipped to you.

Dell wants their resources out there, on the street. Not in the warehouse, where the resources merely gather dust and produce no impact. So Dell has designed a very strategic process to move their resources to the street.

Sadly many churches are betting their futures on the warehouse myth.

Most churches build big warehouses and shelve a bunch of Christians (those rows look suspiciously like shelves). They design attractive programs to "retain" people in the sacred warehouse, keep precise records of how much inventory (people) is on the shelves, and brag about their warehouses being constantly open. And warehouse managers love to show other warehouse managers their newest warehouses while dreaming together of bigger and better warehouses.

God is calling churches to shatter the warehouse myth, to change their warehouses into strategic distribution centers, where people are distributed as salt and light to the world--sending them out on mission. Some churches are strategically challenging their people to be out there, and these churches have a strategic and simple process that moves people from the warehouse to the street. These churches are simple and missional.

They are simply missional.

We are often asked if there is a relationship between our two books Breaking the Missional Code and Simple Church, co-authored with David Putman and Thom S. Rainer respectively. Is there a relationship between a church being missional and a church being simple?

If you have not read our two books, here is the elevator conversation: Breaking the Missional Code helps leaders effectively exegete their culture so they can live on mission as a Biblically faithful and strategically contextualized congregation, focused on living for God's kingdom. Simple Church challenges church leaders to design a simple discipleship process that places people in the best environments for spiritual transformation, and to remove the clutter and the busyness that competes with the essential.

So is there a relationship between a church being missional and a church being simple? We believe so. Churches that are living as missional communities in their culture are often quite simple. These churches do not rejoice in their complex systems or impressive buildings, but in the micro stories of their members' transformed lives. In the same way, churches that are designed around a simple process are embracing the call to be missionaries in their culture.

As best we see it, the relationship between being missional and being simple is apparent for at least six reasons...

Continue reading Simply Missional in Neue.

Why sit in a room and talk to three classes of Polish college students to discuss culture, politics, and faith? Well, for one reason, the students learning English has often never spoken to a native speaker. For another, it can be a bridge to share some really good news.

Our Poland group spent one day teaching at Jagiellonian University. the oldest university in Poland.

Today, something personal.

This post is the product of a conversation I recently had with Bill Kinnon, uber blogger and provocateur, about the importance of the local church, and the questions I often get while preaching and teaching across the country. Questions like, "Ed, why are you currently serving at an established church?" (being a denominational leader and, formerly, a church planter).

The simple answer is I do not believe I can talk about the church without being a part of a church.

But let me unpack this a bit.

In the past I have worked for Southern Seminary and the North American Mission Board, and I currently serve Lifeway, the International Mission Board, Southeastern Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Whatever you call them, they are not the church, but serve along side it. However, my experience has been that in many cases they are staffed by people who were formerly pastors. And, in some cases, it seems that moving into a role like this leads many to a diminished connection to a local church. Some of that is a function of the role change, but in most of the places I have served, we have sat down together and lamented the disconnect we felt with the local church. Some worked hard to overcome it. Some did not.

This is not a criticism of others. The point is that I found the temptation in my own life. You see, I teach pastors and church leaders. I tell them they should be biblical, missional, and spiritual (see chapter one of Comeback Churches). I have a high standard of church, and, to be blunt, it seems that no church meets that standard (except maybe the churches I plant, which points to a pride issue).

So, here is what I am trying to avoid in my own life: too many church consultants, speakers, leaders, professors, and denominational leaders (like me) see themselves as voices to the church and not a part of the church.

I have often heard people say (and have said myself) the church is, in many ways, broken and in need of some change. However, it is exceedingly dangerous to become a critic of the church while you are not a part of one. I love the church, and therefore feel compelled to point out our challenges with the hope of seeing transformation. I guess this makes me a critic of the church, but it should also makes me a critic of myself.

I currently serve as interim pastor. For those of you not in our autonomous church tradition, I am basically the "fill in" preacher until they find a new pastor. The role allows me to be a part of the church here and help them during the transition. It is not a perfect situation and I know I need deeper connections, but it is how I am connected at this time.

This brings me back to the question I am sometimes asked, "why are you currently serving at an established church?"

For me, doing an "interim" helps me be a little more faithful in several ways.

First, it keeps me home on weekends and in community. It is a temptation to be on the road every weekend. A lot of great churches will invite you to speak - but as interim I can't do that. This keeps me in my church and home with my family.

Second, it keeps me preparing messages. In the past, I have "re-preached" many of my sermons. Having done 7 or 8 interims, you can basically re-preach the same messages in each church. But, my former co-pastor (Philip Nation) challenged me to bring a "fresh word" at church every week. So, that is what I try to do at church and that keeps me preparing. When I look in a pastor's eyes, and that pastor is tired from sermon prep work, I know what that means. (I finished my message at 12:30a.m. this morning.)

Third, it reminds me of what real ministry work is. It's all too possible for me to fly in and out for pastor's conferences and start to believe my own P.R. (Being a mere D-list celebrity doesn't dissuade one from believing his own press releases).

At church, I am not the normal pastor (being an interim), but I still have the privilege of opening the word of God and sharing it with God's people. It is not the same as being the congregations shepherd, but it keeps me in real world life and ministry. People still complain to me, there is still that opinionated guy who keeps coming up after the service to question my Bible teaching, and I get an occasional piece of hate mail. If I were a "real" pastor there would be more, but since the church has over 3,000 Sunday morning attendees, there are always some percent of people who are unhappy enough to tell me - and it reminds me that real world ministry does not look like a TV show - it is messy because it involves people. And, that is also what makes it real life ministry.

Lastly, by serving as interim in a local church, a simple and very important truth is reinforced in my life; God has chosen the church, not denominations and parachurch organizations to make known his manifold wisdom (Eph 3:10). This fights against some of the triumphalism in my denomination and elsewhere. They may come and go, but it is the church that will prevail against the gates of hades.

Let's be honest, there are more verses in the Bible that justify you having a concubine than us forming a denomination (much less a Lifeway). Yet, I stay in what is basically a church support (rather than a full-time local church) role. Why? Well, it is for the same reason we have a denomination. We can do more together than we do apart. For example, I value church partnerships like denominations as it means I can help resource 5,000 missionaries around the world through organizations like the IMB. I believe in partnerships (of which denominations are one expression) because I believe we can do more together than we can do individually-- and, although the Great Commission is given to the church, each local church can not (by itself) effectively evangelize the world.

The reason I do not become a full-time pastor is that for now I am called to help pastors and church leaders. However, I will always remain a pastor and will always be a part of a church.

Is it a lot of work sometimes? Yes. Do I regret doing it sometimes? Honestly, I do. It would be easier to be a "prophet" to the church and not be a part of the church. But that seems pretty hypocritical to me.

The bad thing about being an interim is that eventually you have to leave. What then?

Well, I am leaning against doing another interim. This one is great - the church is 3 miles from my home and we know many people in the community. It is a great church with a passion for the Bible and has a heart and desire to be missional. However, teaching every week has been a bit too much and I have not been able to connect in some other ways. After my interim, I hope to serve in a church role where I do occasional teaching (weekly has been wearing me out!) and serving in a church's ministry and leadership teams.

All that being said - I know that many who read this are frustrated by the church. Most of the denominational leaders I know are. I am. Yet, I love the church. It is that love that makes me want to provoke the church "to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

The church is filled with people who know Jesus, love one another, and are (or at least want to be) on-mission. It is the family of God. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the sent people of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that the good God wants to accomplish in the world, and in me, will happen in and through the church.

It is a fascinating mix of articles at Catalyst: Take a look.

My article, based on the ideas in my new book, Compelled by Love, agrees that ministry is tiring, and can leave us asking, "Why bother?" We should ask that question.

...sometimes, we get tired.

The "wet blanket committee" roams the church to see what passion they can squelch. Tons of logistical work has to be done when all you really want to do is talk to people about Jesus. And there's the never ending cycle of dreaming, strategy, and vision-casting. It's a lot for one person to handle.

So why?

Because of love. Not love like a Reese Witherspoon romantic-comedy or an afternoon talk show pseudo-psychology counseling session. I'm talking about love that asks you to die for the greater good. Like Jack Bauer in 24. Or Leonidas and the Spartans. The kind of love that motivates us should be the same as Christ - a dying love.

Love stands at the center of the Christian life. Understood rightly, it is the "why." It is the supreme command of scripture. When Christ was asked to name the greatest law, he pointed out that it is to love God supremely and others sacrificially (Matthew 22:37-40).

I hope you'll check out the article and are able to find encouragement in it.

Just a reminder: I will be presenting some new research on the main stage at the Catalyst Conference this year, in addition to hosting an IMB event and leading some breakouts. Hope to see you there.

A few posts back Chris Norman posted a question in the comments that I thought I would explore a bit as a blog post. His question was for Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole and me and resulted in a brief email dialog. The issue revolves around the full-time pay of pastoral leadership. Is a church healthier with, or wthout paid staff? Is such a concept even biblical? My response in the comments was:

I recently had a great talk with Sharon. We first met at the recent Convengent Conference at Southeastern Seminary. She is articulate, gracious, and passionate about the gospel.

Sharon is a new writer, recent graduate of Duke Divinity School, a college minister to students from Duke, UNC- Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro, and a part of The Summit Church (where J.D. Greear serves as pastor).

Check out her blog at www.sheworships.blogspot.com.

She wrote me (and I have permission to quote) about women's ministry. I found her thoughts challenging. As a father of three daughters, I hope to instill in them such passion for the gospel and the Word.

Sharon wrote:

As a woman who has a passion for women's ministry, I am somewhat dismayed by the resources available to my generation. I have spent the last seven years of my life going to college and getting a masters in divinity, so it frustrates me that most women's ministries focus on merely surviving the perils of marriage and motherhood. I have yet to encounter a women's ministry whose goals involve preaching the Gospel, planting churches, changing your community, country and world. So while the current vision is important--women do need encouragement as they battle the frustrations of family life--it is also rather small.

Continue reading Sharon Hodde on Women's Ministry.

Now that I am out of the pulpit, I must confess the whole "call to preach" thing is a bit confusing to me. I am not sure that there is a "call" to preaching-- although I both value preaching and see it as essential.

Instead, I see a call to the office of pastor / elder which often involves preaching.

Don Whitney almost persuades me that there is a "call to preach."

But, there are few places in scripture where there is a clear "call to preach" that is not either:
1) a general call to all believers involving evangelism, or
2) a part of the "setting apart" to a biblical office.

Now that I am no longer a teaching pastor/elder at Lake Ridge Church, I miss preaching. And, it has only been three weeks.

That is not a good sign for future marital bliss-- since Mrs. Stetzer wants to find a church to attend and join as soon as possible!

But, simply put. I already miss pastoring. It just seems right to be in fellowship with other believers and to serve by using your spiritual gifts in the context of community.

Thankfully, I will have the opportunity to share in some churches in the coming weeks. My friend and, until he went the way of all flesh, co-worker at LifeWay, Mark Marshall, has invited me to come preach at his church (Clearview Baptist Church) (near Nashville) this Sunday.

Then, I will have the honor to preach at Ridgecrest Baptist (August 12th) in Jackson, MS and then at First Baptist of Norfolk (August 26th).

I will preach on "doubt" at Clearview (following Thomas in John 14:1-5; John 20:19-31) and on missional issues at Ridgecrest and First Baptist Norfolk (both messages from Acts).