NOTE:  I somehow deleted this earlier today so I am reposting it.

The CGGC conference just officially got started. Justin Meier on-stage now getting ready to introduce Ed Stetzer. Here’s some notes from his talk:

• 2 Timothy 4:1-5
• All, not just pastors must do the work of an evangelist.
• 1. We must DO the work of an evangelist.
  • We can use tools for evangelism but it’s still people who are called to do the work.
  • Pastors…you can not lead what you do not live.
  • Distractions…
    • 49% of evangelicals when surveyed by Lifeway do not believe that Jesus is the only way a person can get to heaven.
    • Too many people think as long as they live a good life in front of others that’s enough. Keep doing, but you need to be, do and TELL the Good News.
    • Too many think that just inviting people to church is all the evangelism we are called to do. God has called us to a ministry of reconciliation not simply recruitment.
• 2. We must do the WORK of an evangelist.
  • It’s hard and nobody likes evangelism, but it’s what we are called to do.
  • Some of Ed’s research in this Youtube video from when he was on CNN.
  • People don’t like evangelism because it takes work…fellowship doesn’t take work it just takes chicken.
• 3. We must do the work of AN EVANGELIST.
  • Nowhere in the bible is there a gift of evangelism. We are ALL called to it.
  • Stop trying to convince yourself that only a few people in your church have a gift of evangelism.
  • “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor”. –Spurgeon.
  • We’ve sped up our music, spiced up our messages, spruced up our churches, but we are still called to send out laborers into the harvest field. The wheat doesn’t harvest itself.

  2 Corinthians 5:14-21

• If we all understood and lived out these verses, our world would be much different.
• Ed just told a story of the time he fell into a septic tank. Using it to illustrate verse 21…Jesus became sin for us. When you really understand that, verses 14-15 come alive. Doing the work of an evangelist does not seem like a chore but a privilege.

ARE YOU DOING THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST? Are you leading the charge in your community? Are you living on mission?

• Q:  How does denominationalism impact church planting.   A:  Credentialing needs to be easier.  Credentialing is not the place to protect your theological doctrine.
• Q:  Can all we believe be put onto a sheet of paper without heresy coming into our midst .   A:  No, because over time it will get polluted.  That can work if it’s just what you want to share with your neighbor, but to have any depth to our theology we need more.
• Q:  Does regulation kill movements.      A:  Yes.  Southern Baptists and Pentecostals have more church planting movements than anyone else because they have looser control than other denominations.  Must ask how can we give people permission to plant not but barriers that permit them from planting.
• Q:  If you invite non-Christians to help plant your church does that set a bad example for new people coming in because they are not modeling the Christian lifestyle.    A:  Put new converts into leadership and everyone else into serving roles.
• “New churches attract crazy people.  The key is to keep the crazy people that are already Christians away from the crazy people who are not already”.
• Q:  What roles can non-believers play in a church?     A:  Anything that is a non-visible role.
• Q:  What’s the best way to assimilate people?      A:  Nobody does it well.  Nelson Searcy has a good book on it though.  If you don’t have a process though look at the Purpose Driven model.  :)    Ed says though he doesn’t like the Purpose Driven language though because to him getting to first base always had another connotation.  :)   Key is to have a process that has many on ramps and positive peer pressure where others encourage each other to progress through the system.
• “If you’re going to be mean about something, be mean about the vision”.
• Q:  How do you empower leaders?    A:  Must demphasize the role of the pastor and change it to the priesthood of all believers.   The problem is our culture thinks if the car is broke down I go to a mechanic.  If I’m sick I go to a doctor.  If I’m in need of spiritual help I go to a pastor.  the more we empower our people to be ministers the more people in the community will see that it doesn’t take a professional to get their spiritual needs met.
• Q:  Should we rent a 1day facility or 7 day facility to start?     A:  70% of Americans don’t care where a church meets but order of preference is school, theater then permanent facility.  However if you can get a 24/7 place in a prime location then take that.  Keep in mind that people will drive twice the distance towards a city than out of it.
• Q:  Advice on the Northeast.    A:  Best to use planters that are natives since it’s hard to fit in.  Read book “Big Dreams in Small Places” by Tom Neeble.
• Q:  How do you bridge economic divides in your church?     A:  You can only reach a level above and below your average people.  It’s too hard for people to relate with people (even spiritually) those who are more than one level away.
• Q:  Can an older church reach a younger generation?    A:  yes, but it’s hard because it will require the older people giving up more than what the younger people will have to.  It usually comes down to whether a church is desperate enough.  Must divest from what they want to invest in the mission of God.  Must embrace the mission before they will make a change.  Most try to make changes hoping people will then embrace the mission…doesn’t work.
• “Church planting is good because it’s easier to birth a baby than raise the dead”.
• “Every publication should celebrate and reinforce at least 1 core value”.
• For launch have the core spread out throughout the room so they meet new people, invite them into small groups and model singing, clapping, etc.
• “Every generation thinks that they discovered sex and music…it’s the same way with church.  Don’t allow this generations leaning to missional churches to just be a protest movement against the mega church.”
• Q:  How do you build an evangelistic culture?     A:  Train people to have life-giving, missional conversations.   Everyone needs a question they can ask naturally to others that has the potential to lead to spiritual conversations.  We must constantly raise the value of the necessity of why evangelism is needed.