Category: Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer Blog

By micoots
14/10/2016 0

2016 Election Exposes Evangelical Divides

By Bob Smietana

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Americans with evangelical beliefs share a great deal in common. They trust in Jesus alone, evangelize their neighbors, and believe the Bible is the final authority in their lives.

But when it comes to voting, race and political affiliation still divide evangelicals, according to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research taken before the second presidential debate.

Overall, fewer than half (45 percent) of those with evangelical beliefs who plan to vote ..

By micoots
14/10/2016 0

Q&A with Steve Carter On “This Invitational Life”

Teaching Pastor for Willow Creek Community Church

Ed: The book does not have evangelism in the title, but it’s categorized under that. So, why an evangelism book? Everyone’s talking about mission, justice, etc., but not a lot about evangelism. So, why write on that?

Steve: Friends told me that writing your first book on evangelism isn't the smartest business decision, but for some reason I felt like I needed to do it. Over the past ten years, I've seen a decrease in urgency when it c..

By micoots
14/10/2016 0

Q&A with Steve Carter On “This Invitational Life”

Teaching Pastor for Willow Creek Community Church

Ed: The book does not have evangelism in the title, but it’s categorized under that. So, why an evangelism book? Everyone’s talking about mission, justice, etc., but not a lot about evangelism. So, why write on that?

Steve: Friends told me that writing your first book on evangelism isn't the smartest business decision, but for some reason I felt like I needed to do it. Over the past ten years, I've seen a decrease in urgency when it c..

By micoots
12/10/2016 0

Evangelical Views of the 2016 Election: Follow Up w/ Deborah Fikes on Why She Supports Clinton Despite Clinton’s Views on Abortion, Marriage, & Rel Liberty

Clinton supporter answers common Evangelical objections

Hillary Clinton has been an aggressive pro-choice advocate and her views on abortion are far from what evangelicals believe. Why should pro-life evangelicals vote for someone with whom they disagree so deeply?
For me, the reality of what happens to an unborn child in an abortion procedure is disturbing beyond words. Not only is it horrendous from a physiological standpoint but also from a spiritual standpoint I believe that this is taking ..

By micoots
07/10/2016 0

Evangelical Campus Ministry (InterVarsityUSA) Decides Employees Should Hold Evangelical Beliefs on Marriage—Internet Explodes

Evangelical organizations employ people who share their core beliefs– just like your church.

InterVarsity is an Evangelical Christian organization, and people who work at InterVarsity are, not surprisingly, expected to hold evangelical beliefs.

Or, you could state it as Elisabeth Dias of TIME Magazine did:

In other words, InterVarsity now has the same policy of most evangelical churches.

So, why is this news? Well, the Internet is abuzz with outrage and I imagine the story will spill into ..

By micoots
06/10/2016 0

Pastors Prefer ‘Undecided’ to Clinton or Trump

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Political endorsements by preachers have been few and far between this election season.

That may be because the most popular candidate among preachers is “I don’t know.”

A new report from Nashville-based LifeWay Research found 4 out of 10 Protestant pastors are undecided about which candidate to vote for. A third (32 percent) plan to vote for Donald Trump. One in 5 (19 percent) plans to vote for Hillary Clinton. Four percent support Gary Johnson. Three percent..

By micoots
03/10/2016 0

Evangelical Views of the 2016 Election: Not the Lesser of Two Evils, Choose Candidate Evan McMullin Instead

Editor-in-Chief of Christ and Pop Culture wants to lay a foundation for a future conservative party

I support Evan McMullin’s campaign for President. For the first time in my life, I even donated to a political campaign, and I did so knowing that McMullin would almost certainly not win, or even come close to it. I have been informed by many concerned citizens that I am throwing my vote away, or voting for Trump by not voting for Clinton, or voting for Clinton by not voting for Trump. Others hav..

By micoots
27/09/2016 0

100 Episodes on Church Planting and Multisite

Ed Stetzer, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im have answered over a hundred listener-submitted church planting questions.

Ed Stetzer, Todd Adkins, and I recently celebrated our 100th episode on the NewChurches.com Q&A Podcast. It’s been such a joy to dream up and implement this idea of a podcast that answered real life church planting, multisite, and pastoral leadership questions.

Our heart is to serve the church in her mission of making disciples by helping her multiply. That’s what this podcast is a..

By micoots
23/09/2016 0

Church Hurt as a Barrier to Evangelism

How do we rebuild trust with those who have been deeply wounded by the church?

Methods of evangelism have changed over the years.

In a culture that is increasingly gospel adverse, I anticipate the ways we evangelize will continue to change to remain effective and faithful to the gospel. As the number of religious nones (i.e., those who have no religious ties) continue to increase, we have started to think through ways to better engage them.

But there remains an often overlooked group of ‘unre..

By micoots
21/09/2016 0

Interview with John Richards

New Managing Director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism

Ed: John, tell me a little bit about yourself, your previous work experience and your family life, your background.

John: I’ve been married to my wife, Sheridan, for seven years and we have two children, 6 and 18 months. My background is very interesting. I tell people I'm a recovering lawyer. I practiced law for about a decade before having an inclination to enter ministry full time. As a lawyer, I practiced criminal and civ..