Category: Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer Blog

By micoots

Searching for Gorsuch: For Many Evangelicals “It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid”

Many Evangelicals voted for Trump for the Supreme Court, so let's stop painting them with every other brush

Today, President Trump nominated a new Supreme Court Justice. Neil Gorsuch is, as the President promised, in the mold of Antonin Scalia.

That’s what many Evangelicals were hoping—and why many voted the way they did.

During the announcement, President Trump indicated that he knew this was the most important issue for many people, and he’s right—it certainly was for Evangelicals. (Ch..

By micoots

Management or Multiplication?

Plan time to work ON the ministry, not just IN the ministry.

As a leader, the gravitational pull is always toward the tyranny of the urgent. It’s like a tractor beam pulling us in. Too many leaders get so focused on “What now?” that we can’t focus on what’s next! We fall into the rut of putting out fires and managing the ministry machine, rather than focusing on what could come next for our ministry.

There’s a big difference between ministry management and ministry multiplication. Ministry man..

By micoots

What is Biblical Preaching? The Messenger and the Message

an ongoing series on biblical preaching

In the last decade I have invested a lot of time in public speaking. With employee meetings, plenary sessions, breakouts at conferences, consulting ministry leaders, and speaking on books I have written, I have given hundreds and hundreds of leadership and ministry presentations. I have also preached weekly for the last several years as executive pastor, teaching pastor, interim pastor, and now a bi-vocational senior pastor. Preaching is different. In bot..

By micoots

Most churches hold Sunday services, Super Bowl or not

By Aaron Earls

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— For churches that have Sunday night activities, most pastors say it’s still “game on” despite the big game next weekend.

According to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, 68 percent of Protestant pastors say their church typically has some activity on Sunday night. And among those pastors, almost 6 in 10 (59 percent) say they will continue as normal on the night of the Super Bowl.

“It is easy to think everyone is watching the game,” said Scott Mc..

By micoots

The Christian & Culture: Three Ways to Engage with Your Neighbor

The Great Commandment and the Golden Rule make us better listeners.

One of the things I enjoy doing is following politics and public discourse. I think it’s important for all of us to stay in the loop on what is happening in the world and in American life. More than that, however, I think it’s important to engage in these things. But it’s an understatement to say that much of what happens in public discourse is less than pretty. Unfortunately, this often includes Christians.

The last several U..

By micoots

Does It Really Matter? How Generational Dynamics Impact Our Evangelism

We need different methods for reaching those over 40 and under 40.

How should generational dynamics affect evangelistic methods? Or we could put it this way: “How is reaching people over the age of 40 different from reaching those under 40?”

This is a tricky issue. We must first recognize that the categories are nuanced. Generally, generations are divided up into many categories such as Builders, Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. But let’s simplify and just think about the ..

By micoots

Facts Are Our Friends: Why Sharing Fake News Makes Us Look Stupid and Harms Our Witness

Christians are supposed to be the people who think the “truth will set you free.”

The Trump Administration is off to a bad start with the truth… and on things that just don’t matter.

On Sunday, President Trump claimed that the media under-reported the crowd size at his swearing-in ceremony. His press secretary doubled down, in a now widely-debunked claim that his was the largest crowd in the history of inaugurations.

But who cares how many people came to the inauguration? Seriously, who cares..

By micoots

Dying to Self and Living for Christ

Why We Must Surrender and Sacrifice Daily in Order to Know Jesus More

Tears streamed down my face as those radical, counter-cultural words leapt off the pages of the book in my hand, piercing my heart and awaking something inside of me. I sat in the midst of prosperity and entitlement at a beautiful resort on the gulf coast, sitting by a pool, soaking in the southern sun.

There I was, surrounded by comfort and ease, reading a book that made my heart yearn for something completely different.

I..

By micoots

Rebuilding Our Witness (Part 2): Developing an Understanding of the Connection of Love & Evangelism in Light of Our New Political Climate

A Christian worldview embraces two things: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission

In Part 1, I talked about why we are at a time when we need to step back and assess how we view the world and the lens we apply to all that we see and do. I talked about a Christian worldview that holds in one hand the Great Commandment and in the other the Great Commission. It’s a worldview that embraces a love of God and a love of others above even ourselves.

Recently, we have seen many ways in which th..

By micoots

Christians in Film: Why I’m Going to See The Resurrection of Gavin Stone

Some thoughts on Christian movies… and some hope…

It appears that churches making films is a thing now.

Christian Films
I’ve known the folks at Sherwood Pictures and have even endorsed some of their work. And Christian movies, in general, are increasingly a thing.

Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes that’s bad. (For what it’s worth, I most recently saw Risen, and would put that in the good category—and I’m encouraged by the increasing quality of such Christian and faith-oriented films.)..