In “Get Real,” author John Leonard has an interesting chapter called “Party Evangelism.” There are two sections to the chapter. The first is establishing that the western mindset has distorted the focus of Christianity to overly individualistic at the expense of the community aspect. This distortion has a significant impact on the role of the […]
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Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #2 – Be Normal!
We are looking at lessons from John Leonard’s book evangelism called, “Get Real.” In his opening chapter, he poses the following story and commentary as the over-arching principle: “I have a problem,” began the young lady as she took a seat in my office. “My sister is coming to live with me and her life […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #1 – Two Pictures of Evangelism
We are going to start a new series that will be interspersed with other topics and posts in the coming months. We are calling it “Evangelism Reader’s Digest.” We will take select chapters from good books on evangelism and share snippets from the chapter with our commentary and application for Reformed churches. Some of these […]
What’s Next?
Well, summer is winding down and while it’s not a new calendar year it’s that time where it feels like we start a new year. It’s funny how summer ending and the school year starting is so deeply rooted in us as a new year–even in the life of a church. As we head into […]
Getting Down To Business (Evangelism Conf.): Chris Hartshorn – Part 3
Former OPC church planter and recently installed Regional Home Missionary for Southern CA, Chris Hartshorn leads a conference on evangelism for the churches of SoCal. If you don’t know Chris, please take our word that this will be worth your time. Watch on your own, as a family, or as a church. For each of […]
We Can & We Will (Evangelism Conf.): Chris Hartshorn – Part 2
Former OPC church planter and recently installed Regional Home Missionary for Southern CA, Chris Hartshorn leads a conference on evangelism for the churches of SoCal. If you don’t know Chris, please take our word that this will be worth your time. Watch on your own, or together as a family, or as a church. For […]
Evangelism Focus Month: Are You On Board?
“Brothers and sisters we need to win sinners into our churches, right off the street, right out of our communities. People who have never set foot in a church need to come directly into our churches. We’re going to have to reach people out there because they’re not coming in here. Have you come to […]
We Should, But We Don’t (Evangelism Conf.): Chris Hartshorn – Part 1
Former OPC church planter and recently installed Regional Home Missionary for Southern CA, Chris Hartshorn leads a conference on evangelism for the churches of SoCal. If you don’t know Chris, please take our word for it, that this will be worth your time. Watch on your own, or together as a family, or as a […]
Reformed & Evangelistic: Trusting God In A Growing Young Church
This is Part 2 with Pastor Michael Schout (pronounced “Scout”) of Grace Fellowship OPC in Zeeland, MI. Harvest. Grace is a young church that has seen God’s abundant blessing in many areas. They have grown both spiritually and numerically in a fairly short period of time. The leadership and Pastor Schout are quick to note […]
Reformed & Evangelistic By God’s Grace in Michigan: Michael Schout – Part 1
We interviewed Pastor Michael Schout (pronounced “Scout”) of Grace Fellowship OPC in Zeeland, MI. Grace is a young church that has seen God’s abundant blessing in many areas. They have grown both spiritually and numerically in a fairly short period of time. The leadership and Pastor Schout are quick to note that such growth doesn’t […]
Mother/Daughter Church Planting in Ohio
Here is a helpful video with RHM Mike Diercks interviewing Matthew Patton, one of the pastors at Covenant in Vandalia, OH. They are talking about church planting in general, but also the specifics of mother-daughter church plants that they have done in Ohio. Below the video, we have supplied a few questions for thought or […]
OPC Talk Outreach: The Best of The Best – Part 2
This has been an extended series and we are grateful to all the OPC Pastors who participated in the interview. They provided great insights and examples. But we know that your lives are saturated with information–even great information. So, our final two posts will be some of the great quotes from the series. If you […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach – The Best of Best Part 1
This has been an extended series and we are grateful to all the OPC Pastors who participated in the interview. They provided great insights and examples. But we know that your lives are saturated with information–even great information. So, our final two posts will be some of the great quotes from the series. If you […]
Eric Watkins Podcast on Church Planting – Part 3
About 3 years ago, we did a video interview with Eric Watkins about church planting. It has consistently been one of the most popular posts on Outward OPC, and we’ve had several requests to turn it into a podcast. We have now done that! It will be released in 3 parts over the coming weeks. […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach: Do Something – Part 2 (Did Something!)
Last week, we shared the recurring theme in this series that pastors shared that one of the best ways to improve our evangelism is to do something….get going…stop planning and get out there in some way. We shared several examples that were also shared. This week we want to share the remaining examples that were […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach: Do Something
One thing we’ve noticed in the pastors’ responses to our questions is that a couple of times there was a resounding chorus hitting the same note. Rather than treat that as something repetitive that could be compressed, we think that’s an area to pause and listen to the chorus hitting the same note. This week, […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach: Jeff De Boer – Part 2
This is week 2 with Jeff. If you didn’t read last week, here is more about Jeff or skip down to the final portion of the interview. Jeff De Boer is the pastor of Redeemer OPC in Ada, Michigan. Prior to this pastorate, Jeff pastored in the RCUS, PCA, and URCNA varying across rural, suburban, […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach: Jeff De Boer – Part 1
Jeff De Boer is the pastor of Redeemer OPC in Ada, Michigan. Prior to this pastorate, Jeff pastored in the RCUS, PCA, and URCNA varying across rural, suburban, and metro areas. He is a graduate of Mid America Reformed Seminary and studied law at the University of Iowa. He and his wife, Karen, have 5 […]
Eric Watkins Podcast on Church Planting – Part 2
About 3 years ago, we did a video interview with Eric Watkins about church planting. It has consistently been one of the most popular posts on Outward OPC, and we’ve had several requests to turn it into a podcast. We have now done that! It will be released in 3 parts over the coming weeks. […]
OPC Pastors Talk Outreach: Richard Ellis – Part 2
This is week 2 with Richard. If you didn’t read last week, here is more about him or skip down to the final portion of the interview. Richard Ellis is the pastor of Faith OPC in Elmer, NJ. He grew up the son of an OPC minister in MD. After attending Covenant College & Westminster […]