We are going to start a new series called “Gospel Saturated Summer” which we will explain in the next post of the series. But for today we have one straight-forward question for you to answer: What is the Gospel? If you had one paragraph or one minute what would your answer be? Not a rough […]
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Hidden Gems – Part 8
Here is our next “hidden gem.” One of earliest posts and starting our “Stories From the Field” category was from Sterling, VA and Pastor Phil Proctor. The simplicity and authenticity that comes through on this post got some peoples’ attention, but maybe not enough people, so here it is in the hidden gems redo. Stories […]
More From DC Metro Mother-Daughter Church Planting
This is part 2 with Pastors Phil Proctor and John Paul Holloway who lead mother-daughter church plants in the DC Metro area. Phil in Sterling, VA and John Paul in Manassas. This episode digs into some interesting dynamics of mother-daughter church planting–the blessings and challenges to both. How does the mother church ‘re-energize’ itself after […]
Hidden Gems – Part 7
Here is our next “Hidden Gem”–our series highlighting interesting posts over the last 5 years that maybe didn’t get the attention they deserved. In early 2020, we talked with Brad Peppo an OPC church planter in Dayton, OH. Among the many topics was this one about how to open doors for discussion with people, how to […]
Hidden Gems – Part 6
Here is another “Hidden Gem” — our series highlighting interesting posts over the last 5 years that maybe didn’t get the views deserved. About 4 years ago, we stumbled across this video on Facebook from Paul Viggiano (Branch of Hope, Torrance, CA). It’s not even 3 minutes long but it says a lot…a lot about […]
Intentional Church Planting in The DC Metro Area
We interviewed Pastors Phil Proctor of Sterling Presbyterian Church (OPC) & John Paul Holloway of Acacia Reformed Church (OPC) in Manassas, VA. This is a recent mother-daughter OPC church plant. From day 1, Sterling OPC wanted to be a church-planting church. They were intentional about that mission and about creating an environment for a church […]
Hidden Gems – Part 4
Let’s pick up one of our “Hidden Gems.” After 5 years and 250 posts, we have detected several that had a distinct influence on people but maybe didn’t get the attention or circulation warranted. So we are sharing those on occasion over the next few months. Here, John Shaw (General Secretary For Home Missions) had […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #13 – Serving By Being Served
Our final post in our series on the book, “Get Real,” by John Leonard. Leonard has certainly thrown cold water in our faces many times and challenged all kinds of stereotypes about evangelism. This final excerpt in a calmer way, challenges our standard thinking about serving and being served. “Christians are always taught to serve […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #12 – Praying With The Lost
Continuing with our series on snippets from John Leonard’s book, “Get Real”, we get another surprising jab to start which then leads to another helpful lesson in evangelism. Christians always lie. We don’t mean to, but we do. You’ve done it too. A friend shares a problem with us, and we say, “I’ll pray for […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #11 – Lean Into Other Religions
Returning to our final few posts in this series, this week John Leonard encourages us to lean into talking about other people’s religious beliefs rather than shying away. He wants to persuade us that it will greatly help, not hinder, our evangelism and that there’s nothing to be afraid of. You be the judge if […]
Hidden Gems – Part 3
We introduced this series that we are calling “Hidden Gems.” After 5 years and 250 posts, we have detected several that had a distinct influence on people but maybe didn’t get the attention or circulation warranted. So we are sharing those on occasion over the next few months. Around 3 years ago, we did a […]
5 Years & A Hidden Gem
This week marks 5 years of Outward OPC. How do we measure those 5 years? Well, there are numbers–20,000 visitors to the site, 60,000 post views, and 16,000 podcast listens. Those numbers are great and we are thankful for each one of you who added to them. But the numbers don’t tell the real story. […]
Wisdom & Encouragement From the Past
Came across two quotes that seemed like a fitting post for this week to give everyone some encouragement in our efforts to reach the lost, both in our daily lives and in our churches. First, Andrew Bonar directed toward our everyday lives: “Our power in drawing men to Christ springs chiefly from the fullness of […]
More From Michigan: Church, People, & Story
This is part 2 with Jonathan Landry Cruse. This is an interesting episode as we talk about unique topics. Jonathan was a film student in college and he appreciates the dynamics of story in everyday life and communication. We had an interesting conversation about how church, people, and story all intersect in ministry, evangelism and […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #10 – The Gospel Isn’t a Sweatsuit
This week, John Leonard takes on the topic of contextualization—but not the controversial way it’s often used with worship. Rather, he’s talking about two different approaches to sharing the gospel…and yes, he wants to shatter a common picture of evangelism again! I love my sweat suit. No matter how much weight I gain or lose, […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #9 – When Does Your “Testimony” End?
This week, John Leonard is shaking the tree on how we view “our testimony” in regard to evangelism. In the Reformed world, it’s pretty common to make the point that “our testimony isn’t the gospel.” That’s not new. But that’s not where Leonard is going with this one… “Testimonies are powerful. They are so powerful […]
Church Life & Reaching Younger Folks in A Reformed Church in Michigan
We interviewed Jonathan Landry Cruse, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Kalamazoo, MI. Some of you will also know Jonathan’s wife Kerri Ann who works for the OPC in social media, websites, and communication. Jonathan shares about the dynamics of church life in Michigan and we talk about the fact that their church is […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #8 – The Inconvenience of Sowing Widely
Last week, John Leonard painted two pictures of evangelism, one an interesting and perhaps more natural way of “sowing widely.” Here he continues to expand and gives an example: “We sow widely by intentional interaction with the people around us. That is hard in a world where personal interaction is being eliminated. I’m a person […]
Evangelism Reader’s Digest: Get Real #7 – Sow Widely
Jumping back into our “Get Real” series, John Leonard likes to give us new images of things—squashing stereotypes. This week it’s a common view of evangelism and whether you have “the gift:” “Many of us don’t even want to evangelize because of the stereotypes surrounding the traditional evangelist. We don’t see ourselves standing on a […]
Top 3 of 2022
We do this summary every year because we think what the readers determine is valuable is, well, valuable. So when our committed audience says these are the top posts, we want to highlight that for you. So here are the most viewed, shared, and forwarded posts of 2022: 1. Podcast with Dale Van Dyke & […]