Recently, John Shaw read an interesting post on a blog some of you may know called, Gentle Reformation. It’s a thoughtful piece–insightful with the right balance of qualifications–about the powerful messages of some of the most popular music of the day. You’ll notice from the title of the post that it’s a prod to pastors, […]
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OPC Millennials Talk Reaching Millennials – Part 5 (Kerri Ann Cruse)
This is installment 5 in our series. You can find the other posts here: (Millennials Talk Millennials). This week, we hear from Kerri Ann Cruse. Kerri Ann is 27, mother of 1 year-old Jacob. She is the Social Media & Video Coordinator for the OPC. Kerri Ann is also the wife to Jonathan Cruse who […]
OPC Millennials Talk Reaching Millennials – Part 4 (Jonathan Cruse)
This is installment 4 in our series. You can find the other posts here: (Millennials Talk Millennials). This week, we hear from Jonathan Cruse. Jonathan is 27 and the pastor of Community Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Kalamazoo, MI. During Jonathan’s time at Community, the number of millennials has grown to about 25% of the congregation, […]
OPC Millennials Talk Reaching Millennials – Part 3 (Everett Henes)
This is installment 3 in our series. You can find the other posts here: (Millennials Talk Millennials). This week, we hear from Everett Henes. Everett is the pastor of Hillsdale OPC in Michigan. He’s 43 (yes we know that’s not a millennial), but he’s had extensive ministry opportunities with millennials for the past decade at […]
OPC Millennials Talk Reaching Millennials – Part 2 (Tiffany Ward)
Last week was our first installment of a series with OPC millennials talking about reaching millennials. (Link: Part 1: Ben Ward) This week, we hear from Tiffany Ward. Tiffany is 25, a consultant for a healthcare company, and an author of a thriller trilogy (Amazon: TA Ward). She has a degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary, […]
OPC Millennials Talk Reaching Millennials – Part 1 (Ben Ward)
We start a new series where we asked several OPC Millennials to talk about reaching Millennials. We provided 4 broad categories of questions, which you will see summarized, to prompt our respondents. These were simply prompts, and we gave them broad leeway to talk about important matters related to the OPC reaching millennials. A millennial […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 8
In this final installment, Eric talks about how to approach turning initial encounters with people toward a more developing relationship that may become a gospel opportunity. (Note: These are all stand alone videos, but if you’ve missed the earlier installments you can find them here: Hausler Series) Questions for Thought or Discussion: 1) How does […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 7
What types of things encourage a church community to be more evangelistic over the long haul? Eric talks about building a culture of evangelism in the church and in the family. He shares a number of helpful stories and practical ideas to point a church and a family in a more “outward” direction. (Note: These […]
Podcast Ep. #10: Nick Lammé
How does a missionary in Costa Rica end up on the mission field of Houston to minister to post-Hurricane Harvey residents? What do people think of the OPC after 1 year of service to Houston residents? How does the service and deacon led ministry of Disaster Response lead to an evangelist on the ground in […]
What We’ve Learned From You
It’s been about 18 months since we started Outward OPC, which leads us to reflect on a couple of things we’ve learned over the first year and a half of this project. 1. There are many remarkable and wonderful things happening in the OPC regarding evangelism. From the simple and quiet development of gospel-directed relationship […]
New Books on Evangelism
Over the past year, John Shaw has recommended 2 books on evangelism to churches and to Outward OPC. Numerous people have confirmed their value. They are: Get Real by John Leonard The Gospel Comes With A House Key by Rosaria Butterfield Within the past year, there has been a small flurry of interesting looking books […]
Reader Q&A: Tracts?
Reader Question: What gospel tract do you recommend, especially for purposes of giving something out when your church has a stand at a fair or festival? This can be a challenging question because there is some subjectivity involved and it seems that no tract is perfect. We will, however, make our best attempt to answer […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 6
This installment is particularly geared toward preachers, but may be of interest to all. Eric talks about preaching clearly to unchurched people, without losing the depth of Reformed doctrine. (Note: These are all stand alone videos, but if you’ve missed the earlier installments you can find them here: Hausler Series) Questions for Thought or Discussion: […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 5
We asked Eric about how to “fit” evangelism into a busy schedule. The context started with thinking about busy pastors and church planters, but the answer is fully applicable to anybody with a busy schedule that wants to think and act evangelistically. (Note: These are all stand alone videos, but if you’ve missed the earlier […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 4
Eric Hausler continues talking about how God has shaped him to engage people for the sake of the gospel, and how to develop that mentality in a church culture. In this video, Eric shares an influential opportunity in his life that propelled his desire to reach the lost. He also talks about numerous ways for […]
Podcast Ep. #9: Jeremy Baker
What do you know about Yuma, AZ? How about the OPC church there? And what about how they are doing outreach? This episode we talk to Jeremy Baker to discuss just these kinds of things. You’ll learn more about the church, and there is an extended conversation about a book Jeremy used to help the […]
Stories From the Field: Winston-Salem, NC
We recently checked in with Calvin Keller, the church planter at Harvest OPC in Winston-Salem, NC. Calvin just recently moved to Winston-Salem to take the call and has been on the ground for about 6 months. Upon moving to NC, Calvin and his wife had to temporarily live in an apartment complex and as Calvin […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 3
Eric Hausler continues with some stories of how God has blessed an attempt to be intentional in how we meet and interact with people. One is a fun story that ends up with a noteworthy ending in the pursuit of getting to know people. (These are all stand alone videos, but if you’ve missed the […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 2
Here is Part 2 with Eric Hausler. If you missed last week’s email or are new to Outward OPC, here is Part 1. Having laid the foundation for an evangelistic culture in the church in Part 1, Eric now tells some stories of how that has worked out with specific people in Naples. Questions for […]
On The Frontlines: Eric Hausler – Part 1
We sat down with Eric Hausler, pastor of Christ the King OPC in Naples, FL to talk about a wide range of topics related to outreach and evangelism. From how to develop relationships to how to serve and love people with a view to displaying and speaking the gospel into their lives. We are excited […]