How Do You Love A Porn Star?

Joe Carter asks this provocative question: How do you love a porn star?

Its a great short essay and absolutely vital to think through for the mission of God's people and his church.

Excerpt:

How do you befriend someone who relishes what you despise? Can you show someone love while keeping your distance? If not, how do you draw near to someone who wallows in unrepentant sin? We're told to follow the example of Jesus in loving our fellow sinners. However, we are rarely provided with practical advice on how to carry out this duty.

Packer on Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

Timmy Brister with a great summary of J.I. Packer's teaching on the sovereignty of God in evangelism.

He quotes Packer:

“Some fear that belief in the sovereign grace of God leads to the conclusion that evangelism is pointless, since God will save His elect anyway, whether they hear the gospel or not. This . . . is a false conclusion based on a false assumption. . . . So far from making evangelism pointless, the sovereignty of God in grace is the one thing that prevents evangelism from being pointless. For it creates the possibility–indeed, the certainty–that evangelism will be fruitful. Apart from it, there is not even a possibility of evangelism being fruitful. Were it not for the sovereign grace of God, evangelism would be the most futile and useless enterprise that the world has ever seen, and there would be no more complete waste of time under the sun than to preach the Christian gospel.”

Read the whole post and be encouraged in your pursuit of people with the gospel! We pursue others because we have been pursued!

Our Churches Are Shrinking

Over 31 million Americans are saying “check please” to the church

Read C. Michael Patton's reflections on this reality. He breaks it down with a progression that he says usually goes like this:

Step one: Doubt
Step two: Discouragement
Step three: Disillusionment
Step four: Apathy
Step five: Departure

We need to continually beat the drum or organic and structural evangelism in our lives and in our churches. If we don't, we'll most likely continue to see these numbers climb.