Evangelism was the subject of this years pastor’s conference at Desiring God, and what a great conference this was.
Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist carried the weight of most of this conference, preaching 3 very helpful messages examining each from the context of the need, the pastor and the church. Dever carefully helps us to think through both the doctrine of evangelism, as well as offering very practical ways of doing evangelism.
One notable example of Dever’s personal evangelism is that he intentionally builds relationships with non-Christians, such as his barber, his mechanic, etc., for the expressed purpose of long term evangelism.
Dever’s church intentionally does not have an official evangelism program. Dever see’s the role of the church as being to support the congregation in their evangelism. Dever encourages all forms of evangelism strategies that members of his congregation pursue. Results are not tabulated, nor records kept. The goal is to encourage and mobilize his people.
You will be challenged by Dever because his evangelism is deliberate, and his passion for it is contagious.
Matt Chandler brings a message titled “A Shepherd and his Unregenerate Sheep.” This was a fascinating account of Matt’s ministry and his attempt to run from a pastorate of established evangelicals. Matt’s heart was to reach out to those that the church has overlooked. But through this process Matt says that God gave him a heart for the average church goer, because he saw them as being the faithful who have been led astray. Don’t miss this message.
Michael Oh is a Korean pastor in Japan, which he says is probably the most difficult missions field in the world. Oh is unique, in that as a Korean, his family lived through a holocost on the scale of the Nazi holocost at the hands of the Japanese. Oh spends some time developing the benefit of fasting in the work of missions.
And last but not least, John Piper takes us through a biographical sketch of the life and ministry of George Whitfield. Whitfield was a very emotional and flamboyant preacher, sometimes criticised as an actor. Piper deals with this assertion carefully, and demonstrates that Whitfield utilized his emotionals and dramatics faithfully to the message that he communicated. As with all of Piper’s other annual biographical sketches, this is a highlight of the DG Pastor’s conference, and must not be missed.
Faith by Hearing 