Conversation #8—Speed Round Q&A
Dividends are paid by every generation of church leaders to allow for the next generation of leaders to lead. The calling of a church leader does not come without cost. In this conversation we share our concerns for today’s young pastors.

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Conversation #2—Crawford Loritts & Steven Furtick | James MacDonald moderating

When we talk of urgency in preaching the gospel, we aren’t talking about how we come across in tone and style, but about the need to drive toward a biblical decision in response.

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Conversation #3—Wayne Cordiero & James MacDonald | Mark Driscoll moderating

Sometimes as pastors and ministry leaders, we can find ourselves caught in unhealthy relating patterns—absorbing people’s dysfunctions and trying to bear the weight of everyone else’s failures. And we’re not always smart enough to figure it out by ourselves. Here, Wayne offers a good word for us all.

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Conversation 2—Bullpen

Here, Jack Graham shares an evangelistic lesson from D.L. Moody. And I believe that if our focus is on honoring God and honoring Christ, our churches won’t focus only on evangelism or only on discipleship, but we’ll be invested in both. Because more disciples bring more glory to God and better disciples bring more glory to God.

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Conversation #6—Wayne Cordiero & Crawford Loritts | James MacDonald moderating

We’ve all seen it. It breaks our hearts. A minister that we love, we respect, we’ve looked up to, we’ve benefited from—all of a sudden, they’re on the national news. They’re weeping, and “I’m so sorry,” and we’re weeping too. And the reality plays itself out much more frequently, not in the headlines or on the news, but in our own churches. What do we do when a good man falls morally?

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Conversation #5—Jack Graham & T.D. Jakes | Mark Driscoll moderating

Here we have two men who’ve known each other for ten years, pastoring two large churches in Dallas—a city with historic racial division. Coming together for prayer brought their congregations together in the trenches. Working, serving and doing ministry together in their community has had a tremendous impact on bridging the racial divide between their churches.

In this clip, Jack Graham and Bishop Jakes share frankly about race, reconciliation and redemption.

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God commands you to serve. This is your 24/7/365 card-carrying-follower-of-Jesus-Christ-member-of-the-family-of-God duty. Don’t say, “We should serve. Let’s pray about it.” Don’t pray about it—just do it. Find a job. Roll up your sleeves. Do it forever!

We must serve faithfully. Even when our schedule is full. Even when we want to quit. Even when our heart is breaking.

And we must not expect an immediate return for our service. Don’t serve because you expect something in return, or you’ll be disappointed. The payoff—the appreciation—comes from Jesus Christ, Himself. We are serving Him (Colossians 3:23-24).

If your kids haven’t risen up and called you blessed yet, if nobody’s figured out the kind of sacrifice that you’ve been putting into your labor, it’s not over. Don’t be impatient. And don’t quit serving, just because you don’t feel appreciated. Serving God is hard work.

Conversation #8—Speed Round—I was humbled by the collective wisdom around the table, and the passion demonstrated for the gospel from these tireless servants of Jesus Christ. With generations of faithfulness to God seated on my right and left, here was the question: What do you see the church looking like in 20 years, given its current trajectory?

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How many of us have launched out to serve the Lord with an expectation of how it’s going to be, and found it’s not like we thought? We get disappointed, we get hurt, we find out how hard it is, and ministry becomes incredibly difficult.

But God is bigger than our expectations. Take a look at the apostle Paul’s missionary launch in Acts 13-14. Here’s the ministry pattern he experienced:

Communication > Opposition > Perseverance > Fruit > Glory to God

Four times we see this pattern play out in just two chapters. And you’ll see it in your ministry life too. (more…)

Conversation #7—Steven Furtick & James MacDonald | Mark Driscoll moderating

As leaders, how we build relationships and what we model in them, matters. I appreciate what Mark Driscoll shared here about making a relational difference when we communicate, rather than merely making a point.

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