Hey Element Church! Again, Adam and I went to a pastors conference in Washington, D.C. called Whiteboard. It was the perfect format. One day, eight speakers with 30 minutes a piece. Each were asked to share one compelling thought, idea, philosophy to the pastors.
Vince Antonucci: Vince pastors Forefront Church in Virginia Beach, VA. He has an INCREDIBLE passion for reaching lost people. He has an evangelists heart and the majority of Forefront Church (around 70%) came from an un-churched and un-christian background. Here are some things I took from Vince’s talk.
Vince received Christ as his Savior when he was 20 years old. He said that until he was 20 he had never heard about the Jesus of the Bible or the Gospel message about him. As far as he knew he had NEVER met a Christian, and if he had they never said they were or said anything about Jesus. He made this quote “How is it that in America for 20 years I had never heard about Jesus?”
“The total number of people going to church today is 8 million less than what it was 20 years ago.” (Not per capita, TOTAL)
Speaking of church growth: “We’re reaching people, we’re just not reaching lost people.”
“We get the honor of being the answer to Jesus’ mission and prayer: ‘To seek and to save that which was lost.’”
“The church is too content with seeking and saving those who are already saved.” WOW!
“Reaching the lost made Jesus’ heart beat fast. It made Paul’s heart beat fast. Does it make yours? What makes your heart beat fast?”
“If you’re not close to people who are far from God, you’re not as close to God as you think you are.” That my friends, is a POWERFUL statement.
Learning,
Jeff
