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Episode #045

We begin our series of SBC presidential candidate interviews with J.D. Greear and discuss this week’s celebration of 125 years of ministry at LifeWay Christian Resources.

News Recap:

• SBC: Cooperative Program 6.5% ahead of projection at mid-year point — http://bit.ly/1ShDDhd
• LifeWay: 125th Anniversary and groundbreaking celebration held — http://bit.ly/1ShDI4w
• IMB: Holli Fish Lancaster, 51, dies — http://bit.ly/1ShDXfT
• Florida: Sale of Florida’s Baptist Building announced — http://bit.ly/1ShDOJg
• Montana: Montana Baptists seek new executive director — http://bit.ly/1ShE1w1
• Arkansas: Ben Sells to lead Ouachita Baptist University — http://bit.ly/1ShE4Ie

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Southeastern Seminary’s new 81-hour M.Div. The 81-hour M.Div. is specifically designed to better equip students to take the gospel to their neighbors and the nations. For more information, visit sebts.edu/mdiv.

An Interview with J.D. Greear (Starts at 16:28)

J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, NC and author of Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches That Send (2015), Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary (2011), Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved (2013), and Jesus, Continued…: Why the Spirit Inside You Is Better Than Jesus Beside You (2014). Two main things characterize The Summit Church: its gospel focus and sending culture. The gospel is not merely the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity, it’s also the pool itself. Joy, reckless generosity, and audacious faith all come by learning more about God’s extravagant love found in Christ.

God has blessed The Summit Church with tremendous growth. Under J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of nearly 10,000, making it one of Outreach magazine’s “top 25 fastest-growing churches in America” for many years running.

J.D. has also led the Summit to further the kingdom of God by pursuing a bold vision to plant one thousand new churches by the year 2050. In the last ten years, the church has sent out more than 650 people to live on church planting teams, both domestically and internationally. J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he is also a faculty member, writing on the correlations between early church presentations of the gospe