WEBVTT

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 All right, just as I cough, you know what is the worst thing is I look over at, as the

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 seconds are counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and I go to pick up my cup of coffee and I

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 got no coffee.

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 Just, it's miserable.

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 Like, I need more coffee in my life.

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 Hey, Jeff here, episode 361 of the Church Digital, excited about this, excited about

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 yesterday, excited, is not even the beginning of the conversation.

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 I designed the conference and the conference I designed to blow other people's minds.

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 I, in fact, got my mind blown as well.

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 And so, hey, today we are celebrating the Digital Missionary Conference.

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 The first one we did here in the fall, it was the Digital Neighborhoods.

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 Digital Neighborhoods Summit that happened yesterday, almost to the day.

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 People are like, what are we talking about with digital neighborhoods?

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 And I'm telling you, anybody who showed up to this thing, I've heard nothing but positive

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 feedback about it.

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 Huge, huge organizational win.

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 And we're going to get more into the weeds here in a little bit.

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 We got Simon Dirks, who's putting together the European Summit here in a couple weeks.

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 We're so excited to hear on the outcome and feedbacks on the conference.

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 We'll get there.

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 We'll get there.

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 It was very shortly, I'm sure.

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 Flatcap, just back from a bike stream now to relax and to learn.

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 I'm actually curious.

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 Does that mean, like, you watch streams while you're biking?

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 Are you streaming on Twitch while you're biking?

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 Like, I knew you were biking.

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 I know you're streaming.

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 I just didn't know you were, like, doing both at the same time.

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 And then he responds, volcano, lava, green, orange.

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 I don't, I, sure, man.

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 Cool.

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 Hey, listen, and it's not just me coming on today to celebrate the conference.

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 We've got our own J-Mo coming in to join the conversation.

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 Jason was our first speaker yesterday, talking to platforms as places.

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 And then also, he worked with me to kind of design the whole thing overall.

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 And to be honest, J-Mo's a guy that's constantly blowing my mind anyway.

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 So, why not involve him in the process where we blow everybody else's mind?

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 So, man, J-Mo, first off, what are you drinking?

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 One of the things that I'm constantly marvel at, and I shouldn't at this stage in the game,

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 but just how Jesus had something to share with us yesterday.

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 A lot of our talks, we had strung together, together.

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 But I had no idea of the content of any of the other talks when all I knew was what Jesus told me.

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 And so, I throw it out there, kind of in faith, throw it out there.

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 And then as the conference went on, saw how Jesus was tying together each thread from one thing to the next.

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 And it all came together as one cohesive package that we did not plan.

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 That was just Jesus Spirit doing his thing.

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 And it was so fun to see that.

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 And on top of it, just to see other like-minded digital missionaries in other spaces, like the sponsors.

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 That, like the breakouts were amazing.

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 I was popping in on some of those.

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 And in my mind, it was just another confirmation, not only of the way that Jesus wove the conference together,

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 but also how many different people from the different parts of the body of Christ,

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 who before maybe never even talked to each other, have been listening to the same Spirit.

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 And instantly, like less than 30 seconds, we are totally in sync.

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 Because what we've been hearing from the Spirit and our quiet moments with Scripture and at, you know,

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 the soul wrestling that we do, instantly we knew, oh, this is my tribe.

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 You're talking the same way that I've been thinking.

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 This is so great.

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 And that vibe, you just can't, you can't, there's no recipe for that.

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 There's just something that God brings together.

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 And that's what I felt yesterday.

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 It was just so fun.

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 I'm still just marveling at that.

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 Totally.

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 Was it Henry Blackaby?

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 There's like five or seven different ways that you hear God.

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 And one of them is through Scripture, the Holy Spirit, through, but one of them is others.

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 And yesterday was a beautiful confirmation in many ways of that others,

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 that there are other people are hearing the same thing we're hearing,

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 that they're moving in the same direction we're doing.

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 Like I'm watching global church movements do digital training in Africa,

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 empowering people, and they're seeing life change happen through digital,

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 and they're doing a physical interaction.

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 Like some of the video testimonies and things, it's like, hey, you know,

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 if we are nutjobs, there's thousands of other nutjobs that we haven't even met across this planet

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 that are doing it, that are paving the way.

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 And that, to me, was just a beautiful moment across the entire day.

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 Right.

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 And even those who, like, for example, the other speakers,

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 they're from, they're not like old guard, per se,

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 but they're, digital is kind of new for them.

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 Yeah.

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 They were not from who they were representing.

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 Correct.

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 Yeah.

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 Right.

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 Exactly.

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 However, every single one of them have been awakened to the opportunity that's in front of us

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 digitally that we've been seeing for decades, right?

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 They're waking up to that and are now acknowledging it and putting those ideas together.

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 I feel like we are in a pivotal catalytic moment that Jesus is orchestrating

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 of people who are all around the world doing amazing work in small and reproducing ways

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 and now are thinking of that through a digital lens for the first time.

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 What could possibly happen with all of that?

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 That is so fun to think about.

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 That was, you know, it was a, if there was one thing coming in, like, I knew I wanted you

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 to talk about Platforms as Places.

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 And initially, like, early on, the conference was called Platforms as Places.

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 And I can remember having a conversation with you.

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 It's like, what else are we doing?

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 Like, you know, what is beyond this?

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 This was the, I think this was the last conference to actually take shape of the four that we were doing.

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 Like, it was obvious we were doing gaming.

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 Recovery was something that it just, it was coming natural out of the progression of where we're going.

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 Simon's jumping up and down over in Europe saying, my turn, my turn.

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 And so it's like, yes, let's go.

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 Let's do that.

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 But this one, it really, it didn't have, it didn't have shape.

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 It didn't have focus.

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 We knew we wanted to Platforms as Places, but beyond that,

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 like, it was, and that's where I think some of the gospel fluency, the gospel conversations,

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 what does that mean?

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 We're going to show Jeff Vanderstelt's talk here in a little bit.

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 But, you know, it's where it was, okay, what are we doing?

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 But then it was, it was true.

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 It's 100% true.

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 I had no idea he would set that up almost perfectly in the audience mapping.

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 And I knew one of the biggest problems was apprenticing and multiplication.

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 I didn't know that that, like, there was, in the hindsight, I was like, holy cow, that came out incredible.

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 Almost as one, as one fell narrative, like one fell swoop.

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 And it was like, I didn't, I didn't do that.

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 Like, I listened.

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 I would love to take credit for that.

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 But that's, that's not me.

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 And so it was, it was beautiful to see that.

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 This is just Jesus.

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 Awesome.

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 What was, just maybe a three minute for you, like, talk a little bit about your talk, Platforms as Places.

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 What was, what was some of the themes that you kind of hit on with that?

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 Well, basically, what I tried to do was break down a little bit the, the conference itself.

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 Since I was the opening keynote and the, the conference is called Digital Neighborhoods,

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 I wanted us to get real clarity around the power that digital presents.

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 And the notion of how that combination, which we're all in agreement with, around the power of digital, right?

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 No one's, I don't think, is in disagreement around that.

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 But the interesting marriage of that with neighborhoods is a little bit different.

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 That telegraph platforms as places, obviously.

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 However, it puts a lot of times when we think of a platform, we think of a public broadcast kind of a vibe.

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 However, neighborhoods is a lot more personal, a lot more relational, more daily.

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 And I love that juxtaposition.

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 And I didn't even see it until I started doing the prep for the talk.

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 The digital one was easy, you know, and I had that down, but what I was surprised by, and just, again, there was just, as I started digging into neighborhoods with the digital ones,

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 Scripture just started looking so different, particularly around the idea of the Good Samaritan, which, again, was an interesting juxtaposition because the whole notion of the Jewish and the Gentile expressions of church,

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 I had never put it in the context of the way that a Samaritan would feel about it in the first century, and I never put it in the context of how Jesus looked at the Good Samaritan with, you know, one foot in the Jewish world, another in the Gentile world.

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 Just like all of us feel that tension and feel a little bit of rejection around having one foot in the physical world or the traditional prevailing church model and another in the digital world, the emerging church model, the new, the micro, the relational,

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 And the tension between those two, not that they're either is wrong. They're both expressions of the same Jesus, the same spirit, much like when Jesus talked to the woman at the well, who, by the way, was a Samaritan,

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 And she was hung up on the same problem. She was like, you Jews say that we need to worship over here, but we worship over here. It's the same problem. It was a Samaritan problem of temple thinking, location thinking, and Jesus blows the whole thing up right there before the woman at the well and says, look, you know, I'm looking for people who worship in spirit and truth.

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 It doesn't really matter where you guys are going. Location doesn't matter. And he was trying to telegraph that to a people who felt torn between two worlds.

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 And I, I didn't see that in scripture until I started working on this talk for platforms as places and digital neighborhoods when looking at the good Samaritan, the ultimate good neighbor.

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 And it was just like, wow, thank you, Jesus, for showing me that because, you know, I, I look at scripture differently now. And I feel like Jesus 2000 years ago, was throwing us a bone telling us, look, guys, I understand how you feel, you know, and we can we can be an example to everybody else at the same time.

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 Yeah. Wow. There's just so cool. There is. I mean, there's certainly an intimacy centered around neighborhoods, right? Like it's listening. It's talking your, your thing of prayer. It was funny. Like in chat, I was like prayer walking the doom scroll and maybe 10 seconds after I pressed enter on that chat, you said, you know, something about prayer walking the doom scroll.

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 And like, it just was like, holy crap. Like we're, we're on the same page. It was incredible, but you know, it's just, it's almost like we're listening to the same person, same person, but it was, you know, just even like, I just didn't want to tie this in the, I want to come back to this.

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 I was against like, I'm just full disclaimer. I was against neighborhoods, digital neighborhoods. That was not what I wanted. Um, I was, uh, we were considering options and I, I, to be honest, I forget what it was at this point, but it was like, uh, off the grid.

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 It was like, there was a parallel that we were talking about where it tied into like Tron and, you know, Tron Aries is coming out. I'm a huge Tron fan. And I'm like, Oh, well that vibes in, there's going to be marketing. It's going to be great. Like, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's, let's do that. And, uh, you know, this is just funny. Barbara Canero's Barbara Canero's like, that's stupid, Jeff. Digital neighborhoods is your conference, you know? And, uh, and, uh, and she, you know, just, and I think Jay, uh, late, I remember Layton was really big on, on neighborhoods to pushing that. And, you know, when, when people push against me, I listen, it's like, okay,

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 cool. We'll do neighborhoods. Let's, we'll hope for the best. I don't know that it's clear. And to this day, like, it's funny. I don't think that we communicated what the conference was beforehand, clearly, because I don't think the conference actually shaped itself until it happened. Like, I don't think you and I really had a clue of where that thing was going to go until it happened.

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 We didn't. Yeah. And that's what I'm like, this is, I mean, I'm, I'm literally, I hung up. I went to bed last night at like 630. Like, it was funny. I ate pizza. I was actually falling asleep at the dinner table.

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 No, PM, PM, 630 at night. I was so tired from yesterday, but, um, I, that's a good question with me. You never know. But, so I went to bed at like 630 PM. It slept through the night. Just, just exhausted. But I just, it was, it was, I have no idea why I said that.

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 But there was a, there was just this, this, this fulfillment of, of understanding that even I, as the guy that was putting together the conference, I didn't, I didn't anticipate, I didn't anticipate.

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 Like, when you, it was funny. I sent the, the, an email to all the speakers already thanking them this morning.

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 Um, but it was like, if you look at each individual one, uh, as, as, as an intermediary step leading into what's next, I've never seen a conference.

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 I've never been a part of a conference. I've never produced the conference that worked so cleanly together as, as those four did.

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 And, um, you know, just to, to reinforce, we didn't orchestrate that.

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 Like there, there's, there's no, I, Jason and I do not have time to put that together and to tell them to do what they were doing.

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 That's crazy.

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 Like, like coordinating. Cause I've tried to do that.

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 Yeah.

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 With some conferences, but doing that across the variety spectrum of speakers that we had from different parts of the planet.

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 There's no, how do you, how do you do that? Really? Cause everybody's going to do what everybody's going to do.

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 Cause these were not, um, these were not people that were speaking where this is their first rodeo.

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 They kind of know what they want to talk about. Right. And they can do it. Well, you just kind of have to let them roll with what they do, you know, cause they're all star players.

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 Um, and what I just love is, like you said, Jesus put together this package deal that was just amazing.

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 And it not just with the keynotes, but with the, the breakouts and the sponsors too.

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 Cause I dropped in there with some of these sponsors and I'm like, this totally fit.

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 And even the sponsors were talking about the keynotes and how it fit with their vision of the tools that they're providing.

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 Um, and I was just like, wow. Cause I know you didn't orchestrate that either cause they came to you.

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 So it's like, how does, how does that happen? Only God.

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 Listen, I'll just be honest. If you can cut me a check, congratulations, you're a sponsor.

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 And, uh, and they were, and they were, uh, but no, it, it, it, it, it, it, what did, what there is a, and I don't feel bad using this word.

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 There is a movement towards digital evangelism, digital discipleship, digital missionary work that's happening at a global level.

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 We are at the, we're at the doorframe. We're at the front door of, of something incredible.

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 And, and, and what's happening is that while it's so, so funny, I was actually, I wrote the longest WhatsApp post in the history of all time today to a Jamaican lady,

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 in a lady in Jamaica, who's trying to figure out how to connect with churches, uh, better.

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 She wants to be doing digital work in Jamaica and she's having a hard time bridging the gap to churches.

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 Congratulations. It's more than just an American problem. It's international, but the, but that, that's just it is that while the, the hesitancy around us churches or global churches,

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 they're struggling to see this organizations, um, corporations are, are more pliable or more agile or, are, are seeing opportunities.

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 in that. And working with the breakouts, the sponsors, different organizations that have been

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 encouraging of me at a personal level that are partnering this because they want to see a

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 movement happen in this space. There's a lot of excitement towards this. I didn't even have to

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 really push right now hard to give away those accounts. They were like, yeah, we want everybody

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 to have them. Take it. Take it. Take it to your people. I'm like, dude, listen. I'm like, wait,

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 wait, wait, wait, wait. Our people don't have money. And they're like, we don't care.

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 We want to see something happen digitally. Take them. Okay. Yeah. And if you put from the

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 perspective of a brand new frustrated digital missionary who doesn't know that they're a

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 digital missionary yet, they drop into this conference and here you go. You've got your

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 template, you've got your tribe, you've got your tools. And dude, how does that not make

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 a difference globally? Really? Yeah. It's unreal. I'm so happy about the ways in which we were

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 able to resource people that are actually getting the job done. And that was another thing even

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 on the survey results or whatever, where digital missionaries are six times more likely to have

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 led at least one person to Jesus than your average Christian.

00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:56.900
 Yes. And that should tell us so much right there because here's the thing to consider.

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 The emphasis that people have on church planting is valid because of what the data shows that

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 you generally have more baptisms from new church plants. And that data is solid. And from that

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 data come all of these other efforts toward helping church planting and doing all of these things.

00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:32.260
 We just pulled out another stat that now gives another tool of digital ministry, digital evangelism

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 evangelism as an effective tool for the kingdom as well. So I'm not saying church planting isn't a thing. It is a thing. The data shows it, right?

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 But it is unmistakable. It is unmistakable. The effect that being a digital missionary makes for the kingdom, because I'm telling you right now, 5% is not going to cut it.

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 Right.

00:21:01.540 --> 00:21:02.740
 If only 5% of believers are sharing their faith and leading someone to Christ, we won't win. We can't with those percentages. We have to do something. And even the churches who understand how important

00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:15.500
 um, sharing your faith is and being contagious with what Jesus has done for you. Um, everyone is convinced of that. But if you're going to be able to do something, you're going to be able to share your faith with your faith and your faith and your faith.

00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:28.780
 I feel like we just unlock that for people's imaginations. And I feel like we just unlock that for people's imaginations. And I think we'll also find that the larger organizations

00:21:28.780 --> 00:21:40.780
 that are kingdom minded as well, they don't want to see everything just disappear. Now there is another tool that we can use in the tool belt so that we're just not monocropping everything.

00:21:40.780 --> 00:21:44.780
 Monocropping. I think we're just not monocropping everything.

00:21:44.780 --> 00:22:00.780
 Monocropping. I feel like you make up words, but it makes sense. So, no, it's, it's a thing. It's a thing. Okay. All right. I'm just saying like the, the level of, you know, where they only plant corn. Yeah. Yeah. And there's no diversity in the ecosystem. Um, that's a problem.

00:22:00.780 --> 00:22:15.780
 Oh, okay. All right. I'm with you now that that's there. You get disease, you get all of these other problems. You need to have different varieties in the ecosystem because they, they help each other. They're synergistic. And we need, you know, church planting is important.

00:22:15.780 --> 00:22:28.780
 Yeah. Like, you know, we need to have different varieties in the ecosystem because they, they help each other. They're synergistic. And we need, you know, church planting is important. Yeah. Like, we need to have different varieties in the ecosystem because they help each other.

00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:56.780
 And they help each other. And they help each other. And they help each other. And they help each other. And they help each other. And they help each other. And so, yeah, it was, it was beautiful.

00:22:56.780 --> 00:23:05.160
 And a while back, you know, one foot in each world, the physical and the digital. So we're, we're, uh, we're, uh, it looks like, sounds like the, the audience is, is in agreement there.

00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:18.320
 I was funny. I actually, I saw the conference, like when we were orchestrating it, I saw it leaning more towards digital church planting, like take, taking a bend towards that.

00:23:18.780 --> 00:23:23.680
 And, uh, like, uh, like it, it just, it completely didn't, you know, we, we, we, I mean, we had a partnership with Stadia.

00:23:23.780 --> 00:23:24.380
 I think it does.

00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.120
 A little bit. Okay. But go ahead. Go, go, go.

00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:31.780
 It does. But, but here's, here's the thing. You cannot have digital church planting.

00:23:32.780 --> 00:23:37.300
 If you don't have people starting by sharing their faith with somebody.

00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:38.140
 Very good.

00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:48.560
 It just doesn't work. Right. So basically what we're doing is we're starting, this is like basic digital ministry, digital missionary one-on-one.

00:23:50.300 --> 00:23:55.800
 Figure out your neighborhood, be a good digital neighbor, you know, those types of things.

00:23:55.800 --> 00:24:01.420
 It's not all that different than how a church planter would get trained in church planter training.

00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.580
 We just didn't telegraph what the, what the end game is.

00:24:05.760 --> 00:24:06.080
 That's all.

00:24:06.620 --> 00:24:16.220
 All right. So, um, you know, let's ego aside, don't talk about your talk, but three takeaways or three favorite moments from the other three talks.

00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:23.380
 Jeff Vander Stelt, uh, Cheryl Boyd and, um, uh, Bekele, Dr. Schenko.

00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:46.280
 Okay. So Jeff, I love Jeff. Just almost anything he says. He just, I love his heart as well as his content and, uh, gospel fluency has been helpful for me as a digital ministry, uh, as it, in my digital ministry and as a digital missionary, it has been so helpful for me.

00:24:46.420 --> 00:25:10.720
 To gospel myself out of pits on the daily. Um, because I am in desperate need of Jesus every single day. Um, and being able to, um, have Jesus heal my heart and to share that with others in a way that makes sense and is relevant to them.

00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:26.860
 It's not some kind of canned presentation, but rather the real good news. And it's not the gospel. If it's not good. And when it's good, you can't keep not sharing it. You know, you can't stop.

00:25:26.860 --> 00:25:46.140
 So that even, even the question around, uh, that you followed up with, with Jeff around gospel conversation, yeah, gospel conversations, how he gets to the heart of the matter, that if you're having a hard time, um, sharing your faith and your love of Jesus,

00:25:46.140 --> 00:26:03.540
 Maybe we need to take a step back and look at our first love to begin with. Um, I felt like that was this big aha moment for all of us from the Jeff Vanderstelt talk. And that's so Jeff. I love him. This is so great. Um,

00:26:03.540 --> 00:26:23.760
 Um, the second one, the, the audience mapping, um, such an upgrade from the angle scale. The angle scale is super helpful, but it's linear and helping people understand how different people respond in different ways to the gospel and to understand where they're at.

00:26:23.760 --> 00:26:44.240
 And to have some kind of, uh, sense of progress and success that's not linear, but is measurable and understandable is nothing but helpful because there's, it, it's so discouraging sometimes as a digital missionary when you're making progress, but you don't know it.

00:26:45.140 --> 00:26:53.000
 And so you feel like you're failing when you're not. Right. And that, that is so helpful. And it's nonlinear. Love all that stuff. Um,

00:26:53.000 --> 00:27:04.160
 Um, and then LA the last, yeah, I'm feeling, Oh, just, it made me laugh when, when he showed the slide of all the logos, they just made me laugh.

00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:12.840
 It was like, yes, this right here is, this is the body of Christ. This is the way that Jesus sees us working together. Right.

00:27:13.760 --> 00:27:22.300
 And I thought, wow, if we could get to that place, John 17 style, I was right when he put up that slide instantly, John 17 came to mind.

00:27:22.300 --> 00:27:35.940
 And a few minutes later, that was the scripture that he shared. And I thought, wow, this is just, this is just the multi-expression form of the church.

00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:43.860
 It was just so beautiful. That was just so beautiful. Um, and it made me think, okay, we need to partner more.

00:27:43.860 --> 00:28:09.280
 Yeah. Like, I feel like we partner to a, a, a, a pretty decent degree, but we need to partner more as not a response of how people can help us with what we're doing, but rather back it up and, and form, uh, strategic alliances and collaboration from the beginning, not after we've already kind of cooked something.

00:28:09.280 --> 00:28:14.060
 Yeah. Um, and that was to me, the highlight of that talk. Yeah.

00:28:14.060 --> 00:28:15.340
 All of them together. It was just great.

00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:20.720
 Simon's mentioning more, more collaboration. Simon, I don't know, like it was late. I'm sure in Germany.

00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:24.800
 I don't know if you saw the, uh, kingdom over castle. Yeah. That's, that's TCD.

00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:39.580
 Um, I don't know if you saw, but Kelly's talk, uh, it was Simon. It was incredible. Uh, but Kelly Shanko, uh, if you weren't at the conference, um, is, uh, directly responsible for 2.4 million churches planted, uh, across the world.

00:28:39.580 --> 00:28:49.800
 Like a radical number has literally seen like revival happen in continents as a result. I'm sorry, in countries as a result of his work.

00:28:49.800 --> 00:29:03.620
 And, um, and so I, we brought him on to talk about multiplication and, uh, one of the organizations, uh, that he's, he's founded recently is an organization called GACX global Alliance of church.

00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:10.540
 I don't know what the X is, uh, but it's, um, uh, a global organization that does a lot with technology.

00:29:11.100 --> 00:29:20.340
 And, um, and it started with these, he put the slide up where he got five organizations to kind of pioneer and start GACX.

00:29:20.560 --> 00:29:24.980
 And then he put up the next slide that it was 150 organizations.

00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:28.820
 And the thing was like, you know, logo brand crazy.

00:29:29.120 --> 00:29:33.680
 Uh, it was just, and it's just, these are all these organizations that are now part of GACX.

00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:40.080
 And working together and GA, if, if you don't know mission space, GACX is, is a big deal.

00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:40.580
 It's huge.

00:29:40.580 --> 00:29:51.440
 A lot of, a lot of influence, which really started out of the Kelly and a couple others trying to figure out how to, you know, champion digital, uh, you know, technology and mission space.

00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:53.840
 And so, but yeah, it was interesting.

00:29:53.840 --> 00:30:02.260
 Like that to me, that was like the sledgehammer over the head for me, uh, was, was that five minute block where he was, was talking about.

00:30:02.260 --> 00:30:03.380
 And I'd heard that spiel.

00:30:03.580 --> 00:30:15.380
 I knew I, like, I, I, I could have told you that, but just when he was presenting to me to that, you know, it was, once again, I'm looking at the church digital and I'm like, we're, we're, we're not, we're not doing this right.

00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:28.740
 Like we, as a, you know, a bivocational volunteer run fractional organization that I don't, I don't see how we can scale what, what we're doing on ourselves to the level of, of, of a, of a global impact.

00:30:28.820 --> 00:30:31.040
 But, you know, and I, and I, it was funny.

00:30:31.120 --> 00:30:38.720
 I texted Jason like right afterwards, if we could figure out how to be the digital salt in everybody else's recipe.

00:30:39.760 --> 00:30:40.120
 Right.

00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:41.380
 Is that not the way?

00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:42.800
 Collaboration can't be an afterthought.

00:30:43.180 --> 00:30:43.380
 Right.

00:30:44.100 --> 00:30:50.460
 And, and, and so, you know, once again, to pick up my friend, Ronald Reagan, there's no limit to the amount of good one can do as long as he doesn't care who gets credit.

00:30:50.720 --> 00:31:04.940
 And, and, and that's the, that's, to me, I think that's the charge for 26 is yes, we want to continue to EDM equip and mobilize missionaries into that space because we want to be pioneers and innovators in, in that space.

00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:26.100
 But there's a, there's an equal push, I would suggest to maybe figure out how to better partner and come alongside organizations and champion, you know, the, the digital space through them as a, like, I, I never wanted to be the, um, the lone nut job.

00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.440
 It's always been about bringing others, you know, along with me.

00:31:29.660 --> 00:31:34.660
 And, you know, JMO is an example of a nut job that we, we brought along and, and, and that's, that's awesome.

00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:46.100
 I think it's time to find some other nut job organizations and start to move beyond building, you know, I, you didn't mean it this way, Simon, but we're not, I don't want to build the Church Digital's castle.

00:31:46.340 --> 00:31:53.160
 We need, we need to start helping some others and start to think more of, of a kingdom reach outside.

00:31:53.560 --> 00:31:59.600
 And so that was, that was some of the takeaway for me listening to, um, uh, to Dr. Shanko yesterday.

00:32:02.300 --> 00:32:02.980
 I don't know.

00:32:03.360 --> 00:32:04.260
 What else you got?

00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:07.780
 Um, what do we do?

00:32:07.980 --> 00:32:10.260
 What's a follow-up after this?

00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:12.720
 Oh, yeah.

00:32:12.800 --> 00:32:18.260
 That was one thing I feel like the lack of clarity on the front end would have been helpful.

00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.080
 What the follow-up is.

00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:27.880
 I feel like, uh, we have a really great tie-in to our, uh, community.

00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:37.700
 Here at TCD that you can find your tribe and not feel like you're going crazy because you're not.

00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:41.220
 But we all happen to be listening to the same spirit.

00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:46.400
 Um, and God's calling us together to work together.

00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:50.180
 Um, so that's one thing, the TCD community, one thing.

00:32:50.180 --> 00:33:00.740
 The other is, um, you know, we have our EDM, which I kind of feel like we should probably change the name on to like, we can still call it EDM if you want.

00:33:00.740 --> 00:33:03.580
 But, um, like exploring digital mission.

00:33:03.580 --> 00:33:05.300
 I agree with exploring.

00:33:05.300 --> 00:33:09.420
 I was kind of waiting for next year to do it, but yeah, that might be a pivot.

00:33:09.420 --> 00:33:32.400
 Um, and the reason why is because of what you had just mentioned, where maybe we could just give a little primer that's lightweight and then point them to all of the other wonderful digital resources from places that already exist rather than reinventing the wheel.

00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:41.580
 So, yeah, and then, you know, do collaboration that way, that's what, what I'm thinking would be next steps for us as an organization.

00:33:41.800 --> 00:33:44.660
 I mean, I'm, I'm unpacking this right now in public.

00:33:44.660 --> 00:33:48.660
 This is probably not the right way to do it, but that's just, it's more fun that way.

00:33:48.660 --> 00:33:49.360
 That's just what I'm feeling right now.

00:33:49.360 --> 00:33:53.140
 Yeah, I, um, I, yeah, I don't know.

00:33:53.140 --> 00:34:02.080
 Um, I do, I do agree that it's, it's a primer and that, um, I don't know how.

00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:04.000
 Deep, we want to go.

00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:14.340
 Um, I don't, we need, we need to figure out what it looks like to, to partner effectively with others.

00:34:14.340 --> 00:34:23.280
 And I don't, I don't, I mean this graciously, not egotistically like that's, I haven't, I haven't cracked that nut yet.

00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:26.300
 I don't, I don't have that, that recipe.

00:34:26.640 --> 00:34:29.640
 Uh, we've tried some things and we've got friends.

00:34:29.640 --> 00:34:32.140
 Uh, we've, we've got some people that I would say.

00:34:32.140 --> 00:34:32.940
 Like Simon, for example.

00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:33.940
 Oh yeah, Simon.

00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:36.640
 You know, when he's doing it, we're, we're like translating it into German.

00:34:36.640 --> 00:34:40.740
 You know, Simon's going to be the first, you know, beta test of that.

00:34:40.740 --> 00:34:47.440
 I feel like the, the global reach is we're on the verge of it and we just got to keep leaning into that.

00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:47.940
 Yeah.

00:34:47.940 --> 00:35:01.440
 And, um, even like, for example, hearing some of the sponsors and the breakouts kind of pushes me towards some of the things we were already moving towards in the translation space anyway.

00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:05.440
 In the ways in which they're, uh, approaching the translation.

00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:12.440
 Um, I was, I was thinking, wow, we're all thinking the same thing because you know, globally that's a problem.

00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:23.440
 And now with AI, we've got ourselves a Pentecost 2.0 moment where we can actually speak to others in their, in their own language.

00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:31.440
 They can hear it in their own language and, you know, those moments don't happen all the time.

00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:32.440
 They don't.

00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:37.440
 And so we're, we're on the edge of it and we're leaning into that, pushing into it.

00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:43.440
 Um, and doing that together with partners that, cause we can, we can spin up an AI translation.

00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:44.440
 That's not the issue.

00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:48.440
 The issue is for us, we don't know if it's any good.

00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:58.440
 And we probably need better spokesmen and better, uh, leadership around how that gets communicated

00:35:58.440 --> 00:35:59.440
 in the video.

00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:09.440
 That is not, um, ethnocentric, but rather, you know, more reflective of the people that we're

00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:11.440
 trying to reach with that piece of content.

00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:12.440
 Yes.

00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:13.440
 Yes.

00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:14.440
 Yeah.

00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:17.440
 That's one of the reasons why I feel like Aetope is doing so well in Africa.

00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:24.440
 And why Simon is doing so well in Europe because, you know, duh, this, we should have figured

00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:30.440
 that one out a little bit sooner probably because, you know, missionaries have figured that out

00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:38.440
 that when you're working with the indigenous population or the native population, um, it just

00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:40.440
 works so much better when you've got nationals doing it.

00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:44.440
 Now we just haven't thought through the digital nations in that same way.

00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:45.440
 Yeah.

00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:46.440
 Um, as developed.

00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:51.440
 And so I feel like we need to begin empowering and collaborating with more, um, more voices

00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:54.440
 and more languages.

00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:55.440
 Yeah.

00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:57.440
 To at least vet the translation.

00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:00.440
 If not, you know, create more content.

00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:01.440
 Yeah.

00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:04.440
 So if you know anybody from the tick tock nation, send them our way.

00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:05.440
 Uh, that'd be great.

00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:07.440
 The nation of tick tock.

00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.440
 We would love to, uh, to connect with.

00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:11.440
 Um, yeah, totally.

00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:17.440
 And, and, and evidently the nation of Facebook because, um, Facebook's like one of our more

00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:18.440
 popular platforms.

00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:20.440
 And I don't, I mean, I'm, I'm barely on Facebook.

00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:21.440
 I don't know what I get.

00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:24.440
 It's a lot of our leadership is, is moved on from that.

00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:28.440
 So if you've got any Facebookers, we would like the Facebook nation as well.

00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:29.440
 Um, awesome.

00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:34.440
 Well, Hey, listen, uh, we've got one of the things that I wanted to do here.

00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:38.440
 Um, by the way, I'm questioning my own logic.

00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:42.440
 We said that we were not going to, uh, let me say it this way.

00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:47.440
 Initially we had said that we were not going to release the conferences except for people

00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:48.440
 that had registered.

00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:53.440
 Uh, the success of the conference yesterday went so well.

00:37:53.440 --> 00:38:00.440
 I'm really second guessing that and thinking we need to release it in such a way so that

00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:03.440
 people can see the keynotes beyond.

00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:05.440
 I've got a question around that.

00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:06.440
 Yeah.

00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:08.440
 I know this is actually too late.

00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:10.440
 We should have thought of this ahead of time.

00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:14.440
 Um, did the breakouts get recorded?

00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:16.440
 Some of them did.

00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:22.440
 And so I've got some of the breakouts recorded, um, in the others I'm asking.

00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:23.440
 It's funny.

00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:27.440
 I'm actually asking for like the notes, uh, to make it available for people as well

00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.440
 in the slide decks to make it available.

00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:33.440
 Um, moving forward, we'll have all of them recorded, but that was kind of like a, a last

00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:34.440
 minute pivot.

00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:39.440
 And some of them got the instructions and some of them didn't, but those were amazing.

00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:40.440
 Yeah.

00:38:40.440 --> 00:38:42.440
 The ones I was at were just unreal.

00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:43.440
 Yeah.

00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:48.440
 I mean, the heart of where we're going is, um, we want to like ingest all that into an

00:38:48.440 --> 00:38:54.440
 AI, uh, that Topos is running and, and, and we're going to have, uh, we're going to have

00:38:54.440 --> 00:39:00.440
 a missionary conference AI that'll have all of the keynotes, all of hopefully all the breakouts,

00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:06.440
 whether it's notes, slides, video, you know, as, as the source, but can speak to anything

00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:08.440
 that's happening through the history of the conference.

00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:10.440
 And so we're excited about that.

00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:15.440
 Uh, but what, um, you know, it's interesting, uh, you know, a paywall to view the conference,

00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:19.440
 uh, is, is what, you know, flat caps, always flat caps, always trying to monetize.

00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:20.440
 I respect that.

00:39:20.440 --> 00:39:26.440
 But, um, you know, I, I was, I, this is what I'm going to say at this point, we're not going

00:39:26.440 --> 00:39:28.440
 to release all of the conference keynotes.

00:39:28.440 --> 00:39:32.440
 One, two, if you're watching this and you're like, well, I didn't register.

00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:33.440
 How do I get to see this?

00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:38.440
 Go register for one of the upcoming conferences right now, put your name, sign up for something,

00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:40.440
 and we'll get you access.

00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:45.440
 If you register for the recovery one, if you register for Europe, if you register, go to that

00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:46.440
 conference too.

00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:49.440
 I'm not just saying use it as a register, but if you register for that, we'll get you

00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:53.440
 access to all of the, the keynotes from all of these summits.

00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:58.440
 But what I want to do with, with the time we got left today is, uh, I actually, I want

00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:03.440
 to share Jeff Vanderstelt's, uh, talk on gospel flu, uh, fluency.

00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:08.440
 He's, he shared this yesterday, uh, ironically about this time, 24 hours ago.

00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:11.440
 And so, um, I'm going to press play.

00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:12.440
 We're going to, we're going to play that.

00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:14.440
 And then I'll, I'll close it out at the end.

00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:16.440
 And J Mo, I'm sure you're busy.

00:40:16.440 --> 00:40:17.440
 You got to, got to get back to work.

00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:20.440
 And so I, I want to thank you for this time hanging out.

00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:21.440
 I appreciate it.

00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:24.440
 You went a little extra on time today, but it's always a pleasure.

00:40:24.440 --> 00:40:28.440
 You and I can sit around and talk all day, but thank you, uh, for doing that today for

00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:31.440
 hanging out and helping us, uh, do the digital neighborhoods conference yesterday.

00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:32.440
 All right.

00:40:32.440 --> 00:40:33.440
 See you, sir.

00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:34.440
 All right.

00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:36.440
 And so it's just me.

00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:37.440
 It's just me.

00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:38.440
 J Mo is heading out the door.

00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:39.440
 Uh, so this is what we're going to do.

00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:42.440
 We are going to, uh, to play right now.

00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:46.440
 Uh, Jeff Vanderstelt's talk from yesterday on gospel fluency.

00:40:46.440 --> 00:40:48.440
 This is from the digital neighborhoods conference.

00:40:48.440 --> 00:40:54.440
 Once again, um, you know, the, this talk is the only time it's going to be showed publicly,

00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:59.440
 uh, and it's streamed here to YouTube and beyond the other talks, uh, will be available

00:40:59.440 --> 00:41:04.440
 to anybody who registers through the conference, through our base, the password protected website

00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:05.440
 attached to the conference.

00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:10.440
 If you want access to the base, all you got to do is register for one of our conferences,

00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:12.440
 www.missionary.digital.

00:41:12.440 --> 00:41:14.440
 And that'll get you into that.

00:41:14.440 --> 00:41:16.440
 We didn't talk much about what's coming up.

00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:19.440
 We've got, uh, digital, uh, I'm sorry.

00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:24.440
 We've got control out recover, uh, conference next week, recovery and soul care and digital

00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:25.440
 space.

00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:29.440
 That's coming up on, uh, Wednesday, uh, September 24th.

00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:34.440
 October 1st is, uh, Simon's turn, the, uh, European digital missionary summit.

00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:41.440
 And then on the 8th is Layton's turn with the gaming missionary summit.

00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:47.440
 And so we are excited about all of those opportunities that are coming up.

00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:55.440
 But for today, I want to go ahead and play, uh, Jeff Vanderstelt's talk on gospel fluency.

00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:57.440
 I'll probably come back at the end to close this thing off.

00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:02.440
 So, uh, let me go and press this button and he, I'll go.

00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:04.440
 So, yeah, it's good to be with all of you.

00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:08.440
 And I, uh, yeah, like Jeff said, we tried to figure out our schedules.

00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.440
 I was, I was actually going to have to do a prerecorded thing and then we were able to

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:12.440
 work it out that I could just do it live.

00:42:12.440 --> 00:42:15.440
 So, uh, so glad to be here.

00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:19.440
 We're so excited about what you're all doing in your heart for people coming to know Jesus.

00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:23.440
 Um, I'm just going to kind of introduce that idea.

00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:28.440
 First of all, gospel fluency, you see the subtitle speaking Jesus into everyday life.

00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:36.440
 And the idea there is that, um, we, we, we need to learn how to be fluent with the gospel

00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:38.440
 as much as we would learn to be fluent with any other language.

00:42:38.440 --> 00:42:45.440
 And I don't know if you've ever learned a language, but, um, I learned Spanish years ago.

00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:47.440
 I'm certainly not fluent in it now because I haven't used it.

00:42:47.440 --> 00:42:51.440
 If you don't use it, you lose it, which is probably true of the gospel as well, frankly.

00:42:51.440 --> 00:42:55.440
 Um, but I got to a place where I remember dreaming in Spanish.

00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:02.440
 And, um, when you become fluent in something, you, you think it, you, you know, dream it,

00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:04.440
 you filter the world through it.

00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:06.440
 It's like the language you use to interpret things.

00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:09.440
 It's also the language you use to solve problems.

00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:15.440
 And so this idea of gospel fluency comes from starting, first of all, with Ephesians four.

00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:19.440
 I want to get there in a sec, but I want to ask you to do something before I look at the

00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:25.440
 passage, I just want you to take a moment first, before we even go into the concepts to identify

00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:27.440
 a situation you're presently in.

00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:32.440
 Maybe it's a difficult issue, challenging situation, maybe in your digital space, it's a relationship

00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:37.440
 you're working on that you're a person you're caring for someone you're trying to help them

00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:38.440
 address something that they're facing.

00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:42.440
 And maybe you personally, like it's something you're working on or facing right now.

00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:43.440
 And I want you to identify it.

00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:46.440
 Cause I want you to keep it in mind as we do the training.

00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:50.440
 Cause I've found that when you can take a real life situation and apply what I'm about

00:43:50.440 --> 00:43:56.440
 to teach, it actually gets more traction than if it's just a ethereal idea.

00:43:56.440 --> 00:43:57.440
 So take a moment to do that.

00:43:57.440 --> 00:44:02.440
 Even if you have to write it down, type it in, whatever it may be, you don't have to share

00:44:02.440 --> 00:44:03.440
 it with everybody.

00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:04.440
 That's not what I'm asking for.

00:44:04.440 --> 00:44:07.440
 You're welcome to, but that's not what I'm asking for, but get it locked in.

00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:09.440
 Again, so you know what it is.

00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:11.440
 Just give me a moment to do that.

00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:17.440
 Okay.

00:44:17.440 --> 00:44:21.440
 Hopefully you've got one in mind, a person in mind, a situation in mind, a challenge in

00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:24.440
 mind, a problem you're facing, something you're working on in yourself, maybe.

00:44:24.440 --> 00:44:28.440
 And then the second thing I want you to do with that is I want you to ask, how have you

00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:29.440
 been addressing it?

00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:30.440
 So let me give you an example.

00:44:30.440 --> 00:44:39.440
 So, um, one of the things in my life was a, an unreconciled relationship where, um, I had

00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:40.440
 hurt somebody.

00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:41.440
 They had hurt me.

00:44:41.440 --> 00:44:44.440
 Uh, I wanted to seek reconciliation.

00:44:44.440 --> 00:44:50.440
 We went through even a mediation process to be, be able to extend forgiveness.

00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:52.440
 I extended forgiveness.

00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:55.440
 He, this particular friend of mine refused to.

00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:58.440
 And so, uh, that was a problem or situation.

00:44:58.440 --> 00:45:03.440
 Now it's been resolved, but it took actually sadly several years for it to be resolved.

00:45:03.440 --> 00:45:07.440
 Well, if I were in, on, in your shoes right now, listening to this, this conversation, that

00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.440
 might've been one that I came up with.

00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:13.440
 And the way that I'd been addressing it was a variety of things.

00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:18.440
 Sometimes it was trying to control the situation, trying to convince him to forgive.

00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:21.440
 Sometimes it was, yeah, I was praying for him.

00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:22.440
 Otherwise I was getting outside counsel.

00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:24.440
 I mean, I was doing all kinds of stuff.

00:45:24.440 --> 00:45:28.440
 So I want you to think through the situation you're facing, the issue you're in.

00:45:28.440 --> 00:45:30.440
 How have you been addressing it?

00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:31.440
 What have you been doing?

00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:33.440
 What have you been thinking?

00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:35.440
 How have you been responding?

00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:38.440
 What are you doing to address it right now?

00:45:38.440 --> 00:45:39.440
 Get that in mind.

00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:43.440
 So the issue and the pattern or way in which you've been trying to address it.

00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:45.440
 So keep that in mind as we move forward.

00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:48.440
 Now back to the idea of gospel fluency.

00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:50.440
 I'm going to take you to Ephesians four.

00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:53.440
 And we, this is just, I want to make sure there's context for this.

00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:58.440
 We see Paul saying he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and

00:45:58.440 --> 00:46:00.440
 teachers to equip the saints.

00:46:00.440 --> 00:46:01.440
 That's you.

00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:03.440
 That's the people of God for the work of ministry.

00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:07.440
 That word ministry can also be translated serving in the name of Jesus.

00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:14.440
 So we tend to think ministry, sadly, is what people do, quote unquote, in paid jobs in churches.

00:46:14.440 --> 00:46:16.440
 But that's not what Paul was talking about at all.

00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:21.440
 He's just talking about people who love Jesus, who are set apart for his work in any space in the world.

00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:22.440
 That's ministry.

00:46:22.440 --> 00:46:31.440
 And the goal is to then build up the body of Christ till we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of God's Son, growing in maturity in the stature measured by Christ's fullness.

00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:33.440
 So we grow up to be Christ-like.

00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:35.440
 The church looks more like Jesus.

00:46:35.440 --> 00:46:36.440
 And he continues.

00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:46.440
 So we won't be tossed like little children back and forth by these waves of every kind of teaching and cunning and cleverness and techniques of deceit.

00:46:46.440 --> 00:46:49.440
 So we want to be solid and movable, mature.

00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:51.440
 And then he continues.

00:46:51.440 --> 00:47:09.440
 The way we do that, he says, is by speaking the truth in love, let us grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from who the whole body fit and knit together supports each ligament when it's being equipped.

00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:13.440
 And when each part is working properly, it then makes the body grow up.

00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:16.440
 So the idea here is every member's growing up.

00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:17.440
 Everyone's getting mature.

00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:21.440
 When everybody's doing their role, we all help each other grow up.

00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:26.440
 But the key phrase here that I don't want you to miss is speaking the truth in love.

00:47:26.440 --> 00:47:35.440
 Now, a lot of us, we might have heard that at one point in our life where we're like, yeah, you know, I remember being in a relationship and it was difficult or a friendship or in a group.

00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:41.440
 And we, you know, we finally said, hey, brother or sister or friend, you know, I need to speak the truth in love with you.

00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:46.440
 And what it meant was like, I've got a hard, direct word and I'm just going to do it, hopefully in a gentle, kind way.

00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:48.440
 And those things do need to happen.

00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:53.440
 But I don't think that's primarily or exclusively what Paul's talking about here.

00:47:53.440 --> 00:48:01.440
 Because later on in the same chapter, after he talks about the way of the Gentiles and how we don't go in that way, we go in a very different way.

00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:09.440
 He says this, this is not the way that you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about him and were taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.

00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:17.440
 So when Paul says speak the truth in love, he's basically saying speak the truth of Jesus to every situation.

00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:19.440
 And here's another way to think about it.

00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:24.440
 If we're going to grow up in every way into Christ, we've got to learn how to speak and also, I'd say, demonstrate.

00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:29.440
 So it's not just our words, but also our actions, the very truths of Jesus into everything.

00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:40.440
 And I would make the case that where we are not speaking the truths of Jesus or the gospel of Jesus, the good news about Jesus into areas of our life, those will be the areas that will not look like Jesus.

00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:49.440
 Or when we're trying to serve other people and speak truth into them, if we're not bringing the truths of Jesus into their life, they're probably going to grow up in something else.

00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:57.440
 And we see this all over the place. We see Christians who parts of their life look like Jesus and then a whole bunch of other parts of their life look like their political party.

00:48:57.440 --> 00:49:03.440
 Not trying to get political, but it's like they look more like their peers than they do Jesus in that thing.

00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:07.440
 Or they look more like a philosophy than they do like Jesus in that thing.

00:49:07.440 --> 00:49:17.440
 Or the way they manage or handle their finances look nothing like Jesus because they got all their training or development from something that doesn't include Jesus or doesn't represent the truths of Jesus.

00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:31.440
 But what Paul is saying is if we're going to grow up into the fullness of Christ and into maturity in Christlikeness, we've got to learn how to speak the good news of Jesus into absolutely every nook and cranny of our life.

00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:33.440
 And that's what I mean by gospel fluency.

00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:37.440
 And the thing I want you to do is just stop and ask this question.

00:49:37.440 --> 00:49:45.440
 Maybe even think about the situation or issue that I encourage you to identify and just ask how much has the good news of Jesus saturated your life?

00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:51.440
 I mean, how much does the truth of Jesus apply to everything you're facing?

00:49:51.440 --> 00:49:59.440
 Does the truth of who he is and what he's done and who you are in Christ get applied to the issues and the struggles and the challenges you're facing?

00:49:59.440 --> 00:50:17.440
 Or do you find yourself moving away from Jesus in all those other areas you apply worldly wisdom or maybe just a proven practice or maybe the counsel of others, but you really don't look like Jesus or remember the truths of Jesus for a lot of stuff you're going through.

00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:21.440
 And so that's the question I want you to ask as we keep going, because here's the deal.

00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:28.440
 You and I will talk about what we love most, like we most talk about what we most love.

00:50:28.440 --> 00:50:44.440
 And you just think about the last 24 hours and think about how many conversations you had, whether it was in digital spaces or using your devices, you know, chatting, texting, whatever it may be, or, you know, maybe even physically being with someone and having a conversation.

00:50:44.440 --> 00:50:47.440
 Like the question is, what have you been talking about?

00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:49.440
 What's been the center of your conversation?

00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:51.440
 What's been oozing out of your heart?

00:50:51.440 --> 00:50:55.440
 Because Christ says it's out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks.

00:50:55.440 --> 00:51:00.440
 And that the idea there is you will be speaking about what you love the most.

00:51:00.440 --> 00:51:07.440
 I remember when I first met my wife and I was absolutely smitten and everywhere I went, I was talking about her.

00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:10.440
 And I was a youth pastor at the time and our senior pastor.

00:51:10.440 --> 00:51:13.440
 And I went on a hike and like for two and a half days, that's all I'm talking about.

00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:15.440
 It finally says, would you just shut up?

00:51:15.440 --> 00:51:16.440
 Like, go marry the girl.

00:51:16.440 --> 00:51:18.440
 I'm tired of hearing about this.

00:51:18.440 --> 00:51:21.440
 And the truth is like, you just, you just talk about it.

00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:31.440
 Like, whether it's sports that you love, your, you know, your kids, your, your spouse, your friends, your grandkids, like nobody struggles to talk about what they love most.

00:51:31.440 --> 00:51:38.440
 And so if you're thinking about, man, how do I start becoming more fluent in sharing the gospel to people or even to my own struggles in my life?

00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:46.440
 The question is, has the gospel, has the good news of Jesus so captured your affections that you just can't stop talking about it?

00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:48.440
 Now, here's something that I've learned.

00:51:48.440 --> 00:51:51.440
 We also sometimes grow cold in our love.

00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:57.440
 We, we forget what drew us first in the, you know, drew us to somebody or to Jesus in the first place.

00:51:57.440 --> 00:51:59.440
 And that happened even in my marriage.

00:51:59.440 --> 00:52:02.440
 I remember there was a season I, I, my love was growing cold.

00:52:02.440 --> 00:52:06.440
 I was talking to older gentlemen about my marriage and the struggles.

00:52:06.440 --> 00:52:09.440
 And he said, Hey, remind me again, why you married Janie?

00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:10.440
 Like, what was it about her that you loved?

00:52:10.440 --> 00:52:12.440
 And I started talking about all the things that I love.

00:52:12.440 --> 00:52:17.440
 And the more that I talked about the things I love, the more that my heart grew warm again.

00:52:17.440 --> 00:52:20.440
 And I found myself going, man, I really do love Janie.

00:52:20.440 --> 00:52:21.440
 This is amazing.

00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:23.440
 This is the woman I want to spend my life with.

00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:24.440
 What happened?

00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:32.440
 Well, we not only talk about what we love most, but oftentimes if we don't talk about it, we lose our love for it.

00:52:32.440 --> 00:52:42.440
 In other words, the more that I talked about all the beauty and all the splendor and all the wisdom and all the joy of being with this amazing woman, the more that my heart grew in affection for her.

00:52:42.440 --> 00:52:48.440
 So I would just offer up as you're thinking about growing in gospel fluency in terms of the process of it.

00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:54.440
 Not only pay attention to what you talk about because it's going to reveal your affections, but start getting around people who talk about Jesus a lot.

00:52:54.440 --> 00:53:03.440
 Because the more that you talk about why he's so amazing, why his work is so like worth giving your life to, why you adore him so much.

00:53:03.440 --> 00:53:06.440
 The more that you talk about him, the more that you'll love him.

00:53:06.440 --> 00:53:07.440
 And so it goes both ways.

00:53:07.440 --> 00:53:12.780
 We talk about what we love most, but we start to love what we talk about most, which is why you want to get yourself in a closet.

00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:54.420
 Hey, everybody. Hey, Jeff. Um, we had a screw up. We accidentally muted you on our side. And so I apologize for that. Back up 30 seconds. Yeah. Yeah. Keegan's laughing at me. That's cool. I'm actually, it's so funny. I'm wearing a t-shirt because I don't want to mess up my nice shirt. I'm having lunch. Um, sorry, Jeff are bad. Back up 30 seconds and unmute yourself. Back up 30 seconds and keep going. Even the pros screw up y'all like that. This is a thing.

00:53:54.440 --> 00:54:05.360
 Jeff, can you hear me now? I can. I apologize. You were on a roll. You are throwing it. Keep going. Back up 30 seconds and roll with it, sir. I apologize.

00:54:05.360 --> 00:54:11.200
 Where did you lose me? Was it when I was talking about my, uh, talking about what you love most with my wife?

00:54:11.420 --> 00:54:14.360
 Back up, back up one slide, hit the end of it and then roll.

00:54:14.360 --> 00:54:44.280
 Great, great. So we talk about what we love most, that one. Uh, I was making the case that you, what will, what you love most, what's kept your affections will come out of your heart. Uh, that it will be the thing that you, you can't stop talking about. So stop and just think about what you talk about the most and ask yourself, is that what's most captured that your affection? Is it Jesus? Is it the truth of what he's done? Uh, who you are?

00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:53.260
 In Christ and how he's changed everything. I was telling the story. And if I, if I repeat myself, I'm sorry, but about my wife. When I first met her, I couldn't stop talking about her.

00:54:53.260 --> 00:55:07.740
 But later on in our marriage, my love started to grow cold and I had an older guy come to me and say, man, tell me all the reasons why you, you, you know, fell in love with her in the first place. And as I shared all these things, I realized my heart began to be warm again towards her.

00:55:08.080 --> 00:55:22.780
 My affections were stirred up and I just, that I couldn't stop not only talking about her, but growing in my affection for her. And I think when it comes to growing in gospel fluency, we want to both pay attention to what we talk about because what we talk about will reveal what's captured our affections.

00:55:23.060 --> 00:55:35.080
 But if our affections aren't stirred up for Jesus, then we got to be with people who will ask, well, remind me again, why is it that you first became a Christian? What was it that drew you to Christ? Why, why do you adore him so much?

00:55:35.240 --> 00:55:46.160
 And the more that we talk about all that he is and all that he's done and all that we have in Christ, the more our affections get stirred up for him. And here's the reality. It's all the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks.

00:55:46.400 --> 00:55:57.620
 So it's not hard to speak about Jesus in these digital spaces that need to hear about Christ when our affections are stirred up for him on a regular basis, because it will just overflow out of your life.

00:55:57.740 --> 00:56:04.080
 But if it's not coming out of your mouth, it's probably not in your heart. You're not being captured by these affections.

00:56:04.220 --> 00:56:09.380
 So we talk about what we love most, but we also have to keep stirring up our affections.

00:56:09.480 --> 00:56:12.280
 So what comes out of us will be our affection for Jesus.

00:56:12.420 --> 00:56:16.900
 And then here's the other thing that I know is true. You also talk about what you believe works.

00:56:18.060 --> 00:56:29.480
 You know, whether it's the newest gadget you've got, the game you're playing, the, you know, the tool you have, the vehicle you drive, whatever you think works great, you're going to talk about it.

00:56:29.880 --> 00:56:34.180
 And that's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it's the power of God for salvation.

00:56:34.220 --> 00:56:40.980
 He's saying the reason why it's not hard for me to talk about it is because it's the thing that transforms everything.

00:56:41.580 --> 00:56:46.820
 And so I would ask the question, are you experiencing the power of the gospel transforming every aspect of your life?

00:56:46.820 --> 00:56:55.560
 Because if you're not, you'll primarily talk about the part that you think it did transform, which is why a lot of people talk about, you know, are you sure about where you're going to go after you die?

00:56:55.640 --> 00:57:03.440
 Because, man, I, at least it transformed my afterlife, but the gospel is meant to transform every aspect of your life.

00:57:03.580 --> 00:57:10.540
 And so I want you to keep in your mind all the situation that I ask you to identify in the way that you've been addressing it.

00:57:10.540 --> 00:57:20.360
 And I'm just going to walk through what the gospel includes and why it has good news for probably more than the one issue that you identified.

00:57:20.620 --> 00:57:22.860
 And remember, the gospel means good news.

00:57:22.980 --> 00:57:30.660
 So I, I, the people I teach in my own little church regularly, as I say, if it doesn't sound like good news, it's not the gospel.

00:57:30.860 --> 00:57:33.900
 And of course, there'll be some of you push back like, yeah, but there's bad news in the gospel.

00:57:33.900 --> 00:57:36.340
 Like you got to talk about sin in order to get the good news.

00:57:36.380 --> 00:57:38.380
 And I would say like, yeah, but sin isn't the gospel.

00:57:39.140 --> 00:57:40.600
 Sin is why we need the gospel.

00:57:40.760 --> 00:57:44.260
 Yes, we'll need to talk about the problem, but the gospel isn't sin.

00:57:44.340 --> 00:57:46.140
 The gospel is that we're saved from our sin.

00:57:46.340 --> 00:57:49.780
 The gospel is that there's good news setting us free from the shackles of sin.

00:57:50.120 --> 00:57:55.080
 And so if it never sounds like good news, it's possible you're not actually proclaiming the gospel.

00:57:55.080 --> 00:57:59.960
 And I know there's some of you listening going, yeah, but didn't Paul say it's foolishness to those who are perishing?

00:58:00.040 --> 00:58:02.260
 And I always say, yeah, it's foolishness, not bad news.

00:58:02.460 --> 00:58:04.840
 The idea of foolishness is it's too good to be true.

00:58:05.060 --> 00:58:06.520
 I can't hardly accept it.

00:58:06.740 --> 00:58:07.900
 How could it be that?

00:58:08.280 --> 00:58:15.460
 And so I always tell people if it doesn't, if it doesn't sound like good news in your own heart, when you're saying it to somebody else, you should back up.

00:58:15.600 --> 00:58:17.640
 And there's probably a few things you should ask.

00:58:17.640 --> 00:58:29.020
 One, have I listened long enough to, to these people I'm with to know what they actually need and what would sound like good news about Jesus that I could give to them?

00:58:29.220 --> 00:58:32.620
 Because if you listen long enough, you'll go, oh my goodness, they need to know this about Jesus.

00:58:32.800 --> 00:58:36.980
 They need to hear what he's done or how much he loves them or what he could do for them.

00:58:37.120 --> 00:58:40.160
 You know, when you get to that place, you're like, gosh, I can't wait to tell them.

00:58:40.580 --> 00:58:43.720
 So if you don't sense it's good news, then I would have slowed down.

00:58:43.800 --> 00:58:49.440
 Maybe you need to listen longer so you actually know what they need and how Jesus is what they need.

00:58:49.500 --> 00:59:00.340
 But the other side of it is maybe we haven't thought through the breadth and the depth and the length of the gospel that it's not just, you know, limited to justification by faith.

00:59:00.360 --> 00:59:01.300
 That's real.

00:59:01.640 --> 00:59:03.980
 It's not just limited to good news after I die.

00:59:04.040 --> 00:59:04.460
 That's real.

00:59:04.580 --> 00:59:06.280
 But it's got so much more.

00:59:06.400 --> 00:59:09.720
 So I just want to remind you, it includes the life of Jesus.

00:59:10.160 --> 00:59:17.340
 When we think about his life, we think about a real human who went through everything you and I go through.

00:59:17.480 --> 00:59:24.480
 Hebrews 4 says we have a high priest who's able to sympathize, which means he's able to feel with you what you're feeling.

00:59:24.720 --> 00:59:31.600
 Because he was tested in every way, just like you and me, and therefore we can go to him in our time of need.

00:59:32.060 --> 00:59:35.200
 And so the life of Jesus is part of the good news.

00:59:35.280 --> 00:59:36.160
 It's not just his death.

00:59:36.240 --> 00:59:37.700
 It's that he lived our life.

00:59:38.140 --> 00:59:45.540
 Yes, he lived our life, and he lived it, you know, as a righteous man without sin and completed the work God gave him to do, which is really good.

00:59:45.700 --> 00:59:49.280
 So he is our hope for being made righteous before God.

00:59:49.680 --> 00:59:51.660
 In him we are righteous.

00:59:51.840 --> 00:59:53.020
 But I also don't miss it.

00:59:53.020 --> 00:59:59.500
 But he is a human who went through what you went through, who felt what you feel.

01:00:00.080 --> 01:00:07.120
 And so maybe even that's what you need to hear or you need to give to someone else today or in the coming days in these digital spaces you're in.

01:00:07.460 --> 01:00:10.900
 It's like, I want you to know there's a God who mourns.

01:00:11.660 --> 01:00:14.620
 And that's why he says, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

01:00:14.620 --> 01:00:18.080
 Because Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

01:00:18.180 --> 01:00:19.540
 He wept over Israel.

01:00:19.720 --> 01:00:22.860
 He knows what it's like to lose things.

01:00:23.020 --> 01:00:26.640
 He lost his friend, and then he raised him from the dead, Lazarus.

01:00:26.740 --> 01:00:35.000
 But if you don't slow down in that passage, Jesus is so present in the sadness of Mary that he weeps with her.

01:00:35.540 --> 01:00:37.020
 And he does that for you and me.

01:00:37.500 --> 01:00:38.360
 He was wounded.

01:00:38.540 --> 01:00:39.720
 He knows what it's like to be hurt.

01:00:39.800 --> 01:00:41.000
 His friends abandoned him.

01:00:41.460 --> 01:00:44.520
 They betrayed him, denied him, rejected him.

01:00:44.800 --> 01:00:47.280
 So he knows what it's like to be in that space.

01:00:47.800 --> 01:00:49.160
 He knows what it's like to be lonely.

01:00:49.320 --> 01:00:53.580
 He cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me from the cross?

01:00:54.200 --> 01:00:58.320
 So maybe some of you are like, man, there's these issues I'm going through.

01:00:58.880 --> 01:01:03.940
 Does he know what it's like to feel pain, to feel loss, to feel abandoned?

01:01:04.840 --> 01:01:05.880
 Did he get angry?

01:01:06.020 --> 01:01:06.880
 Yes, he did.

01:01:08.240 --> 01:01:16.720
 And so maybe what you need in terms of the good news of Jesus is just to go, there is somebody who understands what you're going through, feels what you feel.

01:01:16.720 --> 01:01:25.560
 And didn't just feel it, and we'll get to the resurrection, he's alive, he's present right now in me to feel it with you.

01:01:25.820 --> 01:01:32.700
 Jesus doesn't want you to know, you don't have to be alone in this, and he wants you to know the human experience is not something he's a foreigner to.

01:01:33.200 --> 01:01:38.220
 Now, there's a lot more we could talk about in the life of Jesus, his obedience in our place, there's so much.

01:01:38.220 --> 01:01:40.800
 But we'll just move on to the death now.

01:01:41.620 --> 01:01:58.840
 We know in the death, we've got him putting himself in our place, taking on our sin, not only dying for sin, but also putting to death, death, putting to death the power of sin, defeating the evil one as he's buried in the tomb.

01:01:59.280 --> 01:02:01.400
 And so the burial of Jesus is really important, because what does he do?

01:02:01.440 --> 01:02:07.180
 He takes all that we've done, and he buries it there, and he comes out in the resurrection without it.

01:02:07.180 --> 01:02:14.140
 So the death is important, because he died in our place, and he put to death, death, and sin, and its power.

01:02:14.360 --> 01:02:17.000
 But the burial is so important, because he left it there.

01:02:17.520 --> 01:02:23.820
 He buried it all there, and we, if we're in Christ, have been raised with Jesus to new life.

01:02:23.900 --> 01:02:27.600
 So our sin, our guilt, our shame, it's in the tomb.

01:02:28.020 --> 01:02:31.560
 It's not our identity, it's not how he sees us.

01:02:32.240 --> 01:02:36.460
 God sees us now in Christ, and that's why we're co-heirs with Christ.

01:02:36.460 --> 01:02:41.960
 And the good news about his resurrection, that he has overcome Satan's sin and death.

01:02:42.520 --> 01:02:53.920
 And Paul says in Romans 8, if we now have the Spirit of God in us that enables us to cry out, Abba, Daddy, Father, we also have the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

01:02:54.040 --> 01:02:58.920
 So all the power of the resurrection is now in us by his Spirit.

01:02:59.340 --> 01:03:03.060
 And Jesus said, those who believe in me are going to do the same works that I do.

01:03:03.060 --> 01:03:10.740
 So maybe your issue is like, I'm facing what seems like an insurmountable situation, or I'm dealing with sin that I just can't get over.

01:03:11.200 --> 01:03:12.560
 And Paul is really clear.

01:03:12.980 --> 01:03:24.040
 You have the same power in you that Jesus had in him, and it's in his resurrection that that power over Satan, sin, and death is now the power for you to overcome anything you're facing.

01:03:24.440 --> 01:03:25.480
 And here's the good news.

01:03:25.480 --> 01:03:30.020
 He ascended to the right hand of the Father, and he says, if I go, then I'll send my Spirit.

01:03:30.440 --> 01:03:42.240
 So when he ascended, not only is he there representing you as an advocate before God the Father forever, but he's also giving you all that you need for every situation you'll ever face.

01:03:42.780 --> 01:03:48.220
 So his ascension is, now I've sent my Spirit, I'm now praying on your behalf.

01:03:48.420 --> 01:03:54.620
 If you wonder if someone's praying for you, Jesus is praying for you right now, and he knows exactly what you need.

01:03:54.620 --> 01:04:00.380
 He knows what you're going to say before you say it, what you think before you think it, and what you need before you even face it.

01:04:00.700 --> 01:04:06.740
 And he wants to give you everything you need to be able to walk the life he's saved you to walk.

01:04:06.980 --> 01:04:10.220
 And the good news is he's going to return and make all things new.

01:04:10.340 --> 01:04:14.640
 And so maybe even the situation you're facing is like, you know, is it ever going to change?

01:04:15.120 --> 01:04:21.460
 I mean, I'll tell you what, some of the times, for me, the good news of the gospel is it's not going to stay like it is today.

01:04:21.620 --> 01:04:22.820
 It is going to change.

01:04:22.900 --> 01:04:25.880
 He is going to transform all things.

01:04:25.980 --> 01:04:27.160
 The old will become new.

01:04:27.340 --> 01:04:29.840
 We'll be living in a new heaven and a new earth.

01:04:30.220 --> 01:04:31.500
 Now, I did that really fast.

01:04:31.600 --> 01:04:33.580
 I usually train this stuff in a day.

01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:35.440
 I have a whole book about it.

01:04:35.440 --> 01:04:52.700
 But what I want you to do is I just want you to stop and think about your situation and how you've been addressing it and ask yourself, have I been addressing with any of these truths the truth of Jesus' life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his return?

01:04:52.900 --> 01:05:00.120
 And I promise you that all of that contains all that you need for whatever you're facing.

01:05:00.640 --> 01:05:04.860
 And the goal is to say, Holy Spirit, would you help me?

01:05:04.900 --> 01:05:22.940
 And that's the job of the Holy Spirit is to bring to our mind the things that are true of Jesus to our situations, to our struggles, to say, Holy Spirit, would you remind me of the good news of Jesus for the thing I'm addressing either in my life or in the people that you've surrounded me with?

01:05:23.700 --> 01:05:26.320
 So, I just want to encourage you to ask that question.

01:05:27.180 --> 01:05:34.220
 In light of your situation, how would these truths about Jesus bring good news to the thing you're facing right now?

01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:41.840
 Now, a good practice to engage in is to do that with some other people and just practice sharing, like, here's an issue.

01:05:42.180 --> 01:05:44.780
 How does the good news of Jesus apply to that issue?

01:05:45.240 --> 01:05:45.640
 Go.

01:05:45.980 --> 01:05:46.980
 Let's talk about that.

01:05:47.040 --> 01:05:50.580
 Now, here's another exercise I'll give you as I'm coming to a bit of a close.

01:05:50.880 --> 01:05:57.740
 I will regularly go back to this kind of categorical way of describing the different aspects of the gospel.

01:05:58.160 --> 01:06:02.620
 And I'll just take one of them and say, okay, why is the life of Jesus good news to us?

01:06:02.920 --> 01:06:03.920
 This is a good thing to do.

01:06:04.360 --> 01:06:05.680
 You could do this in a chat.

01:06:05.780 --> 01:06:07.580
 You could do this in a group, whatever it may be.

01:06:07.900 --> 01:06:11.020
 But let's just, what's one thing that's good news about the life of Jesus?

01:06:11.100 --> 01:06:13.360
 Someone might say, he feels what we feel.

01:06:13.540 --> 01:06:13.780
 Great.

01:06:14.040 --> 01:06:15.380
 How is that good news?

01:06:15.640 --> 01:06:17.620
 And then I usually say, someone else answer.

01:06:17.940 --> 01:06:24.340
 It might be, well, because he feels what we feel, it means that my feelings matter to Jesus.

01:06:24.560 --> 01:06:24.780
 Great.

01:06:24.900 --> 01:06:25.800
 Why is that good news?

01:06:26.160 --> 01:06:31.080
 Well, if my feelings matter to Jesus, then Jesus is actually going to care for anything I ever go through.

01:06:31.420 --> 01:06:31.680
 Yes.

01:06:31.720 --> 01:06:32.460
 Why is that good news?

01:06:32.500 --> 01:06:34.560
 And I'll just keep asking, why is it good news?

01:06:34.660 --> 01:06:35.400
 Why is it good news?

01:06:35.480 --> 01:06:36.200
 Why is it good news?

01:06:36.200 --> 01:06:42.700
 And what you're doing is you're just drilling down as deep as you possibly can on just one aspect of the gospel.

01:06:43.280 --> 01:06:54.080
 And if you were to practice that over and over and over again, all the different aspects of the gospel, you'll find the breadth and the depth of the good news of Jesus is inexhaustible.

01:06:54.080 --> 01:07:05.500
 And what's great about that is the more you do that and practice that, the more ways you'll have to share the good news of Jesus, not just to your life, but to the lives of those that are surrounding you all the time.

01:07:05.880 --> 01:07:07.960
 So I'll end there.

01:07:08.080 --> 01:07:11.720
 I got a few more things I could share, but I think that's probably enough for today.

01:07:12.860 --> 01:07:17.640
 Love for you to practice applying this and see how it goes as you put it to practice in your everyday life.

01:07:18.180 --> 01:07:19.700
 No, I love this.

01:07:19.700 --> 01:07:22.940
 By the way, Jeff does have the book.

01:07:22.980 --> 01:07:24.660
 He mentioned it in the talk.

01:07:24.720 --> 01:07:27.380
 I'll go and put here Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vander Stelt.

01:07:28.020 --> 01:07:30.580
 Thank you, Jeff, for speaking on this.

01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:34.640
 I'm going to ask a follow up question that I really want to tie this together.

01:07:35.680 --> 01:07:40.240
 But grab that book on Amazon, Kindle, paperback, whatever.

01:07:40.620 --> 01:07:41.860
 I've used the Amazon link.

01:07:41.940 --> 01:07:43.940
 I know a lot of us are international, global.

01:07:44.040 --> 01:07:45.000
 All of us are international.

01:07:45.260 --> 01:07:47.820
 But, you know, even overseas, Amazon can get to everywhere.

01:07:48.060 --> 01:07:51.220
 So grab that book and dig into this.

01:07:51.220 --> 01:07:54.940
 But, Jeff, the question that I want to ask, kind of following up on this.

01:07:55.360 --> 01:08:04.860
 So the context of the conversation with Jason Morris and I was centered around what a gospel conversation is.

01:08:05.480 --> 01:08:10.860
 And so I would love maybe just a thought from you.

01:08:11.520 --> 01:08:14.820
 As we're talking about gospel fluency, it's a different language.

01:08:15.140 --> 01:08:18.520
 Reporting this into digital, you know, if you want to go digital or not.

01:08:18.520 --> 01:08:25.500
 But, like, what in your mind, as digital missionaries, as missionaries, what is a gospel conversation?

01:08:26.960 --> 01:08:35.280
 Well, for me, a gospel conversation is when you listen well enough to know what the need of the gospel is in their life.

01:08:35.280 --> 01:08:38.500
 So I listen long enough that I know what their real need is.

01:08:38.660 --> 01:08:45.200
 And then I'm able to bring the good news of Jesus in such a way that it actually meets the present need that they're facing.

01:08:45.620 --> 01:08:49.380
 And Jesus is the hero or the answer or the solution.

01:08:49.820 --> 01:08:49.960
 Right.

01:08:50.140 --> 01:08:50.320
 Right.

01:08:50.360 --> 01:08:52.260
 To me, that's how I would sum it up.

01:08:52.600 --> 01:08:54.840
 But here's what's really important.

01:08:54.940 --> 01:09:01.100
 You know, there's a proverb that says, the person of understanding is able to draw out the deep waters of another man's heart.

01:09:01.520 --> 01:09:19.820
 And I think one of the things that we're doing is we're trying to draw out the waters of someone's heart so that once their heart is drawn out, we know how to apply the good news to the aspects of their heart that need healing, hope, restoration, you know, fulfillment, satisfaction.

01:09:19.820 --> 01:09:25.380
 And so I didn't even have time to talk about, like, how do you even apply this to all the emotions, right?

01:09:25.460 --> 01:09:29.780
 Like, every emotion people are going through, we can bring the good news of the gospel too.

01:09:30.280 --> 01:09:41.980
 But it really requires listening long enough to discern the longing of the heart and then bringing an aspect of who Jesus is to bear on that in such a way that sounds like good news to the hearer.

01:09:42.500 --> 01:09:46.800
 Yeah, listening, driving the longing, which points to Jesus.

01:09:47.120 --> 01:09:50.620
 And what's interesting is Jason and I really started to unpack this.

01:09:50.860 --> 01:09:55.380
 So I came into the conversation, like, I'm just going to be very blunt in this moment.

01:09:55.380 --> 01:10:01.520
 I came in with the mindset of a gospel is when you practically share Jesus.

01:10:01.720 --> 01:10:03.900
 You literally take out your track.

01:10:04.300 --> 01:10:07.640
 You walk somebody through it like it was very conversion related.

01:10:08.220 --> 01:10:13.400
 And in confession hour, like, that's from 25 years of Southern Baptist, okay?

01:10:13.560 --> 01:10:15.280
 Like, you know, that's how I was raised.

01:10:15.700 --> 01:10:17.440
 And I'm no knock Southern Baptist, I'm sorry.

01:10:17.540 --> 01:10:19.940
 But that's what I brought into the conversation.

01:10:20.780 --> 01:10:22.960
 And it was so funny.

01:10:23.340 --> 01:10:25.640
 And J-Mo, I think he's on here still.

01:10:26.080 --> 01:10:30.920
 He was like, well, Jeff, how hard is it to get an atheist to acknowledge there's a God?

01:10:31.260 --> 01:10:37.100
 Like, just moving an atheist to an agnostic, like working through that, is that not a gospel conversation?

01:10:37.380 --> 01:10:46.760
 Somebody who accepted Christ, that you're moving more towards a deeper relationship with Jesus, which is leading them towards multiplying and discipling other people.

01:10:46.900 --> 01:10:48.620
 Is that not a gospel conversation?

01:10:49.260 --> 01:11:06.160
 And the ability to move what we're doing into that, to shift how we're utilizing digital, not specifically towards evangelism, which is important, but moving everybody closer to whatever that next step is.

01:11:06.160 --> 01:11:07.400
 Yeah, incrementally.

01:11:08.120 --> 01:11:08.400
 Go ahead.

01:11:08.540 --> 01:11:08.800
 Yeah.

01:11:09.100 --> 01:11:16.380
 I'll often say the problem with most of our quote-unquote evangelism strategies is that we're trying to get them an entire meal and they're not even hungry yet.

01:11:17.940 --> 01:11:21.080
 Like, so like, let's stop stuffing food down their throats.

01:11:21.960 --> 01:11:24.320
 Like, they've got to develop some form of hunger.

01:11:24.420 --> 01:11:28.480
 And when you're dealing with a starving person, you put a little honey on their tongue just to create a hunger again.

01:11:28.540 --> 01:11:34.400
 So it's like, it might only be a drop of honey, which could be one small gospel truth.

01:11:34.860 --> 01:11:42.940
 Like, the friends that we were reaching out to for a long time, I started with, at one point, just going like, I don't know if you know this, but you are made in the image of God.

01:11:43.260 --> 01:11:45.620
 And let me tell you how you display God to me.

01:11:46.180 --> 01:11:50.000
 Like, it's amazing how you look like, and you may not even believe in God.

01:11:50.040 --> 01:11:56.560
 I'm just going to tell you, you were created to be a picture of what God is like to the world, whether you believe it or not.

01:11:56.740 --> 01:11:58.800
 Let me tell you some of the ways you display what he's like.

01:11:59.100 --> 01:12:00.640
 Well, that was good news, right?

01:12:01.040 --> 01:12:08.220
 Well, then when we talk about falling short of the glory of God, which is sin, we can go like, well, you don't look like God all the time.

01:12:08.900 --> 01:12:09.900
 That's what sin is.

01:12:10.380 --> 01:12:14.640
 Well, I could frame it up in a way that made sense to her, and she saw people that way.

01:12:14.640 --> 01:12:19.680
 She was just, I was using her language, because she would always say, I think people are amazing.

01:12:19.860 --> 01:12:22.100
 Like, I, you just think about the beauty of people.

01:12:22.180 --> 01:12:26.700
 And I'm like, so I just stepped into her language, her worldview, and brought good news into that.

01:12:26.780 --> 01:12:30.140
 And that's a lot of what we're doing, is we're not trying to get them to buy into our worldview.

01:12:30.720 --> 01:12:35.680
 Step into their worldview and bring some bit of truth into that worldview.

01:12:36.200 --> 01:12:39.140
 And that's eventually going to lead them to more and more.

01:12:39.180 --> 01:12:42.920
 And they're going to hunger for more when you just give them that little honey, that little taste.

01:12:43.300 --> 01:12:44.740
 Taste and see that the Lord is good.

01:12:45.060 --> 01:12:45.740
 That's what we're doing.

01:12:46.680 --> 01:12:50.440
 You just set up the next talk so good.

01:12:50.500 --> 01:12:56.040
 We're going to have Cheryl Boyd talking about audience mapping and some of the stuff that crew is working on.

01:12:56.180 --> 01:13:00.460
 And so that's the next conversation, the next keynote that we have.

01:13:00.460 --> 01:13:05.280
 But, Jeff, this is exactly what I was looking for.

01:13:06.020 --> 01:13:07.240
 And you brought it.

01:13:07.280 --> 01:13:08.840
 Jeff Anderson spelled gospel fluency.

01:13:09.220 --> 01:13:10.840
 I'll leave the link up there for a little more.

01:13:10.940 --> 01:13:15.480
 But, Jeff, thank you for joining us today and sharing from your heart here.

01:13:15.680 --> 01:13:15.800
 Okay?

01:13:15.900 --> 01:13:16.700
 So good to be with you.

01:13:16.840 --> 01:13:17.160
 Thanks.

01:13:17.340 --> 01:13:17.940
 Thank you.

01:13:18.460 --> 01:13:20.680
 All right.

01:13:21.100 --> 01:13:22.080
 I think that was it.

01:13:22.260 --> 01:13:23.580
 And I think I'm back.

01:13:24.020 --> 01:13:25.220
 And I'm done.

01:13:25.380 --> 01:13:26.780
 And so thank you guys for watching.

01:13:27.120 --> 01:13:30.340
 Thank you, Jeff, for sharing that message on gospel fluency.

01:13:30.740 --> 01:13:33.960
 The idea of gospel conversations and what that looks like as missionaries.

01:13:34.500 --> 01:13:36.580
 Understanding that piece of the puzzle.

01:13:37.000 --> 01:13:37.500
 Oh, my gosh.

01:13:37.520 --> 01:13:39.760
 That set up the audience map so well.

01:13:40.240 --> 01:13:44.120
 Seriously, y'all, like, subscribe to some of the other conferences.

01:13:44.660 --> 01:13:45.580
 Access the base.

01:13:45.700 --> 01:13:51.140
 We're going to announce when we get it all these videos online in FAM.

01:13:51.580 --> 01:13:53.580
 And it's going to be incredible.

01:13:53.820 --> 01:13:56.180
 It's a very impactful conference.

01:13:56.980 --> 01:13:57.860
 But I'm going to land the plane.

01:13:58.480 --> 01:13:59.700
 Thank you, JMO, for stopping by.

01:14:00.520 --> 01:14:04.240
 For JMO, for Jeff Vanderstelt, this is Jeff Reed with The Church Digital.

01:14:04.240 --> 01:14:07.520
 Thanks for hanging out with us today on the show.

01:14:08.140 --> 01:14:11.640
 We'll see you Tuesday for what's coming up next.

01:14:11.900 --> 01:14:17.600
 Don't forget to sign up for Control-Alt-Recover, www.missionary.digital.

01:14:17.960 --> 01:14:18.540
 See y'all later.