Atlanta, Ga. – From the opening note, Passion 2013 has been another brilliant illustration of how big our God is, and that he is capable of capturing a generation of young people who know, love, and live for Jesus. 

Louie Giglio and the Passion team continue to grow and refine a movement that engages students with a big vision of God, and then aims to set their lives on a trajectory of mission, sacrifice, and service for the advance of the gospel.

It’s impossible to adequately describe the experience of standing together in one room with 60,000 college students worshipping through strong, God-centered music, and then sitting with them to receive God's word and his commission to make him …

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The Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta was rocking for last night’s major college bowl game that came down to the last snap, but anticipations are that it will be even louder the next three nights — with praise for Jesus.

Well over 50,000 college students ascend on the Dome today as Passion 2013 begins this evening and goes through Friday morning. While Clemson’s game-winning field goal, with no time left on the clock, signaled the night’s end for players and fans, it was just the beginning for a small army of staff and volunteers who traded sleep to turn a football stadium into a massive worship gathering for a large army to celebrate the beauty and grace and supremacy of Jesus.

The first…

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With this week’s Together for the Gospel conference (T4G) gathering at the basketball arena in Louisville, it seemed like hoops was the right direction to take the promo.

But, come on, it’s Opening Week in Major League Baseball, and there are nine speakers giving nine plenary addresses. Nine. Nine innings. Nine men on the field. The list of nine speakers is almost a lineup card, is it not?

Which got some of us at the DG offices thinking, Forget the conference, if this were a baseball lineup card, would it make sense to bat the players in this order? And what positions would they play in the field?

So, first, here’s the order for this week, and second, some of our commentary on the line…

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Together for the Underestimated Gospel, April 10-12, 2012, in Louisville, KY.

In the sixth and final session of the Trellis and Vine workshop, Col Marshall presented 13 ideas for changing a complicated and programmatic church culture into a culture of disciple-making:

1. Set the agenda on Sunday. The public ministry of the gospel and the Scriptures is essential.
2. Teach “the ministry of the pew”—that everyone can minister to everyone, and they can come to the weekly gatherings on the lookout for others to engage with, welcome, and minister to.
3. Be a catalyst of a network of discipling relationships. Begin discipling others to disciple others at the grassroots.
4. Encourage every trellis worker also to be a vine grower. Help the trellis workers to “think vine-ishly” about the…

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Women in the Work of Vine-Growing

The fifth session of this 2-day Trellis and Vine workshop began with an excursus as Tony briefly commented on the ministry of women in this vine-growing work. Tony and Col both hold to a complementarian view of gender roles. Although this is different from the Anglicanism in which they are a part, Tony admits that the Scriptures drive them to the complementarian position.

In fact, their understanding of gender roles has created a better platform for what they would consider real women’s ministry. The issue in many egalitarian churches can often drift to the issue of power. But ministry is not about power. Real ministry is about ministering the Word of G…

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After yesterday’s afternoon of small-group evaluation and discussion, we started Day 2 with another teaching session.

Col Marshall led us through 1 Thessalonians 1:1–2:16 and pointed to how Paul himself was a trainer of ministers—a discipler of disciplemakers. Three key points Col highlighted from the text came under the headings 1) word, 2) prayer, and 3) parenting.

First, Paul’s ministry was word-centered—shaped and powered by the gospel and the Scriptures. Col challenged us to “be plain speakers of the gospel, and let God do the work.”

Which means, secondly, dependence on God and his Spirit—characterized by prayer. In explaining our need for God’s help, Col commented, “Our sin keeps…

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For session three yesterday of the Trellis and Vine workshop (the second half of which is today), the pastors split into three groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their current ministry.  I sat in on one group and listened to the discussion. As one pastor would stand, introduce himself, and report from the frontlines, all of the pastors responded with resonating nods. Although these pastors are speaking as workers in different contexts, their shared vocation creates a warm camaraderie.

As the three groups of pastors came back together, Col picked up the teaching by introducing some trellises for disciple making. On the foundation of Sunday gatherings and the public ministry o…

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Col began the second session of today’s workshop with a story of a young cricket player who embraced the gospel after two years of intentional ministry of the Word. In summary, Col said that the careful, personal proclamation of the gospel, alongside the public, is being used by God to call people to himself.

Why Do We Do Small Groups?

The session then moved into the subject of small group ministry within the local church. The pace of the sessions are helpful, weaving the teaching by Col and Tony with focused discussion by the pastors gathered. The first question posed to elicit discussion was simply, “Why do we have small groups?”

The 100 pastors huddled into groups of two or three an…

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We're at Bethlehem's North Campus for the first of a 2-day Trellis & the Vine workshop with Col Marshall and Tony Payne (authors of the book by the same title). We found out at the beginning of this morning's session that there are attendees here from not only the 5-state region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas) but also as far as New Hampshire, south Texas, and Oregon.

Tony Payne led us through the first session on the biblical vision of Christian ministry.

God's Agenda for the World: The Gospel

Payne began by asking, "What is God's agenda in the world?" It is not political transformation or social liberation (the liberal agenda) or a gospel of personal fixes for our l…

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