Weekly, J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, invites us to ask him anything on his own podcast. When we had the opportunity to have a conversation with J.D., we took him up on the invitation! We asked about women in church leadership, fulfilling our callings, the local church, and how to help those who've been abused. We hope, like us, you find this conversation helpful in navigating these tough issues.About J.D.: J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.The Summit is characterized by its gospel focus and sending culture. As Pastor J.D. often says, “The gospel is not merely the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity, it’s also the pool itself.” The deeper we dive into the extravagant love of Christ, the more our lives will be filled with unquenchable joy, reckless generosity, and audacious faith.  Depth in the gospel also leads to width in the mission. Under Pastor J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of over 10,000, making it one of Outreach magazine’s “top 25 fastest-growing churches in America” for many years running. Seating capacity, however, is not the church’s primary metric for success. Sending capacity is. Pastor J.D. has led the Summit in a bold vision to plant one thousand new churches by the year 2050. In the last 15 years, the church has sent out more than 1,000 people to live on church planting teams—in North Carolina, across the United States, and around the world.   Pastor J.D. Greear has authored several books, including Above All: The Gospel Is the Source of the Church's Renewal (2019), Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems (2018), Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches That Send (2015), Gospel:  Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary (2011), Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart:  How to Know for Sure You Are Saved (2013), and Jesus, Continued … Why the Spirit Inside You Is Better Than Jesus Beside You (2014).Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, writing on the correlations between early church presentations of the gospel and Islamic theology. Seeing Muslims come to faith in Christ has long been a burden of his, a burden that led him to serve in Southeast Asia with the International Mission Board.Pastor J.D. is currently serving as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention.Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica live in Raleigh. Together they are raising four ridiculously cute kids: Kharis, Alethia, Ryah, and Adon. Links:Ask Me Anything with Pastor J.D. GreearWhat Your Church Needs to Know About Abuse Reporting LawsBecoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused resourcesGospel Above All Bible Study Quote Us:"I think God designed for His church to be this panoply of voices that are coming from different perspectives." -  @jdgreear #MARKEDpodcast"We need the initiative and the wisdom and the energy, the gifts of our sisters in Christ in the Kingdom."  - @jdgreear #MARKEDpodcast"One of the reasons we're in a church is because our ministry gets magnified and amplified by being around like-minded believers." - @jdgreear #MARKEDpodcast"We have to help be voices for the voiceless. Sometimes the people who are the most vulnerable are the ones that are going to be heard the least." - @jdgreear #MARKEDpodcast"The church ought to be the safest place in the world for victims and the vulnerab

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