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Welcome back to Every Church Flourishing, the podcast of the Great Commission Association.
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I'm the Associate Director of Missions for the Great Commission Association,
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Christopher Cole, and I'm here today with the host of our podcast, Pastor Chase Thompson.
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Howdy. Pastor Chase, today we get the privilege of listening to an interview
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that we recorded with the Director of Missions for the Great Commission Association, Dr.
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Mike Stewart, my boss and your friend, and the friend to every one of our pastors,
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has been serving as our Executive Director of Missions
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for over 28 years. Now, this makes him one of the longest running executive
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directors of missions or any kind of director of missions in the United States.
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I understand he's actually the second, right?
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Yeah, it is. He is well known in associational life and in the SBC in many different
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circles. He is a strategist.
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He came into an association that was really small and struggling.
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In fact, fun fact, nobody else applied for this job 28 years ago.
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Nice.
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And we are not there now.
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We are in a very different world where our association is thriving by God's grace,
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and that grace has been exemplified by the faithful efforts,
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the persistent work that God has done in and through Dr. Stewart.
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That's sort of the big level, the metal level introduction to him.
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But I will just tell you this, as one of the pastors in his association,
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and you know this to be true too, I'm sure it's your experience,
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he is a good friend to our pastors and to our churches.
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He's faithful to our churches to minister to them, to encourage them,
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to equip them, and to protect them when that's needed. We are so grateful that
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we got to do this interview with him.
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He's going to give us some great deep insights into the church,
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into strategies about churches being healthy and flourishing here in Central
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California that you can translate to your area as well. So here we go with Dr. Stewart.
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We are back here with Pastor Chase Thompson, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Salinas. Hi. And Dr.
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Mike Stewart, our Great Commission Association's Executive Director of Missions.
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And we get to spend a little bit of time today just hearing more from Dr. Stewart about
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our association and his vision and pictures and ideas of what an association can and should be.
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Yeah, let's go. So, Dr. Stewart, your hypothetical situation,
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you're on an elevator with a young pastor or a church leader,
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and they happen to recognize you and ask a couple of questions about the Great
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Commission Association. You have two minutes. It's a long elevator ride.
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This is your chance to give your elevator speech. Why would a church or a church
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leader or a pastor want to join the Great Commission Association.
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My pitch would be that we need them and in their church to advance the gospel
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together with the rest of our partner member churches, and they can do that in a greater way.
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I'd ask questions, what is their plan to reach the Hispanic population that's in Salinas?
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What's their plan as a Great Commission church to reach the many,
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many new immigrants coming into the Bay Area that don't speak their language?
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Do they have one? And if they don't have one. Why not partner with GCA to advance
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the gospel? It's a responsibility to be a Great Commission Church.
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So we're part of that solution, and we've been here a long time.
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And you need friends. I'd also say you need friends in ministry that will be
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there with you when things are great and when things aren't so great,
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because that pastor has a lot of things he's doing. He's dealing with his
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His own ministry, his own sense of worth, but also he has his wife,
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he has his children, he has the economics, he has many things swirling around
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that he's trying to balance.
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He needs trusted people. He needs them more than he knows.
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And you learn that later on in ministry that you really need people that you can tell real things to.
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Yeah, absolutely. So around 20 years of ministry pastoring with the Southern
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Baptist Church, I've been to a couple of conventions, not nearly enough,
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and a couple of denominational things. I didn't really make friends at those
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things. And you mentioned friendship.
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I happen to know that the GCA does multiple get-togethers and events throughout the years.
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Can you tell us a little bit about those and how the GCA, just kind of being
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part of it, facilitates relationships?
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Well, we do all kinds of things throughout the year. We'll have prayer meetings with pastors.
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We have small group inviting pastors to lunch and to be in smaller groups so they can be known.
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We do those. and we do this, we're a large association. So we have southern
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region, central region, northern region connection events.
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We have our annual meeting is a big deal for us. A lot of our churches participate.
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They like that. They like coming together. We do it overnight in a hotel so people can have time.
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It's hard to build friendships with no time. And nobody cares about coming to a 90-minute meeting.
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They want to be with people who love God and who care about them.
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There's lots of connection points out. Chris, what are some others?
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Yeah, well, we try to have regular regional pastoral gatherings in each of our regions.
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And this year, 2026, we've added two new ambassadors to our Mission Advance
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team to help facilitate that in our Central and North region.
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We already have Dr. Chris Smith, who will be on future episodes of this podcast,
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Helping facilitate that in the South region.
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And we're trying to make them not just pastors, but hopefully we're wanting
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pastors and other leaders in the church come together. So we have one this coming
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Friday night, for example.
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Dr. Stewart and I will be at—just got the report this morning.
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We're going to have pastors and pastors' wives and other leaders present.
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Sometimes we have just the pastors come together so that they can sort of have honest pastor talk.
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But we want to also do that, have other leaders, part of developing and raising
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up other leaders, elders in the church or young men that are coming up in ministry,
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want them to come and see what this fellowship is like.
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We have those planned throughout the year. Another new thing for us this year
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is going to be our first-ever Pastors and Wives Retreat.
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This year, we focused it specifically in partnership with the Galatians 6-6
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organization to help focus on developing healthy pastoral marriages.
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So this one's going to have more of a marriage emphasis.
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We'll see how this first year goes, but we're constantly trying to bring together
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different types of pastors and their families.
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Their wives and their leaders in the churches so that there is good fellowship
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across the communities, in addition to those things that Dr.
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Stewart was talking about.
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In the marriage retreat, we were trying to partner. So that's only,
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what is it, a $2,000 cost event at the hotel?
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I don't remember what you, but it was, we're trying to make it so it's $99. What are those numbers?
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Right. Yeah, the pastors and wives are only having to pay $99.
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It's an incredible deal.
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For this retreat, and they get to stay in literally, I think,
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a world-class hotel right on the beach in Monterey
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And they get to have this great resource brought into them. There's going to
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be worship. There's going to be live translation, because we are a diverse community of churches.
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And there's going to be some great resourcing that they'll be given and just
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good times of fellowship together, but lots of one-on-one time for pastors and wives.
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And the overall value that we've calculated is well over $2,000 per couple that
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they're going to be given. and they only have to provide a $99 basically registration
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fee to be there and experience that.
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The hotel gets paid for, the meals get covered, all of those things,
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and that's only possible because of our churches coming together and setting
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aside GCA resources for this, but also partners that are helping pay for this.
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So there's an invitation out there. If you haven't yet found what you want to
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be giving to this year, so maybe your church or you as an individual say,
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hey, I want to invest in pastors and their wives, you can do that.
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Go to our gcasbc.org website, and you can find there a link to contribute to
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this particular ministry, because we love partnering together on those kinds of events.
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Yeah, fantastic.
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Yeah, our pastors and wives are excited about it. We have a pretty strong response
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happening, so that's just a few of the things that are going on.
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Yeah. So I don't work for the GCA, but as a pastor, as a part of the GCA,
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there's stuff coming up all the time to plug in and either a small group,
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you know, kind of regional kind of meeting or big gatherings.
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And we had the best food spread at the last October gathering of the whole group.
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Man, it was so good. And the fact that we're really right close to lunch right
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now is hurting me a little bit as I think of it. So we better change the subject.
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We better change the subject. So, Dr. Stewart, you have been...
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Director of missions now for over 28 years.
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And I believe just a week or so ago, you became the longest tenured director
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of missions in the United States because your competitor retired a couple of weeks ago.
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Well, there's been an edit to that.
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Oh, there's been an edit to that.
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Yes. My friend in Las Vegas, Harry Watson, is director of missions there,
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and I'm told he's been there already 29, 30 years. So yeah, I'm second.
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So you've got a ton of experience. You get a chance as a director of missions,
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you get to teach a 30-day crash course to leaders and potentially key leaders
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in Baptist life, pastors.
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And what are the two most significant overall areas that you would like to emphasize in that course?
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Because you were a pastor for many years, a successful pastor in Texas and in
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Arizona, thriving ministries, and then now almost 30 years as a director of mission.
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What are the things you would emphasize in that course?
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Well, first of all, no director of missions in California is coming to a 30-day course.
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So the minute you said that, they tapped out.
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Oh, okay.
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You know, I would say, well, you said two, I'm going to say three,
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but I would say your mindset.
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What do you believe the association is or can be?
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Inside of your head, there is already a box when you step into it,
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but that box hasn't been created by God.
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It's been created by past structures.
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So a lot of things at GCA that we try to do or are willing to do is I believe
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that the association is a missions organization.
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It isn't a subset of something else. It isn't in In our batter's life,
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it's a partner with every other organization, but it's got critical work and
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it can be creative, it can be open, it can be daring.
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If you believe the box has always got to be something that is smaller than,
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or more, then you're in a trap.
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That hasn't been given to you by the Lord. So that's a mindset as you go into,
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what does God call me to do on mission with him? It's a great commission work.
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It can be anything God wants it to be. And I would just encourage any director of missions, believe.
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Believe that God wants to use your organization in an incredible way to further
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the gospel, and don't settle for what happened 10 years ago. So that'd be one.
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Two, invest in prayer. Several years ago, I was the president of the California
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Director of Missions Fellowship, and I like to lead with books,
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and I gave all the directors of missions a book called, In fact,
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it was referenced by CJ Juan.
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It was called Old Past, New Power.
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It was a book on prayer. And I had the directors of missions teach it to the
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group. We all came together.
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And this was just before COVID or why that was right up for it.
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And they all taught a chapter. I like to give books away, and then I have.
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When I teach them with leaders, I give them a chapter because I know they'll
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read that chapter, at least.
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I think there were nine or 10 chapters they read, they all read,
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and they all presented. They had five minutes or 10 minutes,
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and we all talked about the chapter together.
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There was such a spiritual awakening that came out of that, and we discovered
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that one of the brothers got up, one of the good brothers said,
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I don't know about the rest of you, but he goes, how many of you have a daily
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quiet time? Because I don't.
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And I thought, what a brave question and what a brave admission.
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And he said, this book has changed my life. And he goes, and I've led my whole
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associational calendar is about where is prayer? Where are we praying together?
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And he said, and he later told me this, this is what pulled in through COVID.
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Invest in that, in yourself, in the rhythm of your life and in the rhythm of
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your association. it's not just it's it's it's just not religious talk it is
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you look at any scripture
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Every person that God uses powerfully in Scripture, they are people of prayer.
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They are men and women of prayer.
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And so, you know, I was just reading in the morning about Daniel,
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you know, hearing the idea that all the wise men are going to be killed.
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And when he hears about it, he asks the guy about it. What does he do?
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He asks his friends to pray with him. That was normal.
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I'm not sure. That needs to become normal. So I would say for our director of
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missions, make that normal. We pray together. we see a world that God has put
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us in that needs His power that comes through prayer.
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Many times you come out of the pastorate as a director of missions,
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and you have been trained to serve people and to care for them.
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You're a good shepherd, and they are your sheep.
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Pastors do not think of themselves as your sheep. The director of missions,
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they're not the director of missions sheep.
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The director of missions is a pastor at heart most of the time,
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and so he sees In fact, I asked the new director of mission,
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so what's your objective?
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What do you think the big goal is of this year? And he goes,
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I just want to take care of my pastors and meet their needs.
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And how can I counsel and help them?
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And I listened to them. I said, you know, these are the mighty men of God.
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These are the mighty men of God, hand-selected by God himself.
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He has placed them in the battlefield.
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They do not see themselves as weak or needy or broken.
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They are his champions on the field. I would go to them. I said,
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I would go to them, know them, pray for them.
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They need your encouragement, but always have something in your back pocket
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as a way to ask them to move further into the kingdom of God work.
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How can their church help? You know, the collaboration or whatever.
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Pastor, I need you to be praying with me about this. These are his servants.
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And if you see them differently, if you see them as always being in need,
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you'll provide for things for them.
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It's not helpful. But approach them
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And that's how I try to approach pastors of any church in any size.
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They are the champions of God. They are in the field, the battlefield.
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And they may not have the greatest victory last Sunday, but they're still fighting,
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and you can approach them in a different way.
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They are, as I said, they are God's servants.
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Such a good word. Inviting them to be on mission, inviting them to be part of
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that prayer movement, inviting them to actually step into their personal prayer lives.
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And that's the heartbeat of the Holy Spirit. That leader is filled with the
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Holy Spirit, and you're speaking across.
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You're speaking to the Holy Spirit, the heart of the Holy Spirit in that person.
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When you're inviting them into Great Commission, work into a greater way,
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that is going to resonate with the Spirit of God that's in all of us.
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Amen. So it's shifting gears a little bit. Let's think strategically here.
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California is obviously the largest state by population in the United States of America.
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It's one of the epicenters of the entire world. One thing that strikes me as
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a strategic issue is that Southern Baptists and maybe the evangelical church in general,
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we're not planting a lot of churches in California as compared to Georgia,
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Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee.
00:16:43.530 --> 00:16:49.270
So along those lines, do you think that the,
00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:56.070
generally speaking, the national denominational leaderships of these evangelical churches,
00:16:56.290 --> 00:17:01.910
are they prioritizing the West Coast and California adequately,
00:17:01.910 --> 00:17:07.110
or is the lack of church plants, the lack of resources,
00:17:07.130 --> 00:17:11.530
sort of more of a reflection of a difficult economic reality here?
00:17:11.530 --> 00:17:15.710
Chase, it could be a both-and on that.
00:17:15.810 --> 00:17:21.030
Let's speak to the latter first, which is the economics of being a national
00:17:21.030 --> 00:17:23.670
agency whose job is to plant churches.
00:17:24.401 --> 00:17:29.001
And you have $10 million. I'm just picking a number. And I got a report on how
00:17:29.001 --> 00:17:29.921
many churches we planted.
00:17:30.161 --> 00:17:35.781
Well, if I can plant 1,000 churches in Iowa for $10,000 each,
00:17:36.021 --> 00:17:39.581
there is a dynamic there. And I appreciate that difficulty.
00:17:39.721 --> 00:17:43.561
But if I say to you, yeah, that church is going to cost a million dollars in
00:17:43.561 --> 00:17:49.761
San Jose or Los Angeles, I can imagine the stress on that national organization.
00:17:49.861 --> 00:17:58.341
They know it's needed, but the way things will be evaluated is going to perhaps impact that.
00:17:58.681 --> 00:18:02.861
And your first part of the question, are we investing enough in the West Coast
00:18:02.861 --> 00:18:04.821
strategy? I would say no.
00:18:05.101 --> 00:18:09.601
And even when we do invest, we invest with non-West Coast affinity.
00:18:09.881 --> 00:18:11.581
Yeah, unpack that a little bit. What do you mean there?
00:18:11.701 --> 00:18:16.061
Well, we many times bring, we have, we're willing to invest in,
00:18:16.161 --> 00:18:18.401
the structures are willing to invest and people they know.
00:18:18.541 --> 00:18:24.041
And the people they know are not the people who have the California or West
00:18:24.041 --> 00:18:27.701
Coast culture from the toes up. They've always lived there.
00:18:27.861 --> 00:18:32.041
I grew up in outside Phoenix, Arizona. We never had big churches.
00:18:32.181 --> 00:18:36.521
We never were the game in town, but we were faithful, winning people to Christ.
00:18:36.741 --> 00:18:40.541
But that's the world I grew up in. We were not supposed to be a majority.
00:18:40.721 --> 00:18:42.341
We were not supposed to influence politics.
00:18:42.561 --> 00:18:48.161
We were supposed to win people to Christ, tell the truth about Jesus, and do the work.
00:18:48.281 --> 00:18:54.221
So if there is going to be a strategic move by national and organizations about
00:18:54.221 --> 00:18:57.941
this, they're going to have to trust leadership from those places,
00:18:57.941 --> 00:19:02.301
from the West Coast, from the Northwest Convention,
00:19:02.521 --> 00:19:04.061
from the California Convention areas.
00:19:04.201 --> 00:19:08.621
They have to trust leadership, invest there, and they have to bring up a nucleus
00:19:08.621 --> 00:19:12.561
of leaders here who this isn't, this is normal.
00:19:12.861 --> 00:19:17.181
The California or the West Coast culture is normal and they like it.
00:19:17.910 --> 00:19:22.510
They like how the people work because they understand it, and they spread the
00:19:22.510 --> 00:19:25.370
gospel across a similar culture.
00:19:25.570 --> 00:19:28.030
They know how that person is going to get to a decision.
00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:30.910
It isn't how they're going to get to it in other places.
00:19:31.770 --> 00:19:35.590
So that's my answer. But I don't think there's not a want to.
00:19:35.810 --> 00:19:39.910
I think you ask any national group, do you want to win people to Christ in the West Coast?
00:19:40.050 --> 00:19:45.150
Yes, of course. But the how to and the cost to are real things we need to pray
00:19:45.150 --> 00:19:49.170
for these leaders about as they evaluate, are we really doing the best?
00:19:49.270 --> 00:19:52.830
Because these men and women who have to run these agencies, they report to other
00:19:52.830 --> 00:19:54.310
people besides people on the West Coast.
00:19:54.470 --> 00:20:00.290
So we can edit this question out if we need to, because it's a little bit of a controversial one.
00:20:01.810 --> 00:20:05.510
Essentially, as an officer boots on the ground in California,
00:20:05.810 --> 00:20:12.270
are you regularly contacted by the North American Mission Board about the issues
00:20:12.270 --> 00:20:15.710
related to evangelism and church planting in No.
00:20:16.050 --> 00:20:20.330
That's not how they have structured their engagement most of the time.
00:20:20.530 --> 00:20:26.070
I'm contacted by the local rep here from time to time about events that they're
00:20:26.070 --> 00:20:29.110
having. They would like support or training.
00:20:29.658 --> 00:20:35.858
But strategy, engagement, placement, all of those things, we're not teamed up
00:20:35.858 --> 00:20:36.838
on that. And that's a loss.
00:20:36.998 --> 00:20:42.838
That's a loss because of just local knowledge and local engagement and partnership.
00:20:43.058 --> 00:20:46.458
Our house in the South was larger than our house in California.
00:20:46.658 --> 00:20:49.958
The yard twice as big, more bedrooms, more square footage.
00:20:50.278 --> 00:20:54.358
And our house in California is worth the parsonage either way.
00:20:54.738 --> 00:20:58.898
The house in California is worth four times as much as our house in Alabama.
00:20:58.898 --> 00:21:00.678
That's because the mosquitoes are smaller.
00:21:00.958 --> 00:21:04.618
Oh, buddy, there's so many mosquitoes in Alabama and none here.
00:21:04.778 --> 00:21:07.858
As you're kind of hinting around at, it's an entirely different reality.
00:21:08.078 --> 00:21:14.318
And if the leadership of Southern Baptists and other evangelical churches come
00:21:14.318 --> 00:21:18.078
from another part of the country and they're not working with boots on the ground,
00:21:18.578 --> 00:21:22.358
West coasters who understand the culture here, we're missing a huge opportunity.
00:21:22.358 --> 00:21:25.918
I think one factor that plays in that Dr.
00:21:25.998 --> 00:21:30.478
Stewart alluded to that's significant, you know, in addition to the economics,
00:21:30.738 --> 00:21:35.198
the cost of living, all of those different kinds of things, but it impacts the
00:21:35.198 --> 00:21:40.818
mindset of the missionary sending agencies and the networks is that you have
00:21:40.818 --> 00:21:43.698
to enter California with a missionary mindset.
00:21:43.698 --> 00:21:46.658
You can't approach it from a dominant cultural.
00:21:46.758 --> 00:21:49.418
It's almost like another country in so many ways.
00:21:49.558 --> 00:21:49.758
Right.
00:21:49.758 --> 00:21:54.178
Most of our leaders are not from a missional background.
00:21:54.338 --> 00:21:58.598
They're from a pastoral background. So it's geographical. It's where they were
00:21:58.598 --> 00:22:01.098
raised, how things worked. That's their wheelhouse.
00:22:01.278 --> 00:22:05.258
There are people around them that they can surround themselves with that would have that.
00:22:05.258 --> 00:22:10.198
Right. But if because they don't have it, I think they tend to underestimate
00:22:10.198 --> 00:22:14.678
the cross-cultural engagement that's required.
00:22:14.678 --> 00:22:18.878
And I'm not just talking about ethnicities, but value systems,
00:22:19.318 --> 00:22:23.838
socioeconomics, educational differences, so much more.
00:22:23.958 --> 00:22:28.338
And then just culturally, California and the West Coast in general –
00:22:28.443 --> 00:22:32.643
is radically different than, say, Oklahoma, Texas, or Alabama,
00:22:32.883 --> 00:22:35.603
which you know because you came here from Alabama.
00:22:35.763 --> 00:22:38.903
And very few pastors, by the way, I just want to congratulate you,
00:22:39.383 --> 00:22:46.583
very few pastors make a successful transition from a Southern ministry in the
00:22:46.583 --> 00:22:50.803
heart of the Bible belt into long-term California ministry.
00:22:50.823 --> 00:22:53.843
And you've done that, Pastor Chase. You've been here for over eight years,
00:22:54.223 --> 00:22:56.083
which makes you an outlier.
00:22:56.323 --> 00:22:59.383
You already are genuinely a serious outlier.
00:22:59.543 --> 00:23:05.343
We have a very common turnover rate of Southerners lasting just about three
00:23:05.343 --> 00:23:07.543
years, and then they go home. They're done.
00:23:07.843 --> 00:23:11.223
And so you're truly unique. And we're blessed in GCA.
00:23:11.363 --> 00:23:15.183
We've had a number of pastors that have come in from the South that have done
00:23:15.183 --> 00:23:19.783
this hard work of adapting themselves culturally, missiologically,
00:23:19.863 --> 00:23:21.663
and you're one of them, and we're grateful.
00:23:21.663 --> 00:23:24.183
I don't even know how to talk about it. It's just grace of God,
00:23:24.283 --> 00:23:27.863
because it is an entirely different, totally different atmosphere here.
00:23:28.043 --> 00:23:30.623
Is there a fix to that situation?
00:23:30.823 --> 00:23:37.863
It almost seems like the IMB strategy would work better here than the domestic
00:23:37.863 --> 00:23:41.063
strategy that works really well in the southeastern United States.
00:23:41.063 --> 00:23:45.503
There are attributes. Two members of our team, myself, Dr. Chris Smith,
00:23:45.683 --> 00:23:47.863
we served with the IMB overseas.
00:23:48.323 --> 00:23:52.443
And I think in some ways, we would say on our mission advance team,
00:23:52.812 --> 00:23:59.472
that it has made a lot of the missional engagement here and our vision for what
00:23:59.472 --> 00:24:03.372
we want to see happen as we work towards every church flourishing,
00:24:03.552 --> 00:24:07.032
as we work towards every community being transformed by the gospel.
00:24:07.192 --> 00:24:10.072
It's given us a different mindset, for sure.
00:24:10.232 --> 00:24:14.792
But there are pastors like you, Pastor Drew Cunningham, another pastor that
00:24:14.792 --> 00:24:18.592
moved here from the Midwest that have that mentality.
00:24:18.852 --> 00:24:21.612
So, Oklahoma, yeah, it doesn't really fit in.
00:24:21.612 --> 00:24:23.252
It's just anti-Texas.
00:24:23.452 --> 00:24:27.652
But whatever it is, we've got great guys like that that have done really well
00:24:27.652 --> 00:24:29.952
here in reaching those communities.
00:24:30.072 --> 00:24:33.332
So I don't know that there is a single solution.
00:24:33.472 --> 00:24:40.432
In my opinion, us developing and developing tools for leaders to see that as
00:24:40.432 --> 00:24:44.172
part of their mentality, certainly as part of our mission and everything else.
00:24:44.272 --> 00:24:46.712
So I'd be curious how Dr. Stewart feels about that.
00:24:46.852 --> 00:24:53.792
There's a fix as far as on the national level. I don't have the capacity to know that.
00:24:53.892 --> 00:25:00.052
I think that takes for the national level to redefine where is missional work
00:25:00.052 --> 00:25:05.732
really needed and where there are enough existing churches in areas that they
00:25:05.732 --> 00:25:07.192
can take care of what's next.
00:25:07.372 --> 00:25:10.612
And we used to call that pioneer missions or areas of the United States
00:25:11.177 --> 00:25:14.897
And we've kind of lost that designation, but that's kind of an internal issue.
00:25:14.977 --> 00:25:18.537
But the other fix is, is for the churches that are in the West Coast,
00:25:18.697 --> 00:25:22.177
is I would say same thing when I talked about the mindset.
00:25:22.417 --> 00:25:27.537
The mindset is not for someone else to figure out how they're going to help
00:25:27.537 --> 00:25:33.077
us, but for us to turn to the Most High God and say, use us together,
00:25:33.657 --> 00:25:36.837
Build us together, don't do it for us, do it for the kingdom.
00:25:36.837 --> 00:25:41.137
And so our association and other like-minded partners, and there's a lot of
00:25:41.137 --> 00:25:43.137
people out there that want to advance the work of Jesus.
00:25:43.357 --> 00:25:47.837
If that's you and you're listening to this, we are thrilled to work with partners
00:25:47.837 --> 00:25:51.277
that want to see the work of Jesus through his church go forward.
00:25:51.377 --> 00:25:52.697
God has plenty of provision.
00:25:52.957 --> 00:25:57.237
And the leaders that we need are really in the churches in the West Coast.
00:25:57.377 --> 00:26:01.297
We just have to have great platforms and structures to identify leaders,
00:26:01.517 --> 00:26:05.097
encourage them like those pastors encouraged you as a young youth minister.
00:26:05.097 --> 00:26:10.237
Those need to be real and can come alive if we are, as leaders around in our
00:26:10.237 --> 00:26:14.217
association and others are saying, we see this as a need. We're going to make
00:26:14.217 --> 00:26:15.817
this real. There's got to be a path.
00:26:16.037 --> 00:26:20.117
And a guy can't get help to become a pastor or become a leader unless someone
00:26:20.117 --> 00:26:25.877
taps him on the shoulder and says, hey, there's a real resource here I want to walk with you in.
00:26:25.997 --> 00:26:28.297
So we're building, you know, the MAT team is doing their start.
00:26:28.457 --> 00:26:29.237
They've been doing that.
00:26:29.437 --> 00:26:33.237
They're building great structures to do that. And I think we're going to see
00:26:33.237 --> 00:26:37.497
a wave of leaders in the next two or three years that we're going to identify.
00:26:37.737 --> 00:26:41.337
And they're working with young men right now who are, they're so encouraging to me.
00:26:41.437 --> 00:26:46.117
I see what they want to do, how God's calling them. So we have to take responsibility ourselves.
00:26:46.417 --> 00:26:49.717
I thank God for everybody who wants to help as a national organization.
00:26:49.717 --> 00:26:53.357
We have wonderful partners all over, but we have to take responsibility as member
00:26:53.357 --> 00:26:55.037
churches and our own association.
00:26:55.297 --> 00:26:57.917
God's capable. He's faithful. He'll provide.
00:26:58.157 --> 00:27:02.537
Amen to that. One last question as we close out. Take off your pastor's hat.
00:27:03.057 --> 00:27:06.577
Dr. Stewart, what do you do for fun? What are your hobbies and hobbies?
00:27:06.784 --> 00:27:11.884
My hobbies aren't that fun, but, well, I will tell you my hobbies,
00:27:11.984 --> 00:27:15.684
but what I really, really, really like is ministry.
00:27:15.924 --> 00:27:22.224
I really like ministry. I like it. I'm so privileged that God called me,
00:27:22.244 --> 00:27:26.744
and I needed God so much in my life as a 10-year-old boy and confused about
00:27:26.744 --> 00:27:28.464
what's happening in my family and structure,
00:27:28.664 --> 00:27:33.184
man, going to church and hearing a pastor talk about that Jesus loved me and
00:27:33.184 --> 00:27:36.504
that he forgave me. I was in trouble a lot as a kid.
00:27:37.311 --> 00:27:41.591
And that he forgave me, he accepted me. Man, that was better than candy for me.
00:27:41.871 --> 00:27:45.311
And that pastor did not know that. I was a kid trying to process that.
00:27:45.571 --> 00:27:48.131
So I love ministry. I like to read.
00:27:48.431 --> 00:27:52.211
I enjoy reading. I like to play music. I write music sometimes.
00:27:52.611 --> 00:27:55.211
I enjoy that. I like getting to get with people to sing.
00:27:55.731 --> 00:27:57.511
And there's a Mike Stewart album.
00:27:59.151 --> 00:27:59.591
Legitimately.
00:28:00.111 --> 00:28:03.711
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. It sold less than a million copies.
00:28:03.891 --> 00:28:07.651
So just miss the platinum, And I've just missed, or gold, whatever that is.
00:28:07.811 --> 00:28:13.331
And I actually like playing, I get online and play Destiny 2 with my grandson over in Clovis.
00:28:13.411 --> 00:28:14.031
Whoa, okay.
00:28:14.171 --> 00:28:14.951
And we do that.
00:28:15.211 --> 00:28:16.791
Dr. Mike Video Gamer.
00:28:17.691 --> 00:28:20.031
I'm literally shocked. I would not have expected that.
00:28:20.151 --> 00:28:24.851
Well, what I like, I like the gaming with him. But it is that it is a source
00:28:24.851 --> 00:28:31.131
of relational conversations with my 13-year-old grandson that he just talks
00:28:31.131 --> 00:28:35.771
to me about life while we're playing. And that to me.
00:28:36.211 --> 00:28:36.791
That's huge.
00:28:37.111 --> 00:28:40.251
Yeah. Someone asked me, a guy asked me, so what do you want to invest in after
00:28:40.251 --> 00:28:43.571
you retire? I said, I want to invest in really knowing my grandchildren.
00:28:43.851 --> 00:28:48.391
Because as a pastor and director of missions and all the things I did, I didn't get to do that.
00:28:48.591 --> 00:28:52.731
And sometimes because of distractions, did not choose to do that with my own
00:28:52.731 --> 00:28:56.231
children as much as I should have. But with my grandchildren, I'm wiser now.
00:28:56.871 --> 00:29:00.511
My retirement is going to be, first of all, do I know them and do they know
00:29:00.511 --> 00:29:01.911
me and do they know the Lord?
00:29:02.411 --> 00:29:06.991
In a way that's a blessing. So that's what I like to do. I also like to go on
00:29:06.991 --> 00:29:10.331
walks with Sheila with our dog, Evie. And those are great.
00:29:10.471 --> 00:29:11.171
Shout out to Evie.
00:29:11.291 --> 00:29:13.891
And you might be a little bit of a baseball fan.
00:29:14.051 --> 00:29:18.731
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love the San Francisco Giants. I like baseball,
00:29:18.871 --> 00:29:21.891
follow that. I do it better when they're winning championships.
00:29:22.231 --> 00:29:22.631
Don't we all?
00:29:23.891 --> 00:29:27.071
But do believe that there will be Dodgers fans in heaven.
00:29:27.411 --> 00:29:28.091
We can hope.
00:29:28.867 --> 00:29:30.807
There's a theological dispute on that, but.
00:29:32.047 --> 00:29:36.587
Bit of trivia, Dr. Stewart. When you released your country music album,
00:29:36.887 --> 00:29:41.567
you came to Valley Baptist Church for a release party, and you sang with the
00:29:41.567 --> 00:29:43.127
Anthem Christian School students.
00:29:43.627 --> 00:29:47.847
And it was one of the biggest Sundays we ever had because their families came.
00:29:48.027 --> 00:29:53.227
And I look on that day fondly because it boosted us by a lot. So thank you for that.
00:29:53.407 --> 00:29:58.207
Release another CD very soon and come back and promote it. You will be welcomed.
00:29:58.207 --> 00:30:00.107
All right. That would be great. Yeah.
00:30:00.507 --> 00:30:03.727
Don't hold your breath on that, but I appreciate the compliment there.
00:30:03.947 --> 00:30:08.247
It's just a joy to do it. And thank you for letting me share from my heart about
00:30:08.247 --> 00:30:09.607
Every Church Flourishing.
00:30:09.747 --> 00:30:13.447
Well, Dr. Stewart, we are definitely having you back very, very soon on many
00:30:13.447 --> 00:30:16.447
future episodes of Every Church Flourishing.
00:30:16.627 --> 00:30:20.867
And we are glad that you got to be with us today. We're grateful for your leadership.
00:30:21.087 --> 00:30:24.067
We're grateful for everything you have meant to our churches.
00:30:24.067 --> 00:30:28.907
Every single pastor I talk to in the association, when they talk about GCA,
00:30:29.247 --> 00:30:34.887
they have a story about how GCA has ministered to them.
00:30:35.067 --> 00:30:38.047
And almost all of those stories start with something like, well,
00:30:38.087 --> 00:30:41.827
I called Dr. Stewart, and then this happened.
00:30:42.007 --> 00:30:45.767
And so we're grateful for your faithful ministry. 28 years, we're looking forward
00:30:45.767 --> 00:30:50.667
to the next couple of them together, and then to see all that God is going to be doing in your life.
00:30:50.887 --> 00:30:52.567
Thanks for your time, Dr. Stewart. You're welcome.
00:30:52.747 --> 00:30:53.127
God bless.
00:30:53.713 --> 00:30:57.433
All right, Pastor Chris, we're back. What is next on the agenda?
00:30:57.833 --> 00:31:01.213
We like to bring you practical resources.
00:31:01.493 --> 00:31:07.033
We want to help ordinary pastors and church leaders be equipped and encouraged
00:31:07.033 --> 00:31:10.393
in their ministry to help their church flourish.
00:31:10.393 --> 00:31:18.293
And we try to find resources that we think will help churches just thrive or grow or learn.
00:31:18.453 --> 00:31:22.053
And a lot of those resources might be new to you.
00:31:22.613 --> 00:31:28.153
And today, Chase, you're going to talk to us, I think, about an AI tool.
00:31:28.153 --> 00:31:33.753
And I know that a lot of pastors may sort of be a little bit uncertain about AI.
00:31:33.953 --> 00:31:37.513
Church leaders may even be scared of AI.
00:31:37.613 --> 00:31:42.813
But I know you've been using AI, and I think we're going to do a future episode
00:31:42.813 --> 00:31:50.333
all about how we can use AI in ministry and use it well and use it ethically.
00:31:50.533 --> 00:31:54.873
People have passionate feelings about AI.
00:31:55.293 --> 00:32:02.053
Some people hate it, and I get that. And some people love it and probably overuse
00:32:02.053 --> 00:32:05.013
it to the point of laziness, and I get that too.
00:32:05.233 --> 00:32:10.953
What's your take? If you had to give a thumbs up overall or a thumbs down to
00:32:10.953 --> 00:32:13.373
AI, Pastor Christopher, what would you do?
00:32:13.633 --> 00:32:15.073
Can I give a thumb sideways?
00:32:15.433 --> 00:32:16.433
Yes, you can.
00:32:16.593 --> 00:32:20.813
Because I think like all technologies, these are...
00:32:21.431 --> 00:32:24.611
Largely, in many ways, neutral.
00:32:24.911 --> 00:32:29.171
Those technologies can be used for the advancement of God's kingdom.
00:32:29.351 --> 00:32:32.191
There's things that AIs can do when it comes to,
00:32:32.491 --> 00:32:37.751
for example, Bible translation or engagement with reaching unreached people
00:32:37.751 --> 00:32:44.691
groups that we should anticipate that would have taken much greater human efforts to do.
00:32:44.891 --> 00:32:49.111
Now, we should be concerned about its ethical implications across society,
00:32:49.111 --> 00:32:54.391
but there's also just ordinary tools that will make life easier in a world that
00:32:54.391 --> 00:32:59.131
can often be challenging. So I'm looking forward to seeing how some of those tools develop.
00:32:59.331 --> 00:33:01.511
Now, I do think we also need to be cautious.
00:33:01.931 --> 00:33:06.611
There's AI tools out there that are quite, frankly, evil.
00:33:06.851 --> 00:33:09.771
In the last couple of weeks of the time that we're recording this,
00:33:09.931 --> 00:33:16.851
there's been quite a few news articles about AI generating inappropriate images of people,
00:33:17.071 --> 00:33:24.371
sexualized images of people taking ordinary persons and generating sexualized images of them.
00:33:24.531 --> 00:33:29.851
And of course, that would be an ungodly and evil use of that kind of technology.
00:33:30.231 --> 00:33:37.511
Using AI to cheat your way through things that require knowledge probably is an unethical.
00:33:37.611 --> 00:33:39.391
It is an unethical use of that.
00:33:39.731 --> 00:33:46.391
And I'm concerned personally about pastors using AI, not as a research tool,
00:33:46.571 --> 00:33:49.411
but using AI to write their sermon.
00:33:49.711 --> 00:33:53.231
Yeah. And it will. It will write a sermon and it's not, I don't know,
00:33:53.411 --> 00:33:58.071
it'll write a fairly decent theological sermon if you put the right things in,
00:33:58.171 --> 00:34:00.671
but it's a terrible thing to do.
00:34:01.330 --> 00:34:02.270
Don't do that.
00:34:02.990 --> 00:34:06.270
Right. And, you know, I mean, I could tell it.
00:34:06.450 --> 00:34:12.470
I know there's some AIs that we could tell, say, hey, I want a sermon on this
00:34:12.470 --> 00:34:19.350
text, and I want it to be in the style of Tim Keller or the style of Dr.
00:34:19.510 --> 00:34:24.330
John Piper or somebody like that. Or even in Baptist circles,
00:34:24.430 --> 00:34:30.970
I could probably say, you know, draw up a sermon on 1 John in the style of Al Mohler.
00:34:30.970 --> 00:34:34.750
And we might see what that sounds like or looks like.
00:34:34.830 --> 00:34:40.590
But the problem is, it wouldn't be me preaching to my congregation
00:34:41.327 --> 00:34:48.027
from my exegesis of God's word under the influence and direction of the Holy Spirit.
00:34:48.207 --> 00:34:55.667
So I think AI could be a research tool and many other great organizational tool,
00:34:56.027 --> 00:34:57.307
a lot of great tools there.
00:34:57.327 --> 00:35:01.327
But you're going to tell us about a particular tool today that you found helpful.
00:35:01.487 --> 00:35:03.267
So Pastor Chase, why don't you tell us about that?
00:35:03.507 --> 00:35:07.607
Yeah, it's called SermonMakerAI. No, I'm just kidding. It's not really called that.
00:35:07.747 --> 00:35:12.187
I'm going to tell you about Notebook LM, which is a tool from Google.00:35:12.227 --> 00:35:18.207
This is maybe the single most impressive AI tool I've used. It's subtle.00:35:19.307 --> 00:35:27.007
What you do is you upload a source or a group of sources and it will take in a lot of information.00:35:27.007 --> 00:35:32.747
You upload PDFs or documents or books even, and you have to have it in the right00:35:32.747 --> 00:35:39.047
format, but you upload it and it will take that and it will make various things from it.00:35:39.127 --> 00:35:44.527
For instance, Our interview of the GCA senior directors from the last couple00:35:44.527 --> 00:35:50.947
of episodes, I uploaded and it made graphics and infographics and a slide sheet.00:35:51.107 --> 00:35:54.427
It made a summary video of it.00:35:54.647 --> 00:35:59.867
And to listen to it, if I had heard that video that it made,00:36:00.007 --> 00:36:03.647
which is narrated by a voice, if I had heard that a year ago,00:36:03.887 --> 00:36:09.107
a year and a half ago, and you said, is this a human or is this an AI or a robot?00:36:09.107 --> 00:36:16.107
I would say 100% that is a human in every way, shape, or form because the voice just sounds...00:36:16.707 --> 00:36:20.607
Look, I know AI voices. I've worked with AI ever since it's come out.00:36:21.227 --> 00:36:28.207
The way Notebook LM will make a summary sounds so human and is so impressive.00:36:28.207 --> 00:36:32.747
We had one use case where we had this massively long email that,00:36:32.874 --> 00:36:37.874
That really covered a lot of ground way too long. We plugged it into Notebook LM.00:36:38.134 --> 00:36:43.154
We made an infographic out of it, slides out of it, and a podcast out of it00:36:43.154 --> 00:36:48.134
where two AI hosts discussed the contents of the email.00:36:48.294 --> 00:36:50.214
It was mind-blowing.00:36:50.454 --> 00:36:55.734
It's a fantastic tool. Wow. I'm sure you can use it for nefarious and cheating00:36:55.734 --> 00:37:03.794
and lazy purposes, but you can also use it to boil down things to easily understandable points.00:37:03.794 --> 00:37:08.134
You can upload documents and ask questions about the documents.00:37:08.574 --> 00:37:16.054
I love Notebook LM and you get limited functionality free to really get a lot out of it.00:37:16.054 --> 00:37:21.754
You might have to be a Gemini Plus member, which is free for all students right00:37:21.754 --> 00:37:24.114
now for one year, which is pretty cool.00:37:24.294 --> 00:37:30.154
Just Google how to get it free. But I know AI has a lot of detractors and for good reason.00:37:30.234 --> 00:37:34.814
But this is one of the good guys and one of the good uses. And I'm pumped about it.00:37:34.934 --> 00:37:40.214
I'm excited to hear how we can summarize our podcast today.00:37:40.214 --> 00:37:46.794
But before or maybe as part of this particular podcast, we're going to be trying00:37:46.794 --> 00:37:50.914
out something that is old school, right? Pastor Chase.00:37:51.354 --> 00:37:53.594
Yes. Beer. Not something, beer.00:37:53.854 --> 00:37:54.994
Beer. Baptist beer.00:37:54.994 --> 00:37:56.334
Baptist don't drink beer.00:37:56.574 --> 00:37:59.854
Oh, my bad. Baptist don't drink beer. Ginger beer. You're right.00:38:00.034 --> 00:38:03.214
Baptist don't drink beer. Ginger beer. We can't drink ginger beer.00:38:03.806 --> 00:38:08.606
Ginger beer. Woo! And this is no regular ginger beer.00:38:08.886 --> 00:38:09.726
No, it's not.00:38:09.726 --> 00:38:14.646
This here is Old Jamaica ginger beer.00:38:14.986 --> 00:38:19.626
And it says that it's made with authentic root ginger.00:38:19.966 --> 00:38:20.666
Nice. Right?00:38:20.966 --> 00:38:25.366
Authentic root ginger. It also says this isn't just a drink,00:38:25.546 --> 00:38:28.406
Pastor Chase. This is a lifestyle.00:38:28.746 --> 00:38:29.526
Okay. Wow.00:38:29.526 --> 00:38:35.446
Now, I don't know what that means, but it says it's spices, it's boldness,00:38:35.666 --> 00:38:40.186
it's fiery fizz, it's taste that doesn't play it safe.00:38:40.386 --> 00:38:42.446
And it's asked, do you play safe?00:38:42.586 --> 00:38:43.366
Not always.00:38:43.846 --> 00:38:47.766
Not always, right? Yeah. Apparently, we're going to be taking quite the chance00:38:47.766 --> 00:38:50.706
drinking this. Now, this is made in the UK.00:38:51.006 --> 00:38:51.526
Okay.00:38:51.626 --> 00:38:53.226
Despite its Jamaica name.00:38:53.406 --> 00:38:55.166
I'm surprised to hear that, honestly.00:38:55.166 --> 00:39:01.546
Yeah, it's manufactured in the UK, but it's closely made with the authentic00:39:01.546 --> 00:39:03.646
thing, real root ginger.00:39:04.146 --> 00:39:09.306
So I'm actually eager to try this one. Ginger ales and ginger beers are some00:39:09.306 --> 00:39:11.186
of my favorite type sodas.00:39:11.326 --> 00:39:14.046
We have that in common. Okay, here we go.00:39:14.306 --> 00:39:15.166
Here we go.00:39:15.466 --> 00:39:19.406
Welcome to the new lifestyle of Old Jamaican ginger beer.00:39:19.686 --> 00:39:21.566
Old Jamaican, here we go.00:39:22.466 --> 00:39:28.046
Oh, this is good. Not much of a smell, at least not on my end.00:39:28.206 --> 00:39:32.846
That is an incredibly ginger-forward ginger beer.00:39:33.266 --> 00:39:34.806
I like it.00:39:35.359 --> 00:39:42.519
You can taste, you really can't taste the ginger root.00:39:42.819 --> 00:39:47.479
You know, a lot of ginger, ginger ales, ginger beers, they have a lot more spice00:39:47.479 --> 00:39:51.979
flavor, but I'm primarily getting the ginger in this one.00:39:52.139 --> 00:39:56.539
And it's on the back end of the tongue, the way that ginger hits the back end of your tongue.00:39:56.539 --> 00:40:02.299
Those of you that cook Chinese food, Japanese food, where there's more ginger-forward00:40:02.299 --> 00:40:07.999
flavors in a lot of East Asian foods, you would be familiar with this.00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:11.899
You know, as a kid, we had ginger candy in Indonesia.00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:15.739
This reminds me in some ways of that. It's very sweet as well,00:40:15.859 --> 00:40:19.419
but very ginger-forward. I like how it tastes.00:40:19.539 --> 00:40:25.959
I love it. This reminds me of a beverage from Birmingham, Alabama called Buffalo00:40:25.959 --> 00:40:29.919
Rock, which I think as far as I know, you can only get it in the South.00:40:30.259 --> 00:40:36.059
It's like a very spicy, very, very old Jamaica ginger beer.00:40:36.199 --> 00:40:40.379
This says since 1988, Buffalo Rock is older than that. I don't know.00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:41.699
I'm not accusing anybody of00:40:41.699 --> 00:40:47.659
copying, but Buffalo Rock is great and old Jamaica ginger beer is great.00:40:47.659 --> 00:40:55.699
In fact, I would give this four and a half Charles Spurgeon's out of five.00:40:55.939 --> 00:40:58.999
I would drink this happily on every occasion.00:40:59.239 --> 00:41:04.819
Wow. Okay. Now, I'm thinking to myself here, if I were trying to drink this00:41:04.819 --> 00:41:09.619
like with a meal, like with a burger, a hot dog, a corn dog,00:41:09.779 --> 00:41:11.279
do you like corn dogs, Pastor Chase?00:41:11.419 --> 00:41:12.999
I do. Yes. Okay. Who doesn't?00:41:12.999 --> 00:41:16.219
Me too. I like corn dogs. I mean, who doesn't, right? I don't know.00:41:16.219 --> 00:41:21.419
But I'm not sure I would want to drink this with something like that.00:41:21.539 --> 00:41:23.319
The way, you know, like you drink a Coke or something.00:41:23.539 --> 00:41:26.759
I think I would want to pour this, if I were drinking this,00:41:27.338 --> 00:41:31.478
I would want to pour this over ice and sip it.00:41:31.638 --> 00:41:33.118
Yeah, it's definitely a sipping drink.00:41:33.318 --> 00:41:37.898
Like on a hot day. It's not hot today here where we're recording this.00:41:38.058 --> 00:41:42.118
But I think if I were, I really like this. I like those flavors.00:41:42.298 --> 00:41:47.398
I think I would want to pour it over some ice and just sort of sip on it.00:41:48.070 --> 00:41:55.870
And enjoy that as just a refreshment, you know, in lieu of like a flavored tea or something like that.00:41:56.110 --> 00:41:59.290
It's got that sparkling taste to it.00:41:59.370 --> 00:42:06.250
So for me, I'm going to give this also four and a half out of five Spurgeons.00:42:06.470 --> 00:42:06.710
Strong.00:42:06.830 --> 00:42:08.850
I would gladly drink this again.00:42:09.010 --> 00:42:09.230
Yeah.00:42:09.390 --> 00:42:15.190
On one of our prior podcast, we had that Lester's Vixen's Ranch Dressing Soda.00:42:15.430 --> 00:42:20.750
And this stuff will clear that stuff out.00:42:20.790 --> 00:42:21.470
Yes. Yes.00:42:21.690 --> 00:42:25.730
Right. Yeah. I think so. This is a reminder of God's goodness.00:42:25.730 --> 00:42:31.190
This is a gift of grace. I agree. I would love to drink this if it's late at00:42:31.190 --> 00:42:33.590
night and I'm driving home and I'm a little tired.00:42:33.670 --> 00:42:38.550
It doesn't have caffeine in it, but it's got that kick that would wake you up00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:43.030
and then allow you to go to bed without the stimulant of caffeine.00:42:43.590 --> 00:42:44.530
Well, that's right.00:42:44.670 --> 00:42:47.790
Chris, I got some ginger beer trivia for you.00:42:47.950 --> 00:42:52.370
Let's go for it. In the Victorian era, ginger beer was really,00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:57.970
really popular, but it came with a distinct hazard that often turned kitchens00:42:57.970 --> 00:43:01.570
into war zone because of the fermentation process.00:43:01.770 --> 00:43:09.270
So what violent event would sometimes happen in late 19th century England to00:43:09.270 --> 00:43:13.970
stoneware bottles that were stored in warm cupboards.00:43:14.210 --> 00:43:20.370
Well, they would get very warm and that would activate the fermentation of the00:43:20.370 --> 00:43:24.410
ginger and the other spices that are in there. So they would explode.00:43:24.410 --> 00:43:26.450
You got it. You're one for one.00:43:26.830 --> 00:43:28.210
They would explode. Yes.00:43:28.430 --> 00:43:32.910
The yeast would keep eating the sugar, which would cause a big buildup and00:43:33.271 --> 00:43:37.591
boom, there would be glass and ginger and gross stuff everywhere.00:43:37.591 --> 00:43:39.811
So it was like a delicious pipe bomb.00:43:40.011 --> 00:43:45.291
For those of our podcast listeners who are teetotalers by conviction,00:43:45.491 --> 00:43:50.431
we should clarify, if you've never had something because it said ginger beer,00:43:50.431 --> 00:43:52.071
this is like a ginger ale.00:43:52.311 --> 00:43:55.431
There's no alcohol in this beverage.00:43:56.251 --> 00:44:00.251
Well, that brings us to the next question. When you say no,00:44:00.891 --> 00:44:09.731
you're labely, you're correct, but you're not 100% correct because most ginger00:44:09.731 --> 00:44:13.451
beer is less than 0.5% alcohol,00:44:13.831 --> 00:44:16.511
but more than 0% alcohol.00:44:17.051 --> 00:44:17.591
Interesting.00:44:17.851 --> 00:44:21.291
Yes. So there's a little bit of fermentation in ginger beer,00:44:21.511 --> 00:44:28.531
almost not in ginger ale, but back in the 1700s in England, It was a fermented00:44:28.531 --> 00:44:33.411
alcoholic beverage before the Excise Act of 1855.00:44:33.911 --> 00:44:40.271
What would you guess would be the maximum alcohol content of ginger beer?00:44:41.091 --> 00:44:46.191
This is a very good question. I'm going to say, well, those excise taxes,00:44:46.431 --> 00:44:47.731
man, you know, you got to watch them.00:44:48.031 --> 00:44:50.391
You got to watch those British and their excise taxes.00:44:50.711 --> 00:44:52.891
Their excise taxes might cause a revolution.00:44:53.211 --> 00:44:53.371
Might.00:44:53.371 --> 00:44:59.151
I'm going to say it could probably get as high as 7% to 8%.00:44:59.151 --> 00:45:06.171
How about 11%? So stronger than almost any modern beer.00:45:06.471 --> 00:45:06.971
Oh, yeah.00:45:07.251 --> 00:45:12.511
Yeah, absolutely. Not good for our teetotaling friends, but this is good for00:45:12.511 --> 00:45:17.971
us because it has a trace at best of alcohol in it. Okay, here's your third question.00:45:17.971 --> 00:45:18.451
And a ton of flavor.00:45:18.591 --> 00:45:21.511
A ton of flavor. It's so good. A ton of flavor. It's so good.00:45:21.511 --> 00:45:24.451
I'm probably going to drink it all. It's so delicious.00:45:25.223 --> 00:45:25.863
All right.00:45:26.043 --> 00:45:30.463
Who is the only main cast member of Gilligan's Island still alive?00:45:30.763 --> 00:45:33.323
Okay. And what does this have to do with ginger beer?00:45:33.343 --> 00:45:34.163
That's a good question.00:45:34.503 --> 00:45:41.463
That's the segue. Okay. Let's see. Who is, so, I don't know.00:45:42.023 --> 00:45:43.623
Alan Hale is gone.00:45:43.803 --> 00:45:46.583
Gone a long time. 1989, I believe he died.00:45:47.103 --> 00:45:52.283
Yeah. Alan Hale, gone a long time. Probably not the millionaire and his wife.00:45:53.963 --> 00:46:00.623
So i'm gonna i think i saw something in the news that don wells had passed away she00:46:00.623 --> 00:46:03.303
Did very recently a 2023 maybe.00:46:03.303 --> 00:46:12.723
Okay all right that's marianne right that's marianne so i i don't i i can't00:46:12.723 --> 00:46:16.723
remember the actress's name so i'm i'm gonna say uh the movie star00:46:16.723 --> 00:46:24.423
That's right and her name in the show was ginger and her real name is tina louise00:46:24.423 --> 00:46:29.503
and she is 91 years old everybody else is gone.00:46:29.503 --> 00:46:35.523
Tina louise if you by some chance happen to listen to this podcast which is00:46:35.523 --> 00:46:40.223
for pastors church leaders and lay people of all types so we do hope that you're00:46:40.223 --> 00:46:42.463
and we are drinking this ginger beer00:46:43.002 --> 00:46:43.882
for Ginger.00:46:44.162 --> 00:46:46.822
Yes. How about that? Cheers to you. Cheers.00:46:47.422 --> 00:46:51.682
And cheers to Gilligan's Island, because that was a fun show.00:46:51.942 --> 00:46:54.162
Fun show. It was always fun. Great show.00:46:54.302 --> 00:46:58.262
Great show. And as we close out, Pastor Chris, I understand you're going to00:46:58.262 --> 00:47:02.462
give us another great resource for church leaders, for pastors.00:47:02.722 --> 00:47:04.322
Tell us about church teams.00:47:04.642 --> 00:47:09.442
Well, Pastor Chase, you know, and I know that one of the most challenging things00:47:09.442 --> 00:47:17.142
for pastors to do in a very fast-paced ministry world is to connect church members together,00:47:17.422 --> 00:47:22.742
connect people together, and let the leaders know all the information about00:47:22.742 --> 00:47:25.742
things that are going on in the church.00:47:25.942 --> 00:47:30.502
And so there's been, over the years, quite a few products that have emerged00:47:30.502 --> 00:47:35.502
really since the 1980s when churches began to use computers.00:47:35.782 --> 00:47:40.942
Church data systems began to emerge. People are creating databases to say,00:47:41.122 --> 00:47:43.382
you know, we need a database of our church members.00:47:43.702 --> 00:47:47.802
And those software pieces have evolved. They've become much more sophisticated.00:47:47.802 --> 00:47:50.822
There's many good products out there on the market.00:47:51.022 --> 00:47:54.742
And recently, our good friend, P.J. Dunn, Dr. P.J.00:47:54.882 --> 00:48:01.662
Dunn from the Georgia Baptist Convention, told me about a product that was new to me. It's not new.00:48:02.042 --> 00:48:06.902
They've been in development and growing this product for about 20 years.00:48:07.082 --> 00:48:11.562
But he said, hey, I suggest that you take a look at this product called Church Teams.00:48:11.822 --> 00:48:17.362
So you can just go to churchteams.com. And I should say,00:48:17.542 --> 00:48:22.662
just like on our other resources, we don't receive any sort of kickbacks or00:48:22.662 --> 00:48:27.162
anything for endorsing these products or encouraging people to try them out.00:48:27.501 --> 00:48:32.601
One of the things I like about Church Teams is that they have a free trial for00:48:32.601 --> 00:48:37.261
churches, so you can try it out and see whether or not it will help you.00:48:37.401 --> 00:48:40.581
But this product is incredibly powerful.00:48:40.841 --> 00:48:45.861
Rather than being based in the beginning around worship planning software,00:48:46.121 --> 00:48:51.001
from the beginning, Church Teams has been about connecting people in the church.00:48:51.001 --> 00:48:56.021
So it's not only a way for you to track your membership, but it's a way for00:48:56.021 --> 00:48:59.641
you to make notes about what's going on in your members' lives.00:48:59.661 --> 00:49:04.401
You can attach prayer notes to that, but it's also how you can group them together,00:49:04.621 --> 00:49:08.101
whether that's for discipleship groups or small groups.00:49:08.261 --> 00:49:10.341
And it has amazing tools.00:49:10.561 --> 00:49:16.881
Some of the most impressive for me were their check-in tools and their texting00:49:16.881 --> 00:49:21.981
tools. They have these tools that allow two-way texting interactions.00:49:22.241 --> 00:49:26.921
So you can have a guest and you can say, text the word connect to a certain00:49:26.921 --> 00:49:31.801
phone number, and the guest will get a connection card on their phone.00:49:31.941 --> 00:49:34.821
They don't have to scan a QR, tap something.00:49:35.041 --> 00:49:40.441
And in Silicon Valley, where we do a lot of our ministry, people are very used to texting.00:49:40.601 --> 00:49:44.401
And even in our agricultural communities, everybody texts today.00:49:44.767 --> 00:49:49.367
So it's very easy to say to someone, hey, text the word connect and you'll be able to do this.00:49:49.467 --> 00:49:54.967
But if you want to give, they have a great giving platform at the lowest rates,00:49:55.387 --> 00:50:00.427
Cost rates for giving that we have seen as we've evaluated different software pieces.00:50:00.627 --> 00:50:04.967
But they also let you do things like check in your family when your kids are00:50:04.967 --> 00:50:08.967
coming to church and help you track and manage volunteers.00:50:09.307 --> 00:50:13.647
And they have a seamless communication system that we think is just really,00:50:13.747 --> 00:50:17.927
really great. And again, there are plenty of other good products out there,00:50:17.947 --> 00:50:19.227
but this is a really good one.00:50:19.347 --> 00:50:23.947
Oh, I should mention they have really great tools for creating events and registration00:50:23.947 --> 00:50:27.607
for events and even paying for events, Pastor Chase.00:50:27.847 --> 00:50:31.647
So you're doing, whether it's a church supper night or you've got a men and00:50:31.647 --> 00:50:37.167
boys weekend retreat, that sort of thing, or you've got a women's event that00:50:37.167 --> 00:50:42.187
you're hosting at your church of some kind, they've got the registration tools for you.00:50:42.187 --> 00:50:48.187
So that's churchteams.com. And we suggest you check them out and talk to them00:50:48.187 --> 00:50:53.067
about whether or not they can help your church continue to thrive and to flourish,00:50:53.107 --> 00:50:54.407
because that's our goal.00:50:54.587 --> 00:50:58.207
Absolutely. Tell them we sent you from the Every Church Flourishing podcast.00:50:58.487 --> 00:51:03.007
And if you forget the churchteams.com address somehow, or you're interested00:51:03.007 --> 00:51:06.447
in any of the other resources we talk about, you can, of course,00:51:06.607 --> 00:51:10.327
check those out at our website, everychurchflourishing.com.00:51:10.327 --> 00:51:13.547
Next week, we have the privilege of having Dr.00:51:14.047 --> 00:51:19.507
CJ1 with us, who is a man who values prayer and abiding.00:51:19.647 --> 00:51:22.107
And we're going to have some deep spiritual conversations with him.00:51:22.347 --> 00:51:26.447
Can't wait for that. Stay tuned. We will see you next Monday.
