Craig Gross is known as the “Porn Pastor” and is one of the founders of xxxChurch.com which is a ministry that reaches out to both people struggling with issues related to online pornography and people who are in the industry making pornography.  Craig’s ministry has been something that I have followed and watched grow and develop over the last several years.  In addition to running this ministry,  he is also the author of a book called The Gutter which talks about being intentional to minister to broken people.  The message of this book has become the defining goal of Criag’s life.  He goes into porn shows to set up a booth to pass out Bibles and to show the love of Jesus Christ to people in the porn industry.  Craig is willing to not join the group of protesters outside of the show who claim to be Christians while holding up signs letting people know that they are going to hell, but rather he goes inside in the midst of the people in the porn industry’s world in order to be a light to them and to show them the love of Jesus.  Craig’s ministry is willing to not judge people and tell them that they are horrible people who will burn in hell but to love on them and introduce them to Jesus who can mend their broken hearts and lives.  This is living out the gospel in the midst of a terribly sinful place.  Craig is willing to not just to preach to people but to love them with the love of Jesus. 

Chris Seay is the pastor of Ecclesia in Houston. Texas.  Chris’s church is in the middle of an art’s district in downtown Houston.  The thing that is so different about Ecclesia’s ministry philosophy is that they do not have a church building but rather a community center.  The church being a community center means that they seek to host as many community activities that they can to get people to come to be ministered to.  The church members are then intentional to come to different events at the community center to show the love of Christ to the people who come.   The church then meets on Sundays at the community center.  This is a very neat ministry model in that people have already come to the community center and have found it to be a friendly and comfortable environment.  They are then invited back to another event, church, where they can meet more people who care about them and be introduced to Jesus Christ.  This is a great picture of the church not going to church but rather being the church and reaching out to a community that is hurting.

Francis Chan is the pastor at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California.  I first heard of Francis at the Passion 2007 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia last year where he was a speaker in one of the sessions.  Francis is a great communicator of God’s Word and has a passion for the nations.  He is very real and authentic when he speaks.  There was a time a few years ago when Francis felt lead to take a break from his church to evaluate if he was where God wanted him to be.  The thing that has impressed me most, however, about Francis and his ministry is the financial plan for Cornerstone this year.  The church, under Francis’s leadership, is restructuring themselves so that they can run off of 50% of their income.  This will allow the church to give 50% of its incoming offerings to missions and the least of these.  This new restructuring is not just changing the amount of staff at the church and the priorities of the church.  It is causing them to totally change their mindset on building new projects as a church.  Instead of building a massive mega-church building, the church is building an outdoor meeting facility in order to save money and resources for the purpose of being able to give more away.  This is a huge shift.  We so often think that church is about us and what we can get while Francis is calling his church to see how much they can give.  This is a mindset change that I believe that we as an American church need to get our hearts wrapped around.

There are very few modern pastors as well known as Rick Warren.  Rick is the founding pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, and the founder of Pastors.com, an online resource center for pastors.  Rick has become famous over the last few years through the sales of his book, but Rick has a humble heart and a desire to redefine ministry.  Long before Rick was a bestselling author, he wrote a book called The Purpose Driven Church which encouraged pastors to be guided by an overall purpose and mission in their ministry.  Recently Rick, along with his wife Kay, has gained a passion for people struggling with AIDS.  He has been seeking to change the way that the church deals with issues such as AIDS.  Rick had a conference at Saddleback a few months ago on how the church should address the issue of AIDS.  He is calling the church to take a stand and show the love of Jesus Christ to people who are dying of this horrible disease. 

Andy Stanley is the pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia and is also an established author.  He has written many books on leadership and ministry development.  One thing that Andy has outlined in his books that is a key to a church’s ministry impact is the issue of environments.  When someone who has never been to church or is new to the church comes to visit, how do we respond?  This is a very relevant question to address.  The way that Andy seeks to address it a North Point is through his idea of church environments.  He describes someone coming into the church as someone coming into your home to visit.  The first environment that they come across is the foyer.  This is when they are first entering the home (church).  In this stage people are evaluating the overall environment with questions like: What is happening here?  Do I like being here?  Are people friendly?  Will I feel at home or lost in the midst of this new place?  In the first environment, it is critical for the church to make people feel at home and that someone cares about them.  If people have a bad experience in the initial environment, they will not return.  If they have a positive experience in the initial environment, they will then gradually progress to the second environment - the living room.  In the living room, the people feel at home and comfortable with the church.  This is not the church they are visiting any longer.  It has become their church.  They feel like they know people and have friends in the second stage.  In the second environment, people need to be encouraged to get more involved in the church which leads to the third environment - the kitchen table.  At the kitchen table, people are a part of a community and a part of the family.  They are serving and involved in leadership in the church.  They have stopped being attenders of the church and have become part of the church.  This is their church and their place to serve.  The goal in visitors and new people at a church should be to gradually guide people from the foyer to the kitchen table.  This is a very practical way to build a community and connect people with church.

There are few people that have impacted my life and ministry more than Dr. John Piper.  He is the teaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the founder of Desiring God Ministries.  Dr. Piper is a well-respected author and thinker.  The main thing that I have learned from his writings and many sermons is the statement that is the driving force behind Dr. Piper’s life and ministry: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  This is a statement that as the Holy Spirit has used to bring me to new realizations in my walk with Christ.  When I am distracted like I so often get and am not focused on Jesus Christ and finding my true satisfaction in Him, I do not clearly reflect His glory to those around me.  Competing pleasures in each one of our lives rob us from displaying the glory of God in and trough our lives to others.  This statement also says that true satisfaction in life can be found only in and through Jesus Christ.  We should therefore seek to make Jesus supreme over all things in our lives so that His greatness and glory can be made known to others through the power of His Holy Spirit working through us.

Mark Driscoll is the pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington.  Mark has been recently brought to my attention through a podcast recommendation from a friend.  He has written several books, is a frequent contributor on the Resurgence blog, and communicates biblical truth in a very media driven and modern way.  Mark has caused some controversy in Christian circles not for his theology but rather for the way that he communicates and the words that he uses.  He is clearly not afraid of using shock value to make a point in a sermon.  One thing that Mars Hill Church is doing that is definitely worth taking note is that they offer a school of lay theology in which they train church members on doctrine, the church in culture, and worldviews.  This is a great asset and addition to the church.  One of the sessions from this program that I listened to focused on the church in culture and gave practical ideas on how to share the gospel to people with a postmodern mindset.  Another program highlighted some practical ways to use movies and themes from movies as a way to present the gospel to people.  Mars Hill is changing the way people do church by providing some places for deeper study in order to equip its people to minister to those around them.

Erwin McManus is the pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, California.  He has written several books including his newest release Soul Cravingswhich paints a picture of how each of our desires as human beings (such as our desires for love, purpose, and meaning) can be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  Erwin considers himself to be a “futurist, activist, artist, and spiritual and cultural leader” according to his website.  God has led Erwin to form a very interesting an unusual ministry in Mosaic.  It is a church, or as Erwin would call it a “spiritual community,” which meets in schools and bars for its weekly gathering.  This is a church that is very different than what you would expect in that it is intended to reach out to people who are artists, musicians, and others who have a desire to be creative.  Mosaic has grown to become a place where creativity and spirituality have become wed together.  Erwin encourages his people to seek after God and to express the beauty and creativeness of God through their different forms of creative expression.  Mosaic has formed a Christian community seeking to glorify God in the midst of an area of the world with a tremendous cultural influence.  God is using Erwin and Mosaic to draw many creative people to Him.  One thing that I really respect about Erwin is that he lives his life looking for tangible ways to show the love of Christ to others.  This is seen through the many personal stories that he tells in his messages from the opportunities that God has given him to touch someone tangibly with His love.  The love of Christ and practical expressions of His grace through the lives of people seeking Him is a powerful way for people to be drawn to Jesus in the midst of a world that thinks that they want nothing to do with Christianity.

Rob Bell, the teaching pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is most well-known for his short video series called NOOMA.  Rob has been shaking the conversation on Christianity and culture through his two books, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith and Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality.  He has also done two speaking tours on which he discussed how religion is not Biblical and that everything is spiritual.  Rob has extensive training in the Hebrew language and Jewish culture which adds a whole new dimension to his preaching.  He has a view on theology which is very different than many people have.  Rob believes in this idea of Kingdom Theology in which the church’s mission is to live out the values of the kingdom of God which was so frequently discussed by Jesus in the gospels in the world around us.  This is a view that makes grace not just be something that Jesus did for me in the past, but something that I am supposed to be an agent of to those around me.  Rob has a heart and passion for the broken.  He is seeking to raise up a community of people who will live out the values of the kingdom of God in the culture around them. 

Brain McLaren is best known as the Father of the Emergent Church movement.  I am not going to take the time to fully enter into the discussion on the emerging church today, but that discussion will be coming later this month.  Brain is an established author with several books that are all considered important works in the emergent discussion.  The heart of Brian’s whole view seems to me to be: How can we as the church most effectively impact the culture and the world?  He raises questions about everything from how the gospel is presented, how theology is taught, and how the church is perceived.  Brian is a very influential voice who is seeking to raise questions and start a discussion which every Christian must enter into.  He has a heart for the least of these which is seen in the title of his most recent book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and the Revolution of Hope.  McLaren is not alone in his search for answers, joined by Tony Jones and other leaders of the Emergent Village, as he seeks to redefine church and Christianity as it emerges to reach people who do not know Jesus.