
Popular speaker and Southern California pastor Dave Gibbons questioned on Friday whether Christians really consider one another "brothers and sisters."
"The reason why the world looks at us and says 'sham' is because we preach 'brothers and sisters,' 'family,' and 'unity' stuff and we actually don't live it," he said, as he addressed some 2,000 pastors and lay believers.
Pastor of Newsong Community Church, Gibbons was among the last of the eight speakers at the four-day Radicalis Conference, hosted by Pastor Rick Warren at Saddleback Church. more >>

When in the Bible did God ever give anyone an easy job?
Pete Wilson, founding pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tenn., challenged the largely pastor audience at the Radicalis Conference on Thursday with this question.
“We’re talking about radical trust,” Wilson said. “God comes to Noah, and says, ‘Noah, I have a job for you. I’m going to start all of civilization over with you and your family. Get on the boat, survive this flood’ … And Noah says, ‘I don’t really understand this but I’ll follow You.’” more >>

All is not well in ministry world, shared one concerned pastor and church planter.
Distressed with the state of pastors and churches throughout America today, Shawn Lovejoy, founder of churchplanters.com, spoke truthfully to some 2,000 people at the 2011 Radicalis Conference.
“The church planting world, the church planting movement on the surface looks like a successful movement,” said Lovejoy, “but I want to tell you being up close and personal with it that there is a dark side of the force.” more >>
A serious disease is afflicting churches everywhere today. It’s called nominal Christianity, more accurately described as Christians who are in name only.
While thousands of attendees are regularly keeping the Sabbath, why are so many devoid of a proper spiritual life?
Southern California Pastors Steve Gladen and Todd Olthoff tackled the issues plaguing many churches today, and offered their solution towards maintaining a healthy church filled with healthy believers in the context of small group ministry. more >>

Author and pastor Steven Furtick tackled the "why bother" syndrome that can plague the faith of many pastors during his address Wednesday morning at the Radicalis conference.
Furtick, who leads Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., spoke from Mark 5 on Jairus, the synagogue leader who asks Jesus to come to his house and heal his sick daughter. But along the way, a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years "cuts in line" and gets healed by touching Jesus' cloak. Meanwhile, Jairus learns that his daughter has died at home.
He said pastors attending the event at Saddleback Church can become inspired by the conference but then can fall into depression and despair as they compare the size of their ministry and church to the magnitude of what they see at Saddleback. more >>

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Pastor Rick Warren kicked off the 2011 Radicalis Conference on Tuesday by asking church leaders, pastors, and pastors’ wives to start representing Jesus by saying “yes” to God in every aspect of their lives first – before asking others to do the same.
“There are two reasons that nonbelievers don’t know Jesus Christ. One is, they’ve never met a Christian. The other is, they have,” said Warren to a crowd of more than 2,000 people at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.
“What we’re going to be doing this week is … [looking] at different areas in your life where you need to say ‘yes’ to God and where your church needs to say ‘yes’ to God in a radical way,” Warren emphasized. more >>