I corresponded with chapter leader and TGC Council member John Mahaffey, senior pastor of West Highland Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario. We discussed his hopes for the conference but also explored the overall state of the church in Canada, especially the rapidly changing demographics. After reading the interview, check out his short video on leading a multi-ethnic church and listen to him address "Building Gospel-Centered, Intentionally Multicultural Churches."

Can you give us a feel for the state of the church in Canada today?

In 1900, 25 percent of Canadians were evangelical in conviction. That number fell to 8 percent in the 1980s, but has since rebounded to almost 11 percent. This resurgence since the 80s is encouraging, but this devastating decline over the last 100 years has left a negative mark on Canada. Theological liberalism was primarily responsible. The United Church of Canada's (UCC) drift into apostasy from its strong evangelical Methodist heritage is probably the best example of what has happened. The UCC is still believed to be Canada's largest Protestant denomination, but more people can be found worshiping on any given Sunday in Pentecostal assemblies than in all of the UCC churches combined. The effect of the UCC's abandonment of the historic gospel can be seen largely in my generation (baby boomers), who attended booming UCC Sunday schools in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. We were left largely untouched by the gospel and for the most part are no longer active in church life at all. This lost generation has produced the next largely unchurched generation in Canada today.

In spite of this I sense optimism today among those committed to gospel-centered ministry. There is a renewed emphasis on church planting, and some churches are experiencing consistent growth. In my own denomination (Fellowship Baptist) we have seen a significant number of new churches started in the last few years. Evangelical churches in Canada support a missionary force of more than 7,000 people around the world. When I travel to new communities and new housing projects and see churches being erected it is undeniable that the vast majority of them are committed to the gospel. French Canada is largely unreached with the gospel, but during the 70s and 80s great strides were made by evangelicals in Quebec. The rate of growth since that time has declined somewhat, but there are signs of renewed vigor, and churches are being planted. There has been an explosion of ethnic churches reaching out to the growing immigrant population.

Can you comment further on immigration to Canada and how this has affected the church's mission?

Canada holds the gold medal for immigration by taking in the highest percentage of immigrants each year of any nation in the world. For us that's 300,000 people per year. That's lower than the numbers who immigrate to the United States, but when you consider the fact that Canada is just 35 million people, 300,000 is staggering. Toronto is the most international city in the world, and Vancouver is actually the second-largest Sikh city in the world. This has presented great challenges and opportunities for the church in Canada. There has been a significant increase in the numbers of ethnic-focused churches, and denominations that once only existed in Africa, Asia, or the West Indies now have churches in Canada. These churches have done a great job in reaching their people with the gospel. Worship on any given Sunday in Toronto occurs in more than 130 languages. The numbers of Chinese churches in the greater Toronto area and in Vancouver have grown considerably.

Churches serious about the gospel and mission have had to rethink how they do ministry. How do we communicate the gospel to a Hindu? How do we share the gospel with a Muslim? These are questions we have had to wrestle with. Our Jerusalems with which we were so familiar now look and feel like Samaria. Our neighbors used to be those who were physically close and culturally close. Now they are physically close and culturally distant. In major urban centers where the concentration of non-Christian religions is the highest, pastors and churches have had to think and function more like foreign missionaries if they want to reach people with the gospel. Many churches have not adjusted well to the demographic changes in their communities and have closed their doors. Others have looked upon the new multicultural reality as an opportunity to remake themselves into a diverse community that actually looks like the kingdom of God. This was my experience when I pastored in Toronto. The moment the church I pastored stopped fighting the providence of God in allowing our community to change and embraced the people with Christ's love we began to grow and see many conversions. Today that church has people in its membership from more than 70 different nations. The churches in Toronto that are thriving today are either ethnic-focused or muticulturally focused. The church in Canada is no longer just a missionary-sending church. It is also a missionary-receiving church. We need experienced bicultural missionaries to come alongside the church and assist us in our mission. SIM Canada now operates an ethnic ministries department and helps place missionaries in churches that are serious about reaching their multicultural neighborhoods.

In addition to the challenges the Canadian church faces in reaching people of other cultures and religions, the greatest challenge is to uphold the glory of Christ and the gospel in the midst of a multicultural world. The emerging generation of Christian young people who have grown up with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhists as neighbors and classmates can easily have doubts about the exclusivity of Christ. It's easy to believe that people are lost when they are on the other side of the world. It's another thing when they are your nice next-door neighbors.

Are there changes in Canadian churches and in your ministry that you have observed over the past decade that are personally encouraging to you?

There are three I can think of that deserve comment. Generally speaking I am seeing more of an outward focus within our churches. For so long we were just trying to maintain ourselves. A "hunker in the bunker" mentality was prevalent. Today I sense that churches are realizing that protecting the gospel doesn't mean hiding it. With the pastors I regularly have contact and fellowship with I sense that this is changing, and our focus is shifting to reaching out with the gospel. The second thing is the shift away from a fixation with methodologies. For at least a decade at every denominational conference I attended the focus was on ministry programs, being relevant, seeker sensitive, contemporary, etc. I don't hear a lot of that anymore. The emphasis now is on prayer and the primacy of the gospel. This is resonating in our churches. It is certainly our greatest need. In terms of my own ministry, what can I say? In June of this year I will be 56 years old. Getting older and heading into the home stretch of ministry has made me ask serious questions of myself. What do I want to accomplish in the next ten years? Where should I be placing my energy and focus? As I have prayed about this I have experienced a growing burden to influence the next generation of pastors and preachers. Interestingly, in just the last three months there have been six young men within our congregation who have approached me because they are sensing God's call into ministry. I am thrilled to be meeting with them and my prayer is that they will be just the first fruits of many more.

Why are you having a TGC conference in southern Ontario?

At the last national conference in Chicago in April 2011, I believe that close to 10 percent of the registrants were from Canada, so one might wonder why we would have a Canadian conference. Canadians are not so geographically distant that they can't attend a TGC conference in the United States. TGC's vision is to have regional chapters, but I view this as more than just a regional chapter. We want to give a Canadian identity to TGC. We appreciate the network and close relationship we have with American Christians and church leaders. Many TGC Council members are part of this relationship, but we have a need, particularly in southern Ontario, to bring together Canadian pastors who are in sync with TGC's foundational documents to fellowship and dialogue together around the gospel and the unique challenges that we face in our ministries in Canada today. My hope is that out of this conference we will be able to strengthen a Canadian identity to TGC and foster a greater network and cooperation among pastors and Christian workers. In addition to our plenary speakers we are also having David Short as our special guest to share with the conference the St. John's Vancouver story. This is a uniquely Canadian story of faithfulness to the gospel within a denomination in theological drift that needs to be told and will be a great encouragement to Canadian pastors.

How might your American brothers and sisters in Christ encourage the church in Canada?

The greatest way to encourage the church in Canada is with your prayers. The church needs revival. We desperately need a spiritual awakening. Joining us in prayer will have a great impact. If God is calling you into ministry, why not consider Canada? There are many opportunities here. Usually when you think of missions you think of heading to South America or across the Atlantic or Pacific. Do you realize that the largest unreached people group in the Western hemisphere is French Canadians?

Have you ever taken time to sit down and reflect on what comes into your mind when you consider Jesus? It's rather amazing how many hours we can spend in church ministry without giving serious thought to the question. Since our view of Jesus Christ shapes our faith, and our faith (or lack thereof) inevitably forms our identity, we would do well to give it thought. As A. W. Tozer famously put it The Knowledge of the Holy, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

Many of us struggle to acquire a biblically informed view of God. Our challenge is not simply seeing through a dark glass; we also have the problem of looking in the wrong direction. In this interview, I talk with Tullian Tchividjian about some of the central ideas that should cross our minds when we hear the word gospel.

Choosing songs is a pastoral task. The songs we sing and the way we sing them shape the way our congregation understands the gospel of Jesus Christ. In singing, we marry texts and music, communicating truth through a particular aesthetic---a particular cultural lens.

In this second discussion with Isaac Wardell and Kevin Twit, we talk about contextualization and retuned hymns. How does the current climate of mp3s and pop music shape the way the church sings? How can we take advantage of the resources already available to help people to sing? On the other hand, how does context shape the way we make decisions about the songs we sing and the songs we don't sing?

We also consider Wardell's provocative question of why church leaders talk so much about contextualization when no matter where you travel, you see them wearing the same clothes and hear the signing the same songs.

Over the last few years, hymns have made a comeback in many churches. At Sojourn Community Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, we rediscovered hymns, and it revitalized our corporate worship. From Mars Hill Church to Sovereign Grace, to campus ministries and worship bands, many Christians have discovered the same richness and depth of the hymnal. Great music is being written and recorded for "retuned" hymns---traditional lyrics with new melodies.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Isaac Wardell and Kevin Twit to talk a bit about the effect of hymns on the life of our congregations. Wardell is the director for worship arts at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, and one of the founders of Bifrost Arts, through which he's recorded a number of traditional and retuned hymns. Twit is a pastor with Reformed University Fellowship at Bellmont University in Nashville, and the founder of Indelible Grace, a collection of musicians who have been writing retuned hymns for many years.

In this conversation, we talk about why we've returned to hymns and some of the reasons for retuning hymns with new melodies.

Whether someone is preaching in view of a call, filling in for a vacationing pastor, or performing a wedding, every pastor will have to deliver a "one time" sermon at some point. Deciding what to preach or how to preach can be a challenge, especially if the pastor is young and doesn't have a handy sermon stashed away in his back pocket for these occasions.

I asked Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research and author and co-author of several books, including Planting Missional Churches and Transformational Church, how would he advise pastors to approach a "one time" sermon.

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I remember the first time I preached a sermon, though it's unlikely anyone else does. In fact, I'm actually relieved that no record remains of its existence. I was asked to preach one time and, like many other first-time preachers, I brought everything I knew into that message. It was long, painful, and scattered---but a kind group of older adults not only invited me to preach, they also patiently sat through my message---though they never asked me back.

Preaching a stand-alone message can be tricky. For me, they generally fall in between sermon series (as I much prefer to preach) or when I am invited somewhere as a guest preacher.

Sometimes, as a guest preacher you are part of a series. For example, at one church, I simply continued the series (though I was a little bitter with the passage I was assigned). This isn't too difficult---you listen to a few messages before, tie in to those, and help the pastor along the way.

However, it's harder when you are the guest preacher with a single topic. I think you can go about it in two legitimate ways.

1. Preach a text on a topic.

2. Preach a topic with texts.

Preaching a Text on a Topic

A message is supposed to be grounded in the text, but text-based messages can still become exegetically irresponsible if we force a theme onto a text when it really does not fit. For example, if you are preaching on "motherhood" on Mother's Day, it might be better to connect with multiple texts rather than preach a text that touches on motherhood and you make it all about motherhood.

So when preaching a text on a topic, you need to be careful that you don't let the topic mold the text. Rather, the text, if appropriate, will inform and mold your approach to the topic. However, approaching a message in this way means it may look somewhat different from a standard expositional treatment of the passage. If I am preaching a text on a topic, I do not tell everything I would in a verse-by-verse exposition. Instead, I talk about how this verse undergirds the topic, but also that it addresses more than this topic. I say that, but I do not explain that. The topic will limit, to a certain degree, what I unpack from the passage.

For example, when I filled in at another church, I preached from the text, 1 Peter 4:8-11, on "Engaging all God's People in Mission." When I preach a one-week message, after all the study and preparation I wind up leaving a lot on my desk that I don't take with me into the pulpit. Your text will always say more than what you have to say and that's okay. Just ensure that what you do say is faithful to that text.

Preaching a Topic with Texts

On the other hand, one can also responsibly preach a topic with texts.

I recently returned from a church where my job was to encourage people to "live sent." I preached a topic with a few texts. The topic was how we might live as the sent people of Jesus. The texts (as well as the title) were the "Sendings of Jesus." These commissions included John 20:21, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-48, and Acts 1:8.

The principles are actually the same. I wound up leaving a lot on my desk, but I worked hard to be faithful in what I brought with me to preach.

Or, once when I preached, the theme was the "seven last words of Jesus." My assignment was forgiveness. My assigned topic was not just that Jesus forgave, but how it affects what God has called us to do. Thus, I made it clear in the title: "Forgiveness: It's Who God Is, It's Why Jesus Came, and It's What Christians Do."

I believe it's easier to be thorough and responsible with the text when you preach through a series. If you are preaching through a book (as I am right now at my church), it is simply following the arguments, themes, and stories of the author. If you are preaching doctrinally or thematically, you can bring the whole counsel of God to a topic by being faithful to what the scripture teaches in its multiple mentions of the topic.

However, you simply cannot be as thorough in a one-shot message.

So, here is what I try to do:

1. Never use verses in way that would result in the apostle Paul (or Moses, Jesus, etc.) to say, "Whoa, that was not my point."
2. Don't share everything you know---leave some things on your desk and tell people you are doing so.
3. Don't preach a single message like a series---you can't do it well. Single messages have limitations and you have to live with them.
4. Point people to Jesus. Don't simply leave them with commands, lead them to the promises of God in Jesus.

I should end with my bias. I don't like single messages. I prefer a series because I find I can present a clearer picture of scriptural teaching on an issue. But do not despise the single message---nobody ever preaches a series in the Bible, and we don't see it much until John Chrysostom in the fourth/fifth century after Christ.

Be faithful with the small things . . . even the small sermons.

What gets you out of bed on Monday morning to go to work? What motivates you to persevere in a job you don't enjoy, that doesn't reward you adequately?

I posed these questions to Matt Perman, blogger and author of the forthcoming What's Best Next: How the Gospel Changes the Way You Get Things Done. We discussed how jobs afford us opportunities to love our neighbors, and how we each multitasked during repetitive work to learn about God and concentrate on his Word.

Especially if you're struggling at work, you'll want to hear Perman explain the doctrine of vocation, which invests everything we do with meaning, because we're living out a God-giving calling. Whether a pastor or plumber, we work in faith as unto God himself (Colossians 3:23-24). Perman explains how even garbage collectors can apply this doctrine to make their work more interesting, challenging, and fulfilling.

It's not easy for evangelicals to talk about art. We polarize into camps: one denies art's value, and the other exaggerates its virtues. We make our own consciences normative, engaging in a sort of theological McCarthyism, judging other Christians guilty by association with art we don't approve. Or we dismiss legitimate questions about artists who presume the role of cultural priests, imposing values antithetical to the gospel.

Scotty Smith, Mike Cosper, and Greg Thornbury discuss these difficulties in a wide-ranging roundtable conversation. Art doesn't work on the typical evangelical timetable, observes Thornbury, dean of the school of theology and missions at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. We want to clinch the gospel decision before the airplane lifts off, but art unfolds at a contemplative pace. We're loathe to recognize beauty that comes from unregenerate sources, notes Mike Cosper, pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky. That's partly because we confuse common grace and special grace, says Scotty Smith, pastor of preaching at Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee.

Watch the video and join the discussion. But try to respect and understand those who hold different views on the arts.

"Don't blame that trash on God." So responds pastor Scotty Smith of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, when someone presents him a song "from the Lord" that falls short of a good, true, and beautiful aesthetic.

We evangelicals tend to want our art to be pristine, easy on the eye, as with Thomas Kinkade paintings. Our music and films often reflect this desire. We envision Christian worship as an escape from reality, where life is hard, filled with sickness, death, and lament.

Yet good art, especially the Bible, knows better. Greg Thornbury, dean of the school of theology and missions at Union University, suggests reading a Flannery O'Connor short story to see how art can awaken you to creation's groaning. Even better, take a look at the tortured beauty of the cross. Or see what Mike Cosper, pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, sees in the Book of Esther: an R-rated tale of sex, murder, and seduction. This is the scene of God's redemption.

Bad art encourages escapism among Christians. Good art, epitomized by the Psalms, helps us long for the new creation even as we learn to love all God's creatures.

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Editors' Note: Send your theological, biblical, and practical ministry questions to ask@thegospelcoalition.org along with your full name, city, and state. We'll pass them along to The Gospel Coalition's Council members and other friends for an answer we can share.

Dustin B. from Fort Worth, Texas, asks:

Coming from a tradition revivalistic background, I am often weary of the extended altar calls and manipulating invitations I have so often witnessed. However, my desire is not to leave the churches steeped in this tradition but rather to continue to minister with a stronger theology of conversion.

As a seminary student, I have opportunities to preach in churches where it is customary to give an invitation at the conclusion of the message. I am often unsure and uneasy about how to conclude a message, not wanting to commit the errors common to revivalism and without giving unnecessary offense at the same time.

Could TGC offer any principles for retaining a strong theology of conversion when concluding services in churches accustomed to public invitations?

We asked for a response from Jonathan Leeman, editorial director at 9Marks and a PhD candidate researching ecclesiology.

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Before I had arrived, the previous pastors had always given altar calls. I was now one month into an interim pastorate, and people were beginning to ask whether I would ever give them. I remember a long, meandering car ride with one sweet brother---a good friend to this day---devoted to the question.

I told this brother and the rest of the elders that I wouldn't do an altar call. Why not?

Because I think altar calls are wrong? No, I think a pastor is free to give one. It's not a sin.

Because I don't believe that people must make a decision for Christ? No, I think people must decide to repent and believe in order to be saved.

Because I don't think Jesus calls us to make a public profession? No, people must publicly profess their faith, which is why Jesus instituted baptism.

Because I think inviting sinners to repent is inherently manipulative? No, I believe preachers should invite non-Christians to repent and believe throughout their sermons. I did this during the interim pastorate, and I did it just last Sunday when guest preaching at another church. I very clearly invited non-Christians to repent and believe in the middle of my sermon, and then told them to speak with me afterwards, or the pastor, or the Christian friend who brought them.

So why wouldn't I give an altar call? In short, I believe that this particular man-made practice, this 19th-century innovation, has produced more bad than good for Christian churches in the West. The altar call relies on the powers of emotion, rhetorical persuasion, and social pressure to induce people to make a hasty and premature decision. And producing professions is not the same thing as making disciples. Surely a number of factors are responsible for the many nominal Christians that typify Christianity in the West, but I believe that the altar call is one of them.

How many people in the last century walked an aisle, and spent the rest of their days convinced that they were a Christian, never considering how they lived!

The alternative to giving altar calls is sticking with the practices we see modeled in Scripture:

• Invite people throughout your sermon to "repent and be baptized" like Peter did in Jerusalem (Acts 2:38). But when you do, don't just stand there waiting with emotionally charged music playing, staring them down until they relent. Rather, make several suggestions about how and where to discuss the matter further.
• Ask people what they believe when they present themselves for baptism, just like Jesus made sure the disciples knew who he was (Matt. 16:13-17; also, 1 John 4:1-3).
• Make sure they understand what following Jesus entails (Matt. 16:24f; John 6:53-60).
• Explain that the fruit of their lives and persevering to the end will indicate whether or not they really believe (Matt. 7:24f; 10:22).
• You might even explain that Jesus has commanded your church to remove them from its fellowship if their life moving forward does not match their profession (Matt. 18:15-17).

Yes, let's pray hard for conversions. But then let's do everything that Scripture requires of us in the long work of making disciples---a work that generally requires lots of teaching, lots of time, lots of invitations, lots of meals together, and finally the commitment of an entire church body.

Are women better listeners? Talkers? Should a pastor counsel women? Only when he's alone? When she's with someone else? When he invites someone else into the office?

These and many other questions pop up when a woman needs the support and empathy of a counselor. David Powlison and Nancy Guthrie address several of them and suggest some practical steps a pastor can take to remain above reproach. But unless a pastor knows why he's in the room during a counseling session, carrying this vision with care and clarity, no safeguards will suffice. He won't be able to help, and he just might fall into sin.

Powlison and Guthrie also discuss the benefits of several different counseling arrangements besides one-on-one meetings. Rigidity can sometimes undermine the potential for fruitful interactions, Powlison cautions.