FFL 009: Russell Korets Talks About Tribalism, Slavic Churches And Doing Ministry In Seattle

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On the ninth episode of Fuel For Life, I interview Russell Korets who is one of the pastors at City On A Hill Church, based out of Seattle, Washington. Pastor Russell was kind enough to connect with me for a few brief moments and answer many questions related to his area of ministry and the Christ-centered life in general. This is absolutely one of the most interactive interviews that I have conducted thus far on the Fuel For Life Podcast. To listen to the podcast on iTunes, click here. Here are the questions that we covered during the interview:

 

  1. Tell us about yourself, where you are currently ministering at and what are the latest ministry projects/initiatives/ that you are working on at COAH.
  2. Recently you posted on Facebook the following quote: “A generation that is more likely to read books, blogs and listen to podcasts than read the Scriptures is bound to sidetrack from the gospel.” can you expand on this quote and what dangers do you see in this digital age where everyone is always connected?
  3. What do you think the biggest danger or area of concern that exists for young leader and pastors today?
  4. Some Slavic churches in the United States today are implementing and starting additional venues and services in English so as to reach their community better with the gospel. How is City on a Hill accomplishing this and what are you guys doing to reach not only the population that speaks the native language of their country of origin but the English language which is predominant in the context in which you are living today.
  5. How do you navigate the ministerial landscape, specifically where you are a pastor today. You are dealing with a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual community of faith with various cultures, languages, traditions, etc. How do you rally people around the cause of Christ and keep the church moving forward in the right direction? What is the secret sauce so to speak that makes City on A Hill such a successful and influential church?
  6. There is an idea or a movement sweeping the Christian church today, I would say in all countries called “tribalism.” It is an idea where different tribes of people have chiefs that have a particular theology to which other subscribe to. So what tends to happen is people in the tribes talk about one another but don’t talk to one another.  Why do you think this exists and how do you personal approach the idea of tribalism? Do you view your tribe or theology as a home or as a prison? How do you deal with people who think differently than you but still worship the same Jesus? 
  7. A lot of young guys that I talk to say that they don’t necessarily need to go to seminary to get a theological education. With the proliferation of sufficient content on the internet, why would someone put so much money into something that they could get for free. Do you agree with this kind of mentality or would you recommend that guys who want to go into ministry should go to seminary?
  8. Lightning Round Questions:
  • What is your favorite coffee concoction?
  • In an ideal world, what would you do all the time if you could?
  • What type of music are you into right now or the bands that are on your iPad/iPhone
  • What do you do when not working or doing ministry assignments to relax and re-charge?
  • What is a goal or a dream that you would like to accomplish in 2014

You can check out Russell’s blog by clicking here. To check out City On A Hill Church, click here. Connect with Russell on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

Question: What did you think of the interview? What other questions would you ask? 


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