Qualifications for a church planter: Part 1
Jeff Foxworthy is a nationally recognized comedian who combines Southern charm with a touch of soft …
Resources for Church Planter Care
The fallacy of our spiritual gifts: Part 2
(Continued from The fallacy of our spiritual gifts: Part 1.) What is the Kingdom’s O.S.? Weakness. Just weakness. …
The fallacy of our spiritual gifts: Part 1
Brett and Noelle are busy penciling in 200 dots in the new member’s class at church. …
What does God require? Not success, but faithfulness
As a church, we recently finished a series through the book of Acts. It’s easy to get …
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Two ways to drive our roots deep into the gospel
I’ve recently been reading a new book by Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering. …
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How to look at Christian miracles
I know a lot of people who really get tripped up by miracles in the Bible. …
Sending well: Deploying missionaries from your church
Like most churches, we got our start in church planting slowly. We partnered with several plants …
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Sending well: Developing missionaries in your church
“Lord of the harvest, please send workers! My community is ready…I just need help! In Jesus’ …
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Sending Well: Discovering missionaries in your church
Twenty-six years ago something happened to me that I never anticipated. I found myself believing that …
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How to share the message of Christ with our neighbors
How in the world do we, as believers, carry out the Great Commission? Jesus wasn’t joking …
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How to understand your neighbor
I was born and raised in the southern part of the United States. South Carolina to …
When I was growing up, I loved watching “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.” I loved the trolley that …
Methodology to aid a planter in understanding their context
Gaining an accurate understanding of context is critical to successfully plant a new church. Barry Whitworth …
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Several years ago, I was asked to share with a group of missionaries in Chili about …
We all have spiritual heroes. We admire these leaders God has placed in our path, even …
https://vimeo.com/180065174,https://vimeo.com/180065174 Brotherhood, multiplication, and kingdom all in one three-day package. , Brotherhood, multiplication, and kingdom all …
Brotherhood, multiplication, and kingdom all in one three-day package. , Brotherhood, multiplication, and kingdom all in …
Stories from the frontlines: Dustin Nimmo
This week we interviewed three practitioners serving on the field as church planters. These are their …
Stories from the front lines: Whitney Clayton
This week we interviewed three practitioners serving on the field as church planters. These are their …
When Jesus begins His earthly ministry, He picks up right where John the Baptist left off—proclaiming …
Why church planters need long-term vision
I’m always stunned by the mess kids can make. Give them 30 minutes alone in a …
Kingdom focused church planting
Have you ever missed something in conversation? You know, times when you’ve assumed something a person …
Multiplication: Planting churches
The New Testament describes the church’s relationship to Jesus as a marriage. This is a helpful …
Multiplication: Developing leaders
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul has a lot to say. He speaks …
Multiplication: Making disciples
Disciple making is the foundation of church planting. If you want to lead your church to …
Brotherhood: God’s prayer for relationships
My phone usually pings around 7 a.m. on Sunday morning. The most recent one read: “Praying for …
Christians understand the necessity of burden-bearing relationships. We know that we are broken, sinful men and …
Brotherhood: Giving encouragement
All ministry is hard and church planting is typically harder. Obstacles abound within the church planting …
After decades of methodological malpractice, we have so rationalized and contorted our understanding of Jesus’ Commission …
Five ways to engage: the campus
1. Reach students with depth. As we engaged the campus a generation or two ago, we …
Five ways to engage: the suburbs
In recent years, increased attention has been given to the city centers of our world. This …
1. Learn the city.Find the best sources for learning about your city. There are likely newspapers, …
Characteristics of a replanter: Spousal perseverance
Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 18:22, Ephesians 5:22-33 It is significant that of all the creatures Almighty God …
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Characteristics of a replanter: Emotional awareness
John 10:14-15 We have already observed how a replanter is a shepherd of souls when we …
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Characteristics of a replanter: tactical patience
Proverbs 25:15, Luke 8:15, Romans 8:15 The timeline for church replanters differ from church planters and …
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Characteristics of a replanter: resourceful generalist
Luke 12:41-48 In addition to all of the previously described burdens a church replanter voluntarily carriers, …
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Characteristics of a replanter: multi-generational capacity
1 John 2:1-14, 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Timothy 4:12-6:2 The Body of Christ is a diverse …
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Characteristics of a replanter: affinity for legacy & history
Hebrews 13:7 Among many other duties, a replanter is one who leads a struggling congregation into …
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Characteristics of a replanter: Capacity to suffer
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 The task of a replanter is not an easy one. A replanter is …
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Characteristics of a replanter: visionary shepherd
1 Peter 5:1-11 “Vision” has become somewhat of a buzzword in evangelical circles. Often, the word …
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“If you ever see a turtle on a fence post it is because someone put it …
Barnabas is a hero to us coach-types. His nickname meant “son of encouragement” and was inspired …
Most major sports have preseason, mini-camps and two-a-days. But now that we are a little over …
There are few things that will get you out of your comfort zone more than planting …
For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with approval. The question, “What do people …
How to manage power as a church planter
You will be your own boss. Starting a church is like starting a business. In the …
People with a natural passion and ability to keep plants alive are said to have a …
In Tuesday’s post, we discussed identifying the needs of your community. Recognizing opportunities to show mercy …
Needs are all around us. Some are obvious and overwhelmingly urgent, such as a crisis situation. …
A growing trend in evangelical circles is the emphasis on being socially conscious, which includes caring …
I know different planters and pastors have different strategies for the ministry of the Word–topical or …
When we first started City Church, we had one weekly worship gathering. I would have a …
Why Multiply? It Is Beneficial
When an effective church planter engages a community, he has an internal and compelling urgency directed …
Our English word church comes from a Greek word ekklesia meaning, “the called-out ones.” The normative pattern in Acts showed …
The Planter’s Wife in Community: Challenges
Odds are, when your wife joined you on the journey of church planting, she left her …
The Planter’s Wife in Community: Intentionality and Cultivation
Community requires intentionality and cultivation Think of something that happens quickly. A roller coaster ride. A …
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The Planter’s Wife in Community: Openness and Vulnerability
For the first eight years of our ministry at an established church, I didn’t have a …
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The Planter’s Wife in Community
She Needs Community “Lonely and isolated” are words that many ministry leaders, male and female, use …
Biblical Foundations of Coaching
In The Biblical Foundations of Coaching, by Robert E. Logan, readers will understand that coaching is …
The Planter in Community: Defer Leadership
A few years back I attended a missions conference and struck up a conversation with a …
The Planter in Community: No Masks Allowed
I was in the middle of small group when I got the barrage of text messages. …
The Pastor in Community: You Need It
I remember sitting at a conference for a particular church planting network. We had reached the …
Redefining Success: City Transformation
Insignificance. Most of our nightmares revolve around this. We all want to know we are making …
Redefining Success: Family Culture
What makes a church successful? Is it the number of those who attend the weekly gathering, …
How to have successful gospel conversations
We’ve all been there. Or even if you haven’t, people in your church have. You start …
Don’t Plant a Church Because It’s Cool
After a long and stressful day of Kindergarten, I used to play with G.I. Joes in …
Ready, Set, Go—Equipping Sending Churches pt. 3
Some years ago, the movie “Chariots of Fire” introduced the world to an Olympic champion and …
Ready, Set, Go—Equipping Sending Churches pt. 2
Running has never been really fun for me unless it was an actual race. Although I …
Ready, Set, Go—Equipping Sending Churches
I have been running marathons for almost 15 years now. It’s amazing how the sport of …
Discipleship is messy because our lives are messy. One size certainly doesn’t fit all. How can …
What discipleship is Christian discipleship is what happens when people live daily with Jesus. Jesus drew incredible, …
Developing leaders to multiply the ministry
One of the reasons developing leaders is so critical for a church is the multiplying result. …
Yesterday I was talking to a good friend about his next ministry assignment and what is …
Wise leaders understand the importance of words. They grasp the importance of language in describing the …
An Important Question to Ask Ourselves
What is your greatest insecurity? It’s a good question to ask yourself, but it’s not so …
Lessons learned from church planting
My friend Jenny was over recently, and my youngest son bounded into the room. He’s getting …
The importance of prioritizing as a church planter
This summer I stood in front of a room full of church planting wives and took …
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Why spousal support from pastors is important
One of the more pleasant surprises of this blog the past few years is the opportunity …
11 Ways to Evaluate Your Preaching and Teaching
The more important our work is, the more imperative it is we strive to improve. If …
In the last post I shared that the first theological distinction deals with the missionary nature …