Posts Tagged ‘Acts 29’

Mistake #6: Not Understanding the Priority of People Over Programs

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” 2 Corinthians 11:30 (ESV)

This is the sixth in a series of blog posts called, “My Top Ten Mistakes in Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly.)” After many years of ministry experience as a church planter, pastor and seminary professor, I think I’ve finally learned that one of the best kept secrets to surviving well in the ministry is to stop making the same old mistakes that others (like me) have been making for decades. Instead, let’s all start making some brand new, bold, innovative and creative mistakes!

We began this series with an introduction called, “Ladies First” in which veteran church planter wife, Shari Thomas, addressed the tough topic, What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting from the perspective of the church planter’s/pastor’s spouse. We then took a look at:

Mistake #6: Not Understanding the Priority of People Over Programs

It’s been thought by all of us in Christian ministry (both clergy and laity) at one time or another: “I love God, and I love the ministry, but it’s just people that I really don’t like!” In his best-selling book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman writes, “When Jesus’ plan is reflected upon, the basic philosophy is so different from that of the modern church that its implications are nothing less than revolutionary….His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes but with people whom the multitudes would follow….People were to be His method of winning the world to God. The initial objective of Jesus’ plan was to enlist men who could bear witness to His life and carry on His work after He returned to the Father.”

I had the privilege of having Dr. Coleman as one of my professors when I was in seminary in Chicago (Trinity). I’ll always remember his incessant repetition of this same basic concept over and over again: while in the ministry if we don’t actively, constantly fight against it, we will inevitably become nothing more than mere “ministry program administrators—thereby failing to be like Jesus who always made people (not programs) his highest priority.

In Jesus’ words to Peter, after the resurrection, we learn again that one of the greatest ways we can show our love to Christ is not merely by doing great ministry exploits for him, but by showing sacrificial love to his sheep–to love deeply and well those He loves and those for whom he laid down His life. With these lenses on, take a new look now at these ancient words of the resurrected Christ to Peter:

“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

Here we are meant to learn a valuable lesson about life and ministry that is very easily missed if we’re not very careful. The lesson? One of the greatest ways to show our love to Jesus is by showing our love to His sheep—especially when they don’t love us well. It’s relatively easy learning to lead well. But it’s really hard learning to love well.

Hear his voice today asking “Do you love me?” Then hear his answer, “Tend my sheep.” In other words, love those whom He loves–lay down your life to shepherd well especially those sheep who are back-biting, betraying, whining, unappreciative and arrogant. Where in the world can you find the power to do that? It begins by realizing how deeply the Good Shepherd keeps loving you in the face of all your back-biting, betraying, whining, lack of appreciation and arrogance.

Oh, and by the way, since we haven’t addressed it since the introductory message in this series by Shari Thomas, I thought it might be good for all of us to be reminded that one of those people in your church in need of your very special love—is your spouse. I wish someone had told me what it means to understand and love my wife well—especially during our early church planting years.

If you haven’t read Shari Thomas blog entry that  addressed the tough topic, What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting from the perspective of the church planter’s/pastor’s spouse then please do. If you have, then please read it again.

Again, I long for you not to make the same mistakes so many of us have made in the past three decades of ministry. Instead, as Bob Logan says, “Go make new, creative, innovative mistakes!” As our beloved Steve Brown would say, “You think about that.”

Steve Childers is the President & CEO of Global Church Advancement, an inter-denominational ministry that provides church planting training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Steve has trained Christian leaders from more than 50 countries (curriculum in five major global languages), representing over 200 denominations and mission agencies in 5 continents (& 5 languages). Steve is also an author, Professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the Director of the Doctoral program at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, evangelism and spiritual formation. To learn more about GCA:

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Calvin Rejects Privatized Faith and Promotes Vulnerability in Church Planting Networks :)

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

“In the church, as Calvin conceived it, every man helped every other man. If in Christ Jesus all believers are united, then a private believer is a contradiction in terms. Not only are the blessings and the virtues given for the common good, but the faults and the weaknesses concern the other members of the body. There was to be no hypocrisy of pretending to be other than a sinner, no dissembling or cloaking of sins; but, just as God is completely honest with men, and men must be honest with God, so also believer with believer must be courageously honest and open. The quarterly meeting was a little day of judgement when, flattery and convention laid aside, each man saw himself through the eyes of his fellows and, if he were wise, harboured no resentment but knew the uniquely joyful release of voluntary humiliation.”[1]

[1] Herman J. Selderhuis, John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life [Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2009], 30.

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A Gospel-Planted Life Blog Reviews GCA Conference

Friday, February 5th, 2010

The folks over at A Gospel-Planted Life were kind enough to share their experience at last week’s North American Church Planting Conference. You should check it out!

[A Gospel-Planted Life]

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Mistake #4: Not Understanding the Difference Between Pursuing the Grace of God or the God of Grace

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” 2 Corinthians 11:30 (ESV)

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts called, “My Top Ten Mistakes in Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly.)” After many years of ministry experience as a church planter, pastor and seminary professor, I think I’ve finally learned that one of the best kept secrets to surviving well in the ministry is to stop making the same old mistakes that others (like me) have been making for decades. Instead, let’s all start making some brand new, bold, innovative and creative mistakes!

We began this series with an introduction called, “Ladies First” in which veteran church planter wife, Shari Thomas, addressed the tough topic, What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting from the perspective of the church planter’s/pastor’s spouse. We then took a look at:

This time we’ll take a brief look at another common mistake church leaders make that I wish someone had told me about before I went into the ministry.

Mistake #4: Not Understanding the Difference Between Pursing the Grace of God and the God of Grace.

John Piper’s words still seem to be ringing in my ears after all these years: “Is God a means of grace in your life and ministry or is grace a means to God?” No one had ever asked me that kind of question before. In fact, it took me a while to even figure out what the question meant.

But when I finally understood it, I found myself wishing someone had dared to ask me that kind of penetrating, potentially life-changing question many years ago. Let me try to expound on this idea briefly.

The Ultimate Quest of Your Life & Ministry

In John 17:3 Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” Here we are meant to learn that God’s goal for our lives is not merely to serve him in faithful ministry but primarily to know him, to love him, to glorify him and enjoy him.

Think of this question again: “Is God made a means to grace in your ministry or is grace made a means to God?” To put the question differently, “Does the quest of your life and the passion of your ministry terminate on God? Knowing Him? Enjoying Him? Glorifying Him?

Or is God brought in beside all your planning, techniques and ministry strategies in hope that he might somehow be the means of a great outpouring of grace on your ministry and in your life?  The big idea here is that it makes a tremendous difference whether the ultimate quest of your life and ministry is the grace of God or the God of grace.

Using God to Solve Your Problems or Using Your Problems to Find God?

One of the most fundamental questions is whether you will place God or yourself at the center of your ministry. The practical benefits of a God-centered focus in life and ministry are far-reaching. Author Larry Crabb makes the point that a leader with this perspective stops trying to “use God to solve his problems”. Instead such a leader learns how to “use his problems to find God”.

A very common problem among church planters, missionaries, and pastors, is that we begin to see ourselves primarily as servants of God or soldiers of God. Unknowingly, over time, our view of God becomes primarily that of a Master or a Commander-in-Chief. And those pictures of God are biblical and true, but there is so much more to a truly biblical view of God.

In John 15 Jesus said, “You are my friends.” There is a sense in which that’s richer than merely being a slave or a soldier.  Then in 1John 3:1 we read these astonishing words, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God.”

Stop and think about this: more than being a “friend” of Christ, because you are now “in Christ” you are also considered by God to be His child—one who is now loved with the highest of all loves, a love previously reserved by the eternal Father for His one and only Son! There is no stronger love in all the cosmos (Eph 3:14-20).

In Ephesians 5 we see another graphic picture of a bride and a bridegroom—the picture of intimate lovers. As a church leader never allow the imagery of what has been called the “John 3:16 of the Old Testament” to leave your mind and heart: “The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. He will be quiet in His love. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” (Zeph 3:17).  Here we have the Commander-in-Chief (the Victorious Warrior) rejoicing over you as His child with shouts of joy.

The Lord is our Commander-in-Chief, and we are called to be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ”, putting on and utilizing all the spiritual armor (Eph. 6) that is now ours in Christ.  He is also our Master and we are called to be His “servants” availing ourselves of all of His means of grace so we might be called “faithful” at the end of this race. But we must never forget He is also our Friend, our Father and our Lover (and so much more).

The reason having a proper view of God is so critically important in your life and ministry is because it is so easy to be unknowingly:

  • Pursuing the Kingdom and not the King
  • Pursuing the Truth of God and not the God of Truth
  • Using God to solve your problems rather than using your problems to find God.

In other words, if you are not consciously fighting against it, you are at risk of falling prey to pursing the grace of God and not the God of grace.

Just before his death, Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade spoke at Reformed Seminary in Orlando, Florida, where I’m on faculty (along with Steve Brown). He had a terminal respiratory disease. Many of us were told he might not live long enough to speak in chapel on the date he had been scheduled. So I’ll never forget watching this man of God being helped into the seminary chapel in a wheel chair with a oxygen tubes hooked under his nose. Here was without question one of the greatest visionary leaders of our generation. And he had come to preach to us as “a dying man to dying men”.

I found fascinating that the focus of his final message that morning was not on the importance of capturing a vision for reaching the world for Christ. That’s what I was expecting. But it was, to my surprise, a powerful message on the importance of capturing a vision for God in the fullness of all His attributes.

I’ll never forget Dr. Bright’s final challenge to us that day—to see God not merely as useful but instead to learn to see God primarily as beautiful.  It was just another way of saying, “Don’t merely pursue the grace of God. Pursue the God of grace”. I hope this helps you in that life-long process.

Steve Childers is the President & CEO of Global Church Advancement, an inter-denominational ministry that provides church planting training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Steve has trained Christian leaders from more than 50 countries (curriculum in five major global languages), representing over 200 denominations and mission agencies in 5 continents (& 5 languages). Steve is also an author, Professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the Director of the Doctoral program at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, evangelism and spiritual formation. To learn more about GCA:

http://www.facebook.com/GlobalChurchAdvancement

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Church Planting: Using Technology and Social Media

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

This year’s conference consists of 13 sessions.  In keeping with past years, there are two tracks.  The Foundations track is for church planters who are just getting started.  They may still be in the planning stages, or in the first year or two of planting.  The “Essentials” track is for planters who are a little bit further along (3-5 years) and is designed to help them determine the next steps in the development on their churches.

I’ll be blogging my way through the “Foundations” track.  Because of the density of the material and the pace at which we’re moving through it, there’s just no way for me to cover everything.  So I’ll only be sharing one module with you today.  I’ll try to cover two on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Technology and Social Media

This session was presented by the duo of Tim Brister and Drew Goodmanson.  It’s actually not part of the “Foundations” track proper.  But it seemed like such a unique module that I couldn’t resist sharing it with you.  (And, of course, as a blogger I’m probably a little biased!)

Technology is changing.  It’s more immersive.  It’s all around us.  And if we want to reach the culture around us, we will have to learn to speak in their technological language.  In other words, the Church needs to be using all avenues of communication to share the gospel.  In America today, this means websites, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs just to name a few.

This doesn’t mean we should accept technology uncritically.  What it does mean is that we shouldn’t react against it per se.  We know that technology – and social media in particular – impacts the amount of time we spend directly interacting with one another.  So what we need is to have a theology of presence such that we can understand the positives and negatives of technology and its affect on relational intimacy.  Where this hasn’t been done, we have yet to fully comprehend our relationship with the gadgets that surround us.

With regard to social media, church planters need to understand that they have four audiences that they are trying to reach: non-Christians, new Christians, regular church-goers, and church leaders.  In some sense, it’s unrealistic to expect a one-size-fits-all approach to reach and inform all four of these groups.  So a good approach to a church’s online presence is going to be multi-faceted.  It just has to be.

The project of managing any organization’s online presence is called Internet Presence Management.  This involves first figuring out which online services are being used by the people you want to reach (be they an un-reached group that you want to evangelize, or the average attendee at your church).  There’s no doubt that there are a lot of options here: Facebook ads, clever domain names, and private member portals (e.g. the “unifyer” service) only scratch the surface.  It’s easy to get exhausted trying to consider all of the options.  I could feel a collective sigh of relief as Drew stressed that the goal isn’t to keep up with everything going on here.  Just find out where the people are that you want to reach online and do those things well.

If you’re willing to put in some time (or hire an expert), search engines make it possible to speak to people who you otherwise wouldn’t.  Instead of finding them, they might come into contact with your message on Google. Doing this well entails presenting your material in such a way that it will rank high in search engine results.  For example, a church in Orlando would do well to tailer their website such that it ranks highly (i.e. within the top five results) for someone searching “Orlando church.”  This process is called search engine optimization (SEO), and it’s a process best left to the experts.

Here are some interesting tidbits that Tim and Drew had to share. Traditionally, web site design has convinced almost no non-Christians to attend a particular church.  For Christians new to an area, on the other hand, the website has replaced an ad in the phone book as the first filter in determining what church to attend.  43 seconds is the average length of time that a visitor spends on a website.  That means that, if all of the important information on your website can’t be reached quickly, then visitors will simply move on.  Aside from the homepage, the most popular page visits tend to be “I’m new” pages.  Visitors will not come if your website is outdated (77% say this is somewhat to very important).

Talking with Tim and Drew after the session, it was clear that they do not support the use of all of this technology for its own sake.  Rather, they recognize that these are the media that people are using today to gain and share information.  As church planters, leaders and evangelists, who naturally want to seek the lost, we need to go where they are.  As it turns out, they’re online.  That being the case, the gospel needs to get online.  And it needs to “go viral.”

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My Top Ten Mistakes In Ministry–That I Can Share Publicly: Mistake # 3

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” 2 Corinthians 11:30 (ESV)

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts called, “My Top Ten Mistakes in Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly)” After many years of ministry experience as a church planter, pastor and seminary professor I think I’ve finally learned that one of the best kept secrets to surviving well in the ministry is to stop making the same old mistakes that others (like me) have been making for decades. Instead, let’s all start making some brand new, bold, innovative and creative mistakes!

We began this series with an introduction called, “Ladies First” in which veteran church planter wife, Shari Thomas, addressed the tough topic, “What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting” from the perspective of the church planter’s/pastor’s spouse. We then took a look at

Mistake #3: Not Understanding the Difference Between My Goals and Desires

Dreams and Goals

Dreams and Goals

In the Sermon of the Mount Jesus said, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matt 6:24

This is one of many famous quotations from Jesus that we’ve heard so often we think we really understand it. But the hard truth is that we’ve often either forgotten it or never really learned it in the first place. So let me try to remind you of the stunning present relevance of these words of our Lord for you and me today.

In these famous words of Jesus we are meant to learn the simple but life-changing truth that God means for us to focus our attention, energies and worries primarily on the things we can do something about today— and then trust him with all those things that are out of our control tomorrow and in all the tomorrows that lie ahead. Just like with the Israelites, the Lord wants us to learn how to trust Him for our manna (our “daily bread”)—one day at a time (Sweet Jesus!).

In the trenches of real-life ministry, the task before you can be so overwhelming that you can easily feel like one very small person standing all alone with a very small axe in your hand looking up fearfully at a massive forest that you’ve been “called” to cut down. The task can be absolutely paralyzing unless you learn how to put on those “Gospel Blinders”, go into “biblical denial” about all those things that lie ahead 7principlesof you now that could eat your lunch—and instead set a very reasonable, achievable goal for cutting down just a few trees each day.

Then you must learn the art of giving yourself each day–not to fulfill your desire to remove the whole forest–but to accomplish your goal of just taking down those few trees (and they better not all be about ministry!). Only then can you be free from the oppressive, crushing, joy-robbing demands of the whole forest.

Understanding the difference between your goals and desires can truly help set you free from a life dominated by anxiety and fear. I think it was from Dr. Larry Crabb and/or Dr. Dan Allendar that I first learned (way too late!) this idea that:

  • Your Personal Goals need to be defined as those things that are within your control, relatively speaking (because nothing is every REALLY in your control), while you must learn to see
  • Your Personal Desires as those things normally not in your control.

Let me try to bring this lofty idea down for a landing regarding practical ministry issues. Under this definition if, as a church planter or pastor, you want to have ten people become Christians and be baptized in your church this year, that would be a desire but not a goal because you cannot control that outcome.

The key that can often open the door to new, heart-freedom is when you learn how to WORK toward Your Goals . . .

. . . and PRAY for Your Desires.

What you must learn to think (and to say!) is that your desire is to have ten people trust in Christ and be baptized in your church this year but your goal is to do practical, tangible things like set aside regular times to pray for the lost, make so many contacts with people in your community every week, train six people in evangelism, have three evangelistic gathering events, etc.

The key that really opens the door to heart-freedom in all this is that you learn to work toward your goals and pray for your desires. The value of this approach to life and ministry is that it serves to remind you that the outcome of your life and ministry ultimately rests with God—and not you!

I’m convinced that one of the primary reasons so many Christian leaders drop out of the ministry today is because they have never learned this simple distinction between their goals and desires. Their desires become their goals and when their desires are not meant, for whatever reason, they become angry, bitter, depressed and frustrated.

But there is a freedom and peace about your life and your ministry that can be yours if you will learn, by God’s grace, how to understand the difference between your goals and desires. Oh how I wish someone had shared this with me thirty years ago. As Steve Brown would say, “You think about that!”

Stesteveve Childers is the President & CEO of Global Church Advancement, an inter-denominational ministry that provides church planting training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Steve has trained Christian leaders from more than 50 countries (curriculum in five major global languages) representing over 200 denominations and mission agencies in 5 continents (& 5 languages). Steve is also an author, Professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the Director of the Doctoral program at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, evangelism and spiritual formation. To learn more about GCA:

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My Top Ten Mistakes In Ministry–That I Can Share Publicly: Mistake # 2

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” 2 Corinthians 11:30 (ESV)

Man Sorry for MistakesThis is the third in a series of blog posts called, “My Top Ten Mistakes in Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly)” After many years of ministry experience as a church planter, pastor and seminary professor I think I’ve finally learned that one of the best kept secrets to surviving well in the ministry is to stop making the same old mistakes that others (like me) have been making for decades. Instead, let’s all start making some brand new, bold, innovative and creative mistakes!

We began this series with an introduction called, “Ladies First” in which veteran church planter wife, Shari Thomas, addressed the tough topic, “What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting” from the perspective of the church planter’s/pastor’s spouse. Last time we looked at Mistake #1 called, “Failing to Understand the Importance of How I Define Ministry Success.” This time we’ll take a brief look at Mistake #2 (these are in no intentional order) I wish someone had the wisdom and guts to tell me before I began church planting/pastoral ministry more than 30 years ago.

Mistake #2: Managing My Time And Not My Life

clock-headIn his classic article, “Tyranny of the Urgent”, Charles Hummel writes, “‘Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?’ Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure under which we live. Our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks. Unanswered emails, unvisited friends, unread books and articles, etc., haunt quiet moments when we stop to evaluate. We desperately need relief.

But would a thirty-hour day really solve the problem? Wouldn’t we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four allotment? “A mother’s work is never done”, and neither is that of . . . any pastor. Nor will the passage of time help us catch up. Children grow in number and age to require more of our time. Greater experience and success in life and ministry normally bring more exacting assignments. So we find ourselves working more and enjoying it less.”

Our problem is often, unknowingly, allowing the urgent things in life to crowd out the truly important things. We all live in a constant tension between the urgent and the important.

The Gap Between the Compass and the Clock

There is an ongoing contrast between two things that continually influence our lives: the clock and the compass. Stephen Covey, in his book, First Things First, describes the clock as representing such things as our commitments, appointments,compassschedules, goals, activities; it’s how we use and manage our time. The compass represents our core life values, our conscience, our sense of personal vision and life mission; it’s what we believe is truly important in life and how we manage life.

The struggle comes when we experience a gap between the compass and the clock–when what we actually do with our time doesn’t contribute to what is truly most important in our life. In an effort to close the gap between the compass and the clock, many of us naturally turn to the field of “personal time management.” Traditional time management theory suggests that by doing things more efficiently, you’ll eventually gain control of your life and that increased control will bring personal peace and fulfillment.

Although there is much to gain from such things as planning, prioritizing and goal setting, the bottom line is that mere increased efficiency normally does not lessen the gap between the compass and the clock. In fact, I was a living example of someone who had learned how to get a lot more work done in less time, but what I was actually doing with my time was not at all what truly matters to me the most. This is why I wish someone had asked questions and said things to me like:

“How many pastors on their deathbed wish they had spent more time at the church?”

“The worst enemy of the best is often the good.”

The Answer is Not Learning to Get More Done in Less Time

The gap between what is deeply important to you (your compass) and the way you spend your time (your clock) cannot be closedTime_Management_Techniquesby simply learning to do more things more efficiently. The answer is not found in learning to get more things done in less time. In fact, increasing your time management efficiency can actually make things worse! What is needed is a new way of thinking—learning how to manage your life and not just your time, and learning how to shift your focus away from things that are urgent to the things that are trulyimportant.

Often, unless we take intentional, proactive steps to fight against it, we’ll inevitably become slaves to the “tyranny of the urgent”.  It’s been said that, “Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.”

In Isaiah 30:15 we read, “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you shall be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.’” At the root of our frantic propensity to overwork is the sin of pride—an exalted sense of our importance to the Kingdom of God. We secretly and arrogantly think things like: “If I dare to stop, the Kingdom of God just might not make it and my ministry would surely self-destruct!”

Some of us need to show our faith in God not by working harder but by working less!

Some of us have been hitting it too hard for too long, and we desperately need extended time to rest. For some it might be 6 months for others it might be 6 weeks, or maybe 6 days. For some of us the most spiritual thing we could do now is to go home and go to bed and sleep!

A seasoned missionary in Peru came up to me at a conference once to tell me that in all his years in the ministry, he has learned that there are two types of missionaries in Peru—those who take siestas (naps) every day and those who leave the field. He said, “If you don’t learn to take your siesta on your first term, you normally will not be back for your second term.”

Not Just Starting Well . . . But Finishing Well

It’s one thing to start ministry well. It’s another to finish well. We must remember (and keep reminding each other) that the ministry is not a sprint, but it’s a cross-country event. So we must pace ourselves. We must build into our lives a Sabbath Rhythm of work and rest, work and rest—daily, weekly, quarterly, yearly.

The Scriptures tell us, “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake” (Matt 8:18). Jesus knew when it was time for him and his followers to pull away from the pressing demands of ministry. My prayer for you and for me is that we will too, before it’s too late.

Steve Childers is the President & CEO of Global Church Advancement, an inter-denominational ministry that provides Steve-Childers-Bio-Photochurch planting training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Steve has trained Christian leaders from more than 50 countries (curriculum in five major global languages) representing over 200 denominations and mission agencies. Steve is also an author, Professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the Director of the Doctoral program atReformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, evangelism and spiritual formation.

To learn more about GCA:

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My Top Ten Mistakes In Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly) #1

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Pooped Pastor Picture

This is the second in a series of blog posts I’m calling, “My Top Ten Mistakes in Ministry (That I Can Share Publicly!). After decades of ministry experience as a church planter, pastor and seminary professor I’ve learned the hard way that most church leaders seem to keep making the same mistakes in ministry. I hope that this series will help some church leaders (including me) stop making the same old mistakes and at least start making some brand new, innovative and creative mistakes!

Last time we began this series with an introduction called, “Ladies First” in which veteran church planter wife Shari Thomas answered the tough question, “What I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting” from the perspective of the church pastor’s spouse. This time we’ll take a brief look at the first of my top ten ministry mistakes.

Mistake #1: Failing to Understand the Importance of How I Define Ministry Success

First, I wish someone had told me how critically important it is to have a biblical view of success in the ministry. I wish someone had the wisdom and guts to have taken me aside, before I went into pastoral ministry, and say something like this: “Do you know that you have a definition of what it means to be successful in ministry and that definition is probably very wrong and dangerous?” I wish someone had explained to me how my definition of ministry success had the potential power of either destroying my ministry and life or deeply enriching it.  But no one said that to me. So I had to learn this lesson the old-fashioned way–by failing.

By anyone’s standards the disciples’ ministry, described in Luke 10, seemed to be a raging success. You know the story. Jesus sent them out “two by two” and commissioned them to heal the sick and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. As they spoke in Jesus’ name and ministered to the people, God’s power fell on them in an astonishing way. They were not only surprised but also thrilled and elated. Luke 10:17 tells us, “And the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’” Their enthusiasm was obvious. God was mightily at work through their lives doing great signs and wonders, just like they had seen done earlier by Jesus.

So the disciples rejoiced. And why shouldn’t they? Even the demons were subject to them, just as they had been to Jesus. But right in the midst of all their elation and rejoicing at how God was working so powerfully in and through them, Jesus spoke these sobering words. He said, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven”(Luke 10:20).

Here Jesus makes clear to his disciples what I wish someone had made clear to me many years ago–that their source of joy in ministry must not be found in what they do for Him but in who they are in Him. Jesus knew that there would soon come a time in all of their ministries when there would no longer be great signs and wonders to encourage them. Instead, there would be great hardships, trials, persecution, and even death for serving in His name. Jesus knew there were times before them when they would feel much more in subjection to the demons rather than the demons being in subjection to them.

At such times Jesus does not want his followers (then or now) to be robbed of joy, so he taught them to find their true source of joy in something other than what most would call “ministry success.” Instead, Jesus wants His followers, even in the face of what many would call ministry failure, to be the kind of people who learn to find deep-seated joy in their knowledge of the Good News of the God’s radical love for them in Christ, (i.e. that “their names are recorded in heaven”.)

In the often difficult and faith-testing trenches of real life ministry (not the unrealistic, Pollyannaish and triumphalistic pictures of ministry often painted by others) it is extremely easy and very normal for church leaders to become discouraged and depressed. Thousands have left the ministry over the years convinced they are failures because of their lack of what many would call ministry success. One of the downsides of my ministry is that I’m sometimes called in to help when church planters and church plants crash and burn. Often these church planters don’t just leave the ministry-they leave the Faith. And every time, without exception, I have discovered deeply lodged in their broken hearts an unbiblical definition of ministry success.

According to Scripture, success before God should be measured primarily in terms of faithfulness to Him. Success has been defined well by Ken and Barbara Hughes, in their excellent book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, as “faithfully pleasing God with the resources and responsibilities that He has given you.” The authors make the point that in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30)  Jesus rewarded each faithful man the same—even though one was actually given more than the other and even though one actually produced more than the other.

The main point in this book is not to denigrate the value and necessity of things like thoughtful planning and hard work in the ministry. And the authors are not advocating spiritual pacifism in the name of faith. Instead, they are making a solid case for a biblical view of success that is radically different from the world’s view. It is primarily qualitative not merely quantitative. Its emphasis is more on things like faithfulness, humility, love and relationships than on measurable, objective accomplishments and achievements in the ministry.

God’s Kingdom is an upside-down Kingdom. The Apostle James wrote, “God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord said, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). One of the supreme glories of the Gospel is that it is primarily through weakness that God has chosen to show his strength. This is why the Puritans used to say, “God’s grace, like water always flows to the lowest place, the sinner’s place–the foot of the cross.”

Paul writes,  “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of  the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of  the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of athe world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God”(1 Cor 1:26-29).

If you are like most of us in the ministry today your definition of success is naturally prone to be primarily quantitative not qualitative. Its emphasis is on measurable, objective accomplishments and achievements–things like ”nickels and noses” (church finances & attendance), making a “Kingdom impact”, attaining prestige, power and resources. Without realizing it your  sense of personal worth and identity is inordinately and frighteningly deeply rooted in these things–not in the Good News that “your name is recorded in heaven.”

Oswald Chamber wrote, “God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.”

Never forget that your source of joy in the ministry must not be rooted in what you do for Him but in who you are in Him. That’s because there will inevitably come a time in your ministry when you will no longer have all the quantitative accomplishments, power and resources in which you are now illegitimately (and probably unknowingly) finding your true sense of worth and joy. “Do not rejoice in this…but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Instead, learn to find your true sense of personal worth and joy in the Good News of God’s radical love for you in Christ. Define your success in ministry as “faithfully pleasing God with the resources and responsibilities that He has given you.” Make the primary focus of your ministry things like faithfulness, humility, love and relationships. Then leave the results of your ministry to God.  Failing to understand the importance of how to define ministry success has been one of my top ten greatest mistakes in ministry–that I can share publicly. This failure has cost me greatly. I pray that you will not keep making this same mistake.

Steve Childers is the President & CEO of Global Church Advancement, an inter-denominational ministry that provides church planting training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Steve has trained Christian leaders from more than 40 countries (curriculum in five major languages) representing over 300 denominations and mission agencies. Steve is also an author, Professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the director of the doctoral program at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, evangelism and spiritual formation.

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Research Findings on Church Planting Wives: 6 Primary Sources, 8 Secondary Sources

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

UnhappyWoman2

The following factors provided the greatest sources of satisfaction or stress for church planting wives. These findings are taken from a research study conducted in North American among PCA church planting spouses of various ethnicities in both urban and suburban settings. This research was conducted by Parakaleo—a gospel-centered ministry that is highly recommended by GCA and represented at all North American GCA training events. Parakaleo exists to strengthen the gospel spreading impact of church planting
by coming alongside church planting movements and church planting couples.
Through coaching, connecting, caring, and celebrating they facilitate training,
encouragement and care of church planters and their spouses. For more information contact Parakaleo staff Shari Thomas, shari@parakaleo.us or Tami Resch, tami@parakaleo.us

Six Primary Sources

1. The Husband

The greatest source of satisfaction or stress for the church planter spouse was the person and work of the husband as he is involved/uninvolved with his wife. The lack of a support system not only increases loneliness and isolation for the wife, it puts added pressure on the marriage. If a clergy couple is relying primarily on each other for support, the marriage may function well most of the time, yet a narrow support system will become a problem when either one is not able to fulfill that role (McMinn 2004).

“We have a strong marriage and I know my husband is committed to me. If I weren’t called to do this type of work, he would quit. We both have a profound respect that God has called us together as one flesh and He will not pull us in different directions. My husband practices the scripture of laying down his life for me as Christ laid down His life for the church. I can submit to that kind of husband.”

2. Support System

The major factor which restricts clergy spouses from experiencing the support they need is that their primary support system comes from their husbands-men who tend to be absent from the home evenings and weekends. The study also indicates that wives do not talk about their husband since this could jeopardize his career (McMinn, 2004).

“It would have been most helpful if I had connection with other church planting spouses early on.”

3. Sabbath Rest

“The highest levels of exhaustion were caused by overextending ourselves because of perceived expectations that we feared we were not meeting. Overall, we were not trusting the Lord.”

“We did not take regular days off or vacations. Nor did we know about keeping boundaries. So a lot has been learned and changed over the years.”

4. Reliance on Christ

“I attribute my spiritual and emotional health to daily repentance, and to understanding how great my sin is, to the ability to laugh, and balancing my heart for the church with the fact that the church is not my life or my significance.”

“…it is God alone, salvation, prayer, his goodness, his very presence in the Spirit.”

“While I give head assent to relying on Christ, my life style shows my functional belief system which is in myself and human effort”.

5. Boundary Ambiguity

Ambiguity is endemic to ministry. To the clergy family, the system is not clear. All members of the family participate either directly or indirectly in the church. There is some role expectation of the congregation which must be fulfilled by the minister, his spouse, and even his children. This level of ambiguity causes high levels of stress for clergy spouses (Lee, 1988).

a) Role Ambiguity

“My greatest challenge has been how the ambiguous role of the cp spouse would affect me. The struggle of knowing church planting was my passion, being trained in ministry, and yet not knowing how to interface this without having a defined position was difficult. I often functionally operated as an assistant minister yet without title, pay, or decision making power.”

b) Emotional Ambiguity

“How much should my husband tell me? I realize I am his primary support, but it’s hard to love people well when I know how they have hurt him.”

c) Physical Ambiguity

The constant unknowns of facility and where we will be located coupled with the constant unknowns of who will stay and who will leave the church plant has been my biggest challenge.”

6. Physical health

Having balanced or unbalanced health

60% of church planting spouses reported leading more than one major ministry in the church plant or community along with being involved in 2-3 other ministries. It is no surprise they report exhaustion and often burn out in ministry.

Eight Secondary Sources

1. Changed lives

“Walking with people in their journey and seeing their lives changed because of the existence of our church is incredibly exciting.”

“Transformed lives, mine and others, have been the greatest source of satisfaction.”

2. Commitment and sense of call to church planting

“What is our major calling if we have other passions? How do we balance this with the demands church planting places on us?”

“I feel just as called to church planting as my husband. We are both in this together.”

3. Family Time

“My husband keeps his day off and is intentional about building a relationship with our boys. We work hard to build a family focus, identity, and history.”

“I don’t show the kids my unhappiness with their dads lack of participating in our family life. I feel like he spiritually takes care of the church and I take care of the family.”

4. Raising kids

“I really suffer here…often my husband is not a part of what we do as a family. When the church is struggling, the less my husband does for and with the family and the more he wants me to focus on helping him with the ministry.”

“He helps us apply the word to our lives as we go…in devotional time, in the car, around the table.”

5. Church growth

“Having come from a large church it has been discouraging to see the slow growth.”

6. Expectations- from/of self and others

“I didn’t realize how high my expectations were of others. It took me time to realize not everyone has the same calling I have but also that some may not be passionate about seeing others come to know Christ.”

“I have been disappointed with the lack of responsibility and loyalty some people have”.

7. Finances

“Church planting is like starting a business only after the hard work we don’t get the financial payback. It’s hard to give our blood, sweat, and tears to this type of work and not have some sort of financial outcome that we can then pass on to our kids.”

8. Use of gifts and abilities

“I thought I would have an opportunity to use my gifts but with the exhaustion my husband experiences, the needs of our kids, and without having other leaders, most of my time is spent in areas the church needs but not where I’m passionate.”


head_shari_drinkingShari Thomas (GCA Blogger) has been involved with her husband, John, in church planting for over 25 years both in North America and abroad. Shari serves on Mission to North America’s church planting staff as the Director of Parakaleo, a ministry primarily to church planting spouses. Shari and/or Tami Resch (also on staff with Parakaleo) lead the Women’s Forum (6 Sessions) at the North America GCA Conferences & Seminars. John is the director of global training for the Redeemer Church Planting Center in Manhattan, NYC. They have 3 children who amazingly still claim them as parents. They love sailing, only do legal drugs, and are known coffee snobs.


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Planter Spouse Looks Back: What I Wish I’d Known About Church Planting! by Shari Thomas*

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Shari-Thomas-Photo

Given at the Global Church Advancement North America Conference

I wish someone would have told us (Shari and her husband, John), that we both would need a support system greater than just each other…

…that we would need coaches and mentors, and we should plan at more than one stage in the journey on getting counseling….

…and when we didn’t have this support system it would be up to us to seek it out!

I would have greatly benefited knowing that we needed to come to a mutual understanding and commitment about what my involvement in the church plant would be…

…that pursuing and nurturing my gifts was as important as nurturing his.

And that we would often need to review this involvement through out the stages of church planting and seasons of life…

…that when the children were young, my husband and children would require and need most of my time.

I wish he’d known how much I would need his support in sticking to these commitments rather than both of us rescuing ministries and people when they floundered.

I longed for someone to gently come alongside me and remind me again and again that what my husband needs from me most is love and respect. 



He can find coaches, teachers, nags and critics in countless places. He already has one mother. And when it’s late at night and we are falling into bed that this is not the time or place to hear one more idea on how to make the church successful! 



But at the same time I also wished he’d known how very important it was for the two of us to have our weekly “staff” times to talk about how the church and family life intersected.

I was a part of the church planting team and needed to know about the plant, give my input and have a place on the team. I wish we had spoken more openly about this to our staff as they too needed to work through their understanding of my role on the church planting team.

If I had known that my heart as well as our kids would be hurt, angry, and almost torn in two by this ministry we might not have planted a church. 



….but we also may never have learned the delight and satisfaction of pointing each other to Jesus, to the hope that only the gospel brings, and the deep joy of leading others to this hope.

…if we hadn’t planted a church I don’t know if we would ever have known the joy of watching the people we had led to Christ then turn and point our hearts to Jesus during our dark hours.

We would have benefited from being told that the question “should we stay in this church?” will be one that will haunt us through out our ministry lives. 

I was not prepared for him rolling over in bed doubting his call.

I didn’t know we would question if God had brought us here…that when my husband’s passion and energy for the church plant was waxing, mine might be waning and vice versa. It would have been helpful to know this was normal.

I am thankful that someone told us we would have to work harder for a marriage where there is spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy than we would have to work at planting the church…that this would involve sacrifice on both of our parts, and it would be well worth it. 



…that this would mean being honest about the damage we both do to one another and then seeking reconciliation to whatever point was needed for the sake of the other.

…that repentance involved not a simple “I’m sorry” but asking the other person to tell how we had harmed them and to listen without defending .

That it would mean doing this over and over in our marriage…that it would mean being willing to give up church planting, even leaving ministry for the sake of loving the other person.

I am glad my husband learned early on that church planting gave him great freedom to creatively mold his schedule to fit the needs of both his family and the church. 


I am grateful he takes time from church ministry to pour into the lives of our kids: working on school projects, creating feasts in the kitchen, taking vacations, catching the latest blockbuster, filling their lives with music, asking them the tough questions, drawing out their hearts, repenting openly before them…

…I love watching their eyes fill with pride when they introduce their friends to their dad. Nothing draws my heart to him more than that he loves our children so well. 



And at the same time when both he and I love our kids poorly, I really wish I had known that the Christian life and Church planting was not about working so hard to get it right, be right, and do right.

That it was not my job to perfect myself. That even learning the gospel was not another tool to add to my arsenal of how to live a better life. 

But it was church planting that finally brought me to the realization that I can’t change myself.

That it’s not about what others say about me. That Jesus has already said, “It is finished.”. That God’s verdict spoken over me comes before any of my performance, before I ever started on this journey of church planting…he delights in me already! 



If I had known this, I would have enjoyed life so much more. But the journey isn’t finished and I’m planning on joining the party more these days.

But I am most grateful that my husband keeps learning that no one can pursue, strongly lead and cherish me the way he can. 



…that when I’m withdrawn and discouraged, his gentle wooing speaks volumes

…when I’m masking deep hurt with anger, his strong, consistent pursuit melts me like nothing else 



…when darkness has masked Jesus face, I have felt another strong hand leading me home 



…and when it’s all said and done, and we are at The Great Marriage Feast I will recognize the tastes and sounds and smells. The dance will be vaguely familiar…

…for hints of the realm unknown have drifted across the border land.

…and I have caught glimpses of what is yet to come for so many of you, my friends, my church family, my kids and my husband have shown me the way.

 *Shari Thomas has been involved with her husband, John, in church planting for over 25 years both in North America and abroad. Shari serves on Mission to North America’s church planting staff as the Director of Parakaleo, a ministry primarily to church planting spouses. Shari and/or Tami Resch (also on staff with Parakaleo) lead the Women’s Forum (6 Sessions) at the North America GCA Conferences & Seminars. John is the director of global training for the Redeemer Church Planting Center in Manhattan, NYC. They have 3 children who amazingly still claim them as parents. They love sailing, only do legal drugs, and are known coffee snobs.

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New Barna Report: Most People (64%) in USA Attend Smaller Churches

Monday, August 10th, 2009

small-country-church-photo“A new report from The Barna Group, based on interviews with more than 3,000 adults, shows that congregational size is related to the nature of a congregation’s religious beliefs, religious behavior and demographic profile. There are clearly significant differences between the smallest and largest of Protestant churches in terms of the theological beliefs of adherents.”
 

One of the survey results discovered was that most people in the USA attended smaller churches:

“Despite the substantial attention focused on Protestant mega-churches, such congregations draw about 9% of adults who frequent a Protestant church. In contrast, 41% of adults attending a Protestant church associate with a congregation of 100 or fewer adults. An additional 23% can be found at churches of 101 to 200 adults, 18% associate with bodies of 201 to 499 adults, and 9% can be found in churches of 500 to 999 adults.” © The Barna Group, Ltd, 2009

To read all the Barna Group research results click here: http://bit.ly/UiTCR

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING, TWEETING & BLOGGING ABOUT THE JULY 09 GCA CHURCH PLANTER TRAINING SEMINAR

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

get-hands-on1WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE JULY 09 GCA CHURCH PLANTER TRAINING SEMINAR:

  • “Amazing insights; great resources; gospel-centered focus, top-notch material both written and presented!”
  • “This conference could replace all the other books, videos, classes and conferences I have encountered while preparing to plant”
  • “I went to another training that focused on some theory and included a lot of inspirational stories. The training wasn’t very practical and not gospel-centered. I wondered “Where can I learn practical and applicable theory that is gospel-centered and where God is present?” Well, God brought me to that place when my wife and I came to GCA!”
  • “It lays the foundational core for planting before you begin laboring at the plan. It gets your head and heart straight before you dive in.”
  • “Intensely practical from people who’ve been there and done that!”
  • “No other conference provides such intense training. This is truly a “bootcamp!”
  • “All the trainers speak from the experience of their failures, which is encouraging!”
  • “You only think you know what you are doing until you attend the conference! Hello, grenade-sitting-under-my seat! More than this, the love and riches of the gospel brought it all into focus.”
  • “Call my denomination and tell them here is a place to train!”
  • “This seminar surpassed my expectations. It’s like a grenade of useful information was dropped on me.”
  • “Most valuable thing was getting the “ball rolling” by having time in class to work through exercises.”
  • “Networking with others. GCA Must advertise more! Not many people know about it.”
  • “The encouragement and coaching, not so much in the skills, but in the ‘faith!’”
  • “Too much to list all, Relationships and Encouragement, Clearer Picture of the way forward.”
  • “Talking about finances, launching, planning …”
  • “The intentional nature of the conference was tremendously helpful.”
  • “The overall orientation in foundations track was excellent. I think I walked away with a macro view of just what a church planter is!”
  • “Encouragement from those who have been there and relationships with those who are going through it now.”
  • “I love to be here because we can talk and we can dream together of church planting…”
  • “Go tell others so they can come BEFORE they plant/start worship as a plant!”
  • “There’s no doubt that I need to come back again.” 

 

childers-vision-trainingWHAT PEOPLE ARE TWEETING ABOUT THE JULY 09 GCA CHURCH PLANTER TRAINING SEMINAR:

  • “God loves to manifest his presence and pour out his power on those who will dare to align their purposes more with his.” @stevechilders
  • “Missions exists because worship doesn’t” -Piper. For the younger generation, this is not Scripture. @stevechilders
  • Phenomenal 1st day @ the #_gca seminar. Met some great church planters. Listened to teaching on vision, focus, & prayer.
  • “Our greatest danger is not liberalism, modernism, postmodernism…but the church doing ministry in the power of the flesh” –Francis Schaeffer
  • “The irony of the gospel is that the only way to be worthy of it, is to admit you’re completely unworthy of it.” – Tim Keller
  • “Does “love” mean giving a person what they want, or giving them what they need?” #_gca
  • “Don’t let your living for tomorrow slay your living for today.” -Elizabeth Elliot #GCA
  • Leaving Orlando & the Global Church Advancement seminars more equipped, overwhelmed, missing my wife & trusting Christ more! #GCA

 

dsc00569WHAT PEOPLE ARE BLOGGING ABOUT THE JULY 09 GCA CHURCH PLANTER TRAINING SEMINAR:

 

 

 

 

Sharing a Contextualized Philosophy of Ministry: 
http://churchplanting.sojournchurch.com/church-planting/sharing-a-contextualized-philosophy-of-ministry-gospel-church-and-culture/

Staying Healthy as a Church Planter: 
http://churchplanting.sojournchurch.com/church-planting/staying-healthy-as-a-church-planter/

bob-nathan-steve

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Five Things New Planters Should Know by Jonathan Dodson

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Mistakes Poster

It’s been well said, “Undoubtedly the first years of church planting are hardest and most volatile for the church planter – which is why so many churches never make it past their childhood, as the planter implodes under the pressure brought on from lack of resources, exhaustion and loneliness among other factors. A significant factor in survival during the first few years is getting the church planter connected to wisdom and encouragement through other men who have gone before him.”

GCA wants to see this happening through regional church planting networks where church planters are not only coached well but also experience peer-coaching/learning as they share openly with each other lessons learned from both their successes and their failures. Below we pass along some wisdom from Jonathan Dodson, lead planter of an ACTS 29 Network plant called Austin City Life in Texas.


 I.  FUNDRAISING:

Don’t forget to ask the pagans! If you are fundraising, remember that God used the pagan king Cyrus to fund the rebuilding of an entire city. He can definitely handle your church planting needs. Most pagans know more about your city than you do, and some of them love it more than you. Be sure to ask God first and others second when you are fundraising. And don’t forget to ask the pagans.

 

 II. STUDY:

Spend more time with people and less time with books in the first year of church planting. Learn your city, know its lostness, love your city, re-learn how to share the gospel in your context. Most of your reading should be your Bible and what I call “emergency reading”–reading in areas that you are deficient so that you can lead well. Don’t spend inordinate amounts of time in your study or at the library. Spend time with your people, your fellow citizens, your neighbors. Ask them good questions. Fall in love with your target people. The more you know and love them, the more you will be able to share the gospel in a way that makes sense, that strips away misunderstandings of the gospel and slides in truly good news. Deliberate time with people also leads to better applied gospel from the pulpit, better preaching.

 

III. MISSION:

Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Gospel in your Context. Don’t do this from the armchair, do it from anecdotes (conversations) and cultural exegesis (spending time in pockets of resistance or indifference). Sure, read local authors, newspapers, and magazines, but don’t stop there. Talk deeply with nonbelievers. Ask them what they think of when they here the word “gospel.” Ask them what puts them off from Christianity. Learn from them on mission.

 

 IV. CULTURE:

Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Church in your Context. Anecdotes and exegesis. Learn the history of hypocrisy in your city or town so that you can apologize and distance yourself from mockeries of the Church. What do people think of when they think “church”?  Have they ever gone to one? Why did they stop? Learn how to talk about and be the church in your cultural context in a way that is biblically faithful and culturally sensitive.

 

V. TECHNOLOGY:

Don’t spend ungodly amounts of money or time on developing your first website. It will all change anyway, several times. You should be with people, not websites and blogs (!). Here are two good, inexpensive web solutions for early stage church planting: Church Root & Clover Sites. If you don’t like social networking, find someone on your team that does. Network through social media, but don’t make it a substitute for spending time with people. More time with people; less time with the screen.

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Connecting with Global Church Advancement (GCA) by Tim Brister

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Tim Brister at PaneraPosted on Provocations & Pantings, April 27, 2009 by Tim Brister

As I mentioned in my last post, I was unable to attend the Gospel Coalition National Conference.  However, in God’s kind providence, I was able to go up to Orlando for a couple of days to network with other church planters and network leaders, most notably Scott Thomas (Acts 29), Gary Rohrmayer (ConvergeUSA), and Steve Childers (GCA).  These three men I have much to learn from and am grateful the opportunity the Lord gave me this past week.

If you can remember back in January, I attended the GCA National Church Planting Conference in Orlando for a week, and it was by far the most thorough and helpful church planting training I had ever received.  What is different about GCA conferences than typical bootcamps is that they are very hands-on, practical, and seeking to engage your church planting needs in the context of where you are.  Bootcamps are really important to attend as well, but they generally tend to focus on core values and guiding principles of a network rather than targeted training.  In other words, bootcamps shape the culture of a network, and GCA training provides all the nuts and bolts for a church planter.  Both are certainly needed!

During my time in Orlando last week, I was able to attend Steve Childer’s 3-session seminar on developing church planting networks.  That seminar, along with a host of other free resources, are available here.  At the close of the final session, I endeavored to ask Steve a question about the beginnings of something I’ve been a part of which ended up in six hours of fellowship, most of which was enjoyed at a local Panera.

It is often joked that GCA is “the best kept secret” in the church planting world.  I told Steve that it is not right to be kept a secret when so many guys could and should benefit from their training.  As a result, I am working to help them get networked online, beginning with social media.  If you are on Twitter or Facebook, let me encourage you to get on board with GCA and follow the developments in the future.  Here’s the links:

@stevechilders (Steve Childer’s Twitter)
@_gca (GCA’s Twitter)
GCA Facebook Fan Page

Furthermore, if you are in the church planting process–pre-launch or post-launch–let me encourage you to check out the GCA National Conference coming up July 21-24, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.  The pre-launch track called Foundations is specifically geared to address all issues pertaining to the start of a new church, including the development of a solid church planting proposal.  The Essentials track is a post-launch track addressing crucial components to a healthy, reproducing church.

Whether it is on Twitter, Facebook, or at one of their training seminar’s (or all of them!), let me encourage you to connect with GCA and benefit from years of gospel-centered labors of Steve Childers and his solid staff.  You will be blessed with their passion for the gospel, their love for the church, and their commitment to train men for the mission!

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