Culture + Gospel + Church = Transformational ministry. #gca10

“Beneath the demographics of your community are the lifestyles that are an expression of beliefs.” -Bob Orner #gca10

Allender: If you don’t need the Gospel more than the people you are sharing it with, you ought not to be sharing it with them #gca10

Half of the fun of #gca10 has been meeting people. There are a lot of great people here!

Round 3. “who will pray with and for us?” #gca10

With Bob Orner thinking through the “whom” and “where” of church planting focus. #gca10

“If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word — prayer.” C.H. Spurgeon #gca10

Dear Presbyterians who are (like me) into God using appointed means: prayer is one of them. Gospel effectiveness depends on it. #gca10

I’m really encouraged that my prayer life doesn’t always have to be as mediocre as it often is. Thankful for this session at #gca10

Church Planting: Using Technology and Social Media #gca10  Very informative and helpful.

It’s the beginning of another busy day of sessions at #gca10. Please pray with us and for us!

day 2. round 4. “developing a philosophy of ministry” #gca10

“The work of faithful evangelism is to identify with the world without losing your identity in Christ.” – Stott #gca10

Great training session on philosophy of ministry tailored to local context by a guy with lots of story-arc similarities as me. #gca10

Seminary student Casey Johnson shares his thoughts with us on last night’s Worship module taught by Jason Sears. http://bit.ly/bI5fk2 #gca10

“When you do church planting, you can’t blame the previous pastor for your church’s problems.” -Bob Orner // Humorous and humbling #gca10

Why do church planting anyway? #gca10 listening to this Guy right now

Hotel excitement. These are burglars posing as pizza marketers w/ fake flyers looking for unlocked doors http://twitpic.com/1039pu #gca10

Doing some hard thinking about ministry style contextualization led by a black pastor, Andre Rogers from Columbia. #gca10

Hilarious. There’s a white pastor’s wife in a cross-cultural church here. The black attendees call her the First Lady. #gca10

“Your first 20 people will dictate your next 100 people.” – Andre Rogers #gca10 //very-true church planting statement.

@andrerogers I’m not @RickWarren but I’m glad to follow you. Good word at #gca10

Looking at ministry models—how church ministries in a plant will work together—with Bob Orner. #gca10

Great lunch-time panel…#gca10

“Giving always comes back to forgiveness of sins and life eternal.” Fred Marsh #gca10

“Too often the church is composed of a consumer-driven clientele.” – Fred Marsh #gca10-

Benevolent and missions budget allocations do not keep pace with operational and building expenditures as churches grow. #gca10

“We have become obsessed with the Gospel to the rich & it is still hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom” Fred Marsh #gca10

“I’m firmly convinced that God calls the church to bless the poor. It’s still hard for the rich to enter heaven.” – MNA $$ guru #gca10

Really enjoying my first conference experience at #gca10. Meeting with Ted Powers and @ARStager in 10.

Just finishing up our last sessions of the day. Looking forward to Steve Brown tonight! #gca10

Listening to Dr. Steve Brown (Key Life) for the 1st time. Sounds like God. Topic is “3 Free Sins.” #gca10 http://twitpic.com/108asv

If pastors think their job is to keep their people from sin, then you are playing a sick game that will eat you alive. -Steve Brown #gca10

Steve Brown on pastors’ neurotic tendencies: if we don’t run to Jesus, he’ll break our legs and the Holy Spirit will carry us there. #gca10

Brown: I’m so screwed up I can hardly stand myself, and Jesus loves me, and he’ll love you too. #gca10 (via @PlantInBoston)#fb

gearing up to finish out the @_gca conference. ten sessions down; two to go. #gca10

Tools and diagrams are helpful, but it never works out the way you plan. Every church plant is a unique work of the Holy Spirit. #gca10

Ted Powers: Diff B/W Planter & Pastor: Planters gather those who are 2 be shepherded, Pastors Shepherd those who have been gathered. #gca10

Powers: Small Churches, 150 & Down are 1600 times more effective evangelistically than mega churches. #gca10

Most churches do not go beyond 200 because of the natural change from relationship to program driven #gca10

Powers: What is critical to a church plant is not only the people you attract and keep, but the people that move on. #gca10

A church is more than a bunch of people gathering for worship. A church is a biblical functioning community. – Ted Powers #gca10

Great truth frm #gca10 Lead people to have general conversations with unbelievers and they will eventually beg you to teach them how to do evangelism

Powers: the goal of church planting is not to get a church up and running. It is to reach people with the Gospel. #gca10

Notice how Jesus planted a church… 12 (Matt 4) > 72 (Luke 10) > 120 (Acts 1) > 3,000 (Acts 2) #gca10

Wishing I had attended #gca10 when it was #gca09… good stuff, lots to process

It’s amazing how a conference can both energize and drain you all at the same time! #gca10

@_gca serving in Africa, North & South America, Asia, Europe training men from 200 Denominations, 50 countries, 5 languages #gca10

Whether you realize it or not, you have a specific def. of personal success. It greatly affects your life…(LK 10:20)-Steve Childers #gca10

“Your joy in life must not be found in what you do for Him, but in who you are in Him” @stevechilders #gca10

“Jesus knew the time would come when his disciples would feel subject to the demons, not vice versa” Identity in Christ essential #gca10 #fb

It is THE best CP event/class/conference I have ever been to. It’s a bootcamp on gospel steroids. #gca10

Visionary church planters: what’s your vision for your marriage? For your family? – @stevechilders via his wife. #gca10

Church planters/pastors (every1 4 that matter) R in danger of offering to their “idol of success” their children, wife, time & sleep #gca10

“In repenting and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling. Is 30:15 #gca10

it’s one thing to start your ministry well; it’s another thing to finish it well. – @stevechilders #gca10

“Take a nap, REST! The Kingdom of God will go on. You may be surprised to find Jesus on his throne when you wake up.” @stevechilders #gca10

Sleep, sun, solitude, sabbath, sex, sweat, sustenance. Steve’s 7 S’s of success. Funny and true. #gca10

Differentiate between goals & desires. Desires you cannot control…goals you can. Work for goals, pray for desires. #gca10

Is God a means of grace in your life, or is grace a means to God? – @johnpiper via @stevechilders #gca10

“Don’t merely see God as useful, see Him as beautiful” – Bill Bright via @stevechilders #gca10

God will never really use you until you renounce your reliance & dependence upon God’s gifts & humbly rest only in God Himself #gca10

“God’s grace is like water, always flowing to the lowest place.” Puritan Statement #gca10

Church Planter & wife, like 2 people on a roller coaster: 1 puking over the side, the other hands in the air – roles can change daily #gca10

“Don’t let your living for tomorrow slay your living for today.” -Elisabeth Elliot via @stevechilders #gca10

(My wife) and I were just discussing the church plant, her comment: “I hope you have a green thumb!” me too, me too.

Welcome back to the real world–low in orlando 63, in boston 11 #gca10

Before we can answer that question, we need to take another step back.  Why does any church – young or old – exist at all?  Put another way, what are the church’s priorities in ministry?  Answering these questions puts us well on our way understanding the purpose of church planting.

As I write this, GCA Director of Training Bob Orner is still teaching the Foundations module.  He began by giving us the biblical reasons for the church’s existence, based on Acts 2:42-47 (via the Redeemer Acts Curriculum).  Practically speaking, Bob gave us five reasons:

1. Worship & Prayer (v. 42).
2. Learning & Discipleship (v. 42).
3. Fellowship & Community (v. 42).
4. Outreach & Evangelism (v. 47).
5. Mercy & Social Concern (v. 44).

So a healthy church (biblically speaking) does not have the luxury of picking some of these and rejecting others.  Rather, it will balance these five things as it reaches out to its Ministry Focus Group.  This doesn’t mean that every healthy church will look the same.  Pastor’s and church planters should prioritize and emphasize the above purposes based on the following factors:

1. The unique gifts and ministry philosophy of the church planter.
2. The emphasis of the church’s core group or leadership team.
3. The unique needs of the Ministry Focus Group.

The end result is a ministry that is “serving out of strength.”  That is, the church both effectively balances and prioritizes the five ministry purposes and, at the same time, knows its own strengths and passions in order to do those things best.

With all of this in mind, the purpose of church planting in particular should be clear.  It’s to produce healthy churches.  Actually, it’s to produce more healthy churches.  Actually, it’s both.  And for church planters, keeping our purpose in mind helps us better understand how to move forward in our communities.