Where have all the church planters gone?
What’s the greatest hindrance to effective church planting? You might expect to get varied answers to …
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So, What Comes After Church Growth?
The regrettable shortage of multiplying churches can be explained, at least in part, by the lingering …
How Evangelistically Effective is Church Planting?
In 2002, pastor and author Tim Keller published a brief article entitled “Why Plant Churches” that has since …
How Evangelistically Effective is Church Planting? Read More »
What to do when your wife is burned out: Ongoing care
I vividly remember sitting with her as she wept, during a retreat I was leading. She …
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When The Gathering began, we were a ragtag bag of people who gathered on Saturday nights …
In our sphere of the Send Network, several faithful families have endured great, unexpected suffering and …
Eight non-negotiables for church planters, Pt. 4
7. Structure for growth and impact beyond where you are Probably one of the more evident …
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Eight non-negotiables for church planters, Pt. 3
4. Embed shared authority into your DNA Because I believe plurality in church leadership is a …
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Eight non-negotiables for church planters, Pt. 2
1. Prioritize preaching You’ll soon discover there are many things you can do when the church gathers together. …
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Eight non-negotiables for church planters, Pt. 1
We’re just shy of 14 years old as a church. It seems like just yesterday there …
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The story of every church plant also is the story of partnership. New churches get their …
I was never consciously called into pastoral ministry. I was never consciously called into church planting. …
Should we apologize for Complementarianism?
When I chose to preach through Ephesians this year, I knew there would come a time …
HEAR-U: Training teams to ask questions that invite dialogue
When we study the evangelistic methodology of Jesus, we discover that asking great questions was one …
HEAR-U: Training teams to ask questions that invite dialogue Read More »
3 things I wish every young church planter would know
I have been involved with the Church Planting Department at Bethlehem Baptist Church for the past …
3 things I wish every young church planter would know Read More »
Learning to cherish older men in church planting
As church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders, we must be vigilant in our pursuit of spiritual …
Learning to cherish older men in church planting Read More »
5 reasons church planters should unpack forgiveness
Unpack forgiveness first, church planters. Before you pick out a sound board, before you buy a …
5 reasons church planters should unpack forgiveness Read More »
The ‘Physician’ follow-up question pathway
How 6 minutes, 4 questions, and deep answers opened our hearts for the people in the …
Debunking common church planting objections: We’re too small
There’s one more objection to becoming a Sending Church that we will tackle today. The first …
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Debunking Common Church Planting Objections: We’ll Lose Our Best Leaders
In the last post, we considered one of the most common objections to church planting — …
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Debunking common church planting objections: It costs too much
When you decide, as the pastor, to lead your church for the first time to be …
Debunking common church planting objections: It costs too much Read More »
It was somewhat surreal, and a little surprising. Not that I had expected something really different, …
How to find your personal ‘sweet spot’
I played baseball in high school and college back in the wooden bat era. After that, …
As a pastor in a young, urban city, I spend multiple hours each week shepherding individuals …
YouTube videos are the best, right? Take any subject — installing roof racks on a mini-van, …
What to do when your wife is burned out: Understanding the situation
As a church-planting family, you’re on the adventure of a lifetime: moving to a new city, …
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Coaching and the kingdom of God
We all have dreams. We dream of the perfect house, perfect car, perfect health, perfect family, …
I had an “aha” moment as I stood in a prayer circle in May 2018 at …
Beacons of justice and peace: Race
When I was younger, I thought the people writing on topics were “experts” who had it …
Beacons of justice and peace: Gender
We live in a confusing age. It is an age that tells little boys who do …
Over the past few years, Aaron Bell and I have enjoyed the practical benefits of being …
Sending church mistakes: Finances
Most church planters consider “money” a four letter word! And, in a cents, it is! But …
Sending church mistakes: Mission teams
Mistakes happen when you are a sending church. Part of our growth as a sending church …
Multiplying when you’re not mega: Leadership pipeline
Valley Life Church has a robust leadership pipeline, but we didn’t mean to. We stumbled into …
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Multiplying when you’re not mega: Collaborating with others
There is an old African proverb that many of you have probably heard: “If you want …
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Multiplying when you’re not mega: Intentional strategy
So you’re about to plant a church, or you’ve already planted one some time ago, and …
Multiplying when you’re not mega: Intentional strategy Read More »
5 ways to engage other churches in planting
Kingdom work as a whole — and certainly church planting — is not meant to be …
David Brainerd: 5 principles for recruiting churches into planting
David Brainerd gave his life to share the gospel with Native Americans in New York, New …
David Brainerd: 5 principles for recruiting churches into planting Read More »
5 things a potential partner wants to hear from a planter
By Danny Wood In the past 15 years, our church has been the Sending Church for …
5 things a potential partner wants to hear from a planter Read More »
Multiplying your time as a planter: Prioritizing tasks
You cannot do everything you want to do. I forget this fact more than I would …
Multiplying your time as a planter: Prioritizing tasks Read More »
Three do-or-die actions I’d encourage church planters to embrace
It had been about a year since our church launched a young church planter to Central …
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Five ways church planting will change your life
While our church is now more than 10 years old, I still call myself a church …
7 ways church planting will bless your church
I have become more convinced each year that the Great Commission is a call to plant …
5 Priorities for Managing Time
“The quality of your leadership will be measured in part by how well you manage your …
Multiplying your time as a planter: Accountability
It was another planning meeting with a few of the men on my core team. The …
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10 steps to strategizing your week
Planning your week as a church planter can feel like walking through a minefield. There are …
This will be our last we post on the site “formerly known as Flourish.” Thank you, …
Student first, trainer second: 3 things you can do
Every trainer should be a student first and a trainer second. When I begin a training, …
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Three years in … what am I learning
We just celebrated our third birthday as a church! At the beginning of this call on …
Training for Apostolic Church Planters
https://media.rawvoice.com/send_network_podcast/namb.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/send_network/013_ongoing-training-for-trainers.mp3 J. D. Payne serves as the pastor for church multiplication with The Church at Brook …
Great coaching brings vision one step closer to reality. You may not have a coach right …
Knowing your role: Self awareness
Reggie McNeil says, “The single most important piece of information a leader possesses is self-awareness.”[1] Self-Awareness could …
Shaping your senior pastor’s heart toward planting, Pt. 3
I remember it like it was yesterday. After one of “those” church business meetings, someone close …
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Shaping your senior pastor’s heart toward planting, Pt. 2
I was asked to write a post titled “Shaping your senior pastor’s heart toward planting.” I …
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Shaping your senior pastor’s heart toward planting: Pt. 1
So, you’re currently reading through the book of Acts, or have recently read a book or …
Shaping your senior pastor’s heart toward planting: Pt. 1 Read More »
Preaching is one of those those sacred tasks entrusted to the pastor that, unless you are …
The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and we …
A planter and his physical health
Yep, you read that title right. This is an article about your physical health. “But I thought I …
Measurement is fabulous. Unless you’re busy measuring what’s easy to measure, as opposed to what’s important. …
Movement is a mindset. Perhaps the very first thing that should be said in regard to …
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. ~ Max De Pree In the …
Believers participate in Christ’s priesthood, not within the walls of the church, but in the daily …
The myth of a Christian culture continues to set the mind of the Western church at …
The main business of many mission committees is to determine how to spend the mission budget, …
Rethinking mission: Incarnational presence
The last post examined the missionary nature of God and the “sentness” of the church. God …
Rethinking the missionary nature of the church
If mission defines who Christ is, and if Christ sends us as He was sent, then …
Transition for the Flourish blog
Some of you may know I have a new role at NAMB. I am no longer …
Rethinking the missionary nature of God
Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. ~ David …
Paradigm shifts: The need to rethink
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but …
The importance of self awareness in church planting
https://vimeo.com/241774654,https://vimeo.com/241774654 Muche Ukegbu, church planter in South Florida, speaks to the importance of being self aware …
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Friendships inside and outside the church: Your choice to make
Moving to our first church where David was called to be pastor was an exciting adventure. …
Friendships inside and outside the church: Your choice to make Read More »
Friendships inside and outside the church: 4 ‘rugged commitments’
Over a lifetime of pastoral ministry, I’ve met thousands of people, both inside and out of …
Friendships inside and outside the church: 4 ‘rugged commitments’ Read More »
Friendships inside and outside the church: ‘Living deeply with others’
Who are the friends in your life? I’m not sure there is a more important question …
Friendships inside and outside the church: ‘Living deeply with others’ Read More »
5 ways to be a better leader at home
When I think about leadership in the home, I am always trying to remember that the …
7 ways to be more creative at home
You plan events, teaching, and leadership gatherings with creativity — but how creative are you at …
7 ways to be more attentive at home
Church planting is all about relationships, and although building these relationships is good, it’s important to …
How does caring for a planter’s spouse make a difference in planting?
https://vimeo.com/241774627,https://vimeo.com/241774627 https://vimeo.com/241774627 Nira Abella, church planter spouse in South Florida, speaks to the neccessity of caring …
How does caring for a planter’s spouse make a difference in planting? Read More »
Starting a planter care team, Part 3
When Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 1969, the many …
Starting a planter care team, Part 2
It’s been said that planting a church is not the most dangerous job in the world, …
Starting a planter care team, Part 1
What is a CPCT? Our Church Planter Care Team (CPCT) is a group of members who, …