How to plant a church without losing your family
One of the great things about YouTube is the fact that anyone can post a video. …
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Resources for Church Planting
Pastor Dad: How to Lead a Family Devotion
Each evening at exactly 7:00 pm, my wife and I call our children downstairs for a …
An Everyday Missionary Disguised as a Barista
My dad has been a pastor for my entire life, and as a result, the lifestyle …
Out of the World and Into Our Neighborhood
God has taken our family on a surprising, exciting, and somewhat overdue journey the last two …
Missional vs. Attractional: Which is Right?
Since Riverbend started in 2009, I have heard many who support a missional over attractional philosophy …
How to make connections in churches and communities
Practicing hospitality in our homes is essential to our work in church planting (see The Why of …
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In 2008, my husband and I planted a church in a cultural context where it’s fairly …
Six Ways to Evaluate Your Church’s Strategy to Assimilate New Believers
Maybe you’ve seen it happen. A new believer joins a local church, and is thrilled by …
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A Simple and Highly Effective Strategy to Get Church Guests to Return
There are so many elements that determine if guests will return to your church after a …
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Church Planting Essentials pt. 4
The fifth essential every church planters must have, is this: You have to be willing to …
Church Planting Essentials pt. 3
Essential 3: You need money. It takes money to plant a church. There is no way …
Church Planting Essentials pt. 2
Essential #2 In the “4 Essentials for every church planter” series, the second essential is this: …
Church Planting Essentials pt. 1
No one is ever “officially ready” to plant a church, but there are essentials that help …
Christ-Centered Preaching: Part 3
This is my third and final post in a three part series (part one, part two) …
Christ-Centered Preaching: Part 2
This is the second post in a three part series on Christ-centered preaching and teaching (part …
The goal of Christ-centered preaching
Baptists through the years have emphasized the need for Christian preachers to preach the unsearchable riches …
How do I start a Mercy Ministry?
In the last blog post, I discussed the rationale for starting a mercy ministry in your …
4 reasons why Mercy Ministry is absolutely vital
If I say that mercy ministry is absolutely vital—which I think it is—to a church’s local …
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What are the steps to becoming a church planter?
If you were ever part of a sports team growing up you probably had a coach …
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Serving as a church planting apprentice
I had just left seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and was en route to join a …
NAMB’s Farm System: Serving as a Church Planting Intern
My journey of life on mission began my sophomore year of collge. As a 19-year-old student, …
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Serving as a student missionary
As a full-time college student, my life consists of a frantic schedule of studying, writing papers, …
I could tell she felt terrible. I had just blessed and dismissed the congregation, and she …
It was spring break 1996 and I was a sophomore in high school. While other kids …
Very few Christians today use the word “propitiation” as part of their regular vocabulary, even fewer …
How To Mobilize College Students to Live On Mission
College students are flakey, immature, ignorant and the best missionaries to grace the church. Sure, you …
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Top Ten Things To Do When Planting On or Near a College Campus
In the last few years there has been a lot more focus on planting on or …
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Why Collegiate Church Planting Matters
“If we can win the university today, we will win the world tomorrow.” Bill Bright, founder …
Church planters tend to have an image problem. It is said, sometime joking and sometimes serious, …
When NOT to Multiply a Missional Community?
Editor’s Note: Multiplication is a critical piece of effectively making disciples, and foundational to a movement. …
When should I multiply a missional community?
Editor’s Note: Multiplication is a critical piece of effectively making disciples, and foundational to a movement. …
Why Multiply A Missional Community?
Editor’s Note: Multiplication is a critical piece of effectively making disciples, and foundational to a movement. …
Avoiding Disappointment Distraction
At Buck Run, we designate June as a special month of Wednesday night events, most of …
How to thrive during pastoral challenges
When Paul described the burden of ministry that God has given us, he concluded by asking …
How to minister during suffering
We’ve been spending some time in Psalm 4, learning from David as he responds to deep …
Last week I argued that it’s not human responsibility to define human need, giving three reasons …
I’ve been spending some time reflecting on Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 6. I’ve laid out 3 …
Collegiate Church Planting Resources
Collegiate Reaching Reading List College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture – Steve Lutz Building a Discipling Culture – Mike …
Knowing and Engaging Your Community
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called …
It was 12 years ago that a neighbor invited my family to a church plant called Sojourn. …
When I first moved to New Orleans, a couple of church planters invited me to a …
How to make the most of an apprenticeship at your church
With the recent emphasis in church planting among evangelicals, there is now more than ever a …
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Next: Discovering, Developing, and Deploying Future Leaders (e-book)
Most pastors will point to a person who was most responsible for shaping their call to …
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Shepherding the Harassed and Helpless: Counseling and the Local Church
Counseling in the local church can be a daunting task, riddled with complexities on numerous issues …
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Just a couple of years ago, in the city where I am a pastor, I saw …
Have you thought about revitalization?
“Have you thought about revitalization?” My missions professor asked me this question one day as I …
Introducing Legacy Church Planting
Yesterday we introduced you to passion that the North American Mission Board has for bringing support …
Dying Churches Matter to God…and to NAMB
A dying church robs God of His glory. The key to revitalization of a church near …
Every leader has a ‘to do’ list – but they often miss the ‘to be’ list. Since …
In a blog post yesterday Slavery: We Must End It, I wrote about the Christian’s responsibility …
Do Christians have a role in addressing slavery?
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy …
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Church foundation: Eating from gardens we didn’t plant
Alan Briggs It’s easy to criticize that which we don’t understand. As a young church …
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How to help your wife in the process of church planting
When my husband and I first considered that God might be calling us to plant a …
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3 reasons why I am a missionary coach
“Do you think coaching will be around a few years from now or will it be …
Colossians 1:18-20 – Is peace really possible?
He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn …
Embracing Fierce Conversations: Two Important Lessons for Coaches
“While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company, a …
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8 ways coaches help leaders who are stuck
In the coastal region of South Carolina where I live, there is a sticky type of …
Generosity as a Church: Releasing Your Best
How much should a church give to church planting or missions in general? Should a church …
Coaching: The Central Thread of Leadership Development
In The Central Thread of Leadership Development by Robert E. Logan and Thomas Clegg, you’ll finally …
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When Clay Holcomb moved to Portland, Oregon to start a church, he knew he’d probably be …
6 reasons missionary coaching doesn’t always work
I discovered coaching in 2003 when Bob Logan became my executive coach. My motivation for the …
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How to Pastor Without Losing Your Wife’s Heart
As a pastor’s wife, I watch people pull on my husband on Sundays and listen as …
40 Questions to Help You Coach in Deep Water
In Proverbs, God provides a picture of deeper relationships: “The purpose in a man’s heart is …
What do you think of when you hear the word “coach?” I think of my 8th …
In a city where the mountains are king, some people say Jesus is ignorable. But in …