The main business of many mission committees is to determine how to spend the mission budget,...
Resources for Theology
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...
Rethinking the missionary nature of God
Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. ~ David...
Spiritual journal discipleship
Church planters get pulled in many directions at once. The task of discipling men can get...
In January, I celebrated 14 years of marriage. I am truly amazed that God gave me...
Accountability with your growth
I remember the first time I heard Tim Keller say “Being in ministry will either make...
Why adoption is supposed to be hard: Part 3
What we are finding is that there is a special joy that comes from sharing in...
Why adoption is supposed to be hard: Part 2
As hard as this process has been so far—here is what we are learning, slowly and...
Why adoption is supposed to be hard: Part 1
This series of posts was originally written in November 2016. We have been home from China...
If we want to see a move of God in North America, we should pray that...
I was a shy kid with a debilitating stutter and no friends. One night, my dad...
The emotionally healthy planter: Discouragement and 4 ways to combat it
The sun doesn’t shine much in Portland, but on this day the clouds surrendered and the...
The Emotionally healthy planter: Fear and 3 ways to combat it
Church planting is, in part, fueled by faith—expressed in prayer, godly risk-taking and faithful labor. And...
The Emotionally Healthy Planter: Anger
We don’t simply need to plant more churches, we need to plant healthy churches. A healthy...
There are many reasons you’d want to attend an established church—some good reasons and some, well,...
What does it mean to preach the gospel?
Busy. How many times have you heard someone say that word this week? How many times...
The spiritual power of habits: Sabbath
For twelve months, I met with a wildly creative leader who wanted to plant a church....
The spiritual power of habits: Time in the Word
Developing a tasteWhen I was a young adult I couldn’t stand the taste of coffee. I...
The Spiritual power of habits: Introduction
“I believe the gospel–I just don’t believe it right now. I believe that at a head level, I just don’t...
How to choose songs for your church
As a worship leader, one thing that I have learned is that art is very subjective...
Music matters: Why we worship corporately through song
In college, I led a small Bible study for freshmen. My primary aim was to study...
3 Things church planters should look for in a worship leader
I am approaching the end of a season in life. By the grace of God, I...
Gravity is not something we can see or feel. However, it’s constantly at work. Gravity works...
Most popular of 2016: #2 Myths of multiplication
The North American Mission Board is blessed by a wide array of voices that speak to...
Two ways to drive our roots deep into the gospel
I’ve recently been reading a new book by Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering....
How to look at Christian miracles
I know a lot of people who really get tripped up by miracles in the Bible....
After decades of methodological malpractice, we have so rationalized and contorted our understanding of Jesus’ Commission...
Our English word church comes from a Greek word ekklesia meaning, “the called-out ones.” The normative pattern in Acts showed...
An Important Question to Ask Ourselves
What is your greatest insecurity? It’s a good question to ask yourself, but it’s not so...
In part one I explained that when I am asked to define the word “missional” I...
Church Discipline: The Outcome of Church Discipline
THE OUTCOME OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE As we have faithfully practiced discipline as a body, we are...
Church Discipline: The Process of Church Discipline
The elders of The Austin Stone have studied, prayed and labored over the process of discipline...
On the playground of spiritual disciplines fasting gets picked last, and sometimes not at all if...
You don’t have to be or live in the city in order to understand the concept...
There’s something about becoming a professional Christian (aka pastor, church planter, missionary, etc…) that makes the...
Every first Sunday of the month, as a church, we take communion together. Before we take...
Our culture is sick with busyness and constant connectedness. Almost everyone seems exhausted just trying to...
Let’s just put this reality on the table: many church leaders struggle with prayer. We know...
Living in the Word: Bible Intake for Church Planters I was a new believer, and my...
Abide: Introduction to John 15:5
Imagine you are listening to a sermon and the preacher asks “How many of you truly...
The Bible tells us that the king of Israel once wanted to hear from the prophets,...
Are You Weak Enough for God to Use You?
There aren’t many societies that praise weakness. Ours is no different. Whether you’re a pastor or...
The following blog is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s regular blog which can be found...
The following blog is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s regular blog which can be found...
The following blog is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s regular blog which can be found...
Jonah 3:1 – God’s grace gives us a fresh start
The following blog is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s regular blog which can be found...
Kingdom First: Redefining success
Church planters are a curiously goal-driven group. Give us a numerical goal worth pursuing and we...
Counseling Tools – The Pastor as Counselor
I imagine you or someone you know has said or thought one of the following statements...
He wasn’t a hero by any stretch of the imagination. He was a wimp, but God...
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...
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 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...
Colossians 1:18-20 – Is peace really possible?
He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn...