On Stopping

Do you practice a regular rhythm of Sabbath?  Do you “Sabbath”? What does it even mean when we use “Sabbath” as a verb?  In fact, what is Sabbath? Something Important Generally speaking for many of us, when we hear the word “Sabbath” our thoughts go to attending a Sunday morning church service, hearing a sermon, participating in musical worship, talking …

Missional Metrics

A couple weeks ago I woke up, ate breakfast with the family, and walked my son to elementary school. From there, my 3-year old daughter and I walked to the local cafe, as we usually do. After properly caffeinating, I responded to a few emails, texted a new friend to hang out, and got to know the person sitting next …

Brave Church

The year was 250 CE and Rome found itself facing, invaded even, by a different kind of enemy. It was not an army it could simply defeat on the battlefield, but a plague that swept through parts of the empire. Most historians think the invader was akin to Smallpox or Bubonic Plague, based on the early descriptions of symptoms. Whole …

Ten Favorite Books for Church Planting 2019

The V3 Movement has been raising up and releasing men and women church planters, from across the theological spectrum, all over the country, that are focused on locally-rooted presence, tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, and boundary-crossing mission. We are a training movement. So, we wanted to share with you our favorite books in 2019 (and a couple gems from 2018) that …

Unlocking Neighborhood Presence

In a previous post I discussed why new plants (or any church for that matter) should have neighborhood presence as a central identity piece. Easier said than done. There are challenges to make this reality including: leaders who are figuring it out themselves, no active connection to the neighborhood, superficial relationships, or unrecognized activity. Sometimes we need help to turn …

Invitation to Transparency: Part 2

For part one of this series click here So, what is transparency? Perhaps it’s easier to start with what it is not. Transparency is not brutal honesty or the lack of a filter. It is not living like you’re in a real-time confessional. It doesn’t mean sharing every single thought that comes to mind or disclosing every emotion as you …

Mutual Movemental Leadership

Re-imagining New Scaffolding In planting a missional-incarnational church you will collide with the big question “How do we do leadership in this new but old way of being the church?” Re-imagining and reconstructing leadership scaffolding are essential for being a movemental church in Post-Christianity, but it can be hard to find templates. I confess that my own history in leadership …

No Mission Without Incarnation

John 1:14 from the Message reads:“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” There’s something significant, inspiring, and mysterious that the Creator of all things dwelt in a neighborhood.  Accessible God That God would care to be known in a simple and tangible way to humanity is a powerful reflection of the incarnation. It makes God from “way out there” …