Recently, I received an email from a young seminarian with one provocative question: “What is truth?” she asked. I smiled and deleted the email, knowing I couldn’t supply an answer. Her theological studies were raising new and unsettling questions about God and what it means to be a Christian. I suspect what she wanted was permission to question her understanding …
Sabbath – its probably one of the most essential, least understood and poorly celebrated of any day on the Christian calendar. For some of us, it’s a set of legalistic rules. For others, it’s the only day of the week to do almost anything we want. For most of us it’s a chance to catch up on sleep and get …
Thessaloniki was the capital of and largest city in Macedonia, a Greek metropolis. When Paul, Silas and Timothy arrived, they immersed themselves into this pagan community’s life and culture. They were imitating what their Lord and Savior did “God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14 MSG).” These disciples settled, got jobs and got to know the people. …
One of the first things I discovered in planting churches was that the most combustible element of our missional endeavor was the work of cultivating community. Here’s a promise: the romanticism around planting a church will fade the moment you have real people with real personalities attempting to love one another in real-time. The more diverse your group and context, …
Beau loves helping people connect to and share Jesus right where they are. He is passionate about helping the church better engage Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists. This video introduces Beau and his new ebook “Release the APE.” Download it here for free!. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
No Call – No Connection There are many good reasons we plant new churches and develop new ministry efforts, such as: To serve marginalized and under-noticed folks in our community. To catch a wave of change moving into or out of our neighborhood. To respond to new generations with new priorities and needs. To pay attention to something we haven’t …
A few church plants in my region have parachuted in with teams of 20 adults. The group is formed with friends who often already know and trust one another, and are familiar with one another’s strengths, weaknesses and abilities. The same thing is often true for indigenous planters who can call on old friends to assist them with the new church …
The following post was written by Tracy Mueller. She’s a part of Austin Mustard Seed, a V3 Church Plant that Practices the Way of Jesus for North/Central Austin, Texas. We republish it here to give you a tangible idea of what a V3 church is like. “Peace comes when we share our home.” I’ll be honest – I didn’t catch 100 percent …
Forging communities on mission has been a refreshing and exhilarating experience. I’m a strategist and futurist by nature, so I have the propensity to convince myself I’ve sized up all the challenges that will come my way, before they come my way. There was one issue that I was not prepared to run into so regularly and widely… bitterness. Over and over …
My forty–first birthday was one I would rather forget. I spent it flat on my back in a hospital thinking I was dying. During my long recovery, I wondered: “Could I have avoided this?” My body was rebelling at the abuses of my fast paced, high stressed lifestyle. My life was out of sync with God’s rhythm and I hadn’t …