“God said, ‘Kneel and pray. You are in a holy place, on holy ground. I’ve seen the agony of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their groans. I’ve come to help them. So get yourself ready; I’m sending you back to Egypt.’ (Acts 7:33, 34) I’m sending you back I’m sending you back?! Why did that phrase catch my attention? I …
One of the most palatable tensions in any community of faith is between the past experiences of the community and the future vision for where the community “ought” to go. The arc of the scriptural narrative reveals that although things are not as they were created to be. In Christ, God is making all things new. Theologians have attempted to …
One of the best ways to love a community is to pray for it. Some church planters do this by prayer walking, and organizing regular prayer walks. On the ground is great! Other planters drive around communities, praying (eyes open) as they go. There are places where God has called me to drive up a hill that overlooks a neighborhood …
One of the most frequent questions I get from church planters is: What do you recommend as the best books for church planters to read? As an avid reader who has planted churches on the East Coast and the West Coast, and a person who is devoted full time to helping equip church planters, this is a difficult question to …
One of the most accessible resources available to a church planter is the life of Paul the apostle. His life is an inspiration for anyone in Christian leadership, but especially for those engaging in church planting. Not only did Paul plant multiple churches across the Roman Empire, with significant movemental impact throughout his career, he did it with significant resistance …
One of my favourite places in the world is the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. It seems so remote now, requiring a journey from Glasgow by train, ferry, bus and another ferry to get there. Once however, when most long distance travel was done by sea, it was a thriving centre of spirituality and education. It …
There is a fascinating dynamic at play within quite a few denominations and organizations starting new communities of faith. It’s a growing reality that gives me great hope for increased unity within the church. Now hold on a second… you might say, aren’t there over 40,000 denominations? Don’t we have massive theological disagreements? And shouldn’t new church communities be seen as …
I have worked with church planters for over fifteen years. During that time I have spent hundreds of hours providing training, coaching and resources to a wide variety of planters. Regardless of the church planter’s approach to planting, I have discovered that in almost every case the planter moves too quickly towards pragmatism. Planters want to know what “works.” They …
Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s novel about a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island, remains a classic. What at first seemed like an ideal situation for a bunch of kids away from their parents soon became a rather harrowing experience. Stranded all by themselves, they were suddenly forced to entertain an entirely new set of challenges. One of …
I’m glad to announce that Asbury Theological Seminary, one of V3’s partners, is introducing a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies with a specialization in Church Planting degree in the fall of 2014. The beauty of this degree is that it allows you, the practitioner, to remain in your city where you are planting, while you pursue your Master’s Degree. …