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, …
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 …
In the world of technology, there’s a very simple (yet in reality very complex) concept called “compatibility.” For example, there are certain apps that work on iphones, but if you try to use them on an android…good luck…it won’t work. While most people’s geek quotient (or “G.Q.”) is not high enough to explain why this reality exists (I am one …
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 …
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 …
No one likes to grieve. No one feels lucky to mourn. So when Jesus tells an eager gathering of disciples “Blessed are those who mourn,” I’m not sure church growth gurus would see that as the strongest recruitment strategy. Mourning in the Jewish imagination is not a foreign emotion. Mourning has deeply historical connotations for the Hebrew People of God. …
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 …