Time Management Tips

How are you at managing your time? Everyone's life is "busy" but is everyone's life healthy and fruitful? I think the answer to that question is no. For the church planter and pastors this post from the Resurgence blog has some great tips on how to manage your time well. The priorities include.

1. Stop: "Most young leaders do too much..."
2. Sabbath: "Eventually you need to find what you are uniquely able to do that others can't..."
3. Set Priorities: "You are actually more productive when you take time to rest..."
4. Save Space: "Ministry to people happens when you least expect it..."

You can (and should) read the whole article here.

Resources on Multi-Site

One of the growing phenomena in church multiplication over the last 20+ years has been multi-site. According to Wikipedia, in 1990 there were 10 multi-site churches and in 2012 there are more than 5,000 in North America alone. If you are interested in learning more about how to multi-site, here are a few of the more prominent resources you may find helpful.

The Multi-Site Church Revolution

A Multi-Site Church Road Trip

Multi-Site Churches

Ways to Distribute Authority

Team leadership from day one. This is one of my goals for church plants, even in the earliest development stages. This upholds both a Biblical model of leadership and is strategically smart for the church planter and pastor.

In this article we see how Mark Dever empowers team leadership by distributing authority to others. In the second part of the article Jonathan Leeman helps us to also see how Dever’s leadership creates a positive church culture. Below are a few highlights of the article. To read the whole article go here.

Ways to Distribute Authority

• Build the church on the gospel. 
• Establish a plurality of staff and non-staff elders. 
• Limit the percentage of main-slot preaching. 
• Give young teachers the chance to make mistakes.
• Let others steal your ideas. 
• Be willing to lose elder votes. 
• Be devoted to one thing in the church and give freedom elsewhere.
• Don't micromanage. 
• Review weekly services. 
• Be willing to receive criticism. 

How Giving Away Authority Shapes a Church Culture

• It helps to keep the gospel uppermost. 
• It promotes "real" relationships. 
• It destroys natural social hierarchies.
• It cultivates teachability and the willingness to receive criticism. 
• It helps a church to be outward focused. 

Top 10 Church Planting Tips from 2013

In this article Aaron Damiani identifies his top 10 church planting tips from 2013. Some helpful thoughts for those of us in the trenches of planting. Here’s a summary.

1. Sustain high learning agility.
2. Go slow to go fast.
3. Gather a Launch Team instead of a Core Group.
4. Jesus builds his church, so stop watching the door and start feeding your people.
5. Finding worship space is an uphill spiritual battle; start praying.
6. Identify your motives for church planting, and be vulnerable enough to communicate them.
7. Collaborate with your fellow planters and pastors; don't compete with them.
8. Don't be afraid to ask for money and people.
9. Be flexible with how people grapple with your vision.
10. Follow Jesus on the journey he has planned for you, and invite your people along.

Number One Reason for Decline in Church Attendance

In this post Thom Rainer hits the nail on the head in regard to the growing category of the semi-churched in our faith communities. As a pastor and planter of a church with a large percentage of 25-35 year olds, I think the semi-churched mindset is even more pronounced. Sited reasons for inconsistent attendance includes the desire to travel, strong ties to extended family, and the demands of young family life. But are these really valid interruptions to the priority of Christian community? Maybe, but these challenges aren't new, after all the distractions of youth and young family have always been an issue. What does appear to be a new and growing mindset among believers, is a decreased sense of need and value for Biblical community.

Here's some additional reflections on the issue from Kevin DeYoung. Some good insights are included regarding how we can begin to address the problem in our churches. 

Arrogant and Impatient Church Planters

Some good thoughts here from Bruce Wesley for both those who oversee church planting and for church planters in general. Sometimes people justify arrogance as confident leadership and impatience as a strong work ethic. But we need to call a spade a spade. At the heart of these problems is a root of pride that will ultimately betray the hopes of a planter and pastor by making you a leader who is unapproachable and ultimately ineffective. A good argument for a good assessment, coaching, and accountability plan for all planters and pastors.

Cultivating a Healthy Group Identity

In this post Brandon Cox identifies some characteristics of a healthy group life in your church. He also provides some metrics that clarify the measure of success for each of these categories. As they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day. If we have any hopes of creating healthy community in our churches and church plants, we need to do more than just celebrate the few things we do well. Embracing a clear and comprehensive vision for success helps to provide alignment and accountability as we work toward a healthy communal identity.

1. There is a consistency in meeting and a desire to meet.
2. There is genuine authenticity and transparent sharing.
3. People are growing in knowledge, but they are also growing in grace.
4. Real community and friendship is increasing.
5. There is an intentionality about serving together and developing as leaders.
6. There is a culture of inclusion and inviting.
7. New hosts are stepping forward.

Religious Make-up In The United States

The Business Insider magazine recently put out this map representing the largest participating religious groups in our nation. You can argue the influence of the mega-church all you want, but nothing matches the cultural and spiritual impact of a blanket of churches covering entire regions. Why, because mega churches grow and shrink based on the leadership gifts of one person, but churches tend to maintain viability for generations.

Soapbox warning...

Because the nation is blanketed in churches does that mean the work is finished? No, because...

1. Population is growing faster than churches
2. If the pursuit is Gospel-centered word-centered churches then there is still a great need in many regions
3. There are still churches dying every year so we need to keep up and surpass the loss of those churches

The U.S. is reached so we should just focus on global initiatives. No, because...

1. Our approach should be both/and because the US movement of churches will fund our global movement. In this regard we need a healthy movement of church expansion.
2. The previously mentioned statistics regarding population growth suggests the Christian Gospel is actually losing ground.
3. New churches reach new generations. New generations are the workforce behind the global movement of the Gospel so, rather than not plant churches, let's plant a bunch of churches with a strong vision for global mission. 

We should focus on organic (less institutional) models of church planting because that's how we'll reach future generations of unbelievers. No, because....

1. The biblical model of church planting shows us that mission expansion looks something like this.... discipleship leads to conversion, conversion leads to church membership, membership leads to governance. Purely organic missional models aren't doing this. 
2. Our focus should be to incorporate missionally progressive models of discipleship into Biblical church planting movements. In other words how we do mission better should be part of our model for church multiplication, not a replacement for church multiplication.
3. Similar to the mega-churches lack of influence for generations, the organic church movement won't last because it does't have the necessary governance structures in place to sustain generations of influence.

What's my point? We need to get busy planting churches!

Half of the US Lives in These Counties

Half of the U.S. population lives in 146 counties. These locations should be a major focus for the planting of churches. Happy to say I live in one of these counties!

(HT: Business Insider)

15 Life Giving Things When Planting Churches in Cities

Here’s the notes from an encouraging talk by Justin Buzzard at this years CPLF meeting in Nashville. Some very helpful information for church planters.

1. Know and Love Your City

• Live in a place where you love the city
• Who is your city? 
• What is your cities history?
• What is your cities values?
• What is your cities future? 
• What is your cities dreams?
• What is your cities fears? This is opposite of your cities values. 
• What is your cities ethos? Mode of operation? 

2. Prioritize Friendships

• Most church planters are lonely and need strong friendship
• Don’t allow a fear of favoritism to keep you from friendship
• Give a significant priority to making friends… believers and unbelievers

3. Disciple a Handful of Men

• Focus your life on discipling a few men well
• Everyone in the church should have 2 or so people they are investing in

4. Rest

• Rest daily 
• Turn off technology… sleep well at night… 
• Keep the sabbath
• Once a month have a retreat day… reading bible, praying, reading good books, and then dreaming about the church
• Take an annual break… Justin takes the month of July off every year
• Read: "The Power of Full Engagement"… a good secular book on maintaining rest

5. Unleash Your Rookies

• Don’t hold back your new and young believers
• Let them serve, evangelize, etc…
• Rebuke the control idols

6. Play Big

• Don’t hold back… give everything a 100% efforts. Go for it.

7. Resist the Devil

• 1 Peter 5

8. Go to Where Your Men Work

9. Do What You Love

• One of the quickest ways to burn out is to stop doing what you enjoy

10. Date Your Wife

• We are in a job where your marriage can disqualify you
• Invest in dating your wife

11. Set the Culture

• What your church is going to feel like… how is it going to operate
• Set a culture of encouragement… sending out encouragement cards
• Celebrate any opportunity you get
• Run to the tensions… don’t avoid, but aggressively deal with the issues you face
• Set a Gospel culture where grace is real in your church

12. Take Care of Yourself Financially

• Cities are expensive… take care of yourself… speak with financial planners
• Set a solid salary package that will fully support you

13. Finish Sermons Earlier in the Week

• 8-10 hours on a sermon and have it done by Wednesday morning
• Monday to study the text, Tuesday to outline, Wednesday to assemble

14. Let God Reck You

• God will destroy the church planter somewhere in the journey of planting
• Embrace it as God’s good means of changing you as a person and planter
• Church planting can be the greatest means of sanctification in your life… accept this and recognize it as good.

15. Stay Excited About Jesus

Racial Demographics in the US

Here is a great resource for pastors and church planters. The Racial Dot Map by the Weldon Cooper Center gives a visual representation of racial demographics in our cities, an important information source as we seek to create multi-cultural gospel movements and churches. Below is the map of Milwuakee, one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States.

Where Christianity is Growing Fastest

According to this report, if the current rate of Christian growth continues, China could have more Christians than any other country in the world by 2030. As pointed out by my friend Pastor Matthew Svoboda, 40 years ago China had less than 1 in 1,000 Christians, today 1 in 10. Amazing! The growth happening within several Muslim countries is also encouraging to see.

It's good to be reminded that we are part of a Gospel movement of disciples and churches multiplying around the globe.

How to Become a Church-Planting Church

Couldn't agree with this article more in terms of practical ways you can become a church-planting church. Oh that existing churches would get a heart for this New Testament model of missional faithfulness. Below is the overview and the full article here.

Year 1

• Assess and re-define your church missions strategy/philosophy.
• Allocate a certain percentage of your annual budget for church planting.

Years 2 to 5

• Partner with other churches in supporting a church planter.
• Adopt and support an existing church planter.
• Intentionally build a church-planting ethos in your church.

Years 6 and Beyond

• Do a church-planting residency with a future church planter.
• Hire staff with the aim of sending them out to plant after 3 to 5 years.

Des Moines Boot Camp Announced

If you are in process or interested in planting, this 5-day boot camp is a great resource for you to consider. For more information or to register for the boot camp click here.

Small Groups on Mission

Here's a great example of what it can look like for each group in your church to live out a mission focus within the community.


ServeRDU2013 Recap from Josh Sliffe on Vimeo.

Church Planting is the New Testament Plan

On Sunday in my message from Acts 19 on what happens when we plant churches, I closed with this strong quote from J.A. Meders on why church planting is the primary plan in the New Testament. A plan we should all care about and move forward with in good measure, in both our own life and the life of our church.

How did Paul help Corinth? He planted a church. The city of Thessalonica? Another church plant. Did Paul mix it up in Ephesus? Maybe a wrestling gym with a crucifixion theme? Of course not—he planted a church.
Planting Churches. Planting The Gospel.

The planting of gospel-centered churches, filled with gospel-centered people who live as grace-leaking, missional monsters as lights in the darkness, inviting the dead to come alive in Jesus Christ and to dwell in the Kingdom of God—that is the hope of your city and mine.

Our cities don’t need more shows. The movie theaters, stadiums, and Redboxes have that covered. Our cities don’t need the planting of services, but they need the missional going of Christians, our disciple-making, our witnessing—that’s church planting.

We have the power of God that makes demons shudder, that sets captives free, that can save a thief on the cross, that can comfort a prostitute, that can redeem a drunk, that can restore a religious hypocrite—that can fulfill all that we are looking for, made for—that power, that word, that name, that person is Jesus.

That is the number one missional strategy of the New Testament. Nothing has changed since Acts 28. We cannot improve upon what Dr. Luke has chronicled. And for us to put more weight behind any other strategy might be the most idiotic thing we could do. This strategy is old, normal, and completely supernatural.

And maybe, just maybe one day we’ll hear, “There is much joy in that city.”

To read the entire post click here.

7 Ways to Keep Missional Communities from Multiplying

Want to assure yourself that your missional communities never multiply? Seth McBee gives us seven ways to assure that's the case. To make the point painfully obvious, avoid these common pitfalls and it will lead your church and smaller communities toward healthy multiplication.

1. Never ask anyone to step up and lead
2. Don’t have a unified context for mission
3. Do not have a written vision and plan to make disciples
4. Don’t interact with unbelievers
5. Keep it an event instead of a rhythm
6. Teach at the meetings like a professional
7. Don’t talk about multiplication or the Spirit

For the whole article click here.

An Open Letter to Church Planting Pastors

Ever wonder what it's like to be married to a church planter? Christine really hit the nail on the head with this post about priorities in planting. My wife would wholeheartedly resonate with the warning to pastors within this letter. Here's a quote:

Church planting is difficult work because it's all-encompassing. The lines between home and ministry are so blurred that it's easy to lose sight of what appropriate boundaries are and what emotional and physical health looks like. Church planters, not a wife in that room cried because we don't understand the pressure you are under or because we have unrealistic expectations of you. We feel the pressure, albeit different pressure, as much as you, and we care about your success probably more than you do.
We love you, we respect you, and we sincerely want to be a help to you. Although we are not a resource just to be used to further your ministry, we are your best resource for life, family, and ministry.

We are your helper, yes, but we need your help, too. We need your understanding and listening ear. 

Read the rest here and revisit the principle frequently.

Acts 19 Strategy

One of the goals of the new vision statement being considered by the EFCA is a call to develop 100 Acts 19 cities. The idea revolves around what happened as the Gospel spread to Ephesus in Acts 19. The strategy being to infiltrate 100 urban centers here and around the world with an aggressive plan for ministry, evangelism, and cultural transformation.

At our recent vision summit at the EFCA headquarters in Minneapolis, the presentation on this strategy was somewhat unclear. Fortunately, I found this document which brought much more clarity. My first take is that this is an exciting God-sized vision. I am hopeful it will motivate us to get involved in the cause of God's missional vision for our cities, nation, and world.

Jesus Has Come to Confound You

The most humbling thing I ever did was plant a church. The early days of planting carried with it a degree of doubt and insecurity that was unparalleled in my previous 15 years as a pastor. Ironically, I hope I never forget those days. The desperation and dependance I felt was beautiful. My inability to bear fruit and need for God's help was ever before me. In this spirit, I was recently humbled and encouraged by Zack Eswine's words from his new book Sensing Jesus.

Those of you searching for something larger, faster, and more significant, who feel that if you could just be somewhere else doing something else as somebody else, then you life would really matter- Jesus has come to confound you. I'm not referring to those who need to flee to somewhere else for safety's sake. I am referring to the discontented who have not yet learned what it means that Jesus is our portion and and that he is enough for us. You have wandered far from home. You cannot glorify God by trying to become him… He may just decide to pick you up and carry you to somewhere sexy in order to undo you! He may call you to courageously prize what is overlooked and mundane among those whose cravings for the next and the now might cause them to soon overlook you for another more hip pastor. Or he may call you to nowhere sexy so that you can learn that you can make a difference in Jesus even if you are somewhere forgotten by the world.

Oh that we would always remain humble, no matter our position or authority… content, no matter our calling or abilities. May Jesus be our portion and hope… our life lived for His glory alone.