Bridging to discipleship

Discipleship, Missional

As ministry leaders, we’re all aware of the importance of disciplemaking. We engage culture, and as people come to Christ we get them connected into faith communities. But as I coach a lot of ministry leaders who are seeking to be incarnational and missional, one of...
2 Timothy 2:2 extension chains

2 Timothy 2:2 extension chains

Missional

 “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” — 2 Timothy 2:2 NLT This photo is a visual of 2 Timothy 2:2. From the man in the...

What comes after Alpha?

Leadership

]Alpha is a great example of my metaphor of the path. (You can read a description of that metaphor here if you’re not familiar with it.) Alpha focuses on finding seekers in the parking lot who want to explore spiritual things. The participants have dinner together...

Identifying your spheres of influence

Missional, Outreach

  Consider where God has placed you. Where are you able to serve as the presence of Jesus? Make a list of the people you’re in relationship with that don’t know Jesus. What is your plan to keep those relationships healthy and moving forward? One church planter...

The 4 most common barriers to an outward focus

Missional, Outreach

An outward focus means looking outside the walls of your own church. It means being more concerned about reaching out and meeting the needs of the community around you than you are about the level of comfort inside the church. For most churches, it’s much easier to...

The synagogue splitting strategy

Church Planting, New Church Planting

We’ve been going through the book of Acts recently in our church gathering. It’s been interesting to take another look at Paul’s church planting strategy. He was seeking to make disciples, so he’d go to the synagogue where he would find God-fearing gentiles who were...

Disciples: from the harvest for the harvest

Missional

As we reach people from the harvest, we don’t shut them up in a barn. We send them right back into the harvest to glean more. That’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples they would become fishers of men. Disciples are called to make more disciples: we take from...

Saturating spirituality

Missional

One thing I’ve noticed in our weekly house church gatherings is that when people truly get connected spiritually and faith becomes real for them– you can see it in their faces. There is a transformation you can see. They have become different, and it’s obvious...

Airplane spirituality

Missional

When I go on airplanes, I pray that people won’t talk to me. Yes, I know. Some people use going on airplanes as looking for witnessing opportunities. But being an introvert, I love the opportunity for the downtime and I’m usually planning to either rest or get some...