Gospel Tweeting Contest
Help me vote for the best gospel explanation in 140 character or less. We had 93 entries for a contest and need to vote for the best one. Read More
Help me vote for the best gospel explanation in 140 character or less. We had 93 entries for a contest and need to vote for the best one. Read More
Scott Thomas, Director of Acts 29 was interviewed by CCK in Brighton England during his recent trip. He provides insight into Acts 29, Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll. Read More
Where are the evidences of God's grace in your life? Find out how powerful it can be to look through the lens of God's grace. Read More
Church planting in Western Europe begins with our first approved church planters. Read More
We are launching the official branch of Acts 29 at the Church Planting Foundations Conference in London. Read More
Category: Church Planting
The Resurgence Training Center, Mars Hill Church's newly-launched leadership training program, begins August 16. Church planters have the opportunity for both academic and practical learning in Missional Leadership from the most influential and gifted teachers of our day. Read More
Never Quit was a common saying of Jerry Falwell. How does it apply to our lives today? Read More
We can learn from other evangelical leaders if we are humble. What does another church planting leader have to teach to us? Read More
I compiled some thoughts on preaching from four different sources: 1) Twitter unscientific survey; 2) Kevin Bruursema; 3) Mars Hill Church via Tim Keller; 4) John Piper. Enjoy. Read More
GCA is hosting their 2009 North America Church Planting Seminar July 21-24 in Orlando this summer. They also are offering great early-bird deals for those who register before May 31. This is a great deal. Hurry before my friend Steve Childres changes his mind! Read More
London Church Planting Foundations is less than a month away. Sensing the Spirit's move and with so much new opportunity and development in the UK, this conference is sure to be a ground-breaking and exciting time. But why is the "American" Acts 29 Network headed to Europe? Read More
Category: General
Steve Timmis, co-author of Total Church, will direct a new Acts 29 Network in Western Europe beginning today. Steve is handing off The Crowded House duties, an alliance of gospel communities in Sheffield, England to focus on establishing a wider network of churches planting new churches all across Western Europe. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Mark Driscoll, founder and President of Acts 29 and founder of Mars Hill Church and The Resurgence is a world-class leader. Find the six reasons why. Read More
What happens as we serve others on the streets? Do they really deserve to be shown mercy? Not any more than we did as Jesus came down and served us and saved us from our depravity. Read More
Missional Influencers are personally broken before they can fix anything. At our upcoming boot camp in San Diego is focusing on the influence of missional leaders.What does it mean to be a broken leader? Read More
Category: Leadership
The San Diego Boot Camp is less than a month away. It is important to register as soon as possible. May 5-6 in beautiful Sunny San Diego Read More
A little old lady in an industrial neighborhood in Seattle showed the kind of courage necessary for a church planter. She may have been tougher than most planters. Read More
As a way to show mercy to others during this Passion Week, I would like to participate in 29 Acts of mercy for the homeless on Good Friday by purchasing 29 sleeping bags and handing them out to those in need. And I am asking you to participate by showing an act of mercy by participating in the purchase of these. Read More
87 resource links for worship leaders including Harold Best, Tim Smith, Bob Kauflin, Mike Cosper, Matt Stevens, Stuart Townsend and John Piper. Read More
If you are a church planter, you have to be understood by the locals in order to communicate with them effectively. A good missionary will communicate in a manner that is understood by the culture in which he ministers. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Most churches are stagnant or in decline. 3,500 churches close every year. Can a church turn around and still make it? Or can it identify the opportunity for a Redemptive Church Plant by investing property, buildings and resources to a new body for much fruit? Read More
While some regard following the call of God as a foolish act, God chooses the foolish to shame the wise (i Cor. 1:27). Has he called you? Read More
The problem when we deride the non-essential practices of others is that we usually elevate ourselves over them. We display a lewd attitude and a coarse spirit. It is like saying that we are proud of our humility. It is contradictory communication between our attitudes and our words. How do we deal with those who criticize us? Read More
The audio from the boot camp recently held in Raleigh, NC is available. Read More
Acts 29 Boot Camps are church planting conferences open to the public that focus on the vision of church planting, calling of the planter, mandate to multiply churches and the theological foundation for gospel-centered church planting. The San Diego Boot Camp will be hosted by Kaleo Church in in San Diego, CA. Read More
Darrin Patrick and Jonathan McIntosh of The Journey hosted the Lead Conference in St Louis October 20-22, 2008. Speakers included Darrin Patrick, Matt Carter, Bryon Chappel, Randy Nabors, Eric Mason and Jonathan. Read More
The Call of a Church Planter is discussed by Mark Driscoll at the opening session of the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Seattle. Mark asks 13 questions to help a man determine his call for ministry. Read More
My family name was originally O’Driscoll until it was changed a few generations ago by relatives hoping to more fully assimilate into American culture after immigrating from Ireland. Though I was raised Irish Catholic, I knew virtually nothing about Saint Patrick other than the green beer, parades, shamrocks, leprechauns, and drunken Red Sox fans that celebrated in his honor every March 17th. Read More
According to Time Magazine 'New Calvinism' is the third biggest idea that is changing the world right now. Here are some thoughts on new versus old Calvinism. Read More
Acts 29 is going back to London to serve the church planters in the UK and to follow the leading of the Spirit to promote the gospel more strategically. We have limited seating and are looking for men who want to plant city center churches in the UK and mainland Europe. Read More
The Seattle Boot Camp teaching is all new materials and is based on the thesis of the Great Commission: "We are called as a community of believers to proclaim the gospel to all nations in the power of the Holy Spirit." We will look at the person that is called to a gospel-centered church, what he is called to and how that calling is incarnated through the local church. Read More
PJ Smyth, Pastor of GodFirst Church in Johannesburg, South Africa will speak about the Call to the Gospel at the Seattle Boot Camp March 9-10. Read More
As we explore The Call in our upcoming boot camp in Seattle March 9-10, Pastor Dave Bruskas will address taking the gospel to all nations. Read More
Matt Chandler, Lead pastor at The Village Church in Dallas will be teaching "Preaching" at the upcoming Acts 29 boot camp in Seattle March 9-10. Watch a video to get a taste of what is to come. Read More
The Raleigh Boot Camp was two great days filled of God’s grace being poured out to its speakers and those attending. We are thankful for people like Laura Olson, who volunteered her time and amazing gift photography for the event. Read More
Category: General
In the past decade I have preached through fifteen books of the Bible and have covered scores of topical issues at Mars Hill Church. In addition, I have preached at well over one hundred conferences around the U.S. and world. For many just starting to listen online, trying to keep up with that amount of content is like drinking from a fire hose... Read More
Category: General
What happens when a publication boringly reports old news in a sloppy way without consideration of the results? I am urging us to move on because we don't have time to dodge friendly fire bullets while Satan continues to gain ground. Read More
On March 9–10, 2009, we will be gathering in Seattle for a boot camp with the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the World Church Planting Summit. Anyone interested in being an Acts 29 church planter and/or Mars Hill campus pastor needs to join us. Read More
I am encouraging you to come to Seattle for a great experience at our boot camp March 9-10. In addition, we have some free bonus tracks on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. Jesus is doing great things through Acts 29. Sign up today. Read More
We tried something new at the Raleigh Boot Camp last week. We integrated tweeting comments while many people tracked the event instantly through the use of #a29 hashtag. We pulled off several tweets to bless your passion for the mission of Jesus. Hope to see you at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Seattle March 9-10, 2009. Read More
Final installment of interview with Steve Timmis...He will be presenting Total Church in Seattle March 9 during our Acts 29 Boot Camp Read More
In an interview with my friend Steve Timmis the author of Total Church, co-authored by Tim Chester, Steve answers questions about the nature of a gospel community. The interview was conducted through a video conference with our Pastor's Training Program (PTP) at Mars Hill Church. Read More
We continue the interview with Steve Timmis who talks about gospel communities Read More
Steve Timmis is the founder of The Crowded House, author of Total Church and director of Radstock. A group of church planters interviewed Steve about the model of The Crowded House and learned some valuable insights about gospel-centered church planting. Read More
What is the unique role of an Executive Pastor (XP)? What is his relationship with the lead pastor? Pastor Jamie Munson answers these questions having served as XP at Mars Hill Church with Mark Driscoll. Read More
Three more things I would do if I was planting a church today. 1) I would train leaders relentlessly, 2) I would get a coach and 3) I would enjoy the journey of church planting more. Read More
Part Two asks the question of whether we are developing men who are mules, stallions or donkeys. Find out your focus. Read More
After serving as a church planting director at Acts 29, I reflected at the things I would do differently if I was planting a church today. Read More
Raleigh NC Boot Camp is just a little over a week away! Registration is still open, but hurry... there are at least seven good reasons why you want to be there in person next week! Read More
Several emails come per month asking about the meaning of "Acts 29." I pray that you will find this helpful to articulate it. Read More
I received an email from an unmarried young man under the age of 22 wishing to plant a church. In an attempt to address a whole crowd of young men with "church planting fever," I wrote a letter back to him with 10 suggestions. In this post are suggestions #6-10. Read More
Yesterday, Scott posted an email he received from a young man wishing to plant a church, as well as the beginning of his letter in response. Here, find suggestions #2-5 from Scott Thomas. Read More
I received an email yesterday and felt as though I needed to address this issue globally as we receive a fair number of inquiries from young men with "church planting fever." Unfortunately, the prognosis is a catastrophic ministry experience. The only cure is the gospel. It is administered with humility. Read More
I have been anticipating this book more than any other book written by my pastor and friend, Mark Driscoll. It is not because the other books have been sub-par. I think Death by Love is brilliant. So does Christianity Today. It is because I love the church (Big C and little C). I love discussions about the church and how we can best express the gospel through a community of believers striving together on the mission of Jesus. And I love planting new churches. Read More
I have spent the last six years seeking to understand all I can about planting a missional church. I have seen some great expressions of missional church planting and I have seen what I regarded as abuses of missionality or sinful syncretism in the name of cultural contextualization. Read More
Acts 29 Boot Camps are considered by many to be the best available in equipping and assessing church planters. We are having a boot camp in Raleigh, North Carolina, February 4-5 and are excited to bring you some stellar teachers for this round including Wayne Grudem, Mark Driscoll, Danny Akin and many more. Read More
I am researching essential characteristics of a church planter (elder qualified is assumed). What do you think are the top qualities of a church planter (not just a pastor)? Read More
The Boot Camp in Dallas at The Village Church in Highlands, pastored by Matt Chandler hosted our most recent event. You can now access the audio. Read More
With the current phenomenon of Facebook where people update their status daily and Twitter members who update their status event by event with their phone, I wondered what some of the Bible character's status updates would have looked like. Here's my attempt: Read More
Category: General
The gospel has been described as a pool in which a toddler can wade and yet an elephant can swim. It is both simple enough to tell to a child and profound enough for the greatest minds to explore. Indeed, even angels never tire of looking into it (1 Peter 1:12). Humans are by no means angels, however, so rather than contemplating it, we argue about it. Read More
Church planters are some of God’s most amazing servants. They are, generally speaking, young men who love Jesus, love their wives and children, love the church, and love lost people. With their wives and children they step out in faith to plant a church that shares the love and truth of Jesus with lost people. Their family does so at great cost to their finances and health. Read More
Category: Church Planting
The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to scripture, they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, scattered to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God's glory and their joy. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Romans 8:5-8 tells us about an ultimate choice: Life or death; hostility or peace. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God..." These two opposing forces are seen as the only two states of mankind. John Owen said, "When a man...is not spiritually minded, he is carnally minded." Each one results in contrastingly different modes. Carnally minded people have death and hostility while spiritually minded people experience life and peace. Read More
Category: General
Whether you are interested to explore the exciting journey of planting a church, to discern a call to plant or to hear the great lineup of speakers, we present a Boot Camp in Dallas this week for a couple of days to challenge you to go deep into the heart and mission of the gospel. Read More
It is the rare leader who runs faithfully to the end, developed by God toward maximum potential in life and ministry. Only a handful earns the right to echo Paul's words, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) Read More
Category: Leadership
Tuesday, Nov. 11, my wife Jeannie and I completed a 10K Run. This run is not really what you would expect, but it has been a race nonetheless. We have been married 10,000 days! (not that I am counting.) I am not writing this to be a proverbial slideshow of my vacation, but rather to talk about the qualities of a good pastor's wife. I have lived with a good one for over 14 million minutes (not that I am counting). What does a pastor's wife do? I offer a few qualities below with apologies that I am offering these through the example of my wife, who has been my bride for over 240,000 hours (not that I am counting). Read More
Category: Leadership
Tim Keller's new book, The Prodigal God, illuminates the differences between the preaching of Jesus and the preaching common in today's churches. "Jesus' teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing religious people of his day... We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down moralistic people." Read More
How does a church planter keep people on mission as they seek to understand the nuances of the doctrine of salvation? Dr. JI Packer does a brilliant job at condensing Calvinism down to one point; three key words sum up the emphasis needed to shepherd those seeking to understand Reformed Theology. Read More
John Piper said, "I am my biggest danger. When I go up, God goes down." At an Acts 29 Boot Camp in Seattle, in conjunction with the Annual Resurgence Conference, Mark Driscoll asked Matt Chandler and John Piper about the number one danger facing pastors today. The answers are insightful. Read More
Every young man that considers church planting asks the question, Am I a Church Planter? It is the question I asked myself before planting a church. It is the question we ask every man who submits himself to our Acts 29 assessment process to be a lead planter in our network. Many times he is depending on our assessment process to confirm his calling. Read More
The one qualification of a pastor found in the Bible that has an explanation is his responsibility with his family. If a man does not know how to shepherd his own house well, how can he take care of the house of God? (1 Timothy 3:5). A regular source of conflict in a pastor's home can be his children. A house of unruly children can take the joy out of serving Jesus and can create a wedge between the man and his once beautiful bride before she walked around the house with a stressful scowl on her face. Read More
Category: General
Doing ministry in the new global cities is not an easy task. Sure, rural and suburban areas present their own unique challenges, but often it's the city leader who feels alone in the most influential centers of our world. You are called to stay: to reach non-traditional people and to connect with the new artistic and economic elite, most of whom care nothing for the church. You are faced with corruption in the local political system; you see decay around you every day. In the middle of this, you are called to actually make a dent for good in the larger social fabric... Read More
Category: Church Planting
Mark Driscoll spent a week of speaking and preaching in the United Kingdom in July. All the audio from his talks and other new audio are now available for download. Complete list below: Read More
Category: Church Planting
I received the greatest letter this week from a seven-year-old boy along with 5 one-dollar bills. In his own handwriting he said... Read More
Category: Church Planting
Mark Driscoll and I are heading to England this morning. Mark is speaking to NewFrontiers a group of 3,000+ pastors gathered together just south of London. Their leader, Terry Virgo (one of the largest churches in the UK) is a Calvinist charismatic. Mark will have a great influence on the UK as he speaks about The Ox, Religion vs. the Gospel, Movements are Messy, Spirit-led Missions, Male and Female and the Trinity, Death by Ministry, Planting Radical Churches and Leadership Lessons. Read More
Category: Church Planting
I have loved my ESV translation Bible. Its accurate word-for-word translation and ease of readability has made a popular option for those who are serious students of the Bible. Mars Hill Church made the change from NIV to ESV almost two years ago and the congregation has embraced it ... Read More
Category: General
Encouraging all church planters to attend one of the most important church planting conferences to come. This one is a must attend for church planters who are thinking about planting missional churches to reach our culture. Read More
Category: General
1 Timothy 4:16: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.†My friend C.J. Mahaney led off the Dwell Conference to cleanse the room of sin, pride, self-sufficiency and spiritual arrogance—all things C. J. admits he has struggled over his many years of ministry. When he finished, I told him it was perfectly executed. Read More
Category: Leadership
The inaugural Dwell Conference in New York City this past April was a sold-out urban church-planting conference attended by men from 12 different countries. The largest contingency was from the UK. So, we are heading to London in July for a one-day conference with Mark Driscoll, founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Steve Timmis, founder of The Crowded House and the Porterbrook Network in Sheffield England and Scott Thomas, Director of Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Mars Hill Church Leadership Center. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Initially coming solely as a participant to the Text and Context Conference in Seattle, C.J. Mahaney was quickly informed that he would not get to watch the conference from the bleachers but instead needed to bring his cleats because he was going to be first on the line-up. C.J.’s session on “Pastoral Character and Loving People†is considered by many who attended the conference as the most powerful message they’ve heard a long time. Read More
Category: Leadership
Category: General
Well, this blog post is being written while I sit on a train with my lovely wife Grace traveling between New York and Philadelphia. It’s been a busy but cool few weeks. 
 Read More
Category: General
At the most recent regional training day in St. Louis, Darrin Patrick spoke of developing and equipping leaders. It is a vital topic for church planters as they seek to build, multiply, and facilitate good leadership. Darrin spoke out of the books of first and second Timothy; books that were written to a scared young pastor and are a gold mine for planters wrestling with the task of being a leader. Read More
Category: Leadership
Tyler Jones and his wife Kimberley planted Vintage 21 five years ago. After attending many churches in the area, Tyler and Kimberly noticed an absence of people in the 20-40 age groups. After much prayer and guidance, they felt God's call to begin a church with people of that age group in mind. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Picture this: You work in a high school and all the 14-year old boys are slumped over and have no guidance because many of their dads are not present in their home. So, you decide to start a young men’s bible study group to give them some guidance and community. But, guess who shows up: all the churched kids. Many boys leave the church when they reach the end of high school, why does it happen so consistently?...“The world is now filled with passive, emasculated men that were not validated by their fathers.†Read More
Category: Church Planting
A church planter is a uniquely gifted pastor with a passion to proclaim the gospel to those who are unchurched with the goal of establishing a new community of believers on mission in their community for the glory of God. But just because a man is called to plant does not mean it is easy to do without some help from those who are actively involved in birthing new churches. Acts 29 and Mars Hill Church want to humbly offer to help. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Ed Stetzer spoke in Philadelphia recently on the topic of ‘Missional Movements and Church Planting'. Ever the missiologist pundit, Stetzer gave summation of God's mission to the world and how the church can be and is part of it. Read More
Category: Church Planting
In these last clips from the 2008 Chicago boot camp, Mark Driscoll answers two important questions from the ladies in the audience about the influence of culture and media on the family as well as where Mark's wife comes alive in the midst of planting a church and the messiness of ministry. Read More
Category: Church Planting
‘Seeing God’s vision for the culture is so important in how we live now.’ In the last 50 years there has been fierce debate over the extent to which the church should be involved in evangelism, social action, or both. ‘The gospel is not a culturally specific truth. It transcends culture. Worship music is not solely the sound that comes out of Nashville, Tennessee.’ Read More
Category: Church Planting
Roughly two years ago Mars Hill Church experimented with multi-site church, thanks to the influence of my friends at Leadership Network and pastors they connected me with to learn from, such as my buddy Larry Osborne. That experiment has proven wildly successful and we are now a church with seventeen services on six campuses and are expanding campuses rapidly. For us, multi-site has become a second form of church planting and has revolutionized how we do ministry. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Darrin Patrick, lead pastor of The Journey, spoke at our Boot Camp in Chicago about Leading the Mission. Darrin planted a church in 2002 in St. Louis and it has since grown and seen many people come to Christ as well as he serves as Acts 29's vice-president. In this session Darrin shares how ‘practicing hospitality is more than just inviting Christians over to watch Survivor' and that leading the mission in church planting is a gruelling yet high calling. Read More
Category: Church Planting
At the boot camp in Chicago this year, Mark Driscoll answered questions from church planters and their wives. With great honesty and candidness Mark spoke about the ways he succeeded and also the ways he failed in loving his family while planting Mars Hill Church. It was a helpful time of Q&A. Read More
Category: Church Planting
It has been a super busy few weeks and I thought it would be fun to catch folks up on some of the highlights... Read More
Category: General
Mark Dever spoke at this year’s boot camp in Chicago about Evangelism in Church Planting. Some may think that wearing a suit and talking about relevance is a paradox, but not for Dever. He spoke with great wisdom, kindness and humility sharing his love for evangelism. Read More
Category: Church Planting
Almost 1,200 people attended the Text and Context Acts 29 Boot Camp this week in uncharacteristically sunny Seattle for three days of fantastic teaching. Among those were spiritually hungry people from 46 states and 11 countries, 49 Acts 29 pastors, 23 couples to be assessed as Acts 29 candidates and Mars Hill Church staff and an army of volunteers. Read More
Category: General
Mark Driscoll spent an hour talking with the participants of the Chicago boot camp about the importance of having a gospel-centered family. In this Audio clip, he tells his story about planting Mars Hill Church in Seattle and the stress it placed on his family. He then answered one question, How do I fulfill my role as a godly wife to my husband who is a strong leader? Read More
Category: Church Planting
Mark Driscoll led the session on Preaching the Mission to the students and faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and to the sold-out boot camp registrants in Chicago (Deerfield) at the end of January. Driscoll said he prefers to preach rather than teach about preaching. He cleverly said it is the difference between going on a date and teaching someone about dating. “Going on a date with your wife always ends... Read More
Category: Church Planting
“You [Acts 29 Pastors] are taken to be the essence of cool by many young ministers, and I personify not cool,†said Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and founder of 9Marks, in his address at our Chicago Boot Camp last week. Dever, conspicuously clad in suit and tie, united the commonality of our mission by saying, “Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends..." Read More
Category: General
In light of the New Year I wanted to share some advice with fellow preachers. One of the best things a preacher can do to improve their preaching ministry is to plan out what they are going to preach at least a year in advance. This allows the preacher to begin their research and study well in advance so that when the week of a sermon arrives, they will be well on their way to speaking as God intends... Read More
Category: Leadership
What are the differences and similarities between the "emerging" and "emergent" church? Has the emerging church struck a chord with engaging the younger generation? How do we engage the emerging church? How should we respond to the challenges it raises? Read More
Category: Church Planting
Our church planting boot camps are always open to all people and are beneficial to all church leaders. The next boot camp will be in Chicago January 29-30 on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). "Chicago at the end of January?" you ask, doubting our sanity?" I told you that church planting is not for wimps. Read More
Category: Church Planting
The St Louis Metro Baptist Association has formed a Church Planting Fund called “Show Me Partnership.†It is a way that people can assist those church planters whose funds from the Missouri Baptist Convention will be cut off January 1, 2008 because of a decision made by the MBC on December 10, 2007. Read More
Category: General
Acts 29 Network and the Southern Baptists share the same mission: to seek and to save the lost; to go into all of the world and share the gospel of Jesus and to baptize and teach the believers through the local church. For this reason, we love the SBC, have appreciated our partnerships throughout the country and are now mourning the loss of our fellowship with the Missouri Southern Baptist Convention. Read More
Category: General
Acts 29 Network is blowing into Chicago January 29-30 for a church planting boot camp on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. This training coincides with TEDS’ Church Planting Week. Read More
Category: Church Planting
In September, Mars Hill Church hosted the Resurgence/Acts 29 Network Fall Conference titled: Continuous Worship. Harold Best, Mark Driscoll and Tim Smith shared same great content in the area of worship in the church today. Read More
Category: Leadership
Missional Leaders, Church Planters, and those supporting church planting from the Metro-Philadelphia Region and other surrounding areas are invited to hear Ed Stetzer, Missiologist in Residence for Lifeway Resources, for the afternoon to look at... Read More
Category: General