The Spiritual Man
Romans 8:5-11
by Scott Thomas, Acts 29 President
Spiritual vitality was the highest rated quality of a church planter as polled by Acts 29 pastors. What are the characteristics of a spiritually vital pastor? The following responses came through Twitter and Facebook.
No matter how busy, portrays God's grace and accessibility
A rich prayer life
Not afraid to be prophetic and take unpopular stands.
Happy in God, loves wife, constant learner, overall discipline, humble, sleeps (evidence of peace/humility)
He must love his wife.
Humble, Reverent to God, Continues to grow, loves his family, and preaches from the Bible and not his opinions.
Suffers well and, in adversity, points to Jesus.
#1 - Humility, in my humble opinion
Knowledge of and passion for ...
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By Scott ThomasActs 29 President and Director
The qualities of a successful basketball player are consistent. He or she can dribble, shoot, pass, play defense, rebound, play as a team, think, move quickly and work hard. They don't have to do all of these at the same level but all of the qualities characterize a succesful player at the highest level.
Church planters similarily have qualities that determine their God-given capacity to plant a reproducing church.
Chuck Ridley, professor at Texas A&M University compiled the germinal research on church planting assessments with his Church Planter Profile (CPP). Most assessment instruments start with Ridley’s 13 characteristics in mind as they formulate their own church planter profiles. (Charles R. Ridley and Tweed ...
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By Scott ThomasActs 29 President and Director
It won’t hurt the church if people are called away to go and make disciples elsewhere. It will hurt the mission if they stay. As I read about the church in Jerusalem and Antioch, I see them identifying, equipping and sending men to plant churches.
In Acts 11:19-26, the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to the city of Antioch. They didn't send just any schmuck. It is reported of him, "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith" (11:24). The first thing Barnabas did was to recruit Paul/Saul from Tarsus and take him to Antioch to work with the church. Barnabas then spent the year equipping Paul and doing ministry with him among those who were first called Christians.
In Acts chapters 13-16, the local church at ...
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Tags: paul, barnabas, call, eldership, biblical, bible, acts, spiritual vitality, qualifications of a church planter, discipleship, sending, daughter churches, church multiplication, church planting
By Scott Thomas
Every young man that considers church planting asks the question, “Am I a Church Planter?” It is the question I asked myself many years ago. 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.
Over the next year, this blog will focus on ten qualities that we believe are important for a church planter to effectively plant the gospel in a community. We will produce articles that reflect on one quality each month and then we hope to publish an e-book on each quality that compiles the articles into a document equivalent in size to a single chapter in a book.
Most church planting books and publications ...
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Free Resource – Theological Clarity and Application: Equipping Leaders in Biblical Doctrine
The question I get asked most often by church planters and pastors of young churches is, “How can I train people in preparation for leadership in the church?” We often point them to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology—referred affectionately among our tribe as simply, “Grudem’s.” Most people are not sure what to do with the nearly 1,300-page book with 57 chapters. The lay leaders with regular jobs are nearly traumatized when the 4-pound book arrives in their mail!
When Elliot Grudem gave me a copy of Christian Beliefs (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), I immediately identified a valuable resource to help pastors walk their ...
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