MULTIPLYING MEN "Multiplication As Spiritual Gardening"
By Chris Atwell
Many church planters want to play the role of church planter rather than live the role of spiritual gardener. Enjoying the results of the harvest requires faithfully attending to the crops in the field. The Bible’s major metaphor for spiritual growth is one of vine, branch, and fruit (John 15, Galatians 5). Jesus Himself is the Vine. God is the Vinedresser. Oh, that as pastors we would see our role to faithfully tend God’s garden. And in God’s garden, He’s growing fruit-bearing people.
Ministry is still a people business. Many of the church planters I know look the part. If I were to make a church planting action figure, he would come equipped with graphic tee, Italian denim and ...
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by Todd Bumgarner, Lead Pastor at 2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, NE
As a church planter, you are called to raise up disciples and leaders. It's an investment of time and energy that is critical to the mission of your church. One of the hardest truths early on in church planting is discerning who is with you and who is not. As I have worked with people, I’ve learned there are six categories into which someone falls. Categorizing people is helpful to determine where to focus your time and energy and to wake you up to the reality that some people, despite their excitement and interest, simply are not on board.
1. Family
These are the folks who are all-in. They’ve caught the vision and want to help in any way possible. They are servant-leaders and their commitment is ...
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Jake Chambers officially launched Red Door Church in September, 2010. Located in the College Area near San Diego State University, a significant percentage of his church is comprised of and ministers to college students. Why plant near a college campus with transitory students in mind? “I felt like students are being preached to every day,” says Jake. “But the things that are preached are messages like ‘go party,’ and ‘your future career will save you' but nobody is preaching the gospel.” With SDSU also making the nation's list of highest rates of STDs and date rape per capita(not to mention the largest-ever drug bust – 70+ arrests in 2007), it was clear to Jake that it was a place in desperate need of the gospel.
Acts 29 ...
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Lives Changed in Boston!
When Matt told this story, I wanted to share it with you because these stories represent something much greater than us — lives changed by the power of Holy Spirit and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And at the end of the day, that's what we're all about: planting churches that plant missional, Spirit-led, gospel-centered churches, so that more people might see and hear the Good News of Jesus. Below is a story about a new church's baptism service, as told by the lead pastor and Acts 29 member, Matt Chewning. — Scott Thomas
by Matt Chewning
Recently at Netcast Church in Boston, MA, we celebrated being 9 months old and we did it by seeing 6 people come to faith in Jesus and baptizing 7 people in front of an attendance of ...
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Why Church Planting?
The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else--not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes--will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.
So, why is church planting so crucially important? Because...
We want to be true to THE BIBLICAL MANDATE
Jesus' essential call was to plant churches. Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges ...
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