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.

The question in this excerpt is, "What is the number one danger facing pastors today?" The audio is only 3min:23sec long and is worth every second of your time.

Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of the fast-growing Village Church in Dallas and Denton responded first by warning young pastors to beware of trying to reach their culture in the name of "missional engagement" by watering down of the message; by staying away from certain parts of the gospel to be palatable to a pagan world. Matt said it has a negative effect when we stray away from the deitiy of Christ in favor of only the humanity of Christ.

John Piper responded in a Piperian manner by saying that the greatest danger would be to first identify the number one priority: God. So, the greatest danger, according to John, is to neglect God, belittle God, and ignore God. He went on to answer the question in the way most of us "theological mortals" think by recognizing that the root of all other dangers is "pride." He said the original sin was "do it our own way." Pride is the biggest problem every day, not just for today's culture.

John said, "I am my biggest danger. My own ego is my biggest danger. When I go up, God goes down." If we have some measure of success in our ministries, we sometime feel good for all the wrong reasons. Piper exhorted us to be on our face constantly to delight in God, rather than in our prospering works.

(Feet above of Mark Driscoll and JI Packer in a meeting together. I will let you decide which is whose feet)

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.

Not all churches have a vision for church planting and few have insight into what a church planter looks like. Our church leaders should be able to spot a church planter and then send him to plant as soon as he is ready.

I did a survey of pastors associated with a church planting movement in 52 countries of the world and asked them to describe the characteristics of a church planter. In order, they said 1) Leader/Visionary, 2) Missionary heart, 3) Preacher, 4) Generalist (can do many things as the lone pastor) and 5) Family Man (NewFrontiers July 2008 non-scientific survey conducted by Scott Thomas).

We believe strongly that the Bible teaches that this office of an elder and pastor is reserved for males. God is a God of order and balance. He has established order within the family (Gen. 3:16; 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18-21) and the church (1 Tim. 2:11-14; 1 Cor. 11:8-9). Even within the Trinity there is an order; a hierarchy. The Father sent the Son (John 6:38) and both the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26). Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me," (John 6:38). It is clear that God is a God of order and structure.

In creation, God made Adam first and then Eve to be his helper. This is the order of creation. It is this order that Paul mentions in 1 Tim. 2:11-14 when speaking of authority within the church. Being a pastor or an elder is to be in the place of authority. Therefore, within the church, for a woman to be a pastor or elder, she would be in authority over men in the church which contradicts what Paul says in 1 Tim. 2:11-14.

Although it seems a little reductionist and arrogant to list the characteristics of a church planter, I offer twenty characteristics based on evidence in the Acts 29 Network and a plethora of books and articles associated with church planting. After reading this list, some men may be more discouraged from church planting than drawn to it. But the fact is that church planting is tough for the most qualified men. If a man does not have the needed characteristics, he will frustrate himself and everyone around him.

There are lots of other ways a man can serve God in an established church or a church plant apart from being the lead planter. Some very good pastors would probably make bad church plant leaders. That call from God to do church planting might be a call to go join a team led by another man to help plant a church, or it might actually be a call to financially support so others can go. Please pray as you work through this list that God will either confirm a call or reveal if one is to lead a church plant.

I have summarized the 20 characteristics because of the length of the article and discussed them after the summary. Please see the link at the bottom for the complete article including elder qualification charts.

Summarized: 20 Characteristics of a Church Planter

1.    Am I a Christian? (John 3:16)

2.    Am I passionately in love with Jesus and is He the Lord of every area of my life? (Personal spiritual dynamics is the second most important area)

3.    Do I believe His word and does it affect my life deeply?

4.    Am I Spirit-filled, Spirit-directed, Spirit-led and Spirit-controlled? (Acts 1:8)

5.    Am I qualified as an Elder? (1 Timothy, Titus)

6.    Do I love the local church as the expression of a gospel community on mission? (Matthew 28:18-20)

7.    Am I a missionary to the city? Am I sent for the advancement of the gospel in the city (John 20:21)?

8.    Do I have a clear vision for this new work? (Nehemiah 1:3, 4; 2:11-18)

9.    Am I willing to pour myself out in obedience to the vision? (Phil. 2; Romans 6)

10.    Am I healthy? Physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, relationally, maritally

11.    Am I the kind of leader many people will follow? Have I served as a church leader successfully? (1 Tim. 5:22; 3:6)

12.    Can I preach effectively?

13.    Can I guard the doctrinal door with Biblical clarity and tenacious confidence?

14.    Can I architect a new work with entrepreneurial skill?

15.    Am I called to plant a church at this time and in this place? (Acts 17:26; 1 Peter 5:2)

16.    Have my church leaders commended me for this calling? (Acts 11:22-26; 13:1-4; 16:1-2)

17.    Am I a hard worker? Am I persevering? (2 Thes. 3:10; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 2 Tim. 2:3-4; 2:5; 2:6)

18.    Am I adaptable to new people, places and concepts?

19.    Can I raise the funds needed for my family’s needs? (1 Tim. 5:8)

20.    Am I humble enough to learn from others—particularly from those who have gone ahead of me in different areas?

Acts 20:28 says that we must "Pay careful attention to ourselves" before we care for the flock of God. We must be prepared as God's man before heading into battle.

This seems like an obvious characteristic. However, some men grow up in churches and are led to believe that they placed their faith in Jesus for salvation while they lack a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus said that we must be born again or regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:16). It is possible that a man could build a church and not be a Christian, but it is not advised.

The gospel must be evidently at work in every area of a church planter's life: personally, maritally, domestically, sexually, financially, physically, relationally and ministerially. We are sinners who need forgiveness through repentance and confession. We have to practice this daily as examples of the gospel.

It's not enough to just have good sermon material; it has to flow from your heart. The Word needs to speak to you, and you need to preach out of the abundance of his Word.

We are eager to be witnesses, but we have tendencies to lean on our own ideas and abilities apart from the Spirit of God. The church planter needs to be an empowered man. The Spirit needs to be working in and through him and be consuming him. Jesus accomplished work on this earth through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descended upon Jesus and rested or remained on Him (Matt. 3:16). Luke 4 said that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit, and began His ministry in Galilee in the power of the Spirit and preached with the Spirit of the Lord upon Him. He rejoiced in the Spirit (Luke 10:21) and promised the Spirit to those who asked the father (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit longs to empower us to do our work as a missionary-church planter to the ends of the earth.

Timothy and Titus talk about the qualifications. Study them carefully and assess yourself. Both lists say that to be above reproach is the overarching, summarizing characteristic. You will find a similar (but not identical) list in First Timothy. Being above reproach is the first requirement in both lists and Titus repeats it. The other items on the list explain what above reproach means. There isn't an exhaustive list of characteristics. They overlap, but the key is to be above reproach. The lists are some "for instances" of how to be above reproach: the husband of one wife with no one else in your hands, your head, your heart, your eyes, or on that screen-none. A church pastor must be totally focused and satisfied in that one woman God has brought to him. Marriage will be a struggle at times. But you cannot stray, even an inch. Practicing the gospel is required for a good marriage. Children should be in submission and pastors need to pastor their wife and kids first. If we peruse the two lists, as well as First Peter, we find 17 qualities of an elder who is above reproach.

Jesus loved the Church - enough to die for her (Eph. 5:25). A planter therefore is a Church lover. He may die for her, but if he doesn't love her, he is nothing (1 Cor. 13). Josh Harris exhorts the pew sitters to stop dating the church. The pastor may need to stop having a junior high affair with the church and make a lifelong commitment.

If you are a church planter, you have to be a missionary. Every pastor needs to see himself as a missionary for the glory of God and the good of the city. Don't be someone who wants to start something because of self-centeredness and pride and my desire to be recognized. It's not about the church planter or personal success. It's about exalting the grace of Jesus.

Lacking a vision was the second most obvious void among aspiring church planters submitting to the Acts 29 assessment process. Nehemiah had to have a vision of a complete wall. Not take a survey. The city is in ruins; it's time to build. You know you have a vision when people around you say, "Let's do that." People need to be following your compelling, life-transforming vision.

A planter if he is to follow Jesus, must manifest the death of Jesus. He must become less for Christ to become greater. A planter, like Jesus, is one who "aims low" in that sense. Philippians 2 is instructive in general of this pattern. We are to "Have this mind" -the mind of a Christ who emptied Himself out for the gospel. He, being God, humbled himself to the point of death - then he was exalted. Romans Chapter 6 describes the union with Christ in His death that precedes union with Christ in life.

Physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, relationally, maritally
Most church planters get fatter, fussier, angrier, lonelier, poorer and at odds more with their mate and their Lord during the first two years of a church plant. Don't think that having a church baby will solve your deficiencies any more than a baby will solve the problems of a troubled marriage.

Occasionally a man will aspire to be a church planter who has no experience as a church leader or an elder in another local church. Paul warns the church not to be hasty in the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 5:22) or appointing a pastor who is a recent convert who is prone to pride (1 Timothy 3:6). A church planter will be more effective with a few years of experience involved with the local church in a leadership capacity. The best church planters are those men who have led in multiple venues and people followed over a sustained period of time.

Even a cursory reading of the Bible reveals that when God wants to get something done He starts by selecting a man to lead that change. Examples include sparing humanity (Noah), founding a nation (Abraham), liberating a nation (Moses), establishing a throne (David), building a Temple (Solomon), preparing hearts (John the Baptizer), and redeeming all of creation (Jesus).

Church planting is no different. Simply, before God can build a church plant He must build a church planter who can lead others to follow the mission of Jesus.

You don't have to hit it out of the ballpark every time. But you do have to hit singles pretty regularly. The pulpit is the rudder that steers the church. We cannot make our preaching an idol. The key thing to remember in preaching, according to Mark Driscoll is to avoid freezing up at the pressure. Relax, connect with the Spirit and with your audience and the effectiveness will take care of itself.

When you start a church, you'll have new people with new ideas-some for which they got kicked out of their old church! You have to be able to guard the doctrinal door, refute doctrinal error-not arrogantly, but being sure of what the Word of God says and being able to articulate that in a winsome way with authority.

What have you started successfully? Some men can't see the vision of what is to come, and some-even if they see the vision-can't find the steps toward accomplishing their vision. If you can't be the architect, then you are in trouble. As an example, some very pastoral people are NOT the best people to start a church, or at least not as the main team leader. Be clear about who you are. If you're a shepherd, counselor, caregiver, and you could be a success doing those things in an established church or as part of a team, then that is where you should be. Someone who is called to plant a church is frustrated if they don't do it. Number two leaders rarely make good number one leaders.

Acts 17:26 says that God appoints the time and the place of our ministry. Titus was the apostolic leader over the churches in Crete. Before Paul appointed him to do that, he went through a progression of calling:

• 2 Cor. 7:6, Titus was a friend who encouraged Paul
• 2 Cor 7:13, Titus was overwhelmed by the ministry of the Macedonians
• 2 Cor. 8:6, Titus was a faithful worker carrying out the wishes of Paul
• 2 Cor. 8:16-17, Titus developed a heart for the ministry and initiated ministry on his own.
• 2 Cor. 8:23 and 12:17, Titus was a proven minister
• Titus 1:4-5, Titus was the senior overseer to appoint elders throughout the island of Crete. His proven faithfulness and calling allowed him to pioneer works in a hostile environment.

In 1 Peter 5:2, Peter exhorts the elders to "Shepherd the flock of God...not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you." A calling is necessary in a church plant to face the tough times because a hireling leaves when the wolf arrives. But a called shepherd stays with his flock through adversity (John 10:12ff.).

The Book of Acts lacks any reference to asking for volunteers. In Acts 11:22 the believers sent Barnabas. It was the congregation in Jerusalem that selected and sent one of its own gifted members. In all of the subsequent sending of missionaries in the Book of Acts, the emphasis is never upon an individual volunteering or upon his own subjective sense of call, but always upon the initiative of others.

Saul goes to Antioch because Barnabas takes him there (Acts 11:25-26). It is the whole group of prophets and teachers in Antioch to whom the Holy Spirit says "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:1-4). Barnabas and Paul parted company and we are told that Barnabas took Mark (Acts 15:39) and Paul chose Silas (Acts 15:40). Both "departed being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." Subsequently Paul wanted Timothy to go with him (Acts 16:3). We are reminded that Timothy "was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium" (Acts 16:1-2) implying that the congregations were consulted and involved in his going out with Paul.

While western culture promotes and encourages the personal call and entrepreneurial spirit of the planter, the New Testament by contrast stresses the corporate initiatives of congregations in selecting suitable people for Gospel ministry. It cannot be justified from the New Testament and the best one can scrape up from the Old Testament is the call of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8). The call of an Old Testament prophet should be not regarded as normative for a New Testament church missionary. The prophet was sent TO the people of God while the New Testament planter is sent BY the people of God.

When the church in Jerusalem heard of the need in Antioch, together as a congregation they expressed their sense of responsibility and they sent Barnabas (Acts 11:23, 14:22). We should select our best men (Acts 11:24) and send them. Instead of the initiative being left to the individual, churches should deliberately approach their best, most gifted Christian leaders to send them to places of greater need. The individual is still responsible to respond positively to the congregation's approach.

The individual's subjective sense of call is confirmed by the objective call of the church body, recognizing his gifts and qualifications. This reinforces the assurance of the Holy Spirit's call upon a man. Typically a man feels called and informs his church and the lead pastor terminates that man from employment rather than recognizing him as a man called and to be sent by that church.

The missionaries sent out from the New Testament churches were ministering in their local congregations already. We typically want to receive resumes when we should be examining the men in our own congregations. If no one in our congregation is qualified, it is a sad statement upon the leaders of that congregation for not preparing men to be sent into other fields. The chief work of church planting is the birthing, building and blossoming of congregations. Who will do this better than those who are already have considerable local church experience?

As members of the church, we should be going or training others to go at all times. This is an indication of a church with an enthusiastic and fruitful mission that is passionate about following the mission of Jesus.

Church planting is hard work with no easy solutions or shortcuts. The verse, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thes. 3:10) is especially true in church planting. A man must be disciplined, organized, courageous, dependable, patient, well read, hard working, discerning, a man who gets things done in an effective and timely manner, which also means that he's passionate and self-motivated.

The Bible calls a pastor an ox (1 Tim. 5:17-18), a soldier (2 Tim. 2:3-4), an athlete (2 Tim. 2:5) and a farmer (2 Tim. 2:6). Those are laborious jobs and the Holy Spirit used them to describe the kind of man who is qualified to pastor a church.

To plant a church that honors God a man must preach and teach the Bible with all of the strength and fortitude of an ox that can pull a multitude of people in his wake (1 Timothy 5:17-18). Satan routinely sends heretics, nut jobs, and false teachers of all kinds into a church plant because it's systems are yet fluid, its leadership is yet settled, and it's relationships are yet cultivated.

To plant a church that honors God a man must fight like a dependable soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Throughout his letters, Paul continually admonishes Timothy to fight a good fight. With the world, the flesh, and the devil conspiring to thwart the new work a church planter must continually fight. Weak men who are prone to avoid conflict or crumble under pressure will end up quitting prematurely.

To plant a church that honors God, a man must train and compete with the precision of a skilled athlete (2 Timothy 2:5). Lazy men who adore their comfort, food, and hobbies rarely plant an effective church because they end up wasting time, energy and creativity.

To plant a church that honors God a man must sweat at his labor like a farmer (2 Timothy 2:6). Many young men are attracted to ministry because, as one pastor said, it's an indoor job that does not require any heavy lifting. When done honorably, ministry in general and church planting in particular is extremely difficult work. Like the farmer who depends on the labor of his hands without a boss, a set schedule or a predictable paycheck, the planter must be self-disciplined, get up every morning and work hard gathering people, studying, teaching, raising money, locating facilities, building systems, training men and repeating that routine day after day.

If you don't like change, you don't like church planting! If you are the kind of person who goes into the fetal position with new challenges, you're probably not a church planter.

A church planter who won't provide for the needs of his family is worse than an unbeliever and has denied the faith (1 Tim. 5:8). Church planters often hide behind the cloak of "faith" and "calling" to shield them from taking responsibility with their family regarding finances. A church planter's own children need a father more than the city needs a new church. Money is not the key to success but a lack of money is a huge detriment. It is unbiblical to place our family on the altar of our idol of success.

This is one of the issues we call "stallers" and "stoppers" in our assessments. A church planter needs to be coachable, teachable. If he is not teachable, his church will stay stunted in its growth. He needs to identify areas where he has weaknesses and blind spots and then seek the advisement of those around him that can help him to continually grow and learn.

Conclusion
Mark Dever has said the local church, in all its glory, makes the audible gospel visible (A Display of God's Glory (9marks: Washington, D.C., 2001). The gospel is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Jesus Christ died and rose again and ascended - people do not see Him. The Church is His Body here on earth. The place where Jesus Christ is made visible is His Body, not just by one individual. When one meets a congregation that is "displaying God's glory" faithfully, one encounters Jesus in one sense. So planting a church is an exercise in making visible the audible gospel of the Blessed God.

What if I am called? What if I am not sure? What do I do?
"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 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" (1 Tim 4:12-16).

For the complete document, click here.

If you ever want to feel like you have the intelligence of a NASCAR fan that just finished off a six-pack (I think it's a Red Neck law), then listen to D.A. Carson talk about, well, anything. Don is fluent in something like 7 languages and has written over 45 books. He is the esteemed Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. For instance, Carson said in his talk to us, "To be a non-perspectivalist is to be omniscient." Nobody in the room was smart enough to argue with him over that.

Don spoke at a luncheon at Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper) on Friday September 26, 2008 just before the Desiring God Conference. I attended this lunch with about 40 other church leaders. Don spoke for an hour about five trends in the American church that are troubling to him.
 

Five Trends in the Church Today

By D A Carson, September 26, 2008

1. It is important to observe contradictory trends.

Interestingly, Don encouraged us to recognize the good things in our current culture. He said we have a lot more good commentaries available to us than we did fifty years ago. Yet, mainline churches have fewer conversions than ever before. This is a contradictory trend, according to Carson.

I understand this to mean that we know more and have access to more information, but it is not resulting in more conversions. We apparently know more about God, but less about His mission to seek and to save those who are lost. Our mainline churches are focusing on the minutia difference between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism, for example, but are ignoring the call to both know God and to follow his sending us to our neighbor's house. There should be a constant tension between group Bible studies and sharing of one's faith. Otherwise we end up in a holy huddle somewhere arguing about non-essentials.

2. Current evangelical fragments are moving into a new phase -- into polarized "clumps."

Don said evangelicals are identifying themselves in clump-like expressions of evangelicalism (Health/Wealth clump, Openness clump, Arminian clump, etc.). Carson said the National Pastor's Conference (NPC) is as inclusive as possible -- some speakers are stellar while others are simply heretical -- but they include as many unique tribal representatives as possible.  "Even Reformed circles are clumping," said Carson, "and the center is emptying out in favor of vague, dilute evangelicalism."

Carson astutely said that old-time gospel would be around until Jesus comes while he believes (as Don humorously put it, "not as a prophet or the son of a prophet, but one who works for a non-profit") that in 25 years nobody will be calling themselves "emergent" but many will still be centralized in the gospel.

I wonder what will replace the center as the varied subcultures of evangelicalism move to the fringes. For orthodox confessionalists, the center is the perfect place for the gospel. We need pastors who call their people "back" to the inner city of the gospel without relenting to the flight to the suburbs of dilute evangelicalism, as Carson put it.

3. The most dangerous trends in any age are the trends that most people do not see.

Orthodoxy is always focused on the past but the new expressions of evangelicalism are the most dangerous. Carson recalled the once Christian colleges like Princeton and Yale that were led by pastor/theologians but became so big that they hired administrators who were not as discerning of current trends; only of past. A formally orthodox leader will head into trouble if he is not astute toward current trends in evangelicalism.

Carson made the case that 1920's liberalism is no longer the issue-even though some churches are still fighting that shadow. Today's issues like justification, inerrancy, primacy of family, gender roles, sexuality, pornography, modesty, race relations (very few race-integrated churches), tolerance, consumerism and human flourishing are the current issues at hand.

I think most church planters are men who grew tired of fighting for bygone issues in their churches while people are losing the wars against the current issues of today. In my opinion, mainline churches will continue to lose their best men who want to be warriors in a real war, not in the reenactments of the religious wars of the last forty years. As long as we continue to address these modernist battles, Satan and his demonic force will rule the ground in our churches with diversion tactics that consume our energy.

4. There is a trend in our churches to be consumed by social concern.

In the most intriguing point of his talk, Don said that the Gospel plus caring for the poor was an inseparable couplet. He cautioned that if the gospel was merely assumed (and not clearly articulated), our passion for social justice would overshadow the gospel. While we are not intentionally exalting social concern over the gospel, people learn what we are excited about (gospel over caring for the poor). Carson warned, "Our passion must first be the gospel and not assume it to be understood." He continued, "We must be careful to keep the gospel central and not turn our responses to the gospel as the main target."

Furthermore, Carson exhorted these Christian leaders to spend our time on prayer and the ministry of the Word and allow our people to begin and maintain efforts in social concern. He said we must distinguish between what the church as church must do and what the community of believers in the church must do (I did not personally see the difference but it seemed to suggest that the pastor was exempt from exemplifying an outpouring of the gospel into the community through social efforts).

Our calling, Carson said is to do good in the city (Jer. 29), because the person has an eternal destiny and we care for them. We are all poor beggars telling other poor beggars where they can find bread. Don concluded this section by warning us not to make the issues of gospel and social concern antithetical.

5. There is a trend in our churches to emphasize discipleship over the gospel.

Carson emphasized teaching the whole council of God centering on Christ crucified as the power of the gospel and salvation. If we see the gospel as what "saves" us and if we see discipleship as the actual place where real transformation takes place, it is not a biblical approach. Carson said this trend has a tendency to lead us to see discipleship as legalism; as what pleases God.

It is disturbing to me that some churches see discipleship as a formulaic course of study instead of a lifelong journey as a sinner saved by grace. Following Jesus is not accomplished by completing 8 classes in the basement of a church. It is a complete abandonment of our self in favor of the person, work and mission of Jesus.

We need to be aware of the current trends in the church today and pastor our church with an emphasis on the gospel. Anything less leads to narcissistic religion and away from Jesus.

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.

The Biblical Parenting Conference is a gift to the pastor's home. Take advantage of this opportunity to attend this conference.

Presenter: Tedd Tripp

Author of Shepherding a Child's Heart and Instructing a Child’s Heart

September 19th – 20th, 2008

Friday 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Saturday 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM

This event will be held at five Mars Hill Campuses simultaneously.

Sign up for the campus closest to you. Ballard has no more childcare available, and costs $35/couple or $25/single. Other campuses cost $25/couple or $15/single

Ballard (live)

Bellevue

Shoreline

Lake City

West Seattle

Everyone wants to be a great parent—the biggest responsibility of parenthood is teaching your children to love Jesus with all of their heart, soul, and strength. For parents with children of any age, Dr. Tripp's insightful, biblical teaching provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child's heart into the paths of life.

In writing Instructing A Child's Heart, Dr. Tripp drew on his 30+ years of experience as a pastor, counselor, school administrator, father and grandfather. Dr. Tripp is the pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Hazleton, PA.

Tedd says, "Parents tend to focus on the externals of behavior rather than the internal overflow of the heart. We tend to worry more about the "what" of behavior than the "why." Accordingly, most of us spend an enormous amount of energy in controlling and constraining behavior. To the degree and extent to which our focus is on behavior, we miss the heart."

The content will be identical at all campuses, with Pastor Ted Tripp teaching the following five sessions.

Friday Evening

6:30 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. Registration

7:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. The Call to Formative Instruction- Deuteronomy 6

8:15 p.m.- 9:15 p.m. Giving Children a Vision for the Glory of God - Psalm 145

Saturday

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Giving Children an Understanding of Authority - Ephesians 6

10:10 a.m.- 11:10 a.m. Giving Children an Understanding of the Heart- Proverbs 4:23

11:20 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Overview of Corrective Discipline

Scott Thomas, Director of Acts 29, says, “Raising my children has been the delight of my life, especially as my wife and I agreed to follow the principles laid out in both Shepherding a Child’s Heart and Instructing a Child’s Heart. Our teenagers are living their lives consistent with the gospel.”

Check out the preview video of the teaching

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... certainly no easy feat.

What does it mean to love your city? What does it mean to "reach" your city in truly transformational ways? If you're a minority leader, how do you navigate between the two worlds of your local tribe and the larger evangelical culture that you often feel torn between? How do you find resources - the leaders and money - to do what needs to be done? How can you plant a new church in an area where a church a day either dies because of its refusal to adapt or sells out in the name of relevancy? How do you preach truth in a culture that is increasingly resistant to it? How can you work for Shalom in a place rife with racial and socioeconomic division?

We're gathered some of the best teachers and leaders in these areas, men we consider to be good friends and mentors. Dr. Bryan Chapell, Matt Carter, Randy Nabors, Eric Mason, and Daniel Montgomery will show you what it looks like to preach the Gospel, lead change, work for justice, cultivate the arts and build missional churches all in an urban context. We've worked hard to make sure this is not a traditional conference experience where you leave with a book full of notes that you'll never look at again. With three breakout tracks geared towards church planting, the arts, and mercy ministries, the days will be filled with interactive discussion with other urban leaders with the evenings open for concerts and other immersion experiences.

If you are a city leader, pastor or church planter, join us on October 20th-22nd and make this investment in your own leadership and the other leaders on your team. After all, you've been called to offer hope. To repair the brokenness. To plant churches. To engage culture. To lead... in the church, for the city.

For more info, visit: LeadfortheCity.com

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:

Other Audio recently posted:

Am I a Church Planter? | Scott Thomas

The Way of the Cross - Part 1 | Daniel Montgomery

The Way of the Cross - Part 2 | Daniel Montgomery

Triperspectival Leadership | David Fairchild

Prophet, Priest, and King | David Fairchild

Church Tech | Drew Goodmanson

Mark's UK Tour:

Gospel of Grace vs. Religion of Works | Mark Driscoll

Preaching Jesus | Mark Driscoll

Driscoll Unleashed in the UK! | Mark Driscoll

The Missional Church | London 2008 | Mark Driscoll

Movements are Messy: Getting and Staying on Mission | Mark Driscoll

Spirit Led Missions: Following the Luke-Acts Paradigm | Mark Driscoll

Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Church Planter  | Mark Driscoll

Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Church Leadership | Mark Driscoll

Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Final Thoughts and Q&A | Mark Driscoll

All of the London Audio, click here

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,

“Dear Acts 29,

My name is Ravi [deleted last name for privacy].

I am 7 years old.

I want to help plant a church.

God Bless You,

Ravi”

This thrills me because of his heart for Jesus and His work through faithful church planters and those with child-like faith.

I don’t want to make this a gimmick, but for anyone who wants to match Ravi’s $5 donation to help plant a church, send $5 to

Acts 29 Network | Ravi Matching Fund

3524 NE 95th St | Seattle, WA | 98115

Can we receive a boy’s five loaves and two fish and feed five thousand? Any funds received will be sent to a church plant in Dallas, Georgia that is launching in September.

Thank you Ravi, for your gift and inspiration!

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.

On Friday night, Mark is speaking in Central London at an event we arranged entitled, "Driscoll Unleashed on the UK." It is a free event at St James Church, Clerkenwell Close, London, EC1R 0EA  Worship will precede.

On Saturday, Mark, Steve Timmis and I will be speaking at a church planting conference that we arranged, Dwell London - Grace for the City. David Fairchild, our Acts 29 International European Representative will be accompanying Steve Timmis after spending a few days with Steve to discuss Radstock plans.

On Sunday Mark is speaking at two influential churches- Jubilee just north of London and in the evening at Church of Christ the King in Brighton where Terry Virgo and his son Joel (lead pastor) serve.

My friend, Adrian Warnock has a nice interview with Terry Virgo on his blogsite. Adrian has talked about Mark Driscoll and Terry Virgo in one blog. He had several great and unique interviews with our friend Ed Stetzer.

Here is what Terry said about Mark in Adrian’s blog, “I’ve been listening to Mark Driscoll over the last year or so, I guess. I’m deeply impressed with his biblical stance. I think he’s an unusually powerful preacher. He is also bitingly relevant to our generation and aware of the culture in which we live. I think he’s very unusual. He’s not only fighting for the truth in some sort of static way of just defining the doctrine. He reminds me of a kind of latter day Spurgeon. He’s very clear on doctrine. He’s very evangelistic, building a great church, it sounds, helping to plant churches in Acts 29—again like Spurgeon, who helped to get churches started all around London. You hear about people in Australia who were reading his sermons a week or so after he preached them in London as they printed them and sent them round the world. And now Driscoll’s been downloaded all over the world. He’s an unusual guy, very robust, like Spurgeon was, out of step somewhat, even with his group. But I love what I hear. I’ve yet to meet him, but I love what I hear.”

And we can’t wait to meet Terry!

Pray for us that men would join Jesus in His mission to plant churches in the UK.

Now, our friends at Crossway have outdone themselves with the forthcoming ESV Study Bible. There is not a Bible like it in the market today. I have seen a copy of one book of the Bible and it is like the iPhone of Bibles. I have already ordered 16 genuine leather copies to give away to our pastors in training and am looking forward to its October 15 publication date.

For a limited time, you can pre-order your ESV study Bible with a special website that will give you the best discount possible (35% off) and Crossway will donate 5% back to Acts 29 for ESVSB’s bought through the weblink below. We are investing this 5% directly into our Acts 29 Foundation Fund that helps urban church planters in low-income cities to plant churches.

You can make a difference in places like Philadelphia, Oakland, South LA, and South San Diego and get the best study Bible available in an accurate, word-for-word translation. But the offer is only good through July 31, 2008. Go to our special website and order your copy of a first edition ESV Study Bible. The second printing will not be available before Christmas. This deal does not apply to any other Crossway product.

Thanks to our partners at Crossway who share so many of their resources with church planting and thank you for investing in urban church planting by purchasing your ESV Study Bible through our website.

- Scott Thomas

from the Blog of Drew Goodmanson, co-founder of Kaleo Church (A29 church) in San Diego:

Be the Church

Total church is a way of thinking about church and mission in the 21st century which sees the local Christian community as integral to Christian living and Christian mission. The Christian life is 'total church' - our identity is communal.

Why Attend?

- Create a community centered on the gospel, equipped to do the work of the ministry.
- Make your community a community of church planters.
- See what it means to be the church on mission through ordinary life with gospel intentionality.
- Dialog with missional church leaders from across the world.
- Learn from seasoned practitioners how to form missional communities and transition traditional churches toward mission.
- Did we mention its in San Diego?

Dates: August 12-14, 2008

Location: San Diego, CA

Main Sesssion Speakers: Steve Timmis and Tim Chester are the authors of Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community (Crossway). They lead The Crowded House, a family of church planting networks that started in Sheffield, England. They have also started The Porterbrook Network to train people for mission and church planting in the context of ministry.

Break-out Sessions will be led by church planters/practitioners from The Crowded House, Kaleo Church, Soma Community & Providence Community.  Break-out sessions will be added but will include:

Stay-tuned as more break-out sessions are added.  There will be several tracks for people being introduced to a missional mindset all the way to those who have formed missional communities to learn from others around the world leading missional movements.

REGISTER EARLY BENEFITS!

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. (Listen to the audio here)

The Apostle Paul spoke to Timothy in a fatherly fashion in 1 Timothy 4:6 and he summarized it with an exhortation to persistently watch his life and doctrine because it had great ramifications on his soul and the souls of others.

C.J. had three main points.
1.    Watch Your Life...
2.    Because the War Within Never Ends...
3.    And We Cannot Watch Ourselves by Ourselves

Watch Your Life
C.J. said it is easier to study Scripture than it is to study our own life. Yet, this godly character is mandatory to teach and pastor. CH Spurgeon said, "Our character must be more persuasive than our speech." Sound doctrine, while extremely important, is not sufficient by itself without a messenger who preaches and practices that truth.

Because the War Within Never Ends
If we don't watch our own lives, we will weaken. It must be a priority of a pastor's life to persistently enter into battle for the purity of our souls. The minute we fail to go to battle, we will find ourselves like King David, peering over at the beautiful Bathsheba and succumbing.

And We Cannot Watch Ourselves by Ourselves
We need others to watch our lives and be invited to speak into our lives when they observe us walking contrary to the gospel we preach. We must ask our wife how we can more effectively shepherd her and the children. We must specifically and consistently confess our sins in a way that puts to death the sins that we struggle.

Conclusion
After serving as a pastor for 28 years, I can say that the struggles men have in advancing the gospel are found in this highly concentrated verse that C.J. highlighted for us. We must persistently watch our lives for character flaws. We must persistently fight the war within and we must persistently seek out those who can detect the subtle (or not so subtle) sins in our life. As C.J. admonished, we need some friends, family and co-workers who are not afraid to tell us when there is some cream cheese on our face. We are not fit to pastor if we do not persist in these things. The battle against God's man is strong and relentless. Your life and the lives of those you minister need you to persist in the power of God.

Follow-Up Questions:

1.    Godly character is unquestionably the preeminent qualification for a pastor or church planter, although its cultivation is usually more difficult than learning doctrine, setting strategy, etc. How does a pastor identify and put to death his sinful desires, motives, and patterns?

2.    What are the Scripture's clear teaching on the deceptiveness of sin and our need for others in the process of sanctification (Heb. 3:12-13; 10:24-25; James 5:16)?  What practices in our life reflect that conviction?  What concrete steps can a pastor take to involve others in his pursuit of godliness, making them aware of temptations, and inviting their observations?

C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. After 27 years of pastoring Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, C.J. handed the senior pastor role to Joshua Harris, allowing C.J. to devote his full attention to Sovereign Grace. C.J.'s books include Humility: True Greatness; Living the Cross-Centered Life; and Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know. C.J. and his wife, Carolyn, have three married daughters and one son. They make their home in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The Dwell Conference is going to London July 12.

Sign Up Today. £20.00

All Audio from the NYC Dwell Conference can be found here.

Thank you, Nathan Troester, Video Production Lead at Redeemer, for these amazing pictures.

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.

Church Planting is not about a method that is only practical in a specific place and time. It is a passion for the gospel of Jesus and rooted in the Scriptures that tell the story of His redeeming grace.

JOIN US TO GET EQUIPPED AND MOTIVATED FOR A CHURCH PLANTING STRATEGY THAT SPRINGS 
FROM A PASSION FOR THE GOSPEL OF GRACE, NOT FROM MECHANICAL METHODS.

Saturday, 12, July 2008    
9:30 am - 4:45 pm

Session 1:    Gospel of Grace vs Religion of Works - Mark Driscoll
Session 2:    The Church Planter as a Minister of Grace - Steve Timmis
Session 3
:    Am I a Church Planter? - Scott Thomas
Session 4:    Planting Communities of Grace - Steve Timmis
Session 5:    Preaching Jesus - Mark Driscoll

Only £20.00 Book Here Today

Conference Website

CONFERENCE SPONSORS:

Acts 29 Network is a network of pastors from the United States and the world whose dream is to help qualified leaders called by God plant new churches and replant declining churches.

The Porterbrook Network is a developing initiative aimed at contributing to a wider church planting movement by equipping individuals and churches to rediscover mission as their DNA through training, resourcing and consultancy.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit (and a few Dr. Peppers), he spoke of seeing God's grace in the work of the church and it was an amazingly refreshing message to hear. It is so easy to focus on the sin in our lives and the lives of our people that we forget to thank and praise God for the work He is doing through His amazing grace.

We appreciated greatly C.J.'s willingness to speak and share his heart but most of all praise God for ‘the grace given in Christ Jesus'.

Listen to C.J.'s message here.

At the recent Dwell Conference in NYC, we were able to put a brand new book into the hands of 300 church leaders.  Compelled by Love, subtitled The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living is the new book by our friend Ed Stetzer and Acts 29 church planter Philip Nation.  As we expected from Ed and Philip, it is funny, conversational, and has solid biblical content.  It begins with God’s nature, gives an overview of the church’s mission, and then addresses the heart of the individual believer.  And all of it seeks to push missional from just a church paradigm to a fleshed out Gospel-driven life.

All of us in the ranks of pastors, elders, and planters have a fairly good handle on what it means to be missional.  Most of us hope that the average person attending our church does as well.  But sometimes they just do not seem to get it. Ed and Philip wrote this book to help bridge the gap for your people.  It is an easy read and can be used as a group study as well; even if you are in the core group stage.

We thank New Hope Publishers for providing the books free of charge to the first 300 registrants at the conference. We also thank Ed and Philip for providing the church with this resource that emphasizes the love of Christ as the source of passion for His mission.

On Saturday, Grace and I, along with my parents, were in Portland. By God's grace, the help of Dr. Gerry Breshears, and the flexibility of Western Seminary, I graduated with an MA in Exegetical Theology. I hope to go on in the future to work on a PhD, but likely after my kids get a bit older. On Sunday, I preached at Mars Hill Church. On Monday, Grace and I caught an early flight to New York to participate in the Dwell Conference for urban church planters, sponsored by the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Redeemer Church Planting Network. I had the honor of speaking along with Tim Keller, C. J. Mahaney, Ed Stetzer, Eric Mason, and Darrin Patrick. When the conference sessions are posted online, we'll let you know in case you want to catch any of them.

I was scheduled to have dinner with Keller and some other pastors on Monday night, but our flight was delayed a few hours. There was an enormously long line for cabs, so we found a bootleg Town Car driver who was willing to rush us into the city in a harrowing drive that felt more like a carnival ride than a commute. We pulled into the small Italian restaurant with luggage in hand just in time to enjoy the company of Keller and some great pastors who are dear friends with wonderful wives.

The conference went very well and in my opinion was a gathering of pastors who are reformed by conviction and missional by contextualization. It seems to me that this tribe is growing as more and more young pastors in general, and church planters in particular, want to be both faithful to the text of Scripture and fruitful in the context of culture. Sadly, there are some more fundamental and sectarian reformed folks who are resistant to the idea that a church should adapt its practice (though not doctrine) to best fit its cultural context. Yet, I do believe that, with love and patience, more bridges of understanding and partnership are being built, which only benefits the cause of Jesus, especially through church planting. 


One thing that reinforced this fact was the surge of interest we saw for the Dwell Conference. We had a difficult time finding a large enough facility to house us in New York, and the four hundred seats we had sold out very quickly and the room was packed out for all sessions. Furthermore, the international presence at the event was encouraging. I spent considerable time speaking with movement leaders from England, Australia, Germany, and India. Thanks to the Internet, missional ministries are connecting and networking with great collegiality. I am looking forward to a week of preaching this July with the Newfrontiers network and really enjoyed getting some time in New York with some of their pastors, including Joel Virgo. I also met a number of great pastors from Australia and look forward to seeing their country when I am there preaching in August. God is raising up young, reformed, missional church planters with deep affection for major cities all around the world and it is humbling and exciting to be involved. 


In Philadelphia we are meeting with some of the church planters from the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and are connecting with our friends at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, who have been incredibly helpful in training the leaders at Mars Hill Church in biblical counseling.

It's been a busy but fruitful week. I am learning a lot that will help us continue to improve Mars Hill Church and I look forward to huddling with the Executive Elders when I get back. In the meantime, it's been great traveling with Grace. Most of the time I travel with a male assistant, so having my lovely wife sitting next to me is much, much, much, much, much, much better. So, I'll stop typing now and hang out with her some more . . .

"You may be raising up your own assassin." Acts 20:30 tells us that wolves will arise from your own number. Patrick spoke of how it is crucial to understand the gospel and have it identifying you so as to be better able to warn off wolves and lead your self and others.

This session is a great encouragement and learning tool for church planters and pastors seeking to guard and grow their flock by growing in their own leadership ability and the leaders around them.

Listen to this session: Developing and Equipping Leaders.

At the recent Raleigh Regional Event, Tyler spoke from 1 Kings 18-19 about placing God at the centre of a church plant.

In 1 Kings 18 Elisha calls on God and he answers and comes down in a great fire. The response of the people watching this great event was not to bow down and worship Elisha but to cry ‘The Lord -He is God!' How often is it the case that when God works powerfully in the world we praise men instead of the one from whom all good things come.

Tyler unpacked this issue with specific focus on leading a church. He posed a number of probing questions:

Not delegating can be and often is disguised arrogance. Church planting is hard and tiresome work and Tyler recounted that it was not drugs he needs but Jesus.

Sharing some startling statistics about pastors' non-vocation bible reading tendencies and a bunch of stories, Tyler generously shared from his own experiences, both positive and negative, of planting a church.

Listen to the full audio here:

Acts 29 Regional events exist to:

Find all other regional events and other multimedia here. 

"Your church is going to [suffer] if you do not have strong men."

Bradley speaks honestly from his own experience as a high school teacher, college professor and now a seminary professor and provides a great amount of practical advice on how we can love, lead, and enliven men to God's great and radical mission.

Listen to the audio here.

By Pastor Scott Thomas
Director of Acts 29 Network
Executive Elder of Mars Hill Church

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.

We are launching a Pastor Training Center to help equip potential church planters. The vision is to prepare men to effectively pastor new gospel-centered works through the Acts 29 Network.

Our valued outcome at the end of 12 months is to prepare men who 1) clearly articulate a gospel-centered theology, 2) shepherd well in the complexities of the church, 3) are competent in many practical skills and 4) are above reproach in personal and family life.

The training being used for the PTP is personalized for every man and can be applied for seminary credit. The goal is transformation, not just information. Each of the components will serve the participant as he prepares to plant a church. The work will be very practical and integrated into his personal church-planting prospectus.

Two Options
A participant can either stay in his community where he will plant the church and travel to the training events (expenses paid) or he can move to Seattle area and participate intimately with the area Acts 29 churches and with Mars Hill Church while he is training (stipend to assist).

Qualifiers
If you desire to apply for this program you must be able to attend training intensives on the following dates in Seattle (there will be funding for travel and training if accepted into this program):

July 25-28, 2008
Sept. 19-22, 2008
Nov. 7-10, 2008
Jan. 16-19, 2009
March, 6-9, 2009
April 21-24, 2009*
May, 22-24, 2009 (w/ wives)

Elective Date for personal interaction

*Training in Chicago in conjunction with Gospel Coalition

To diagnose your readiness to apply by the April 30th deadline, you must answer yes to the following questions:

Pastor Gary Shavey (PhD student) and I are facilitating this training that will integrate several Mars Hill Pastors as well as consultation and participation with Dr. Gerry Breshears, Dr. Bob Logan, Dr. J. Allen Thompson and Mark Driscoll. We are in collaboration on our materials with Redeemer Church Planting Center, Global Church Advancement (GCA), Glocalnet, Radstock, Dr Ed Stetzer and our Acts 29 member churches.

The deadline for this program is April 30 and we have limited number of spots remaining _ apply here.

Additionally, other Acts 29 churches are launching these types of training centers. If interested, contact them directly. Soma in Tacoma WA, Kaleo in San Diego, Journey in St Louis, Crosspointe in Orlando, and The Village in Dallas.

Missional is quickly becoming, if it has not already become, a buzz term in many Christian circles. The concept of mission(al) that is now so well publicized has roots from 1983 explains Stetzer.

‘The church is a mess but it is the bride of Christ - The church is God's instrument to reach the world'. Stetzer spends most of his time dealing with issues surrounding the concept of being missional and how it is to be supported biblically and concludes with a brief discussion about syncretism and obscurantism (or sectarianism).

How we deal with a quickly changing culture will define the evangelical world for years to come. In this session, Stetzer gives his views on the current state of Christianity and the need for missiology to be understood and implemented.  Check out the full audio here.

Part 4 - This fourth clip is made up of two questions: how do you balance bringing culture in and blocking it out of your house and what are some guidelines about spending time outside your home?

In the final question, Mark was asked: Where has your wife come alive in your planting, especially considering the messiness of ministry? Part 5

Mark again spoke honestly and forthrightly from his own life. Full time ministry is a difficult and stressful role and it is so important that a marriage and the home are a place of rest and refuge. Mark explains in this clip that a husband and a wife both need to have a lightening rod and a release valve.

In this audio from the Raleigh, NC regional event Daniel Montgomery, lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY, presents "The Gospel and Urban Culture" addressing what is involved in creating a holistic mission in our church and our lives personally.

Since we started doing multi-site we have been asked innumerable questions from Christian leaders either curious about trying multi-site, or already doing it and seeking to network with others to learn in community. In response to this kind of growing interest, Leadership Network is hosting a conference dedicated to multi-site. Anyone interested in joining us at the conference should visit http://www.multisiteexposed.com./.

The conference will be on Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15, at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Pastors John Bishop, Dave Browing, and myself will be available live to answer questions and serve you as best we can with this growing trend. My friends at Leadership Network, who have been helping us learn since our church started, have said in books such as The Multi-Site Church Revolution that:

The good news is that each of our churches does multi-site differently, which will expose those who attend the webinar and/or conference to multiple models and help them decide what is best for their cultural context, rather than simply promoting one method. Research by Leadership Network shows no less than five types of multi-site churches in America today:

Lastly, members of the three churches’ leadership teams will be on hand at the conference to teach breakout sessions and connect with folks who want to learn about specific aspects of multi-site ministry. In short, our hope is it to make this a practical time for ministry leaders and ministry teams to save themselves a lot of the mistakes and troubles we have experienced in improving how we do multi-site at our various churches. We would love to have you join us so that we can help serve you and learn from you as together we explore one of the leading-edge innovations in church ministry.

Church planters often speak about casting a compelling vision as the main tool by which we lead the mission. While casting vision is important, Patrick instead took us to Paul's books to Timothy and drew out seven principles by which to lead the mission. We lead the mission by: 

1.  Understanding the gospel
2.  Being qualified as an elder
3.  Being coached and mentored
4.  Sacrificing and Suffering
5.  Humbly controlling heresy
6.  Personally being on mission
7.  Using the gospel on yourself

Patrick constantly focused on humility and teachability of the planter and his message was filled with practical tips to lead with strength, devotion and faithfulness. His encouragement to cling to the cross was a refreshing reminder of the goodness of the God who has called church planters to such a calling.

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus - 2 Timothy  2:1

To hear the whole session and download the notes, click here.

Giving a few warnings about guarding and protecting wives, Driscoll encouraged planters to be careful and wise in the way you balance keeping your children safe and having an open and hospitable home.

Part 3 - The question was ask of Mark, "How do you love and train your children well?"

With a reminder about the fact that children don't blog, Driscoll shared about how his children are a great gift to a pastor and his wife. In this 10-minute answer, he shares very frankly about how he structures his days, separates his office and study, has structured and repeated family times and how he "plans" to deal with the high school boys who want to date his daughters.

First, Vintage Jesus, the book I wrote with my dear friend Dr. Gerry Breshears, was released by my friends at Crossway. The pre-sales alone far exceeded our expectations and we are very excited about the book. We are also grateful to those people who have helped us get the word out.

Second, last week the Text and Context conference was held at the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church in conjunction with TheResurgence.com. The attendance was over the 1,300-seat capacity of the building so sadly we had to turn away many people who wanted to join us. In all sincerity, it was some of the most helpful teaching I have ever seen and everyone who spoke did a phenomenal job. That includes John Piper, C. J. Mahaney, James Gilmore, and Matt Chandler, plus sessions from the concurrent boot camp for the Acts 29 Church Planting Network by Darrin Patrick and Jeff Vanderstelt. It was an honor to welcome Christian leaders from 46 states and 11 nations. The highlights for me included a session on interpreting culture by James Gilmore, how pastoral ministry influences pulpit ministry by John Piper, and C. J. Mahaney’s message on seeing evidences of God’s grace in our church, which devastated me and is one every Christian leader needs to hear. The staff at TheResurgence.com is working hard to get all of the sessions online for free in audio and video as soon as possible and when they’re all up I will let you know.

At the conference I also had the honor of spending some personal time with John Piper and C. J. Mahaney. They were kind enough to give me some very helpful pastoral counsel that I am grateful for so that I can mature in my service of Jesus and the people I pastor alongside the other elders at Mars Hill Church. Lastly, we set up a video studio and got interviews with Reach Records hip hop artist Lecrae, John Piper, James Gilmore, Matt Chandler, and Eric Mason (of Epiphany Fellowship in Philly). Those interviews were great and will also be given away online at TheResurgence.com.

Third, I got a call from Pastor Rick Warren last week. He called simply to see if there was anything he could do to help. His kindness was humbling and helpful. I asked him how he handled his critics and he had a great insight that in our day criticism has changed. He explained that there was a day when a critic would have to sit down and write a letter and then mail it into a newspaper. With limited space, the paper would then be able to only print a fraction of the letters they received. The printed letters were often not read and quickly became dated. However, Warren said, in our day criticism is marked by the following four factors:

Warren then went on to explain that, as Jesus experienced, the strongest criticism for any Christian leader comes from rigid religious people. When I asked him what someone should do when facing criticism, he gave the following insightful points:

I want to publicly thank Warren for giving me some good advice and taking time out of his busy schedule to speak into my life and ministry. I also pass his wisdom along to other Christian leaders.Fourth, on Thursday of this week I have the privilege of opening the Washington State legislature in prayer and then meeting with some political leaders who love Jesus and want to meet and chat, which will be a great honor.

Lately the pace of work has been great but so has the encouragement and wise counsel from godly Christian leaders who have been gracious enough to pour into my life, which is very welcome and helpful.

In a society that is marked by pastors being hypocritical, Dever shared from his own life about the importance of consistency through all parts of a church planter's life, especially in regards to living out the evangelism that is preached from the pulpit. ‘My life should back up my words' was his cry. He conceded that as the church gets bigger it will be harder to find time for non-Christian relationships but he pleaded to not over-book the church calendar.

After a word on understanding the identity of the church, the centrality of proclaiming the gospel and the cooperate witness he very generously answered questions from the live audience. It was a great reminder that Acts 29 is not just for the hip kids who are too cool to preach from behind a lectern but for all qualified people called by God. 

Listen to the full audio here:

Australian author John Dickson has written a very helpful book that addresses many of the issues Dever spoke about. Like Dever, Dickson's book, ‘Promoting the Gospel', speaks of the importance of individual evangelism, centrality of proclamation and cooperate witness to evangelism. Dickson adds prayer, money, works of the church and Christian behaviour to his insightful yet very accessible book.

By Pastor Scott Thomas 

Almost 1,200 people attended the Text and Context Acts 29 Boot Camp this week in uncharacteristically sunny Seattle. 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. For $99, the attendees got two free books (Driscoll and Piper), two lunches, two breakfasts, five snacks and three days of fantastic teaching.

What brought that many people to the conference was the lineup of speakers and a topic focused on the purity of the text of God’s Word taken into the context of culture as a sacrifice of worship to King Jesus. John Piper headlined the event and delivered well. In the Question and Answer session with Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler (pictured above), he was open, honest and hilarious. I was in the production room during this session and the whole room was constantly erupting in laughter, high fives and arm punching at the unexpected responses. All we needed were chicken wings and it would have had a Super Bowl party atmosphere.

Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney, Jim Gilmore, Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick and Jeff Vanderstelt each challenged the packed-out room and the 500 more online watching the live streaming.  It would take several blogs to describe the salient points of each speaker. Other bloggers have already added this service. People were aroused to the gospel in a profound way. The evening sessions were broadcast to four of our campuses where 1,000 others gathered to hear Piper. 

About 10 pastors passed the assessment and will enter into the candidate phase until they complete their conditions to be an Acts 29 Pastor. Several others are going to enter into a one-year intern/residency program to prepare to become a church planter.

I want to commend the Mars Hill Church staff and volunteers who served with humility and sacrifice each day to provide world-class hospitality for all the attendees. Thanks to the production team for their long hours of capturing the content to be distributed for free. I also want to thanks the Acts 29 staff for their leadership of the event: Tyler, Gary, Jon, Adriel and Jeannie. It is fun to serve alongside my friends. Lastly, thanks to Pastor Mark Driscoll for his inspirational leadership and sacrifice for pastors world-wide.

by Scott Thomas

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.

Mark was saved at an Evangelical Free Church and had a wonderful experience. That is why, he claims, he is not emergent because he did not have to rebel against any bad church experience. He claims all of the emergent church pastors are really just angry at their flannel graph toting Sunday School teachers from the 70's who would not have any "conversations" about the parting of the Red Sea.

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 a lot better than a lecture about dating your wife. Likewise, it is much more fun to preach than it is to talk about preaching."

Preaching is like driving a stick shift. It takes time to learn the rhythm. For the time being, there may be a lot of gear grinding. Take your time. Get your own voice. Listen to a lot of sermons. Practice preaching to anyone who will listen--or at least won't yell back.

The secret to church fruitfulness is opening the Bible, exalting Jesus through someone who believes in the authority of Scripture. Driscoll said, "Don't buy into the myth that preaching is out. Preaching is only out for those who suck at it."

2 Timothy 4:2 is every preacher's life verse and it says to "preach the word." In doing so, we need to preach with a tight fist on the Scriptural principles and a loose fist around the missiological applications. Our preaching is to be both timeless with the truth of God's word and with methods that are timely.

Six Framing Questions for Preaching the Word

1. What does Scripture say? - The Biblical Question
2. What does the Scripture Mean? - The Theological Question
3. What is my Hook? - The Memorable Question
4. Why do people resist this truth? - The Apologetic Question
5. Why does this matter? - The Missional Question
6. How is Jesus the Hero/Savior? - The Christological Question

To hear the whole sermon and download the notes, visit the Acts 29 website:

Upcoming: Dwell Conference - an urban church planting conference in New York City, April 29-30. Speakers include Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, C.J. Mahaney, Ed Stetzer and Darrin Patrick. Redeemer Church Planting Center and Acts 29 Network are co-hosting this premier church-planting event. Registration is limited to 350 church planters.

“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—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you.  And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority). But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home.  I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ.” 

This is the essence of cool, as I see it. Cool is an influential man who hangs around with the likes of MacArthur, Mohler, Mahaney and Sproul and still set aside his own reputation to challenge a bunch of young church planters for the advancement of the gospel. Our generation applauds that as a rare virtue—a cool factor the young, hip, Hurley-clad pastors can only hope to attain.

After the boot camp was completed, Dever and I had a one on one conversation for about 90 minutes at his prompting. He told me to come over to his room after the Republican debates. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated to knock on his door. He greeted me with a big smile and warmly welcomed me to sit down. We talked about our salvation, our sin, church planting, and the importance of leading well and about Hillary. After all, Dever pastors on Capitol Hill and remembers the last time the Clinton family moved into town! He invited me to a 9Marks Weekender--which I plan to attend the first chance I get--and he offered his assistance so that we can work together for the advancement of the gospel.

I have read numerous articles and all of Dever’s books and I had the impression that he was hyper-intelligent, but stodgy. Do people use that word anymore? What I discovered was a winsome, articulate, caring and generous person who offered 90 minutes of his time to invest in the director of a network of young church planters desperately in need of the gospel.

He expressed his need of that same gospel several times in our conversation. That’s pretty cool.

Mark Dever's Acts 29 Session and other Chicago Boot Camp Sessions can be found here. 

In the early years of my preaching I was not prepared far enough in advance. As a result, many weeks I was scrambling for study time amongst emergencies and disruptions of various sorts and kinds. Additionally, without knowing when I would be out of the pulpit, I ended up trying to squeeze vacations in, did not get enough time off (which started to take a toll), and did not have alternate preachers lined up far enough in advance to have adequate time to prepare well.

At present, I am blessed to actually have my preaching schedule lined up through both 2008 and 2009 so that I can preach well, get my vacations in with my family, take the study breaks to prepare and write as I need, and also give the other preachers in our church sufficient time to prepare for the weeks I am out. One of the most helpful insights I have received on preparing a preaching schedule came backstage at Ed Young Jr.'s church in Dallas. Being the son of a great preacher, he had learned which Sundays were the best for a preacher to take a break from the pulpit without hurting momentum. According to Ed, the following Sundays tend to have a lower attendance and are good times for a preacher to consider taking a break for vacation, study, or whatever else they need to do:

For most churches the likely time to get an influx of visitors is generally from the start of school in September through November, as well as January through Easter. So, it is often wise to start a new book of the Bible or series in September and January for momentum.

Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor of The Journey in St. Louis, MO and Vice President of Acts 29 Network, aims to answers some of these questions during talks he gave at the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute.

Session #1 - The History and Streams of the Emerging Church
Session #2 - Popular Terms of the Emerging Church
Session #3 - Emerging Church - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By Pastor Scott Thomas

(Acts 29 Director and Pastor of Global Church ~ Mars Hill Church, Seattle).

Mars Hill Church donates 10% of its general income to Acts 29 Network, a church planting organization. I serve as its director and as a pastor at Mars Hill Church. Acts 29 has over 120 member churches in North America and members in 7 International countries. Acts 29 seeks to plant church planting churches that collaboratively promote the gospel with a vision for the entire city or region through the local church.

Acts 29 provides church planting boot camps four times a year around the country and in foreign countries. At each church planting boot camp with Acts 29 Network, some participants complain that they did not receive pragmatic methodology and "how-to" steps. These are the men who may be looking for easy answers and a quick fix to a mission reserved for the pastors with strong character, competence and calling. Church planting is not for those who are fearful of mankind or those who are weak in character.

It is the aim of Acts 29 boot camps to provide a theological compass that will guide the church planter and pastor with the tools necessary to lead their church according to the gospel. The reasons we do not dictate methodology in our church plants is that we believe first that theology drives method; second, God's methods determine ours; third, the gospel both enables and informs our participation in God's purposes; and fourth, faithfulness to the gospel must be our measure of success, not results.

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.

Scheduled to speak is Mark Driscoll, Ed Stetzer, Mark Dever, and Darrin Patrick. I will provide a final session to help you to appreciate the quality of the other communicators! We are thrilled to have Mark Dever participate in his first boot camp with us. He is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and founder of 9Marks Ministries. His book, The Deliberate Church, is extremely helpful to build a church on the gospel. In the chapter, Looking for a Few Good Men, Dever talks about the necessary courage of a pastor to stand up against the pressures of the culture. This includes the evangelical church culture. No wimps are allowed to pastor a church.

Click here to register for the Chicago Acts 29 Boot Camp.