"If you double the number of churches in a city, the number of churchgoers triples." -- godlovescities.com Another good reason to be planting new churches!
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We are falling behind. Year after year, the population growth of our country outpaces the ability of the church to reach new people. While our population grows, over 3,000 churches close their doors every year. Simply put, we are not keeping up. Difficulties are not new. The church in every generation has faced tremendous challenges. These challenges have called for bold responses. In the 1950's and 60's, it took the courage of a few to change the racial attitudes of the country. In Nazi Germany, a bold underground movement sought to remove Hitler. Challenges are nothing new to people of faith. Fortunately, we do not fight in our own strength alone. The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit provides us with courage, tenacity, and boldness. We have access to all the resources of heaven. Our God stands ready and willing to work on our behalf. As a church, we…
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Our elders recently finished a Wednesday morning study of the book of Acts. Each week, we would work our way verse-by-verse through Luke's account of the early church. Our goal was to see what leadership principles we could glean (I haven't used that work in a LONG time) from the history of the church. We ended up with a list of 106 principles. No kidding. But that's not the point of this article. I have been a student of Acts for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the Churches of Christ -- part of the larger American Restoration Movement -- the book of Acts was our fifth Gospel, after Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We went to the book of Acts to find polity and procedures. On topics from baptism to weekly communion, we found our home in Luke's second book. Our approach to scripture consisted of…
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Yesterday, Forbes Online had a great article about serial entrepreneurs -- those men and women who love to start things. It's part of a series on entrepreneurship. If you're a church planter, I'd encourage you to read the entire series. Here are the three characteristics they highlighted. Serial Entrepreneurs: Believe that talented and motivated teams are the entrepreneur’s most valuable asset. They know that the persistence, expertise, ideas, and foolishness that they went though on their journey are all required. Tend to ask more questions and make fewer assertions. Often realize that the chase itself is the reward. Are you a serial entrepreneur or church planter?
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This week is one of the largest annual gatherings of church planters in America. It's the Exponential Conference in Florida. Men and women who have planted churches, who are thinking about planting churches, or who are simply curious -- all will converge on Orlando. I've been myself ... and it was worth every dollar and every minute. There is something contagious about being around a group of people who believe they serve a God who can change the world. You get to sit in sessions with other risk-takers and the risks you're taking don't seem so insurmountable. It's a safe place to share stories -- mostly war stories, failures, things you would do over. No one goes there to brag. You go to learn, be encouraged, and to encourage others. As I sat in one of the main sessions back in 2005, I looked over the room and saw hundreds…
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