Church Planter Podcast Archives - Passion for Planting

YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR PETS TO WAR

Sean Cronin — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 09:00:49 +0000

“Where there’s light, there’s bugs”. After church planting I realize the importance of a good bug zapper. Everybody’s got an angle. Everybody’s got an agenda. People see a new church plant on the horizon and they think that it’ll provide an ideal place to make the sunshine on their favorite pets. Even among our own core team, there was a temptation to pull the church one way or the other into our personal preferences. But because what we all wanted was for people to see Jesus, we sacrificed our personal pets. If scrambling up over the trenches and barbed wire, and running covert missions into enemy territory, then we were marked for war. As planters for the kingdom, it was serious business, and our pictures were going to end up on the “Most Wanted” pin-up on the bulletin boards of hell. Therefore, we made a decision early on. We forbid people to bring their pets. I’ve never seen pets on the battlefield, have you? I mean, a pet terrapin on a leash would look pretty stupid while mortars shells are exploding all around me.

We all have our pets. Mine is preaching. In America, the circles that I was a part of preached for 65 minutes. Sometimes 75, but then people complained. A short sermon was 50. 35 minutes was unheard of. When I got to Wales, they all expected 30 minute sermons. I had to change a bit. Not that much, but I trimmed it down to about 40 minutes, and that was about the best I could do. My 65 minute pet had to be left home in America (sniff). But I wasn’t the only one. There were people from the more charismatic background who joined our team and were nothing but a blessing. Early on, we had a meeting in which we all listed what we’d like to see in the church, and talked it through. In that meeting we talked about what would fly and what wouldn’t in the establishment of Pillar. We all had to sacrifice some pets in that meeting.

As a leader, it’s important that you listen to the visions, ideas, and priorities of your team. It’ll save you some headaches in the future. Get it all out after a few months, after you’ve gotten to know and trust one another. I definitely wouldn’t do it before the six-month mark; you’ll prejudge each other too soon. Once you get to know each other, you’ll be able to listen respectfully to each other without alienating one another. So although one of your core team members has a great idea, you’ve heard him pitch it, and likewise, have given him ample scriptural justification for why naked Sundays is probably not going to fly. Setting the ground rules is something that you’ll need to do together as you talk through the reasons why things get the thumbs up or thumbs down.

Buy Peyton’s newest book “Reaching The Unreached: Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art” over on Amazon.com. You can also download a free chapter and watch a cool trailer for the book HERE or click the image below.

Source: YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR PETS TO WAR

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WHY THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT

Sean Cronin — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 09:00:48 +0000

by Peyton Jones: Launching with the right focus is essential if your plant is going to avoid defaulting into just another big church after you’ve grown. If you’re using the New Testament apostolic model, then the solution is hard-wired into your church already. You’re not wired to grow big, but to reproduce. As soon as the tender shoots begin to grow, you’ll be splicing them to ready them for transplants. Outgrowing your building means that you’ve got to start assembling some new teams for planting outwards.

Multiple services, outlying campuses, and other forms of ecclesiastical greed will make you want to vomit instead of causing you to salivate as you indulge your insatiable appetite for more. Getting your priorities right from the start involves setting a missional agenda that seeks to grow the church outward, rather than just upwards. It also details how to ensure that you’re starting by reaching the lost, rather than just attracting disillusioned Christians from other churches.

But starting out well isn’t a guarantee that all will end well. It is possible to start out a champion like Gideon earning the moniker of “Baal-slayer”, only to end up establishing your own form of idolatry in its place as people bow down to your sacred ephod. If people worshipped Gideon’s armor, rest assured that they will find ways to worship your success too… If you let them. The masses will flock to you and burst the fire capacity of your four walls, but at that juncture, you have a choice. If I had my way, most of you reading this would constantly be shedding the ephod like David, finding Saul’s megachurch armor too big and cumbersome. Instead, you’d be opting for a sling-shot, greater mobility, guerilla tactics, the Spirit’s power, and enough confidence in the Almighty to keep running at giants.

The world has had enough of churches that are out for themselves. Young people have already made up their minds that churches are no longer about people, but about the institution. They cynically analyze the million dollar money making machine from a distance and conclude that the church is out for itself. Their number one question is “Are you for me, against me, or for yourself?” In the end, a mission statement will help you safeguard that the church doesn’t become about “itself” as an institution, merely adding more programs to keep the machine running and the people happy. After all, if you don’t keep the people happy they’ll leave, right? Any church planter worth his salt always wants people to leave his church; either to plant more churches, or to stop distracting the rest of them from the mission. You know what the difference between a church plant of 50 people and an established church of 1000 people? The answer is 950 people. It’s up to you to make sure that your church has more to say when it gives that answer. There should be more difference between a church plant and an established church than numbers. It’s an issue of DNA, not size.

Source: WHY THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT

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The Art of the Ask

Patrick Bradley — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 10:00:03 +0000

by Peyton Jones: There are a few rules when it comes to asking for money.

First, money isn’t all you’re going to be asking your sending Pastor for.

You’re going to ask for them to pay your salary for two years. It’s always best to ask high. People always make counter offers. Originally, they weren’t probably thinking of giving you anything. Now, you might get 6 months to a year out of them. See how it works?

So after you ask, and they pause and reply, “Sorry, we just can’t do that”, you counter with, “What would be reasonable?”. Then you wait. Shut up. Don’t talk. Seriously.

In the sales world, there is a saying that says that the first person to speak after an offer has been laid out is automatically the loser in the deal. Always.

Just sit tight and wait while they think. Next, you’re going to ask them for more. Health benefits.

…

Source: The Art of the Ask

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Components of a Christ like Leader

Patrick Bradley — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 10:00:21 +0000

by Peyton Jones: Self-controlled; upright, holy, and disciplined:Together, these make a complete picture. They represent a man whose eyes aren’t darting at every boob job at church, or streaming internet porn behind the office door. In the end, you’re known for being consistent throughout your life because the eyes of God are prized higher than the eyes of man, and you value what those eyes see more than anything else. If you’re into internet porn…get help, get anti-porn software, get rid of the computer. Seriously. I’ll never forget a conversation with a young man who sat in my office. His eyes bulged in disbelief when I told him that the days of a home computer were over for him. I pointed to a scripture verse “better to enter heaven without an internet connection than to be tossed into the flames of hell”. Okay, I took some liberty with that one, but you get the point. It was meant to be blunt, forceful, and drastic. Jesus wasn’t messing around with sin when he was on the cross, and he doesn’t want you messing around with it either. Barna reports that 70% of ministers look at pornography. Don’t be a statistic.

If you continue reading the passage from verse 9 onwards, it’s obvious that Paul is telling them that they need to rebel against the culture that they’re in so that they actually have something to offer the culture. In other words, if I’m addicted to porn, gambling, alcohol, rages, or any other vice, how can I proclaim a gospel of liberation. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, but if we’re not walking in the liberty of a powerfully Spirit-filled life, we will just be talking at them. To a pagan sin-addicted cesspool society, Paul was able to say that he preached the gospel to them “not only in word, but in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” as the dominion of sin was crushed by the all powerful Third Person of the Triune God.

To Timothy Paul says almost verbatim what he’s said to Titus, but then adds one more tick box to the “noble task” of eldership.

Not Quarrelsome:

Do you like to argue? Do you read a book and then think you’re an expert? Driscoll describes what he calls a “cage phase” for young ministerial students who start getting ahold of theology. At this phase they should be locked up in a cage because of all the damage that they do in their crusade for “the truth”. Although Jesus had some intense dialogue with the pharisees it wasn’t for a theological point on secondary issues. Isaiah says that “he shall not quarrel in the streets.” He was locked in a life and death struggle with them for their souls. Beware: internet trolls reigned even before the advent of the world wide web. Paul said “Don’t feed them”.

Well, you’ve gone from maggot to private, and enlisted to OCS. If you made it through OCS, jumped through all the hurdles, and completed your required training, then there’s only one thing to say…

Welcome you to the humble yet daunting task of leading a squad of God’s commandos on a jump. They’ll be looking to you, and we trust that you won’t let them down.

Source: Components of a Christ like Leader

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Training Sucks

Patrick Bradley — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 09:00:06 +0000

by Peyton Jones: So you think you’re called to lead a team into hostile territory?

It’s not for the faint of heart. Paul lays out requirements for ministry that serve as barbed wire obstacles that every church planter has to either crawl over, or walk away from. If you think you’ve got what it takes to press forward in the call to lead, you will get hung up on them, and need to spend some time unhooking yourself. As a veteran planter, Paul knew what would happen if these men hadn’t challenged themselves before being challenged on the field of battle. Often, a someone’s gifting can outrun their character. If their character isn’t put through the ropes, they can be a walking liability. Putting a Springfield Garand M1 rifle in the hands of any recruit is arming somebody with a dangerous weapon. Ministry is no different. A disqualified minister can do damage to the wrong side if he has not been properly vetted.

Before you’re ready for Jump School, you have to go to Boot Camp, otherwise known as Basic Training. In the Christian’s personal life, he takes the bus ride to Basic with Jesus and has his identity stripped away as he’s completely remade. He is reforged from the inside out, and the process is painful. Basic Training is the foundation of all that a soldier is. Boot Camp programs the way he thinks, acts, and reacts. When a soldier can’t think straight, he falls back on his Basic Training. That training was designed to embed itself into the soldier himself; become his unconscious thought; instinct. In the scripture, we are not programmed by instinct, but led by the Spirit.

A Spirit led believer may be led to lead others. When that happens, there is another wave of requirements, more demanding than bootcamp. No soldier wants to have to go through Hell Week twice, yet leadership requires a high standard of the ability to lead him or herself before they can lead others. “Greater is the one who can control his own spirit than one who can take a city” (Proverbs). To ensure that a leader is up to the task, the U.S. military requires an enlisted soldier to attend OCS (Officer Candidate School).

Paul reminds Timothy and Titus of the basic training that has honed their character, but sets forth a first century version of OCS. In these letters, Paul lists character qualifications that are mandatory traits, not optional extras for any leaders. In order for Titus to complete their assignment in Crete and Ephesus, Paul instructed them both to locate and identify men and women of character before they were good to go.

Source: TRAINING SUCKS

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Leadership Conversations with Mac Lake

Patrick Bradley — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 09:00:06 +0000

by Peyton Jones: This week I have something new for you. Last month I was able to sit down with my good friends and great leader, Mac Lake.

In this conversation, we talk about the call to church planting, building a team, and maximizing your team’s calling.

I’m keeping this week’s message short and sweet because the real message is in the video.

…

Source: Leadership Conversations with Mac Lake

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What Kind of Church Should You Plant?

Patrick Bradley — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 09:00:03 +0000

This week Peyton Jones and Pete Mitchell sit down to talk about What kind of church you should plant. To get straight to listening click here and to download in iTunes click here.
There are a lot of factors that go into this topic. You might be thinking of it solely as what kind of church do you want to plant? If you’re thinking about it this way it might be time to reassess. It’s time to think more about what type of church does your community need. Come listen to today’s podcast as we discuss how to determine what your community needs and how to take the next steps.

Go ahead and click here to listen to this podcast or click here to head on over to the apple store to listen and download this and previous episodes in the Church Planter Podcast series!

Source: What kind of church should you plant?

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Asparagus, Church Planting, and You

Patrick Bradley — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 09:00:32 +0000

by Peyton Jones: Let’s just file this away into the “things we don’t ever talk about” folder. We say it’s real, incessant, and painful, but we don’t train our people for it. If you’re getting ready to come into the enemy’s territory, he’s waiting to meet you.In WW2, Hitler’s German forces readied themselves by erecting telephone poles called “Rommel’s Asparagus” to stop low flying planes. The enemy peppered the countryside with pillboxes equipped with mounted machine guns, and strewed the beachhead with tank-stoppers, mines, and barbed wire. What will the enemy use to stop you?

It’s a question worth asking, and the answer is “whatever he can”. He will press your defenses until he finds a weakness. That’s why Paul tells the Ephesians to suit up and put their big boy armor on. If the Ephesians walk in love, walk in the light, and walk in everything else that Paul told them in his letter, so that they radiate the light of God’s glory like the temple, then rest assured, the army of darkness will come to plunder it in response.

Therefore, he tells them to make their “stand”. The term stand is repeated 7 times in that short passage. He’s telling them to dig in. The enemy is coming in for a blow, and they don’t have the required strength, prowess, or skill to stop him. Like Rocky Balboa, they just need to stand their and take the beating until the bell dings. Sometimes standing is all you need to make you a champion, so that you can shout speckles of spit through your swollen face, “Yo Jesus…I did it!!!” But you’re not alone. In fact, Paul terms standing in that armor as standing in “the armor of God” and rephrases it as “the power of HIS might”…

Source: ASPARAGUS, CHURCH PLANTING, AND YOU

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It Feels Good When Your Team Is Winning

Patrick Bradley — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 09:00:12 +0000

by Peyton Jones: The leaders of microchurches don’t tend to do all of the heavy lifting. The burden is shared like the moving a piece of heavy furniture. The same piece of furniture that threatened to break the back of a solo lifter reduces to the weight of a peanut when shared by a few extra sets of hands. It’s no different when believers all pitch their gifts into the mix of mission, or as Paul says when “each part of the body does it’s share of the work.”
Unfortunately, we’ve replaced using our spiritual gifts with doing church chores. You know the usual suspects; folding bulletins, laying out the donuts, working an overhead, changing the slides… Not really the kind of thing that excites the average believer, is it? Believers tend to get fired up when their gifts are coursing through them, and in a microchurch context, they get to do the real stuff; what Paul calls “the work of the ministry” In a microchurch, leaders aren’t feeders. They aren’t star players that everyone else watches. Instead, leaders function like coaches who support others as they run the ball of mission down the field as a team. Average everyday believers score the touchdowns, resulting from a team effort. The leader is on the sidelines most of the time, and the points go to Jesus. After years of doing ministry like a losing team, it took reinventing the game to start the turn around and start winning.

Everyone would agree that the church was winning in Acts 2:42. After all, everybody wants an Acts 2:42 church. Just ask a Christian to quote it on demand, and you’ll get a wispy-eyed conversation about “how church ought to be”. However, what we often miss in that verse is that it’s not about leaders, but about everyday believers and the effect they had on their community. That entire verse is what the old ladies, housewives, laboring men, slaves, and dopey teenagers did together. They all met, devoted themselves to the teaching, prayed, ate together, and gave generously. As a result of everyday believers activated in their gifts, the Lord added to the scoreboard by adding to their numbers…daily.

Source: IT FEELS GOOD WHEN YOUR TEAM IS WINNING

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Inventing the Longer Lasting Church Plant

Patrick Bradley — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 09:00:51 +0000

by Peyton Jones: The race to create a longer lasting light bulb didn’t happen overnight. Thomas Edison poured in thousands of hours through trial and error to deliver a household item to the world that most of us take for granted. Relentless and determined, his constant mantra to his tireless crew of inventors was “There’s a better way! Find it!” Many of us who have planted multiple churches can relate. We feel that we’ve spent countless hours of trial and error, fumbling our way forward, in hopes of creating the longer lasting church plant.
Like the team necessary for the invention of the longer lasting light bulb, Microchurches also require a dedicated crew who are relentlessly dedicated to mission. If Edison’s team specialized in inventing, microchurches specialize in releasing everyday believers on mission to operate in their gifts. It wasn’t until the light bulb went on that it wasn’t about my gifts, but about mobilizing others, that the light shined brighter into darker spaces in my community that it hadn’t before. By definition a microchurch is a cluster of believers who go on mission together. After all, anyone who has even briefly engaged on mission, be it on a short-term summer trip overseas, or a trip to an urban food bank will tell you that mission is a participatory sport. Unlike the spectator sport that most churches engage in on Sunday mornings, everyone’s gifts are needed when you’re on mission. There is no such thing as a spectator mission sport; no armchair quarterbacks. There are only players.

Source: INVENTING THE LONGER LASTING CHURCH PLANT

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