How to Be On Mission in the City

1. Get grounded in the gospel
2. Learn your city's story
3. Engage in the life of the city
4. Discern your city’s idols
5. Retell your city’s story with the gospel

Open Up!

If we are a family of missionary servants, surely we’ll need to do more than meet once a week for a Bible study or just hang out together! Here are the things I’ve called my Missional Community to “open up” in order to be on mission.

Expectant vs. Reactionary Churches

Is your church more expectant or reactionary? Review these characteristics to see where your church is.

The Myth of Endless Growth

I’ve always been told that if a business or church isn’t growing, something must be terribly wrong. After all, healthy things always multiply and grow.

But frankly, that’s hogwash. It’s based on idealistic and wishful thinking. It’s a leadership urban legend. And a dangerous one at that.

Are you still working on your sermon Saturday night?

Many of the pastors that I interact with are frustrated that they are working on their sermons well into the weekend. If this is you consider applying the following principles to help you recapture your Saturdays.

What is the Gospel?

As you can see the word gospel is mentioned throughout scripture in various ways and in various settings. Yet, the question still remains, “What is the gospel?”

Twelve Ways to Prepare Your Children for Times of Doubt

1. Let them know that it is not abnormal to experience doubt.
2. Share with them some of the doubts you struggle with.
3. Help them prioritize their faith now.
4. Facilitate a love of Christian heroes.
5. Allow for a great deal of mystery.
6. Ask the difficult questions.
7. Make sure they know the heritage of their faith through church history.
8. Continually teach your children an apologetic defense of the faith.
9. Take your child on a missions trip.
10. Give them a chance not to believe.
11. Prepare them for suffering.
12. Teach them to take care of their bodies.

The Litmus Test of Genuine Christianity

James provides a short, two-item checklist: (1) love—helping those in need, and (2) holiness—separating from worldly influence. These two traits summarize the practical outworking of a life changed by the gospel.

Tragic Worship

Tragedy as a form of art and of entertainment highlighted death, and death is central to true Christian worship.

Daily Slogging in the Power of the Spirit of God

I am not impressed by young pastors who seem too eager to publish books and speak at big events and get noticed. They are doing the work of the Lord, and that’s good. But what impresses me is my dad’s daily slogging, year after year, in the power of the Spirit, with no big-deal-ness as the payoff.

We've had Bruce Waltke, George Guthrie, Douglas Moo, Daniel Block, and more. This week we've had D.A. Carson. It's hard to beat. I've been to a lot of conferences, but this by far is my favorite learning event of the year.

You should start one too.

I'm convinced that we as pastors have to go a bit deeper than what's offered at most conferences. We need more intimacy, more depth, and more encouragement than the average conference can afford. Many pastors graduate from seminary and never experience the same level of teaching just about the time that they can really benefit from it. I'm not talking about abstract, theoretical work. I'm talking about digging into the Word of God and thinking in depth how it applies to our lives and ministries.

Here's all it takes:

• A group of interested pastors. This may be easier than you think.
• A scholar. This, too, may be easier than you think. Most Bible scholars would love to spend a week with pastors helping them think through a text. Invite them, fly them in, and pay them well. You may have to pick them up off the floor when they find out that you're even interested.
• A structure. It's as simple as finding a place and setting a basic schedule. Then just set some ground rules and go.
• Don't try to do this in a church if you can. Get away so that you're away from the regular grind and can spend lots of your spare time together.

I stumbled across this, but I'm telling you: it's worth the effort. I would trade a dozen conferences for one of these weeks.

Most pastors desperately need the intimacy, depth, and encouragement that a week like this offers. There's power in coming together and digging into the Word together, and beginning to see what God does over a few years of sticking at this. I dare you to give it a try.

One of the best ways to maintain an online presence is through a blog. Mohler says that we used to think that bloggers were all “twentysomethings in their pyjamas writing online rants.” But blogs are now “one of the most significant platforms for our cultural conversation.” It’s one of history’s “most cost-efficient way of communicating big ideas and solid content. If you are not writing a blog, you should be.”

I agree. Here are four reasons why you should blog...

Read the rest here.

Speaking of web stuff, I was interested to read about how astronaut Chris Hadfield made it onto Twitter:

He initially balked when his sons began preaching the merits of Twitter and Facebook more than three years ago...

During a family Christmas get-together in 2009 his son Evan, who now lives in Germany, and Kyle, who's in China, pointed out that they relied on the Internet to find out what's going on.

They got on his case again when his five-month mission was announced in early September 2010. It was then that they decided to set up his two social-media sites...

Upon his return to Earth this week, Hadfield was hovering around one million Twitter followers and more than 325,000 "Likes" on Facebook.

I'm sure glad his sons got on his case. I'm glad the same thing happened to Tim Keller (except, of course, the part about going into space or singing a David Bowie song). What I should say is that I'm glad his son pushed him onto Twitter.

I agree with Al Mohler.  If you’re not active online, you’re limited in your ministry to those who aren’t online. “That population is shrinking every moment. The clock is ticking.”

• A year ago on Maundy Thursday I took my family to Liberty Village for the first time for dinner. One year later we live in Liberty Village and love it.
• A year ago this month my wife went to Pastor’s Wives Conference. At that point, we were the entirety of Liberty Grace Church. A year later, we have a group of people who are walking with us, including some who have moved into the community with us, and others who are planning on doing so.
• A year ago I was attending an annual study group I’m part of, wondering about all that would happen before I returned in May 2013. I’m sitting in the airport boarding lounge right now filled with gratitude for all that’s happened, and excitement about our near future.

A year isn’t a long time. It’s long enough, though, to take a step back and to celebrate what God has done.

One thing has been clear: I have begun the process of planting this church in weakness. Despite this, God has been gracious. I have been reminded so many times this year that God is able, and that I’d better trust in his strength rather than rely on my own. It’s almost as if God has given me extra coursework here, but I’m still learning.

If you’ve been praying for us this far, thank you. Please continue to pray. We have lots of events planned for the community in the coming months, and we are working towards a public launch in September.

Please pray that God would continue to build our team, and that we will have a heart to love the people in the community around us. Pray for our practical needs as well, as I have quite a bit of work to do in fundraising before the Fall.

God has been so good. I’m glad he’s taken us on this journey.

Recently I have been introduced to the ministry of Bakht Singh of India. He died in 2000. Following his conversion to Christ he learned to live and walk by faith. Most of his ministry was done in India. However, he traveled the world as an evangelist and prophet for the Gospel.

During his first visit to America in 1969 he wrote of his observations. He sensed five great needs among God’s people in the USA.

The Top Mistakes I Make in Preaching

I imagine that I’m probably not the only preacher who makes some of these mistakes with regularity, so I thought I’d share them here in case my list ends up helping any of you brothers who are working on preaching evaluation / improvement as well.

Ten Signs of Hope for a Declining Church

1. The leader is preaching the Bible.
2. Somebody is praying.
3. Leaders are willing to face the truth.
4. The leader takes responsibility for growth.
5. The leader still has a vision for growth.
6. Somebody is evangelizing.
7. The leader is investing in someone else.
8. The church is still reaching out to the community.
9. Somebody has a global vision.
10. Leaders refuse to give up.

7 Leadership Paradigms Needed for Church Growth

1. Lead with leaders
2. Prioritize your time
3. Never waste energy
4. Embrace change
5. Make hard decisions
6. Build healthy teams
7. Refuel often

Discipleship as Network

The entire church, when using their gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ, is a network of relationships that produces disciples.

Every Entrepreneur's Least Favorite Question

This applies to pastors too.

You're asked that simple question that often feels like the hardest one:

"How are things going?"

Are you a Church Planting Failure?

Church planters, whose churches do not survive, often feel like complete failures and fear that they might never be effective again in ministry leadership. But this is not the truth.

Five Questions to Discern Ministry Idolatry

How can you tell if you are prone to committing ministry idolatry? Here are five questions I have been considering.

Your Language Matters

Our language can easily isolate or train people to believe God is calling them to set aside one day or evening instead of setting aside their entire lives. We don’t want to confuse those two!

Stop Hustling and Get Your Life Back

I’m adopting a ruthless anti-frantic policy. I’m done with frantic. The new baseline for me: will saying yes to this require me to live in a frantic way?

I’ve been impressed by Dr. Waltke’s scholarship, as well as his pastoral warmth. I’m grateful to Dr. Waltke for agreeing to answer some of my questions.

As Professor of Old Testament, what brings you the greatest joy? Is it studying, writing, teaching, or something else?

I wish I could say that I find my greatest joy in my students.  Though I do delight in them and in their ministries, I find my greatest joys in writing and publishing and in teaching. I used to get the most joy out of teaching and preaching, but as I got older I realized more and more how transitory verbal ministries are. As I got older I came to value teaching more and more for  what it built into the lives of my students and its multiplication and its continuation in their ministries. That reward, however, is less direct and seemingly more restricted  than that of writing, for writings touch more lives for more time than students in a classroom. But writings, like all things, will pass away, as publishers undoubtedly will cease to publish my dated works. But unlike Qoheleth I know there will always be a residue of eternal profit, for all ministry participates in the eternal kingdom of God.

Your exegetical work seems to me to combine scholarship and worship, which aren't found together as often as one might wish. How have you been able to maintain both together?

Others note an alleged combination of scholarship and worship. It must be relative, for I am unconscious of it.  My scholarship always seems to be inadequate because knowledge is always imperfect--there is always another book to read on a subject or is being written on it.  As for worship,  though I do not know the full depths of my depravity, I know it well enough to know that my motives are always tarnished by self-interest, not by worship. My spiritual flaw is a carnal perfectionism. I believe God is taking that flaw and sanctifying it by his Spirit in me.  Quintillius said:  “Ambition is a vice but it can be the mother of virtue.”  To become a vrtue must be the work of God's grace.  I have nothing of which to boast. This process of holiness is true of all healthy Christians, isn't it?

Pastors often feel pushed away from theology to be more "practical." What advice would you give to a pastor who aspires to be a pastor and scholar?

I cannot distinguish between theology and practical theology.  If my theology does not change my life, it is not good theology, but an idol. I hope every pastor who stands behind the sacred lectern is a scholar.  By that I mean, I hope the teacher of God's Word will teach it as responsibly as possible within the time available.  Very few are so gifted they can be both an academic in a university or seminary and a pastor. There is by the restraint of time and being human a less than perfect scholarship and of pastoring. What is needed is both humility, a recognition of our limitations, and a commitment to give God the best of what he has given to us. We need to keep our priorities straight, lest we make Success our god. It's hard not to envy those who worship Success and receive worldly rewards.

Knowledge is both a virtue and a vice.  It is necessary and certainly better than ignorance.  Paul frequently says he doesn't want us to be ignorant.  On the other hand, it is a vice: it always puffs up and is imperfect.  By God's grace I overcome its endemic tendency to pride the pure virtue of love and its imperfection by the pure virtues of faith and hope.

It's a joy to see the warmth between you and your friend Haddon Robinson. It's a good example of friendship maintained through years of life and ministry. How have friendships like this sustained you?

Photo courtesy of Chris Brauns

Haddon is so uniquely gifted that I feel unworthy of his friendship.  His warm friendship toward our family  is a mark of his truly godly character. His brilliant conversation always refreshes me.  Bonnie's love is peerless. Elaine and I treasure their friendship.  The sustenance of their friendship brings delight, psychic joy that cannot be fully verbalized. When the four of us are together we  seem to feed on each others thoughts, commitments and basic disposition toward God and others, though Elaine is now suffering dementia. Haddon or Bonnie never interpret us negatively; they truly believe and hope all things;  I do not think they ever think of enduring us.

How can we pray for you?

I have taken a leave of absence from teaching at Knox, to test how I can best serve God without a contract to teach. Pray that I will finish well and have the wisdom to prioritize my time well in this new context. 

There’s no question that ministry in Canada is a challenge. According to Bill Hogg, National Missiologist with C2C Network, that’s not a surprise. “Canada is further down the track in terms of liminality, the marginalization of religious ideas and religious institutions,” he says. “Canada prizes social pluralism and religious pluralism, which is obviously a challenge as you seek to proclaim Jesus.”

Not only is Canada pluralistic, but many churches are stuck. “The reality is that 85% of North American churches have plateaued or declined.” Hogg believes that churches often follow a life cycle that resembles a sigmoid curve. “Something that started, where lives are being transformed, can eventually decline, and needs to experience renewal, refocus, restructuring, or replanting.”

Despite the external and internal challenges, Hogg is encouraged. “There are pockets of hope across Canada. There are little gospel grassfires.” The C2C Network exists as a nationwide, indigenous Canadian church planting and renewal network. “If we want to reach Canada for Christ, it’s going to require fresh, vibrant, innovative, gospel-centred, Spirit-led, mission-focused new churches,” Hogg believes. “But it’s also going to require the established church to get on mission, steward the gospel well, and embrace the mission fields where God has placed them.”

According to Hogg, the Canadian church faces three challenges. The first danger is gospel drift. “A lot of evangelical and charismatic churches are not centred around the gospel,” he says. “There’s a danger that evangelicals are no longer evangel people.” Hogg identifies the danger of preaching the prosperity gospel, or its “kissing cousin success,” moralism, or just old-fashioned legalism instead of the gospel. Churches must continually recalibrate around the gospel.

The second danger is missional retreat. According to one author, the dominant North American ecclesial motif is church as private club. Our challenge, Hogg says, is to first look to Jesus, and then to look outward to the town, village, city, and community in which God has placed each faith community.

The third danger is seeing the church as human enterprise. This means that we often look for technicians, not ministers, and for techniques and programs that promise success. “We have to be Spirit-empowered, Spirit-dependent, and Spirit-led. This is messy and defies the cookie cutter approach.” Our starting posture is important: “It’s not about coming up with a plan. The first order of business is to surrender to Jesus. The idea is not to work a plan but to hear from the Lord, and then from dependance upon Him walk in obedience to what he speaks into the life of the church.”

This underlines the importance of prayer. “Jesus, who commissioned the 72, said that he’s sending them out as lambs among wolves. There is peril and danger. We’re in a spiritual combat zone, and we need the wisdom and power of the Lord.”

Hogg believes that we have every reason to hope. “The gospel hasn’t lost its power. God is still on the throne, and Jesus has not rescinded the Great Commission even for such a time as this.”

Most of the Christian books, sermons and theological material that my father gave me as a boy failed to catch my attention; but, for some reason, I’ve never forgotten Nancy Demoss’ chart contrasting proud/broken people. I need this more today as a husband, father, pastor and friend than when I was young.

The Secular Salvation Story

We are all telling a story, living by a story, evangelizing a story. One story is ancient and rugged. The other modern and banal. One confronts. The other caresses. One truly saves. The other falsely succors. Choose your story wisely. For one starts grim, but ends in life. The other looks cheery and ends in death.

What if Life Was Complex?

What, I wonder, if the conservative evangelical church world came to be dominated by a symbiotic network of high profile and charismatic leaders, media organisations, and big conferences?

21 Skills of Great Preachers

After listening to preachers of many different denominations and having been a preacher for over sixty years, I find the following observations by Keith Drury to be particularly cogent. According to him, these are the twenty-one skills of great preachers.

Why it doesn't matter if people don't remember your sermons

We need to pray that our preaching would be effective and not so much that it would be memorable.

What is Church Planting to You?

Church planting. What is it to you? Make sure you know before you go.

Avoiding Three Big Church Planting Mistakes

1. Planting for the Wrong Reasons
2. Planters who are Not Teachable
3. Planters who Plant Churches in their Heads

Can a Dying Church Find Life? Six Radical Steps to “Yes”

1. A leader must rise and be willing to lead the church toward radical transformation regardless of the personal costs to him.
2. A significant group in the church must admit that they are desperate for help.
3. That same group must confess guilt.
4. The group must have an utter, desperate, and prayerful dependence on God.
5. The church must be willing to storm the community with love.
6. The church must relinquish control.

The Deep Immersion Approach to Deep Work

Notice, this immersion approach to deep work is different than the more common approach of integrating a couple hours of deep work into most days of your schedule, which we can call the chain approach, in honor of Seinfeld’s “don’t break the chain” advice

Over the past few years I've had the privilege of getting to know Barry. I always walk away from our meetings sharpened and grateful for our time together.

Barry has been kind enough to answer some questions about ministry in a post-Christendom context.

The Church is no longer a significant cultural influence. This is often seen as bad news, but is there a bright side to this?

If the Church is busy seeking to influence culture as an end unto itself, it gets distracted from the essential focus of its existence—obedience to the call of Jesus Christ and following Him. Following Jesus (versus following culture) issues in both individual (the believer) and the community (the Body of Christ) transformation. Perhaps there will be collateral impact on the culture, a good thing. I do not believe it is the primary objective of discipleship formation. Without worrying about cultural or societal affirmation, which is a historic cornerstone of Christendom, then the Church doesn’t have to conform to external, secular and ideological agenda’s. It allows the Church to be the Church—a good thing.

What do we need to unlearn in a post-Christendom context?

• Our self-focus and self-regulating engagement with the world. 
• Our innate love (hence very difficult to see, let alone part with) of power, preferment and entitlement. 
• Our myopic worldview that the culture is waiting with bated breath to be “Christian".

What new skills do we need to learn?

• A radical love of the other, no matter who or what the other is.
• Learning to listen carefully and wisely to others all the while letting go what we once gave us meaning, stability and security; i.e. buildings, polity, tribalism, etc
• A radical humility that is grounded in the Saviour of the World because we are not the saviour of anything.

How is reaching the un-churched (people with no church background) different from reaching the de-churched (people with some church memory)?

The closed de-churched, usually those burned by an experience in churchland, need a lot of time and a genuine apology from Christians and the Church. However, I do not think the un-churched and open de-churched require different approaches as both groups, all groups at minimum, need to experience the Gospel and encounter Jesus. Both groups, as loosely defined and boundary-less as they are—operate out of stereotypes of faith, Jesus, the Church and Christians. Both need listening and humble witness that is grounded in a genuine love for them and not for our agenda.

• listening without advice, 
• community without conformity, 
• hospitality that is relational, not positional, 
• service without expectation or exception 
• learning opportunities that encourage active questioning and identity formation. 

How can we pray for you in your role as Rector of St. Paul's?

That I stay close to Jesus in obedience and that we as a particular faith community pay attention to all that is mentioned above.

Here's the parable: a man goes on a journey. Before leaving, he entrusts his property to three servants. Each one gets a lot: one gets five talents, possibly worth some three million dollars. A second gets two talents, probably worth just over a million dollars. A third servant gets a paltry (!) half a million dollars or so. When the master returns, he holds them accountable for how they've invested what he left with them. Two servants doubled the money and are rewarded; the one who received the least amount of money only preserved the capital and receives a strongly worded rebuke.

It's not hard to see what the story means. Jesus has left and has entrusted his followers with resources. He will return and hold us accountable for what we've done with what he's left us. Six lessons:

1. God has given all of us something. He's given the least of us a lot. I love what J.C. Ryle says: "Anything whereby we may glorify God is ‘a talent.’ Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents." We all have them.
   
2. Nothing we have is ours. The servants didn't own their resources; they only managed them on behalf of the master. We don't own anything we have. It's all God's, and we'll give account for all of it one day. I should mentally write on everything I have, "God's." It's all his. Nothing is mine.
   
3. The amount is irrelevant. I sometimes think that God has given others more, so they're more accountable. Not so. We will not be judged based on how many talents God has given us, but based on what we’ve done with them. I love how Spurgeon puts it: "If there be degrees in glory, they will not be distributed according to our talent but according to our faithfulness in using them."
   
4. We're supposed to do something what what we have. It's not enough to play it safe. I love what D.A. Carson writes: "It is not enough for Jesus’ followers to ‘hang in there’ and wait for the end. They must see themselves for what they are—servants who owe it to their Master to improve what he entrusts to them. Failure to do so proves they cannot really be valued disciples at all."
   
5. It's really about our view of God. The one servant played it safe because he had a distorted view of his master (Matthew 25:24-25). How I live, and what I do with what God has given me, is really an indication of what I believe to be true about God.
   
6. We're supposed to live for that day when we'll give account. When I read this parable, I often think of four words: "Not me. Not now." All of this is not about me; it's about God. All of this is not about now; it's about that day when I'll give account to my returning Master. Live for that day. As Randy Alcorn says, "Financial planners tell us, 'When it comes to your money, don’t think just three months or three years ahead. Think thirty years ahead.' Christ, the ultimate investment counsellor, takes it further. He says, 'Don’t ask how your investment will be paying off in just thirty years. Ask how it will be paying off in thirty million years.'" Live for that day. Evaluate everything for how it will pay off in eternity, for that day when you'll give account to your Lord.

This parable continues to significantly shape me. There's enough to feast on here for a very long time. Refuse to play it safe with your life. Instead, invest everything you have for Jesus and for eternity.

So who does God say we are? Join me and many others in standing on these truths about our identity in Jesus. Post it at home and in your office. Pass it along to friends. Dwell on these verses of who you are. And when we come to know who we are as He says we are, we will become truly unshakeable.

We’d love for you to pass along this PDF to anybody you think it might encourage. Download it here.

Church Identity: How Your Church Must Not Be Unique

In terms of the foundation of our faith, your church—as part of the Church—must not be unique.

Church Identity: How Your Church Must Be Unique

While the foundation of a church must not be unique, the culture and ministry practice must be for at least three reasons.

Four Reasons Most Churches Aren't Breakout Churches

1. Lack of leadership development
2. Unbiblical understanding of church membership
3. Unclear purpose
4. Lack of outward focus

5 Tools Needed to Reach Today's Teens

1. Knowledge about the canonization of Scripture
2. Developed theology of sexuality, particularly homosexuality
3. Ability to teach the Bible in the greater context of redemptive history
4. Theological, not only moral, understanding of sin
5. Understand adoption as an element of salvation

I do drugs. What would Jesus say about that?

Many who question the gospel need to know how it applies to them in their current situation. Behind the challenging question is a heart in need of applicable truth.

Hope for timid evangelists

But here’s the good news—God’s Word offers much hope for timid evangelists like me, especially in the gospel of Luke. Here are five truths we can embrace.

Four Lies About Introverts

I've discovered some subtle and not-so-subtle assumptions I'd unwittingly latched onto over time.

1. Extroversion is the biblical ideal.
2. Introverts don't like people.
3. Solitude is selfish and indulgent.
4. Introversion is incompatible with teaching and leadership gifts.

7 False Assumptions Made About Introverts

1. I’m shy
2. I need more courage
3. I’ve got nothing to say
4. I’m dumb
5. I am arrogant or don’t like you
6. I need you to talk for me
7. I need to change, mature, grow as a person or leader

3 Questions That Can Help You Avoid Leadership Blind Spots

1. What am I doing that’s not helping our mission?
2. What do I need to do to make sure you feel comfortable telling me what you see?
3. How can I help make it better?

Is the News Marking Us Dumb?

What do we expect to gain by spending an hour or two a day keeping up with the latest headlines?

What Happens When You Really Disconnect

The key to being more fully absorbed is to regularly and fully disconnect.

Mark Reynolds is Vice President of Redeemer City to City, an organization that aims to help leaders build gospel movements in cities. I love what City to City is doing, and I've found Mark to be a wealth of wisdom on why urban church planting is important, and how we can plant effectively in the key urban centers of the world.

I'm grateful that Mark took the time to answer some of my questions.

Your role allows you to see what God is doing in cities all around the world. What excites you?

Primarily in the West I'm seeing a convergence of ministry innovation and learning in the context of urban church planting. You have this overlap of cities as an idea, and then church planting. These are potent tools for research and development for the church. This creates a laboratory of learning and ministry innovation. Over time this will be extremely helpful to the city churches and others that are outside of the cities as well.

I’m also seeing a growing awareness of the need and opportunity in cities for church planters. There’s a growing awareness, but we’re still lagging behind in the competencies and proficiencies to do it well.

The story is still unfolding, but there are three things that I am excited about:

• First, the church in the West is thinking through its relationship with the culture. It’s bringing more explicitly its understanding of its role in the culture as a particular church or collection of churches instead of just letting the culture determine that or just assuming that there's one model. They’re not just acquiescing to the culture or taking a militant posture towards the culture but asking, “How are we as a church to relate to culture in this particular time in history, with our gifts and our contributions?” Before it was either assumed for us, or it was just nakedly brought in without us thinking it through. I’m excited that churches are thinking this through.
• Second, there’s a simultaneous awareness of the gospel being both proclaimed and embodied in deed. The church is committed to preaching the gospel, calling people to the new birth. We’re also realizing there are great needs in the city. Churches need, for the love of neighbor and for Christ’s sake, to serve those that have need.
• The third thing I am excited about is still evolving. The church is asking what evangelism and apologetics looks like in this particular time in these urban centers. How does the church do persuasion? How do we address the base line narratives that urban dwellers are asking or living in and not just assuming that we know? The church is entering into those stories, asking what people are thinking, and considering how they present the gospel to those people God has called them to reach.

We are still learning from them because evangelism can be a challenge in the cities. I think that the church that isn't in the city should be attracted to learning from these urban churches, because that's where  a lot of innovation is taking place. Cities as an idea are already the leading edge of forming culture. They are creating the new norms. How is the church responding to the new norms? It's very important. We want to be learning from them as well as helping them flourish.

What concerns you?

Well maybe lets start with the macro level.

Many urbanologists are telling us that five million people each month are moving into cities. This is taking place through domestic and international migration. It's a staggering number of people.  Over two months that's ten million people - a significant city every two months being added to the globe as it were. God is moving the human community into cities. Even to keep pace with that urban growth trend we would need to create 500 new congregations every month. Thats only assuming one church for every 10,000.  Missiologists tell us that we need at least one vibrant church for every 1,000 people, so just to keep pace at a very unreached level we would need to be planting 500 churches a month in the cities. Really, to reach those cities, we need to do 10 times that.

The need is overwhelming, and the invitation to the global church to awaken to this need should be there. It should keep us seeking the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers to reach people in cities. 

Within the West, I think that we are not keeping up with the contextualization requirements.  By that I mean, it’s too easy to import a model of ministry that has shaped us. We are all creatures of habit. We are all shaped by different things, but the imposition of a church model that we love or we haven't properly assessed just doesn’t make sense. We need to be weened off a certain imperialism, just assuming that we know what cities need without listening and learning.

Then maybe the other thing that I am concerned about is that it’s a challenging assignment. What is attracting churches and leaders to these cities? Is it with a redemptive heart? Or is it that it’s a nice place to live and raise a family? There can be a lot of idolatry and hubris built around that as we kind of think about going into mission in the cities, but hopefully we’ve thought it through.

We haven't really seen church planting by multiplication in North America. It seems to be mostly incremental. Do you see this changing?

I would love for it to change. I see examples of some churches that are multiplying, but I don't see it happening at a constant place or in many locations or many denominations.

I think we have embraced that ideology as a way of giving us an identity and vision, but it actually isn't happening as much as it should. The invitation saying “Let's be a church that multiplies, let’s be a network that's growing exponentially” is desirable, but we still have a lot of churches that need to be planted. We need to ask particular churches, “What is our unique calling within this church multiplication world and how can we as a particular church be generative in the way that God has made us?”

We can be generative by partnering with other churches to plant churches.

We might be a church that raises up a lot of leaders and sends them out but doesn’t exactly create what we might call daughter churches. Instead of saying, “Our church isn't multiplying,” we need to ask ourselves, “How can we be generative, how can we expand the body of Christ though the the unique gifts and abilities we have?”

There are reasons why some churches struggle to be multiplying churches. I'm recognizing some unique calling they may have, and I’m not simply saying, “Because you didn't multiply within 3 years you are never going to do so.” I want to say, “There might be other things you can do to participate in growing the body of Christ in your city or your community.”

What practical steps can churches in a city take to work towards a gospel movement in that city?

We know that churches that are multiplying need to be at the core of the gospel movement in a particular city.

We would love to see gospel movements happening in places and cities. That's one of the reasons why Redeemer City to City exists as an organization.

As for the particular question of how can churches participate in that, we can again ask, “What is our particular contribution in a gospel movement in a city?” The needs are great and we can almost be overwhelmed by the scope of the mission and the scope of the need. I want to see a gospel movement happen in this city where there is Shalom and there's flourishing of the city, and people are coming to faith. What is the unique way that God has designed our church. How can we steward that? These are the fundamental questions the church could ask itself.

When we have theological or geographic affinity with other churches, we could do a few things together rather than operating our churches as silos. The need is great, and a gospel movement assumes that churches are beginning to work together.

As we study the history of revival we see the unique ways God brings about a movement or brings about revival.  It's anteceded and sustained by corporate prevailing Kingdom-centered prayer. Any way that churches and leaders can come together to pray for he whole city, not just their own church and its needs, will be a powerful testament.  If we want to see a gospel movement happening, it has to be preceded by this Kingdom-centered corporate prevailing prayer.

There are evidences of stages that some cities are moving across over a period of time. It probably takes longer than we might have realized or hoped for. But yes, I see new churches being birthed and churches coming together for missions, and that is exciting.

How can we pray for you in your role at Redeemer City to City?

We want to see the city become a cause that the church awakens to, just as the church has thought about poverty or any kind of challenge or struggle in our world. We want the church to be awakened to the city as a cause of mission as never before. So we are thinking of ways of doing that, but we want lots of partnerships and people joining us. We want to be sound with humility and confidence that cities are a cause we need to champion as the church.

The second would be that we find both long term sustainable and fruitful ministry in cities. I think about the church planting families, church planting couples, all that we relate to. I am always praying for them to be able to have long term fruitful ministry in cities - any church leader, any pastor, and any church planter.

I was recently reading a book by Paul Trip called Dangerous Calling which outlined with great skill, the unique challenges of that calling that intensify in pastoral ministry When and then when you come into urban ministry it intensifies even more.

So be praying for us, that God would allow us to have fruitful long term ministry and that we would avoid some of the challenges that are in that dangerous calling and actually thrive and see the body of Christ flourish in that city. So that's how you can be praying for us, for me and others.

Thanks, Mark.

Listen for patterns. Listen for underlying causes. Listen for regrets. Listen as through a stethoscope to identify the particular malady to which the good news of Jesus would bring healing.

Just Keep Sowing, Just Keep Sowing

We have no idea how God is using our labors to draw a person to himself. We usually are not the best judges of the results of our ministry.

Your Church is Closer to Planting than You Probably Think

Whenever we remove much of the hype, quantitative expectations, and North American cultural expressions of church planting, we come to recognize that church planting is not very glamorous. It involves small steps. It is about making disciples from out of the harvest and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. If your people can do this, then by God’s grace, your church can plant churches. . . . many churches.

What to Say to “All-Religions-Are-Basically-the-Same” Dude

One of your fears can be calmed. You don’t have to know all religions to respond to this guy. You just have to know the one absolutely unique gospel.

7 Paradigms of the “New Normal” in Church Leadership

1. We must do more with less
2. We have to think outside the walls
3. Church is an opinion, not a trusted source
4. People trust their friends…more than the church
5. Easter is for church people
6. Regular attendance is semi-regular
7. Loyalty has dwindled

5 Ways Pastors Spiritually Benefit From Preaching Expository Sermons

The celebration and joy of preaching God’s word will return to you when you remember the blessings that God has in store for preachers who give themselves wholly to the task of expository preaching. What are those blessings? Here is a list of five.

Pulpit Cooking Options

1. Fast Food Preaching
2. Home Delivered Fast Food
3. Home Delivered Fast Food Stolen
4. Thrown Together Left-Overs
5. Good Food Disconnected
6. One Favourite Recipe
7. Good Ingredients Cooked the Wrong Way
8. Good Ingredients Cooked the Right Way
9. The Fast Feast
10. Non-gourmet home cooked healthy meal

Why Pastors Quit

I would suggest that the reasons below are the greatest struggles to perseverance in the ministry (though you are welcome to add others in the comments). As we consider each, I want to offer a little encouragement to young pastors and aspiring seminarians.

Let's Be Social: Social Media for New Churches

Our very own Tim Cox recently shared some tips and general strategy on how to thoughtfully approach social media and content creation as a church plant.

3 Lies Porn Tells You

1. That was the last time.
2. You can stop anytime you want.
3. Confessing your struggle will cost you too much.

• We would have to be a lot more dependent upon God in prayer.
• We would have to be a lot more intentional about evangelism.
• We would have to be willing to risk a lot more in terms of our comfort and security.

Would we be willing, I asked, to live prayerfully and evangelistically? Were we willing to risk our comfort and our security for the sake of the gospel?

Put that way, there was no way to say no. In a sense, this is the new (old) normal. Not that everyone is called to plant a church, but all of us are called to live prayerfully, evangelistically, and to invest everything that we have for the sake of the Kingdom.

I began to envision what it would look like to not plant a church. In the end, it looked kind of the same.

I'm not surprised that we had to wrestle with that call to plant a church. That's a good thing. I'm a little surprised that I had to wrestle with how prayerful, dependent, and "all in" I was prepared to be. That should have been settled a long time ago. Once you've encountered the grace of Jesus, is there any other way to live?

J.D. serves as the pastor for church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. Before moving to Birmingham, he served for ten years with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and as an Associate Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism in the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he directed the Center for North American Missions and Church Planting.

I'm grateful that J.D. was willing to let me interview him.

There seems to be a renewed emphasis on church planting these days. Why do you think this is so?

I think there are mixed motives behind the emphasis. I would like to say that all of the emphasis is coming from deep theological and missiological convictions related to making disciples of all nations. And I do believe that such beliefs are a driving force among many church planters in North America. There are almost 7000 unreached people groups in the world. The United States is the third largest nation in the world with 76% of the population comprised of non-evangelicals. We also have an estimated 550 unreached people groups living in the United States and Canada.

However, not everything is coming from theological and missiological convictions. 

Church planting is now cool; it is trendy. There was a time in the United States when church planting was a route that some individuals took simply because they could not locate an established church to pastor. Church planting was sometimes viewed as a last resort for a ministry position. A significant cultural shift has now occurred among evangelicals related to the value of church planting in North America. However, when such a value shift occurs, we often find a portion of the population driven by pragmatism and the romanticism of starting something new and avoiding the cultural traditions of an established church that are sometimes troublesome. 

There are so many different models for planting a church. How can we make sense of all the models out there?

Models are important; but they should not be our primary concern. Models are not only developed out of different contexts but also reflect the cultural preferences, gifts, talents, and passions of those that developed such models. Models are helpful. They move us from the theory to field realities. All church planters use models. Because of the cultural differences across the nations represented in the world today, we should approach models as if we are panning for gold. Know the strengths and limitations of some models, but sift them for their golden nuggets that you and your team should apply to your context. Church planting is not about cloning a model. 

Know the principles for church planting and apply them to the people. Think missiologically about the people and then contextualize the methods among that people. Allow the cultural flavor of the new church to come about from the people, rather than bringing a model to them and attempting to make them fit into it. 

The prevailing model of North American church planting is expensive and doesn't scale well. Do you see this changing? 

Yes, I see it changing but not always for the right reasons. For example, some churches, agencies, and denominations are already starting to adjust their strategies and philosophies simply because the money is not there. Pragmatism, rather than theological and missiological convictions, are bringing about changes.

However, some are starting to make healthy changes based on biblical and missiological convictions. Though such parties are small in number at this time, they are working to keep matters biblical, simple, and highly reproducible. 

For the past decade, I (and a handful of others in North America) have been advocating the need to return to the Scriptures and recognize the apostolic nature of church planting. I wrote Discovering Church Planting and The Barnabas Factors with this approach in mind. Especially in post-Christianized contexts, we need to return to small missionary teams that are willing to approach their labors with planned role changes. They begin by doing the work of evangelists. Then they begin teaching obedience to the new disciples in small groups (community). Next, the team leads the group to unite as a local church. The team then works with the church to raise up pastors for the body. Finally, the team begins work elsewhere in order to continue the work of planting a network of churches. It is during this last stage that the team continues to mentor and equip the new pastors of the first church planted. 

The team is a scaffold not a permanent fixture. They must become less in order to empower and release the new believers for multiplication across their social networks. 

I love your definition of church planting as evangelism that results in new churches. What are some of the implications of this definition for how we plant churches?

If we are talking about seeing churches birthed from the harvest fields, then such is primarily an apostolic task. It is seeing churches planted with new Kingdom citizens instead of planting churches with 95-100% long-term Kingdom citizens. It will require us to think about keeping matters simple and reproducible as we teach new believers what it means to obey all that Jesus commanded.

The implications of such a definition involve the removal of the coolness and hip factor from church planting. Think about it. What story is the most exciting to hear: a new church of ten people that was planted last year comprised of 100% new disciples or a church that was planted last year now running 200 people (with 95% long-term Kingdom citizens) with a great praise team, elaborate children’s program, and a practical sermon series for Christian families? We want to hear the latter story, even though it costs $150,000 to plant, is very difficult for the people to reproduce across their social networks, and immediately has 190 people with a multitude of cultural expectations for what it means to be a follower of Jesus and a church in the United States.

There are over four billion people in the world without Jesus—and over two billion who have never heard the gospel. Strategy is a matter of stewardship. In light of this global reality, we North Americans are poor stewards when it comes to church planting strategy. We talk about multiplication, but our strategies do not reflect it.

I am a pastor and presently in my twenty-first year since my call to vocational ministry. I have been—and continue to be—involved in raising up pastors. I am a strong advocate for 40-50 minute, monological, expository sermons (give or take a minute or two ☺ ), great praise teams (I used to play guitar in a band), and excellent children’s programs (I have three young kids)—for established churches mainly comprised of long-term kingdom citizens. However, church planting is missionary work. It is more apostolic and less pastoral. It is about raising up new believers, not working to fulfill the desires of long-term Kingdom citizens. It is about allowing church culture to develop, not bringing church culture to the people. 

In much of North America today, church planting is almost exclusively pastoral. And whenever we approach a missionary task with a pastoral missiology, then we often end up with strategies, methods, and labors that are more designed with the long-term Kingdom citizen in mind. I have written extensively about this matter on my blog:

• Apostolic Missiology: Part 4-It’s Not About Church Planting
• When a Biblical Model is Viewed as Unusual
• Apostolic Missionaries and the Urban Contexts

You moved into a new role last year as Pastor of Church Multiplication at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham. Can you tell us about your role and how we can pray for you?

Thank you so much for asking. I greatly appreciate that. 

I am incredibly honored and blessed to be able to serve as one of the pastors for a wonderful group of saints. I am so thankful for this faith family. 

I oversee our church planting efforts in North America and work closely with our Global Disciple Making pastor to equip our international missionaries for church planting. We are working closely to integrate the worlds of domestic and international. I also oversee our leadership development process for multiplying small group leaders, pastors (some to serve Brook Hills and some to be sent to serve established churches), and missionaries.

Thanks, J.D.

J. D. Payne serves as the pastor of church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He has served churches in Kentucky and Indiana and with several church planting teams. He is the author of several books on missions and evangelism and a former seminary professor and missionary. He blogs regularly at jdpayne.org and may be found on Twitter at @ jd_payne.

1. Churches need to stop hiding mental illness
2. The congregation should be a safe place for those who struggle
3. We should not be afraid of medicine
4. We need to end the shame

7 Questions about Suicide and Christians

As well-publicized suicides tend to increase the suicide rate quite dramatically, I thought it would be good to address seven of the questions that arise in our minds at times like this.

Steve Jobs and the Goal of Preaching

To faithfully communicate the whole counsel of Scripture in all its diversity, we must labor to free our people from the tyranny of felt needs so they can see beauty and life-giving goodness even in textual obscurity.

Should a pastor be discouraged about his declining church?

Sometimes God takes us through ups and downs and there is so much more to evaluate on a church’s health than whether your numbers are “higher” this year than last.

Questions that every Christian should be able to answer

The Scriptures clearly show Christians having close relationships with each other. These relationships go beyond Sundays. Are you living out what God really has for you? Ask yourself the following questions

‘Who Are You Sleeping With?’ My Conversation with Timothy Keller

Keller pointed out that it’s a pretty easy bet that when you have a kid coming home with questions about evolution or philosophy, or some such issue, the prior issue is a troubled conscience.

6 Ways You Can Find the Time to Think Deeply

1. Write to organize your thoughts
2. Read to spur new ideas
3. Drive the same route everyday
4. Walk your dog
5. Take long showers
6. Organize your workspace

I'm grateful for the list of the Top 200 Ministry Blogs compiled by ChurchRelevance.com. I always learn a lot from that list every time it's updated.

I've often wished that someone would do the tedious work of taking that list of 200 or so blogs and converting them to a file that I could import into my RSS reader. That would save the work of going through each of the blogs and adding them manually. I finally gave up waiting for someone else to do the work, and did it myself, with a little help.

So here are the files. You can download the complete list, or just the top 100 or 50, or a compressed file with all of these options:

• Top 200+ Ministry Blogs
• Top 100 Ministry Blogs
• Top 50 Ministry Blogs
• Top Ministry Blogs (compressed)

What can you do with these files? Download them by clicking on the link (or right-clicking and saving the file). Import them into your preferred RSS reader like Feedly or Google Reader (while it lasts). Most blog readers support importing a list of blogs in this format. You can also import them into a program like Fever, which is what I plan to do.

Enjoy!

I’ve spent twenty years pastoring established churches, and about a year beginning to plant a new church. I’m not really sure which one is harder. I do know, though, that I’d go about pastoring an established church differently than before. Here’s what I would do differently.

Ask deeper questions. When a pastor candidates at a church, both the candidate and the church see what they want to see. It’s easy to miss some of the deeper issues that really need to be surfaced. Tom Rainer recently posted a list of questions to ask as a potential pastor, and they’re really helpful. Here’s a few questions from his list: What was the topic of your last contentious business meeting? What is something I might say from the pulpit that would cause a number of members to cringe? What is the biggest mistake made by any of your previous pastors? Questions like this will help unearth issues that may otherwise not come up.

Cultivate realistic expectations. I talked to a pastor who was discouraged about his church’s lack of growth under his leadership. The reality is that he had walked into a very bad situation after years of decline. It was like being called to pitch at the bottom of the ninth inning when the score is 17-2 against you. We want to believe that turnaround will be quick, but it’s often very difficult. Brian Croft writes, “Remember what you have inherited and if it took 30 years of decline to get your church where you find it today, it might take 30 years to change the pattern.  But God’s gospel and word is powerful enough to do just that over time.” Are you prepared to invest the time and do the work if it’s longer and harder than you expect?

Voice convictions. I think Al Mohler is right: convictions are the key to leadership. If you don’t have firm convictions, then you aren’t going to be a good leader. If you aren’t honest about your convictions, and ready to turn down opportunities that don’t line up with those convictions, then you’re not being fair to yourself or the church.

Find allies. We somehow buy into the myth that a single pastor can come in and turn things around. It’s bunk. It takes a team, and even then it’s hard. If you don’t have people (staff or key members of the church) standing with you, it’s going to be very difficult to turn a church around.

Look for footholds. I’d look for a few key areas. Is there an attitude of humility and teachableness? That attitude will make up for almost anything else. Does the church value preaching? That provides a foothold to apply God’s truth to the situation. Without a few footholds like this, it’s going to be very tough indeed.

Pray. I really love what Bill Hogg, missiologist with C2C Network, says about church turnaround: “It’s not about coming up with a plan. The first order of business is to surrender to Jesus. The idea is not to work a plan but to hear from the Lord, and then from dependance upon Him walk in obedience to what he speaks into the life of the church.” Strategic plans may be important, but we can’t strategically plan our way out of deadness. More than anything, we need the Lord.

Pastoring an established church in need of turnaround is tough work. If you’re pastoring one now, don’t be discouraged. If you’re looking at pastoring one, do your homework and be prepared for the task ahead of you.

I’ve read and listened to a lot of material on missional community, but this is one of the first examples I’ve seen of people living this way in Toronto. Here’s some of what I’ve learned from this couple so far:

Pray. One of the two began praying about living in community and on mission ten years ago. It took nine years before God worked to make it possible. Don’t underemphasize the importance of praying that God will work in your life to make it possible for you to do this.

Don’t do it alone. One of them tried doing this alone, but it didn’t really work. It takes two or more together. People don’t need another friend; they need a community. If you are just one more friend, even a good one, then people see it as just being your personality. When two very different people live on mission together where they live, then people begin to understand that it’s God working in you. Besides, it can be a lot less creepy than if you try to initiate significant relationships alone.

Be intentional and be yourself. Living on mission together is not complicated, but it’s hard. It takes time, which is incredibly costly. Make deliberate decisions to build relationships with those around you, and be yourself. Be honest about your shortcomings and your own struggles.

Eat. Living on mission together, they say, is pretty much one meal after another. You see this in the gospels. You’re going to eat anyway, so use meals as a way to connect relationally with others.

Follow your interests. Use your passions to connect with others. This couple started a writer’s group. Use whatever hobbies or interests you have to build relationships with others.

Keep short accounts. You can’t live on mission together without working through relational issues. Deal with them before they impede God’s work. You will make mistakes; apologize quickly to those around you, both Christians and those who aren’t.

God works through imperfect people. This couple is far from perfect, as are all of us. Don’t wait until you arrive before you start to live on mission.

Trust the Word. One of the two runs a Bible study in the condo. It’s only one of the things they do as they build relationships, and not everybody is interested, but they strongly believe that God does his work as people encounter the power of God’s Word.

Expect small things. Don’t underestimate that God will work in significant ways through seemingly small things. You don’t know what God will do through the one person you love in Jesus’ name. Even if you only ever build deep relationships with six people, God can do a work through those.

This is just some of what I’ve been learning. For more on missional communities, check out some of the following:

Soma School Session Four: Building Missional Communities

Missional Community Resources by Todd Engstrom

1. Is the church’s teaching based on the Bible?
2. Is the church a praying church?
3. Is the church driven by a Great Commission focus?
4. Is the church reaching non-believers?
5. Is the church keeping and discipling new believers who join?
6. Is the church both locally and globally minded?
7. Does the church have a strategic plan for future growth?
8. Are the leaders committed to the ministry of the church?

5 Lies that Kill Obedience

1. You are above this
2. You are below this
3. If you were better, this would be easier
4. If it isn't happening now, it never will
5. You are alone

Leading the Church While Leading your Family

Can we really be effective pastors and good husbands and dads? Do we really have to choose between the church and our family?

In this article I’ll argue it does not have to be an “either/or.”

Pastors and Their Critics: Pastors

With these things in mind, the pastor should know that he will receive criticism; not if but when. Therefore, let us ministers, as the Authorized Version has it, "quit ourselves like men" and prepare for it.

Pastors and Their Critics: Critics

The important thing is that, when you come to offer a criticism to your minister, you make it constructive criticism…

With that in mind, here are three things to consider when offering a criticism to your pastor.

APEST: Not So Fast! : A PushBack on APEST as a Model For Church Leadership

We think we have a missing piece of the puzzle that has held the church back for hundreds of years but in the end maybe we are missing the proverbial forest for the Ephesians 4:11 tree.

15 Characteristics of Today's Unchurched Person

Post-modernism has a deeper toe-hold here than in almost anywhere in American except perhaps the Northwest and New England, where it might be about the same.

Here are characteristics of unchurched people that I’m seeing today.

4 Ways to Respond to the Gay Community

1. Patiently Listen
2. Personally Repent
3. Gently Instruct
4. Mercifully Pursue and Then Engage the Heart

The Haddon Robinson Principle: How to Burn your Sermon into the Brains of Your Audience

So here’s our principle: Preach with a pin, not with a hammer. A pin is a narrow, focused point designed to penetrate through surfaces. A hammer has a wide, flat surface, and its designed to bat around and flatten the outer layers. If we want preaching that penetrates the heart, we must preach with a pin.

Some Practical Help for Leading a Prayer Meeting

If you want to establish a culture of discipleship then prayer is a must. You must pray for it to happen but you must also pray to sustain and support it. People learn to pray by praying.

As we look at history prayer meetings are romantic. But you’re on the clock now; it’s time to make some history, it’s time to write the story.

7 Things Every Pastor Should Do Every Week on Social Media

1. Thank A Volunteer
2. Show Your Humanity
3. Bite Sized Sermon
4. Post a “Behind the Scenes” Pic
5. Encourage Other Pastors
6. Ask for Feedback
7. Dip into the Stream

Small is Good

According to Jesus, small things make a huge amount of difference. Small things are very significant when your perspective is right.