» 2006 » August

My call to fuel church planting movements came back October 1988. I wasn’t looking for it. The call found me. In fact, I wasn’t even looking to be a church planter. I stumbled into it.

For the last eighteen years I’ve been chipping away at fuelling church planting movements here in Australia and elsewhere. Every now [...]

Had a great time in Tasmania last week working on a vision to plant the NEXT1000 Aussie churches. But it’s left me with a flat battery and yes I have been avoiding the discipline of writing. Hope to get inspired tomorrow and write it up for the blog.

Meanwhile this just came in from Neil Cole. [...]

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate,not man. When this age is over, the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary [...]

Christendom has been getting some bad press lately. Not least from me.

But is that the whole story or is it a necessary correction?

As always the answer is both/and. If you like the case for the positive influence of Christianity in the world have a look at “What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us?: How [...]

Tips from Sam Metcalf to anyone out there who wants to keep a young. passionate, pioneering leader “under control”.

1. Force them to go to school
2. Give them too much money
3. Tell them all the reasons why something can’t be done.
4. Swamp them with paperwork and administration.
5. Give them people to lead who are excessively needy.
6. [...]

Ken Morgan is a good mate, former colleague, now with the Church Army and a seasoned coach. Here is his wisdom on coaching church planters:

Use a simple coaching model or framework to keep the coaching appointment on track. Listen a lot and be prepared to sit quietly with the planter as they wrestle and [...]

Outreach Magazine lists 7 Startling Facts about church attendance in America:
Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church—half of what the pollsters report.American church attendance is steadily declining.Only one state is outpacing its population growth.Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.Established churches—40 to 190 years old—are, on average, declining.The increase in [...]

This report from Kristen Hiller via Guy Muse in Ecuador:

Sunlight pours through the glass ceiling of the Fundacion Clemencia, flooding the great room where a small cluster of elderly residents clap their hands and sing: “Santo, santo, santo!” or “Holy, holy, holy!”

Had Jose and Adriana Salazar not taken in these abandoned elderly in Ecuador, they [...]

Off to the wilds of Tasmania this week to share, pray, and plan around a vision to plant the Next1000 new churches throughout Australia.

About 30 people responded to an email we sent around.

Why Tasmania? It’s remote, cold, wet, and hard to get to. So we figured it was the best way to attract the crazy [...]

Anglican church leader and author, David Watson is one of my heroes of the faith. “Fear No Evil” is the personal account of his losing battle with cancer. In January 1984 he flew to California to his friend, John Wimber’s Vineyard church for an intense time of prayer for healing. Experienced teams prayed with him [...]