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Planting Beyond Paul: Recovering the New Testament’s Diverse Models 

Dan Steel

There’s a script that dominates much contemporary church planting. The planter is visionary, pioneering, and entrepreneurial. The planter moves into new territory, gathers a core team, grows a congregation through evangelism, strong preaching, and clear vision (and maybe great coffee),...
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Leading Without Losing Heart

Jon Kelly

In Season and Out of Season Leadership—especially pastoral leadership and church planting—is both a sacred privilege and a profound weight. It invites you into moments of breathtaking joy and gut-wrenching sorrow, often in the same week, sometimes in the same conversation. It...
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When You’re Feeling Stuck

Ronnie Martin

The phrase “feeling stuck” likely elicits a visceral reaction. It recalls a moment in the past or a feeling in the present when you feel stifled, pressed in, unable to progress, or held back from moving forward. It could be...
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Strong Leaders Need Strong People

Noah Oldham

Church planters often look at King Saul as the prototype of failure—an anxious, self-protective leader whose insecurity and disobedience eventually led to God removing his kingdom (and ending his life). That reading is true. Saul is a warning sign on...
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Hard Work and God’s Grace

Barnabas Piper

How many times have you been asked some version of the question, “So, what do you do between Sundays?” The impression many people have is that pastors roll into church on Sundays, preach a sermon, pray with some folks, and...
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Parenting Strong-Willed Kids in the Pressure of Church Planting

Heather Oldham

Church planting exposes a lot about us and about our kids. The expectations feel heavy, the spotlight can feel invasive, and the constant sense of being watched can make the normal messiness of parenting feel like public commentary on your...
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Carrying Your Past Into Christmastime

Ronnie Martin

If you’re like me (or … nothing at all like me), you have still probably seen a gazillion film or stage adaptations of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. One of the beautiful features of Dickens’ story is that it...
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Planting in Babylon: How the Old Testament Shapes Church Planting in a Pluralistic World

Noah Oldham

If you’re planting a church today, you’re doing it in Babylon.  You may be in a rural town, a fast-gentrifying neighborhood, or a dense urban core—but culturally, we’re all in exile. You’re pastoring people who are discipled daily by secular...
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Table Flipping and Righteous Anger

Barnabas Piper

“Even Jesus flipped tables.” If you, like me, have ever uttered these words in defense of your own anger (or heard someone do so), then I am writing to you. The story of Jesus driving out the money changers from...
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Church Planting Beatitudes: Valuing What Jesus Values

Dan Steel

And, dressed in sneakers, when he saw the crowds, he entered the rented auditorium and stood up. His core team came to him, he switched on the projectors, and he began to teach them.  Blessed are the self-sufficient, for they...
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7 Points for Preaching a Christmas Sermon

J.A. Medders

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. The lights, decorations, food, gifts, family time, and gospel doctrine make it a special time of year.  There are many moving pieces and items calling for a preacher’s attention during...
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Building Your Launch Team

God does not use a lone individual to start a church.
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Modeling the Mission

Noah Oldham

When Paul planted the church in Philippi, he didn’t just preach a sermon—he modeled what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus in a new community. For church planters and their teams, Acts 16 provides a blueprint for...
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6 Ways to Guard Your Church’s Culture

Barnabas Piper

I suspect most people in church leadership have had a conversation with a church member that started something like, “Man, remember when X-and-such ministry was so much better,” or “Things used to feel so much different around here, I miss...
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Why You Must Plant with Excellence—and Humility

Dan Steel

In Christian ministry, few words spark as much nervousness as excellence. On the one hand, the word carries rich biblical resonance. Paul urges the Corinthians to “excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love...
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The One Story Every Church Planter Must Tell

J.A. Medders

To plant well—to preach, teach, counsel, and evangelize well—we must think rightly about what the Bible is. And what it is not. We know it’s God’s Word; it’s inspired, it’s God speaking to us. I also want you to see—and...
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How to Stay Steadfast in Unmet Expectations

Ronnie Martin

We talked about it for years. We longingly gazed at stories on Instagram. Every summer, we would say, “We just need to do it.” And then finally, this year, we did.    We booked a fall road trip through New...
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7 Time Management Tips for Busy Pastors (and Leaders)

Jon Kelly

Just about every pastor that I know feels that they are pressed for time. A lot to do, with very little time to accomplish everything. As time goes on, ministry demands become greater and more complicated. Family demands become greater,...