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3 Connections for First-Time Visitors

Dayton Hartman

Hospitality is a defining feature of the Christian life, individually and of the church corporately. The Apostle Paul calls us to be a welcoming people because we have experienced the gracious welcome of Christ (Rom. 15:7). To put it another...
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Tempted to Be Exceptional

Barnabas Piper

Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods stood alone in their fields as cutthroat geniuses. General Stanley McChrystal, Jocko Willink, James Stockdale and other fine military men offer lessons on leadership in extreme circumstances. Winston Churchill was the Last Lion....
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Overcoming Isolation and Burnout in Church Planting: Building for the Long Haul

Dan Steel

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
 — African Proverb Starting a church often feels like something of an adventure. There’s early energy, vision, anticipation, and a belief that God will...
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3 Categories to Consider Before Appointing a Leader

Jon Kelly

The appointment of leaders is all throughout the Scriptures. Whether it is Moses delegating responsibilities to other leaders at the recommendation of Jethro, Jesus entrusting authority to the Twelve, or Paul giving Timothy counsel on appointing leaders within the church,...
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Spurgeon’s Concern for Pastors

J.A. Medders

John Piper warned us years ago, “Brothers, we are not professionals.” The leadership-guru-ization of pastoral ministry is a corrosive danger. Piper’s warning isn’t a call to abandon excellence and diligence. It’s a siren, a lighthouse, a bulletin to not approach...
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Reimagining Prayer for the New Year

Ronnie Martin

As hard as it is to believe, New Year’s resolutions are about to ramp up again, and to be honest, I’m here for it. The reason why I happen to be pro-New Year’s resolutions is because I like a blank...
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Church Planters Must Fight for Friendship

Noah Oldham

There’s an infamous rumor that church planting is a lonely journey. Since 2020, one of my responsibilities has been to oversee Church Planter and Spouse Care for the largest church planting network in North America. For the previous nine years,...
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When I Don’t Feel Like a Pastor

Barnabas Piper

Recently one of our elders, as we were milling about waiting for our monthly meeting to start, looked me in the eye and said, “You know you’re our pastor, right? Like, a real pastor.” Some discernment in him recognized in...
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5 Reasons Disunity Happens in Church Plants

Dan Steel

One of the questions I’m often asked about, when discussing why church plants struggle, is whether any of the results were particularly surprising. In one sense, the answer is no. Having served as a pastor and planter for over 20...
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How to Lighten the Leadership Load

Mark Lee

In 1991, doctors at Stanford University Medical Center removed a 300-pound tumor from the stomach of a 34-year-old woman. The tumor was twice the size of her natural body weight! Reporters asked her the obvious question, “Why did you wait...
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The Most Important Arena of a Planter’s Life

J.A. Medders

Self-care is all the rage these days. I think Spurgeon wouldn’t mind the term—if we are talking about tending to our lives for the purpose of godliness and giving the gospel to others. The first lecture in Spurgeon’s Lecture’s to My Students focuses on the...
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4 Steps for a Membership Process

Noah Oldham

I can still remember the jingle from a gym in St. Louis. “Ten bucks, ten bucks, ten bucks…Club Fitness! Better fitness, better price!” Ten dollars. That’s the hook in the jingle, as well as the hook to get you in...
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5 Biblical Reasons to Make a Woman an Early Hire

Jen Oshman

Church planting is exhausting, round-the-clock work. When we planted over seven years ago, every family member poured themselves out for the task. Along with our church-planting friends, we did everything from counseling and teaching to web design and childcare. So...
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7 Principles of an Honest Church Leader

Barnabas Piper

It doesn’t matter the size or polity of your church, you cannot have a healthy leadership culture (or church culture) without having an honest leadership culture. Without honesty, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no relationship, no togetherness,...
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2 Renewal Practices for Pastors

Ronnie Martin

I am always struck by the different kinds of environments pastors find themselves in. I’m in a context where things like rest and renewal are talked about often. Many of the churches in the network I serve have either taken...
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I’m the Problem, It’s Me

Dan Steel

Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” from the 2022 Midnights album is a self-reflective track dealing honestly with her insecurities, quirks, foibles, imperfections, and flaws—seeing herself as her own worst enemy. It’s catchy and light-hearted (and I apologize if you’re singing it for the...
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9 Best Practices for Leading a Residency

Gus Hernandez Jr.

On a recent trip to Legoland Florida with my family, I came across a mind-blowing stat about Lego brick combinations. A Danish mathematics professor, Søren Eilers, calculated that with only 6 identical 2×4 Lego bricks of the same color, you...
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4 Ways to Create a Culture of Prayer

Jon Kelly

Prayer is as essential to the life of the Christ follower and the work of God as blood is to the body. It was the practice of the ancient church to regularly pray together. Scripture states that the apostles, “with...