Barnabas Piper
“You can be impressive, or you can be known, but not both.” — Ray Ortlund Jr. The first time I heard these words, I had an epiphany. The dichotomy presented was the very tension I had so long lived in...
Dayton Hartman
Central to the gathering of God’s people is the preaching of God’s Word. Every pastor I know would heartily affirm that statement. However, belief drives action. What you believe will be revealed by what you do. So, my question is...
New Churches Podcast Season 3 Episode 2
Host Matt Carter welcomes Noah Oldham, Bryan Loritts, and Trevin Wax to discuss the importance of relationships in church planting as part of the nine essentials of a faithful and effective church planter series.
New Churches Podcast Season 3 Episode 1
Host Jeff Medders welcomes Tony Merida, Jared C. Wilson, and Vance Pitman for a new season of the New Churches podcast to discuss the nine essentials of a faithful and effective church planter!
Dan Steel
One problem in the church-planting world is that the stories we hear, the books we read, and the people we admire are often anomalies. They are the outliers. The rare success stories capture our hearts, help us dream, and inspire...
J.A. Medders
The “9 Essentials of a Faithful and Effective Church Planter” is a framework for assessment, training, coaching, and resourcing church planters. Here is a quick overview. Every sport has metrics for what makes an ideal athlete. Speed, wingspan, IQ, mechanics,...
Tony Merida
We believe that the better equipped a church planter is, the more missionally effective church he’ll plant. In this free eBook by Tony Merida, you will learn about the qualities for faithful and effective ministry that provide the foundation for...
Gus Hernandez Jr.
Have you ever ended up in the wrong location? Navigation woes can be quite frustrating! Several years ago, my wife and I were driving up to visit her family in Delaware for Christmas. After driving all day, we decided to...
Noah Oldham
In seminary, I took a class called “Baptist History.” It was touted as the hardest class in the MDiv program because it covered such a breadth of details that make up the history of Baptistic faith and practice. I took...
Mark Lee
My parents were born in Seoul, Korea. I was born in Portland, Oregon. My parents lived through a war when they were children. My most traumatic childhood experience was when the guacamole gun at the Taco Bell went dry. In...
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...
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....
“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...
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,...
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...
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...
New Churches Podcast Season 2 Episode 12
In this final episode of the season, host Jeff Medders is joined by fellow laborers Vance Pitman, Tony Merida, and Matt Carter to dive into Paul’s closing words for his protege in Titus 3:12-15.
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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