On Ambition
One of the first Scriptures I memorized was a very obscure one. I don’t quote it very often because it seems to be so out of favor with the times and with the church planting culture to which I belong.
One of the first Scriptures I memorized was a very obscure one. I don’t quote it very often because it seems to be so out of favor with the times and with the church planting culture to which I belong.
Many who come to Christ through a new work have had either no experience of church or a bad experience of church, in which case they may not know how to act. I’m not talking about how to behave in church; I’m talking about how to be the church.
I have learned that as long as the fig tree is bearing fruit and the lampstand remains in place, the work can and should continue. Buying into the culture’s models of success and seeking to copy other churches’ growth rates can been pesticide to the church plantings of the Lord.
When we first set out planting Love Chapel Hill, one of our key theological influences was Wendell Berry. We were particularly impacted by his insights on the difference between a path and a road.
Here are the top ten things that Satan wants you to believe about starting a new church.
The churches I had experienced up to that point in my life were asking one primary question: What do we do to get by from week to week? But the driving question at this church planting church was: How do we advance the kingdom of God in and around this community?
Why do we plant churches? The answer is simple: Jesus Christ is the reason why we plant churches. The foundation of church planting and the entire Christian faith is Jesus Christ. Churches fall into error whenever they move away from Christ as their foundation.
As pastors, we often get to hear people’s faith and lack of faith stories and their church and why-they-don’t-go-to-church-stories. Over my 13 years of leading The Orchard and walking with notorious sinners and other scum, I have come to the conclusion that there are five kinds of churches and I am beginning to think five kinds of Christians as they relate to outsiders.
In 2011, compelled by a simple question, God’s mission and our part in it became clearer for us at Foundry Church. The question was asked, “If our church closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone in our community miss us?”
Our ability to draw people into the historic faith of the church using ancient liturgical tools in a fresh and enlivened way has been a huge help in setting us apart in our mission field and in our reaching and connecting with folks who haven’t had church as a part of their lives in a long time, if ever.
FAC ET SPERA: Work and Hope. What a fitting inscription. The seed is sown and watered by the sweat of the planter’s brow. But the harvest is out of our hands.
“What is best for The Kingdom will always be what is best for your church, but the equation doesn’t work the other way” is a sentence that gets repeated daily with the people and in the place I serve. This is not some new revelation, but it is one that often gets lost in the everyday work of pastoring.