December 15, 2021
Celebrating God’s Work in 2021
God has been at work in and through all of us this past year. It would take volumes to describe all that He has done. Our team is so encouraged by the way we see God at work in and…
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December 14, 2021
The Missional Heart of Advent
The holiday season is one of the busiest times of year for most of us. We buy gifts, decorate the house, visit loved ones, enjoy traditions, and plan big get-togethers. Although 30% of all charitable giving happens in December and…
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November 30, 2021
Trusting the Process
My husband has on occasion accused me of thinking I have a superpower: the power to identify what’s wrong in someone else’s life and the right to tell her what she should do to fix it. But we all know…
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November 22, 2021
Missional Community Living
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” - King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:1 This past weekend my two boys and I road-tripped deep into Appalachia, passing through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. Our…
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November 9, 2021
Vocation and Discipleship
As a lay elder who works a full-time job in the corporate world, I have long been intrigued by the role of vocation in the Christian life. Christians throughout church history have worked in all manner of vocations. In the…
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November 4, 2021
Advent Resources for 2021
Waiting. Waiting etches itself into the experience of every son and daughter of God through the pains of bondage, plague, drought, and storm. Sarah and Abraham waited for Isaac. Joseph waited for his brothers and God’s grace to make evil…
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October 19, 2021
Listening Well
I recently observed a conversation a few Christians were having with a man who has yet to come to faith in Jesus. It was amazing to me, and saddening, to watch the Christians missing the point of this man’s…
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October 12, 2021
Reading Your Bible is Not the Goal. God Is.
Relationship or Discipline (or both)? How is your relationship with Christ these days? This question is one that is quite familiar in Christian circles. Knowing that our passion for God has a tendency to ebb and flow, often we disciple…
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October 5, 2021
The Things We Carry
When I was heading to Memphis for the recent Gospel Fluency of the Heart training, I happened to throw Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried in my bag. I didn’t realize its relevance to the subject at hand—the gospel and…
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September 28, 2021
Finding Being in Our Boasting
Bragging about what we have attained and accomplished is a constant temptation. It’s also evidence of our deepest desires to be good enough. We’re searching for evidence of right being through right doing. Boasting is an expression of our desire…
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September 23, 2021
Pastor, Let Your Plans Get Interrupted
When Plans Get Interrupted I am bi-vocational. That means I regularly wish I had more time to devote to all that I need to do (and want to do). My first year as bi-vocational pastor of my church was a…
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September 14, 2021
The Whole Story?
We have considered adding “Storyteller” as one of the team leadership roles for our missional communities. And I would love to fulfill this role. I love stories—especially stories of God’s faithfulness. But I’ve faced some ethical dilemmas in the past…
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September 7, 2021
Deacons
We are so excited about the release of our newest resource “Strong Church: Video Series + Workbook” that we want to offer everyone a glimpse into this new content. The Strong Church Video Series + Workbook is designed to assist you,…
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September 2, 2021
Leadership Development
We are so excited about the release of our newest resource "Strong Church: Video Series + Workbook" that we want to offer everyone a glimpse into this new content. The Strong Church Video Series + Workbook is designed to assist you,…
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August 31, 2021
What Does Community Look Like for You This Fall?
Early in the pandemic, it was said, “We are all in the same storm, but different boats.” This has proven to be true over the past year and a half, especially when it comes to missional communities or community groups.…
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August 23, 2021
15 Commitments of a Strong Church
“WE ARE ALL START-UPS NOW” This was Andy Crouch’s insightful prediction early on about the coming fallout for organizations in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. While many did not want to believe this was their situation, coming into Fall…
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August 12, 2021
Safety Amongst the Thorns
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your…
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August 10, 2021
Humility is Better Than Rightness
Often we clarify our convictions hoping to strengthen unity—“Here is what I believe… Who’s with me?” But what if a doctrine becomes destructive or divisive not because of what it is, but because of how we hold it? Isn’t it…
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August 5, 2021
Study Guides for Missional Communities
A missional community is a way to organize the church to gather and send groups of people on the mission of God. Simply put, a missional community is a group of people who are learning to follow Jesus together in…
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July 29, 2021
3 Key Environments to All-of-Life Discipleship
All-of-life discipleship—learning to follow, trust, and obey Jesus in the everyday stuff of life and training others to do the same—requires submitting to and obeying God’s Word in three key environments: life on life, life in community, and life…
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July 27, 2021
Jesus is Both the Motive and the Goal
This is an excerpt of Chapter One from Ben Connelly's newest book A Field Guide for Genuine Community, © Moody Publishers, 2021. Get your copy here or wherever you buy books. “We've Filed for Divorce.” That bombshell froze…
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July 20, 2021
A Life of Discipleship
Part of our own discipleship is “paying it forward”: seeing God not only work in us, for our own discipleship, but also seeing him work through us, for others’ discipleship The person and work of Jesus cannot remain as…
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July 15, 2021
We Are a Spiritual Family
This is an excerpt of Chapter One from Ben Connelly's newest book A Field Guide for Genuine Community, © Moody Publishers, 2021. Get your copy here or wherever you buy books. Throughout over twenty years of helping lead…
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July 6, 2021
There Must Be Something More
This is an excerpt of Chapter One from Ben Connelly's newest book A Field Guide for Genuine Community, © Moody Publishers, 2021. Get your copy here or wherever you buy books. Most of the Bible’s commands that translate into…
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June 29, 2021
5 Ways To Equip Disciples as Gospel Ministers
Church leader? Your job is not to do the ministry for the church, but to equip the church to be gospel ministers. Habakkuk 2:14 speaks of a day when “The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the…
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June 16, 2021
Why Join Soma School?
Soma School is a gospel-centered, missional ecclesiology immersion experience which exists to see pastors, planters, and leaders thoroughly gripped by the gospel. Soma School is a combination of white-board theology sessions, personal processing, and immersion within the life of a…
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June 14, 2021
How Do Spiritual Gifts Help Us Make Disciples?
Today we are releasing a sneak peek at one of four new videos in the Q+A series with Jeff Vanderstelt. We love getting to interact with your questions at live events, and want to bring that experience online through…
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June 10, 2021
Jesus’ Call to Come as We Are
Prior to meeting Jesus, we were lost and broken in desperate need for a Savior. However, such a necessity was not bound to our pre-salvific state. As believers who securely hold salvation by the name of Christ and are…
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May 27, 2021
We Choose Exhaustion
Throughout the years, I have come across a growing number of people on the cusp of burnout in communities and organizations across the spectrum of the gospel-centered discipleship movement. Many were close friends, few were acquaintances, and one of them…
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May 25, 2021
How Do You Hear From God?
Today we are offering a second sneak peek video into a new series with Jeff Vanderstelt that dives into your most asked questions. We love getting to interact with your questions at live events and have been encouraged by your response…
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May 20, 2021
Living on Mission This Summer
School is wrapping up, the days are getting longer, and with COVID restrictions easing, we are looking forward to making the most of this summer! Plans are being made for vacations, weddings, camping trips, family reunions, and playing in…
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May 19, 2021
Are Missional Communities Just a Passing Fad?
We love getting to interact with your questions at live events and this year we are bringing that experience online in our new Q+A Series. How do you disciple in a busy, individualistic culture? How do you learn to…
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May 6, 2021
A Call to Taste the Bread of Life
“Who will help me plant my seeds?” asked the Little Red Hen. “Not I,” said the dog. “Not I,” said the cat. “Not I,” said the duck. “Then, I will plant them myself,” said the Little Red Hen, and…
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April 29, 2021
What Are We Doing?
The world is a mess, you may have noticed. It’s been broken and aching for restoration since Genesis chapter 3. We see the brokenness everywhere, but the means for restoration often seems nowhere to be found—usually a result of…
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April 19, 2021
Reframing Where We Are
This blog is an excerpt from our recently released Leader Cohort Series. We designed this series of videos and guides to help groups of pastors and leaders to meet together in cohorts for the purpose of growing in health, learning…
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April 13, 2021
What Does Membership Have To Do With Gospel Saturation?
This year has left us all longing for more… more than pandemic fears and isolation, political unrest, racial injustices, economic challenges, and the weariness in our own souls. We long for hope, peace, and joy. We long for…
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