December 7, 2021
Hope in God’s Help
READ PSALM 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you…
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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 15, 2021
Gospel City Hubs
We don’t go to church; we are the church. Our goal is not to get people to just come to our church gatherings. Our goal is to remind and equip the Church, God’s people, to be the means through which…
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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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November 2, 2021
Finding Jesus in the Waiting
Don't look now, but Christmas is coming. Just last week, before I could hide it, my kids tore through Target's holiday toy catalog. And this weekend, they admired Hallmark's Christmas display while we walked by on an October afternoon. PREPARING…
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October 26, 2021
On Mission this Halloween
October 31st offers a great opportunity for many to engage in new relationships with those around us or to revisit some old relationships with new missional intentionality. Regardless of what you think of the holiday and it's roots, the…
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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 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 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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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 17, 2021
Our Greatness, God’s Glory, and Work
When my boys were small, I stenciled a black tractor and Colossians 3:23 on a burlap sign and propped it on their bookcase: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” I wanted them to…
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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 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 13, 2021
Hospitality As Mission
As we enter in and entwine our lives with others through the practice of hospitality we get to experience both the "sweet" and "hard" of following Jesus. We get a taste of the Kingdom and we get to show…
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July 8, 2021
The Trials of Incarnational Living
How many times have I thought, “Lord, why did you call me to this?” A little over a year ago my family moved into the overlooked neighborhood our missional community had been serving for four years—the same neighborhood where…
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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 24, 2021
From Spiritual Orphans to Spiritual Sons
JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGOVlTYWZXZ3lOLVElMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF Spiritual Orphans "How many of you have been mentored?". "Not really" answered the majority of the mexican pastors on the call. The question and answers illustrate a common problem in the Latino Church. When it comes to leaders,…
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June 22, 2021
Recovering My Humanity
This fall, Jeff Schulte, founder of Tin Man ministries and Jeff Vanderstelt will be hosting Gospel Fluency for the Heart events. These events are designed to help us learn how to re-engage our emotions, experience Jesus as the healer…
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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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June 8, 2021
Following God on Mission in Queretaro, Mexico
The Story of Soma Queretaro "How are we going to do this?" my friend asked after agreeing to join me in planting a church in Queretaro City, Mexico. It was clear that this was not a simple move from one…
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June 3, 2021
The Call to Mission
Regardless of which ditch we have a tendency to fall in, regardless if we are more like Child 1 or Child 2, God in His love pursues us and sanctifies us with His grace and His truth as He…
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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 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 13, 2021
Toss Your Net
After working tirelessly only to see so many potential hopes, dreams, and plans for ministry fall apart, this past year has left many burnt-out and tempted to question their direction from the Lord. Additionally difficult, our culture has fostered…
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May 11, 2021
Gospel Saturation through Education
Do you want to see your community saturated with the gospel? A great place to start is considering how your vocation can promote the flourishing of your community and making disciples. In this guest blog post, Daniel McDonald shares…
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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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