Warning—if you haven't seen or if you plan on seeing Moana, there are spoiler alerts aplenty in this post! In part one of this series, I explained the why and how-to process of using the stories in movies to teach kids…
Change happens through relationship; the come-as-you-are, warts-and-all, Christ-like-love kind of relationship. One of humanity’s greatest needs is to know and be known, to be in deep relationships. God is a very relational God, and as image-bearers of Him we…
This week we released the first of this year's helpful tools, Annual Planning: Hopes & Dreams! Resource overview for 2017 The primary plan for this year will focus on making our current resources easier to use with new guides,…
(Part five in the Raising Financial Support series from Tim Parlier. Read part six here.) Our world needs you. Specifically, they need Jesus. But for some reason I’ll hopefully one day understand, He chose to use knuckleheads like us to introduce Him…
Where are the dry places that need life? Habakkuk 2:14 tells us a day is coming when the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord will fill the earth like the water covers the sea. Recently I woke early…
(Part four in the Raising Financial Support series from Tim Parlier. Read part five here.) I don’t know what the Spirit is desiring to speak to you through my story, but I want you to allow Him some space to speak to…
But we fail if we don’t give them Jesus. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, states: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for…
(Part three in the Raising Financial Support series from Tim Parlier. Read part four here.) Let's turn our attention from the internal struggle of support-raising and look at a variety of specific pragmatics to help you get and stay funded. This time I…
(Part two in the Raising Financial Support series from Tim Parlier. Read part three here.) When dealing with financial support raising, there's an arguably the more painful position: denial. Despair: Although similar to denial, this response emotionally could be called the “low-denial” where…
Transitioning Teams of Missionaries to Missional Communities
Enjoy this final post in Todd's Engstrom's short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people. In the last post, we looked at the move from small groups…
(Part one in the Raising Financial Support series from Tim Parlier. Read part two here.) It’s hard to be effective in your role when there is a crushing fear in the back of your mind that you won’t be able to pay…
Focusing too early on what I think they should do can actually rob them of the creative thinking and self-discovery they actually need. One of my life’s great passions is seeing others unleashed for the mission of God. I find…
Transitioning Small Groups to Teams of Missionaries
Post three in a short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people by Todd Engstrom. Read part four here. In the last post, we looked at…
Post two in a short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people by Todd Engstrom. Read part three here. In the last post, we looked at…
Prayerful Planning for the Extrovert (and Introvert)
In the world of missional communities and church-planting, there’s a real misconception that to be effective you’ve got to be blowing the doors off your house every week. I wasn’t born a planner, but out of necessity I’ve gotten…
Turning Group Culture With The Same Group of People
Post one in a short series by Todd Engstrom on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people. Read part two here. Community Group: The primary need of people in…
It’s one thing to teach people what to do and how, but it’s an entirely different experience to give them the equipment to do it on their own. When I was 16 my grandfather invited me spend the summer working…
Guest post by Rankin Wilbourne. Until you grasp and live out of your union with Christ, the Bible’s call to holiness will be oppressive, unbearable, and impossible. Imagine a “great Christian” day. You start the day early in prayer. You…
(This post is part of 2-part series about all-of-life discipleship. Part 1 here.) 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…
(Part one a new series from Alan Hirsch. Read part two here.) The way we think of ourselves and conceive our most basic purposes in this world make a massive difference in the way we behave. I really do believe…
Guest post by Jayne Vanderstelt. Keep in mind, when we think about children and our missional community, we ask: How can our children join us in the overall mission? How do we disciple them all week long? How do…
We need people who have access to our lives, ask us hard questions, probe our motivations, and remind us of the freedom we’ve been given in Jesus. In a post I wrote a few years ago, I discussed how the…
Have we finished the work you have for us to do in this place? Recently I was asked this question: How do you know when/if it's okay to leave a church? (My husband is a pastor on staff.) The…
If left to my own devices, the organization I lead would be fast-paced, effective, busy, and discontent. Because that’s how I am. Whatever shapes our yokes of leadership take, that truth adds weight as they sit on our shoulders.…
I live unbound to the ideas of who I think I should be; instead I choose to be who God created me to be. “Let your light shine before others so that they see your good deeds and glorify…
Getting believers to obey God together in the midst of non-Christians is one of the most powerful witnesses to the gospel we have. I recently sat down with Brian Daniel from LifeWay's Groups Ministry blog to talk about helping churches and…
Walking through life with people – sharing in the day to day. Several years ago we went to San Diego for three weeks to visit my family. While there, I kept thinking about my new friend, I missed her and…
Christians = ministers of the gospel. In light of the escalating racial tragedies in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas, we as Gospel Ministers, have a responsibility to bring greater gospel clarity and comfort. The gospel makes it clear God…
Listen. Bless. Serve. Enjoy. July in Washington means the wet clouds have been chased away by longer sunny days, the Northwest hibernators are coming out of their caves. Summer in the Pacific Northwest is the best time to meet…
Have you ever had to make a weighty decision on your own? It can be agonizing, wondering if you are going about it in the right way or not. Unfortunately, this is how most people make decisions in our…
So much of life is ordinary. In Part 1 of this series, I gave some practical ways to speak the gospel, focusing on core doctrines and implications. In Part 2, I would like to talk about some of…
Think back to some of your most powerful times of growth. Maybe a friend or mentor challenged something you said by asking, “how can that be true?” Maybe a spouse confronted you by saying, “tell me more about what…
How would you respond to that question? Let me give you the context, and ask you again: you’re a night security guard, and presumably the only Christian in your workplace. Another guard suddenly sticks his head into your office.…
Tell me if this sounds familiar… Going to "church" on Sunday mornings (maybe arguing on the way), reading your Bible when you can squeeze it in, praying here and there, tithing, attending a church outreach event or potluck, and…
Proverbs 20:5 tells us “the purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out”. Think about this word picture we are being given by the author. There is a deep…
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