Something Wonderful Is Happening

Something wonderful has happened in the last decade, something we haven’t ever seen happen in the U.S. and I’m not talking about Mr. Wonderful. I’m talking about something so wonderful that is makes me wish I were twenty again so I could have more of a part in it – something that I have […]

From Horses to the Moon: Something to Think About

I want you to think about the title to this blog post and ask yourself, “What has this to do with religion?” Here are my thoughts.

In less than 100 years the U.S. has gone from riding on horses to putting a man on the moon.  That’s incredible progress; it’s also a demonstration of how […]

The Number One Problem with Western Christianity: McGavran and Disciple Making

We all know 85% of churches in the West are in decline, so I wont go into that other than to say I know the cause for this decline. The number one problem with Western Christianity rests on its misunderstanding of the Church Growth movement and the liberalization of the Western Church. Let me […]

Unlearning Our Way Forward

I’m sure we would all agree that our world is changing faster than at any other time in our lifetime and most likely in all of history. And with such fast paced change we are watching many of the tried and true principles by which pastors have led and grown churches are no longer […]

Why I’m So Hopeful about Church Planting

I’ve never been more hopeful about church planting in the U.S. as I am today. I couldn’t say this a decade ago. What changed my attitude – the growing trend of small to medium sized churches that are planting multiple churches that are expected to plant multiple churches.

Some examples of my hope are:

City […]

A Prayer for Sanity

My denomination, The United Methodist Church, has just initiated a program called “Praying Our Way Forward.” This is a denomination wide program that begins with Phase One, which is encouraging all the Bishops to agree to spend 15 minutes a day between now and mid-November. So far 84 Bishops are signed up.

Now calling for […]

The Heart of a Level 5 Church

The one ingredient a Level 5 church cannot do without is radical discipleship. Raising up radical disciples is the underbelly of the exponential church planting movement. It’s impossible to exponentially plant churches without greatly expanding the breadth and depth of your disciples. So much of the focus of multiplication is on the raising up and […]

A Second Conversation with Ralph Moore

Not long ago I did a post on my conversation with Ralph Moore of Hope Chapel in Honolulu. In this conversation I asked Ralph if what I had heard was true – that at times he has given away a sizable portion of his existing congregation to plant churches and did some of them […]

Church Planting Isn’t the Goal: Interview with Wayne Cordeiro

Wayne Cordeiro is known for effectively planting hundreds of churches over a long period of years, but in a recent interview with me he said, “I’m learning that Church planting isn’t the goal; discipleship is!  Church planting is actually a byproduct of biblical discipleship.” Everyone needs to let that statement soak in. 

 Cordeiro has shifted […]