Friday, December 24, 2010

Seventh Quality of a New Church

VII. Effective Evangelism.

A. The biblical basis for effective evangelism is seen in Acts 2:47 (ESV) “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

B. All the numbers showing quantitative growth that we see in Acts and in the beginning of this study.

C. Effective evangelism is:
1. Spontaneous
2. Structured in the church to help the believers win people to the Lord.
3. Worship is “doxological evangelism.” (see Tim Keller’s understanding of Edmond Clowney’s view of evangelistic worship in Keller 2002, p. 218.
4. Relevant to the context of the local church taking into account both the culture around and the particular context where the church lives and ministers.
5. Is a part of almost everything the church does.
6. Not something that happens at set occasions but keeps on happening.
7. Followed by baptism and assimilation into the church life where believers continue to evangelize their friends.

 NOW EVALUATE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 TO WHAT DEGREE EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM IS TAKING PLACE IN YOUR CHURCH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Keller, Timothy J. 2002. “Reformed Worship in the Global City” chapter 4 in Worship by the Book, D. A. Carson, editor. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Sixth Quality of a Healthy Reproducing Church

Sixth Quality -- Effective Small Groups.

A. The biblical basis for small groups.

1. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, Acts 2:46 (ESV)
2. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Acts 5:42 (ESV)

B. Effective biblical small groups are:

1. Groups where people can truly relate to one another.
2. Groups where people can share their heart.
3. Groups where the Word of God is learned and applied.
4. Groups that have enjoy being together.
5. Groups that pray together.
6. Groups that multiply by giving birth to new groups.
7. Groups that seek to win others to Christ.

C. Are these types of groups growing and developing in your church?

 NOW TO EVALUATE:

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SMALL GROUPS IN YOUR CHURCH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Fifth Quality of a Healthy Reproducing Church

V. Biblically Balanced Personal and Corporate Worship.

A. John 4:23-24 (ESV) “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
B. Personal-regular worship and praise alone with God.
C. Corporate –regular worship and praise with other believers in the church.
D. Bob Logan explains that true biblical worship is both celebrative (touching the heart) and reflective (touching the mind)
E. Key questions:
1. Are the believers in the church taking time to worship God personally?
2. Is the church helping them in this?
3. Is corporate worship celebrative engaging the heart?
4. Is corporate worship reflective engaging the mind?
5. Are people learning more about God through worship?
6. Does the worship bring the believers into a greater experience with God?
7. Is the corporate worship balanced between receiving from God and responding to him?

 NOW EVALUATE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 TO WHAT DEGREE BALANCED WORSHIP IS TAKING PLACE IN YOUR CHURCH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Friday, October 22, 2010

Fourth Quality of a Healthy Reproducing Church

Spiritual Gifting Valued.
A. Biblical basis for this characteristic.

1. “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)

2. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” 1 Cor. 12:14-20 (ESV)

B. Questions in relation to spiritual gifts:

1. Do the members of the church know about spiritual gifts?
2. Do the members of the church know what their spiritual gifts are?
3. Have they done a survey to begin to get an idea of their gifts?
4. Has there been input from others so as to determine what their gifting might be?
5. Does ministry in the church fit spiritual gifting or is it a “fill in the gaps” approach?
6. Do people find joy in their ministry in the church or outside in relation to the church?

 NOW EVALUATE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 EVALUATE TO WHAT DEGREE SPIRITUAL GIFTING DETERMINES MINISTRY IN YOUR CHURCH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Friday, October 15, 2010

Third Quality: Leadership Development

III. Leadership Development.

A. Biblical basis for this characteristic.
1. “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” Mark 3:13-15 (ESV)

2. “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” Ephes. 4:11-12 (ESV)

B. Bill Hull says: “The goal of many individual churches is to transform a congregation of spectators being led by a minister into an army of ministers being led by a pastor.” (Hull 1990, 154)

 EVALUATION QUESTIONS:
1. Are followers becoming leaders?
2. What is happening to move people from “come and follow” phase to the “come and be with me phase?”
3. Are people being helped to develop in the area of their spiritual gifting(s)?
4. Are people working in the area of their spiritual gifting(s)?
5. Are there levels of leadership training?
6. How long does it take a person to move from being a part of the church to moving into leading in some way or other?

 NOW TO EVALUATE

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 EVALUATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP IN YOUR CHURCH


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Friday, September 17, 2010

Second Quality of a Healthy Church - True Discipleship

II. True Discipleship.

A. Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ "

B. John 15:8 (ESV) “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

C. True discipleship illustrated: Acts 2:42 (ESV) “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

D. This includes the following:
1. The Word of God.
2. True communion with other believers.
3. Meaningful worship.
4. Prayer.
5. Witnessing
6. Spiritual disciplines.

 NOW TO EVALUATE

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 EVALUATE TRUE DISCIPLESHIP IN YOUR CHURCH


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Saturday, September 4, 2010

10 QUALITIES OF A HEALTHY REPRODUCING CHURCH

TEN QUALITIES OF A HEALTHY REPRODUCING CHURCH
I. The Priority of the Word of God in General and the Gospel in Particular.A. This means that the Word of God is the touchstone and foundation for all that is done in the church and its ministries.
B. The doctrine of the church is the Word of God.
C. A healthy church majors on the following:
1. Faith preaching and teaching of the Word of God—especially expository preaching. (Dever 2004, 35-55)
2. Growth in the knowledge of the Word of God.
3. Concern for application of the Word of God to each life and the life of the church body.
4. Discernment of all that is done and taught by the Word of God.
D. The Gospel is very important in particular (Dever 2004, 76-95)
1. Is the Gospel regularly proclaimed in its fullness? I Cor 15:1-4
2. Are people living lives consistent with the Gospel. Galatians 2:14

 TIME TO DISCUSS AND EVALUATE
1. To what degree is the Word of God the priority in your church?
2. Are people growing the Word of God?
3. Can you see examples and illustrations of this in the church?
4. What change can be seen in lives by the Word of God at work?
“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” 1 Thess. 2:13 (ESV)
5. Is the Gospel the primary force in the life and ministry of the church?
6. Here is the time to work through this.
A. What will we keep on doing?
B. What will we do away with?
C. What will we emphasize more?
D. What will we add?

 NOW TO EVALUATE

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 EVALUATE THE PRIORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD IN YOUR CHURCH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Qualitative and Organic Growth

II. Qualitative Growth – what does God’s Word say?

A. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47 (ESV)

B. Then there is all the teaching found in the Epistles on the quality of life of new believers and its importance.

III. Organic or Infrastructural Growth – what does God’s Word say?

A. Organic growth must accompany quantitative growth as seen in the early church’s amazing growth.

“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:1-7 (ESV)

B. This is one of the reasons for what are called the “Pastoral Epistles.”

Now putting all this together, in the next blog we will look at the first of ten qualities of a healthy reproducing church.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Planting Healthy Reproducing Churches

The more I study church planting and multiplication, the more I am convinced that it is not enough to plant and multiply churches. We must plant and multiply healthy reproducing churches. So the question comes to the forefront, “What is a healthy reproducing church like?”

What I propose to do in this study is to put together those characteristics that, when put together, help us to see a healthy church. But as I start, I want to acknowledge being helped to understand the question of a “healthy church” but the following seven sources:

1. First and foremost, the Word of God.
2. Then my own experiences in church planting and work with church planters.
3. Research that I have been involved in.
4. The research done by Christian Schwarz and outlined in his book Natural Church Development.
5. The teaching given by Mark Dever in his book 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.
6. The church health survey as compiled by Jim Fann and his team in the Evangelical Free Church movement.
7. Other help that I have received in understanding each of these ten qualities from others.

But the question comes, “Why is it so important to have a healthy reproducing church?” The answer to that question is double.

First of all, that is what a truly biblical church is like.
Second, a healthy church leads to three kinds of necessary dynamic growth.

1. Quantitative growth – growth in the number of true disciples.
2. Qualitative growth – growth in the quality of true disciples.
3. Organic or infrastructural growth – the growth of healthy structures within the church energizing both the growth in number of conversions and the quality of those who are converted.

Let’s explain each of these three elements:

I. Quantitative Growth – what does God’s Word say?

A. This kind of growth is very predominant in the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 1:15 “a group numbering about a hundred and twenty”
Acts 2:41 “about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Acts 2:41 “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 4:4 “But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.”
Acts 6:1 “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing
( multiplying).”
Acts 6:7 “The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased (multiplied) rapidly.”
Acts 9:31 “the church…grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”
Acts 16:5 “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.”

B. This kind of growth continues to be mentioned in Paul’s letters.

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephes. 4:15-16 (ESV)

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Sound Theology and Church Planting

I want to affirm again the relationship between dynamic new church planting and dynamic theology. Now, lest any misunderstand, I would also affirm that dead theology never plants churches and certainly not dynamic healthy churches. So, let’s consider the question, “why does theology need to be central in church planting?”

First, there will never be any churches effectively planted if the theology of the lost condition of people is not central in our ministry. This is so evident in the letter that Paul writes to the planted chuch in Rome, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ “(Rom. 1:16 ESV). I remember Dr. Richard Longnecker stating that Paul’s letter to the Romans was a theological tractate based on his teaching during his evangelistic church planting journeys. So both in the introduction to Romans and in the development of Paul’s doctrine of salvation including condemnation, justification, propitiation, and glorification his effectiveness in church planting was solidly based on his fully-orbed theology. Is yours and mine?

Second, the churches that we plant will not endure long without solid biblical theology. Paul was so convinced of this that he wrote letters to churches he had planted, to those he had not planted, to apostolic helpers (such as Timothy and Titus) constantly affirming the importance of biblical doctrine. Particularly in what we call the pastoral epistles he hammers home the fact that “I am writing these things [doctrine which includes practice] to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” and then he gives the great confession of faith: “ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.” 1 Tim. 3:16 (ESV)

Third, the health of the church will be dependent upon a clear theology. Now when I speak of a clear theology I am including both right doctrine (orthodoxy) and right practice (orthopraxy) so that is exactly what is meant by the “apostle’s doctrine” in Acts 2:42a. The great scholar of the history of doctrine, Jaroslav Pelikan pointed this out stating, “When the Old Testament speaks about ‘instruction’ or the New Testament about ‘the doctrine,’ this includes teaching about both confession and conduct, both theology and ethics. A separation between them is fatal…” (Pelikan 1971, 2)

Implications:

1. Biblical doctrine needs to be the basis of all that we do and say in church planting. So the question comes to us as church planters, “Is the priority of biblical doctrine evident in our ministry?”
2. Biblical doctrine means teaching “all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) So the question comes to us as church planters, “Are we teaching all the Word of God and not just those sections that we like?”
3. Biblical doctrine needs above all to be taught to leadership in church planting. So the question comes to us, “Are we taking time to develop leaders with solid doctrine including knowing and being?”
4. The test of Jesus is both orthodoxy and orthopraxy as he looks at the planted churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3. So the question comes to us as church planters, “What does our Lord think about the church or churches we are planting as he looks at them?”


References Cited

Quotes are from the English Standard Version (ESV). 2007. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Bibles

Pelikan, Jaroslav. 1971. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Vol. 1.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Discipleship and Church Planting

Discipleship and Church Planting
By Robert J. Vajko, TEAM

What a shocker for one who believes in church planting—the Bible never says, “Go therefore and plant churches in all the nations.” If this is true, then why teach and preach church planting and why have a “Help for Planting and Multiplying Churches” bulletin? Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that the Bible teaches the importance of planting churches since
1) This is the biblical way as seen in the book of Acts
2) Half of the New Testament letters were written to planted churches
3) The Apostle Paul spent his life planting new churches
4) When the Holy Spirit is at work in a church, leaders are sent out to plant new churches as in Acts 13:1-3.

We could continue this list and add more reasons as I have done in my study, “The Biblical, Theological and Missiological Bases for Planting New Churches.” (available by e-mail on request).

But this still leaves us with the question of the relationship between discipleship and church planting. Do they fit together? How do they fit together? Why is it important that they fit together?

Let’s start with:

I. The Importance of Discipleship.
A. It is the great emphasis of the four Gospels where Jesus is the great disciple maker.
B. It is the great emphasis of the book of Acts where the result of evangelism is always the making of disciples.

II. The Failure of not Linking Discipleship to Church Planting.
A. One ends up with loose disciples floating around or, worse yet, professions of faith that do not result in the four qualities of Acts 2:42.
B. It is not the true biblical flow as seen in the Acts and Epistles.
C. In the TEAM France ministry area the work started with an emphasis on evangelism and discipleship but the local church vision was not clear. The result was shocking and had as a result work that had no fruit that continued with disciples developing in local churches.
D. It was in the light of this problem that Vernon Mortenson, General Director at that time, explains his counsel to the missionaries, “To them I stressed that missionary work should have as its prime focus the creation of churches in the New Testament patter. Art Johnston [acting field leader at that time] would later say that these conversations had greatly influenced the thinking of both Rod and himself. In these first years, however, the work did not have church planting as a clear overall goal.” (Mortenson 1994, 739)


III. The Failure of not Linking Church Planting to Discipleship.
A. One ends up with weak churches.
B. The result is pew-sitting instead of powerful change.
C. There is little transformation as disciple-making is limited to a few and the church as a whole does not grow in quality.
D. As Bob Roberts states in referring to emphasizing churches without true disciples being transformed is that we arrive at “the point where the primary things we ask of people is their money, attendance, and a few hours every quarter to help with a Sunday school project….We don’t make a difference because the gospel has not made us different as
God intended intended it to do. We are just more religious. We are more worried that our church is not growing than the fact that we are not growing in our walk with God.” (Roberts 2006, 14).


IV. The Beauty and Balance of Putting the Two Together.

A. A church becomes more vibrant.
B. The biblical church is a “disciple making church” which is the New Testament vision.
C. A church grows by “following” rather than “attracting by programs.”
D. There is a commitment not to a discipleship program but to discipleship as such as seen in such activities as small groups, life-transformation groups (see Cole 1999), and one-on-one discipleship.
E. As Diet Schindler, a church planter in Germany states, “Life change occurs where there is nearness, openness and accountability.” (Schindler 2008, 337)
F. Neil Cole, a proponent of more organic disciple-making churches, explains, “I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.” (Cole 2008). In this Cole has put the DNA of Divine presence, Nurture of believers, and Apostolic mission.

When people are married we state, “Let not man put asunder what God has joined together.” Let us not do that in church planting but let us wed in beauty true discipleship and planting churches composed of these kind of disciples.

Questions for church planters:
• To what degree are the believers in your church plant growing in discipleship including the word, prayer, witnessing, and obedience out of love for Christ?
• Do those whom you are helping in discipleship really have a life commitment to others in the local church body?
• How can you keep this balance?

Reference List
Cole, Neil. 1999. Cultivating a Life for God. Carol Stream, IL: ChurchSmart Resources.

________. 2008. “A Dangerous Question and Organic Church.” www.CMAResources.org
(accessed Oct 13, 2008)

Hull, Bill. 1990. The Disciple Making Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell.

Mortenson, Vernon. 1994. God Made it Grow. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Press.

Roberts, Bob. 2006. Transformation: How Glocal Churches Transform Lives and the World.Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan.

Schindler, Dietrich. 2008. “Good-to-Great Church Planting: The Road Less Traveled. Evangelical Missions Quarterly No. 44, 3 (July): 330-337.

Vajko, Robert. 2003. “The Biblical, Theological, and Missiological Bases for
Planting New Churches.” In Proclaiming Truth, Pastoring Hearts. Adelaide, S. Australia: ACM Press. Edited by R. Todd Stanton & Leslie J. Crawford.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

God and the Theology of Church Planting

God and the Theology of Church Planting

The church planter needs to have two major strands in his ministry. They are the two strands of theology and missiology. A missiological vision without a vision of God is a warped vision. So I want to briefly share how we are to keep God as the center of our vision in church planting.

We need to ask why we want to plant new churches. Church planting can have various motivations such as the desire to start new churches in order to win more people to Christ –which tends to happen in newly-planted churches as over against older churches. Another motivation can be the desire for innovation, especially when we see older and more traditional churches stuck in a rut of tradition which can hinder creativity. Other motivations are an understanding that our denomination or fellowship of churches will plateau and not grow if we do not plant new churches.

But although these motivations are not necessarily wrong they lack the main motivation and that is to plant churches in obedience to Christ and for the glory of God. Let’s look together at these two motivations.

First, our motivation must be obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ who has said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). We see the results of this in the book of Acts where, although not always cognizant of our Lord’s command, believers went out empowered by the Holy Spirit and disciples made disciples. The result was the need for new churches to be established everywhere people came to Christ. This evangelism was both spontaneous as believers were scattered out from Jerusalem and structured as Paul and his church planting colleagues won disciples and planted churches with these new believers in strategic cities of the Roman Empire.

Second, our motivation must be the glory of God. How much more meaningful church-planting becomes as we see new bodies of new believers gathered in new assemblies to live for and worship the Lord God of hosts. As my wife and I look back at church-planting that we have been privileged to participate in, the greatest joy is seeing lost people changed into worshippers in various parts of the world. Jesus said this when he said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship ahim. (John 4:23 ESV)

Is there a greater motivation theologically than to see churches filled with worshippers who previously worshipped something other than God? What a mission that we have to plant churches filled with lost people who are now people who love God!

And then we see God at work developing these believers in relationship to one another. But it is God who always needs to get the glory. These words need to be engraved on the heart of every church planter: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor. 3:5-7 ESV)

If a church is planted, grows, and multiplies in the true biblical sense, it must be because God is giving the growth. Yes, we do something but unless accompanied by the working of God, it will come to nothing. Is this one of the reasons that church plants do not survive—that we are trying to do it in our own strength without the power of God at work. God forbid!

Two corollaries for church planters are that the power comes from God and so the praise should go to God when a church is planted, grows, and multiplies.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Summary, Lessons, & Questions about Hungary Ministry

Summary:
1. This has been the most profitable trip to Hungary so far we feel.
2. We have had amazing doors opened up to us because of the fact that the planned European Conference did not take place for a number of regions. The result was that we were asked to go to train in outlying regions rather than having church planters come to Budapest as last year. This was hardest on us but gave us the greatest exposure to many church planters.
3. So after Budapest, we went to Debrecen which is the 2nd largest city in Hungary (pop. 211,000) with ministry with Sandor (Alexander) Toth’s church. This church has sent a team to Szeged to plant a church and wants to plant a church in France as you will remember from the e-mail I sent you. The result of decentralization was contact with all his leaders and then in the evening sessions with participation of leaders from 6 other Baptist Churches and the pastor of the Pentecostal Church).
Then we went to Szeged (3rd largest city in Hungary, population 156,000) from Debrecen and had evening services in the largest Baptist Church in the City (fairly traditional) with the participants from 7 churches in Szeged and suburbs. We visited a church in Kubekhaza planted by Gabor Szasz that meets in the social center and the mayor attends. This city is right on the border of Serbia and Romania and we saw those two countries from there. We were concerned about some of the teaching which did not fit the more traditional church but we got an e-mail from Mark Sipos who is church planting among students there stating: “Your ministry in Szeged was very powerful and activated the churches. Somebody from the 'first' Baptist Church said, "We need more meetings, like this."
4. Then we returned to the Budapest area and visited a very traditional country church in Feltsöpetény north of Budapest. This church wants to plant a church in a village but it is very difficult. We need someone who is more experienced with church planting in small villages to give them help.
5. On Saturday we had an amazing opportunity at the Logos Bible School in Miskolc (3rd largest city in Hungary – 184,000). There we had some 80 participants from a number of areas. This was, in our thinking, the most dynamic. They had translated our power points on church planting and multiplication (see above) into Hungarian. There was the best participation in this time for a number of reasons.
6. On Sunday, we were at the Rock Church pastured by Istvan Durko, the head of the church planting commission of the Baptist Union. Afterwards we met with his leaders and he shared their vision of a daughter church in another area.
7. Things to think through:
• They want us to return next year and Gabor Rabatin wants us to go to Romania where their church has envisaged the planting of new churches among the Hungarians in Romania.
• The Rákoskeresztúr Church has planted a church in London and we talked about helping with this church next year when we hope to attend the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meeting in London in July.
• There is a need to help these churches and pastors in their vision to reach out here in Hungary. There is a vision of a number of churches to plant a church in the center of Budapest.
• But they are reaching out to new areas such as the Ukraine, Romania, the UK, and now a possibility in France.

What is exciting about this is that all this is done by Hungarians. However, they need a want missionary input to help them in multiplication and missions vision.

Questions:
1. What should we do?
2. How can we get involved more and in what way?
3. How can we profit from their outreach to join them and reach new areas?
4. How can we introduce ourselves in this context so as to help them without hindering spontaneity?
5. How can missionaries do more of mobilizing nationals rather than doing the work?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Ministry at Szeged on onwards

Photo of Mark Sipos and his wife Csilla along with the developing church in Szeged

On Thursday, April 15th, Noreen and I traveled from Debrecen to Szeged in the south of Hungary as church planers, Mark Sipos and Gabor Szazs drove us between those two cities. In Szeged we had an evening meeting at the large Baptist Church with participants from various evangelical churches in the city. We had an excellent translator and presented two studies: "Balanced Growth" and "The Importance of Small Groups."

We also had the opportunity of seeing the ministry of Gabor in Kubekhaza where the small new church meets in the social center in the town.

On Friday, April 16th, Gabor Rabatin from the Budapest area drove down to Szeged to accompany us back to Budapest and then to a meeting at the Felsopeteny Church north of Budapest to meet with the pastor and leaders about planting a daughter church.

On Saturday, April 19th, we traveled to Miskolc where we had an encouraging day's seminar on "What Does it Take to Plant a New Church" and "Multiplying Churches by Planting Daughter Churches." There were a number of participants from Miskolc and the region--even from Ukraine.

On Sunday, April 18th, we had the joy of ministry at the Rock Church in Budaors west of Budapest. Istvan Durko is the pastor of this church. The message was on "Eight Signs of a Healthy Church" based on Acts 2:37 to 47. For lunch we met with the leaders of the church to discuss daughter church planting.

We were delayed for seven days because of the volcanic ash but then had our last Sunday, April 25th, at the Rakoskeresztur Church in the 17th District where our theme was "God's Great Love Story."

We are thankful for God's blessing and provision during our time in Hungary. We flew out on April 27th arriving back in Bloomington that evening.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Helping in the Vision for Church Planting and Multiplication in Hungary 2010

This photo shows the participants in the seminar organized by Pastor Zolt Budai through Pastor Gabor Rabatin and held at the Logos Bible School in Miskolc, Hungary.

We arrived in Budapest at the request of Hungarian leaders to help in the vision of planting healthy reproducing churches for God's glory.

The first Sunday (April 11th) we had the opportunity to share the Word of God from Acts 11:19-26 and 13:1-3 during the morning service at the Rakoskeresztur Church in the 17th District of Budapest. How good it was to visit this church again. Pastor Rabatin has a wonderful vision for church planting in Hungary and then in other countries with a new church plant in Vecses near the Budapest airport and then in London. He also envisages the planting of new churches in Romania by the training of leaders there.

In the afternoon we had the joy of teaching the Word of God at this new daughter church and then meeting with the leaders afterwards to seek to help them in this pioneer effort. It is so encouraging to see what God is doing to plant new churches by the daughter church method.

On Monday evening we had a training seminar at the Baptist Union Headquarters in Budapest after meeting with some of the key leaders who want to see new churches planted in Hungary.

I was asked to speak on the question of "Structures, Strictures, and Spontaneity in Church Planting" which deals with those things that help or hinder the planting and multiplication of new churches. There was lively interaction as we sought to think through this question.

On Tuesday evening we met with the leaders of the Rakoskeresztur Church where they shared their vision for church planting and multiplication both in Hungary and in other countries. We talked together about church health that makes churches grow.

On Wednesday, April 14th, we traveled to Debrecen with Pastor Sandor Toth and his wife Monika for an afternoon seminar on "Five Leaders Needed for a Growing Church Multiplication Movement" and then an evening seminar on "Seven Principles for the Planting and Multiplication of Churches in a Region" followed by a seminar on "Church Growth Ceilings in Churches." This church has sponsored a church plant in Szeged in the south of Hungary. They also want to see a new church planted in France and we discussed how we might collaborate in this. What a vision this church has and how encouraging it is to see their concern for church planting in Hungary and in other countries.

More in the next blog about our move to Szeged and the rest of the ministry in Hungary. God's grace is so great.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Final report on Nigeria ministry

Then on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, we went to the United Missionary Church of Africa Theological College in Ilorin, Kwara State where I gave two lectures at the Chapel 9:30 to 10:40 “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” and a second lecture from 5 to 6 p.m. on “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth, and Multiplication of Churches.” There was good reception and reaction to these studies.



On Friday, October 16, 2009, we were at the Chartered Ministerial Association International. Ilorin, Kwara State. 10 to 11 a.m.to speak on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” and 11:15 to 12:15 “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth, and Multiplication of Churches.” Noreen spoke to the ladies on “Six Qualities of a Godly Woman.” And then later that day to the Apostolic Church Pastors’ Conference at the Theological College of the Apostolic Church, Ilesha, Osun State. Where I spoke to pastors and students of the Theological College on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?”

On Sunday, October 18, 2009, we were at the Lighthouse International Church in Ibadan. Morning service which was the end of a 7 week series on “Crossing Jordan.” Spoke on “Revival – a New Vision of God.” Towards the end of a celebration service. In the evening service we ministered at the “Jesus for all Nations Church” in Apete, Ibadan. Noreen spoke to the ladies in a service at 5 p.m. on “Ten Mistakes Ladies Make in Church Ministry.” The church was fairly full.

Then on Monday, October 19, 2009, we arrived at the Methodist Theological Seminary in Sagamu, Ogun State rested up and on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, I gave four lectures 8:45 to 5”15. 1st lecture on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” 2nd lecture on “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth and Multiplication of Churches in a Region. 3rd lecture “Balanced Growth in a Church.” 4th lecture: “Twelve Mistakes Church Planters Make.”

On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 we left at 10:05 p.m. Depart Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos on Lufthansa Airlines for Frankfurt, Germany, on to O’Hare to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Summary:

1. During the 21 days we were in Nigeria we had ministry in five states: Oyo State Ogun State Odon State Osun State Kwara State traveling some 2, 000 kilometers.
2. We had ministry in the following six theological colleges lecturing on church planting and reproduction:
The Immanuel Theological College in Ibadan – 2 hours of lectures followed by questions on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?”
The Nigeria Baptist Theological College in Ogbomosho. Two hours of lectures on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” and “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth and Multiplication of Churches in a Region.”
The Evangelical Seminary of West Africa (ECWA – SIM) – two hours of lectures on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” and “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth, and Multiplication of Churches in a Region.”
The Mission Church of Africa Theological College. Two hours of lectures on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” and “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth and Multiplication of Churches in a Region.”
The Apostolic Church Theological College. One hour lecture to Pastors and Students of The Apostolic Church on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?”
The Methodist Seminary in Sagamu, Ogun State on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Methodist Theological Seminary in Sagamu, Ogun State. Four lectures 8:45 to 4:30. 1st lecture on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” 2nd lecture on “Seven Principles for the Planting, Growth and Multiplication of Churches in a Region. 3rd lecture “Balanced Growth in a Church.” 4th lecture: “Twelve Mistakes Church Planters Make.”

3. We had ministry in five different churches:

The Redeemed Evangelical Mission Church in Ibadan. Message “A Dynamic
Healthy Church - Acts 2:37-47.

The Christ Landmark Ministries Church in Ibadan. Wednesday evening message
on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce.” Thursday evening message on “Seven Principles for “Five Leaders Needed for a Growing Movement” and “Qualities of an Effective Church Planter.” Friday Message on Acts 16 “Three Transformed Lives” and at the invitation some came forward for salvation, others for dedication, one for baptism, others for help with drugs or alcohol, and one troubled by a spirit. Sunday morning message on Isaiah 6:1 to 9 on “The Vision We Need.”

The Lighthouse International Church in Ibadan on Isaiah 6:1 to 9 on “The Visio We Need.”

The Jesus for All Nations Church in Apete, Ibadan where Noreen spoke on “Ten
Mistakes Women in the Church Can Make.”

4. God did amazing things for which we praise Him alone.
5. Noreen was supposed to speak three times to ladies groups but ended up speaking six times. Her ministry made a difference to these ladies from some of the feedback we received.

Final note: We have never seen such receptivity among people for the Word of God and a vision to reach people and understand how to multiply churches. God did this and we praise him for this.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Continued ministry in Nigeria

Then on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009, I had the joy of giving a message in the evening at 6 p.m. at the Christ Landmark Church Ministries in Ibadan on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce” to pastors, workers, and lay leaders.

The following day, Thursday October 8th 2009, what a privilege it was to lecture to some 80 or more students (all men) at the Immanuel School of Theology (Anglican and Methodist combined) on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” in two parts. Sections 1 to 8 in the first 1 and ¼ hours with questions, a break and sections 8 to 14 in another 1 and ¼ hours followed by questions.

Then in the evening there was a session at 6:00 p.m. at Christ Landmark Church Ministries to pastors, workers, and lay leaders on two themes: 1) Five kinds of leaders needed for a growing movement and 2) Qualities of an effective church planter.

On Friday, October 9th 2009, what a joy it was to preach the gospel at the evening evangelistic meeting at 6:00 p.m. at Christ Landmark Church Ministries on “Christ is able to transform your life” (Acts 16:11 to 34). At the invitation some 10 to 15 came forward for salvation and then others for specific needs such as alcoholism, drugs, demon possession, consecration, etc.

On Saturday, October 10, 2009, there was a 10:00 a.m. meeting of ladies in the Christ Landmark Ministries Church. Noreen spoke to them: “Six Qualities of a Godly Woman.” There was real interest with good questions being fielded by Noreen afterwards.

On the Lord’s Day, Sunday, October 11, 2009, we were at the closing meeting of the 13th Convention of the Christ Landmark Ministries in Nigeria. I spoke on Isaiah 6:1 to 9 on the Vision that Revives us: A Vision of God, self, and the need of the world.

On the Monday, October 12, 2009, Dr. Fatokun and his brother Samuel drove us to the Nigerian Baptist Seminary in Ogbomosho, Oyo State where from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. I spoke on“Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” 1st session and then 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” 2nd Session as well as “Seven Principles for Church Planting and Reproduction.” Noreen spoke to the wives of the students in this seminary from 1:00 to 2:30 on “Six Qualities of a Church Planter’s Wife.” Good group of students.

On Tuesday, October 13, 2009, we traveled to the Evangelical Seminary of West Africa (ECWA) in Igbaja, Kwara State. 9:15 to 10:30 1st Session “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” plus questions 10:50 to 11:45 “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?” 2nd Session. What a privilege to minister to these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ preparing for the ministry.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Ministry Trip to Nigeria in October 2009

We thought that it would be good to share what God is doing in Nigeria and here is the first part of our report.

Report on Nigeria Ministry from October 1st to 21st 2009

We left Indianapolis on Thursday, Oct 1st and flying through Dulles and Frankfurt arrived in Lagos on Friday, Oct 2nd at 4:45 p.m. We were greeted at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport at Lagos, Nigeria in West Africa by Rev. Dr. Samson Fatokun and his family after exiting the airport. We were driven in his van to his home in Ibadan, about 147 kilometers to the north of Lagos.

Nigeria is a warm beautiful country with an amazing history. It was revealing to travel this long highway with Samson and his family as we dodged potholes, broken down sections, police checkpoints, masses of people and trucks. Apparently the road was more crowded because of a huge evangelical camp meeting taking place between Lagos and Ibadan with something like a million people attending. It took us almost 5 plus hours to navigate our way to his home in Ibadan. Dr. Fatokun has three children, Joy, Peace, and David, and his wife’s name is Christiana. He is an associate pastor at the Christ Landmark Ministry Church at Apete near his home.

On Saturday October 3, 2009, we met pastor Stephen Omegai who is pastor of the Christ Landmark Ministry Church near where Samson lives. He came to greet us and to share his vision of evangelism resulting in new churches being planted and multiplying. He uses a bus to do this evangelism and calls the ministry “Seek and Save.”

Right away was also asked to visit the “All Nations for Jesus Church” right near Samson’s home to share with some of the leaders he is training.

Then on Sunday, October 4, 2009, we started out by a greeting and visit to the Christ Landmark Ministry Church pastored by Rev. Omegai. We were warmly greeted and ask to say a word. Then everyone went outside for a group photo. The Nigerians love to take pictures and to be in a picture. We then went on to the large Christ Landmark Church where we are to be ministering this week for a greeting and short sharing.

We finally arrived at in The Redeemed Evangelical Mission Church pastored by Rev. Khandie, a large church that has planted some 26 daughter churches and is in the process of planting its 27th daughter church and plans to plant a 28th daughter church in November of this year. I spoke with translation into Yoruba on “A Living Church According to Acts 2:37 to 47. I later discovered that the attendance that morning in his church was 464 (so this church really tracks its attendance to know what is going on.) About three came forward in response to an invitation to receive Christ or be baptized. In the evening at 5 p.m. Noreen spoke to about 40 to 50 ladies on living as a godly woman. There was a good response to her teaching.

On Monday October 5th, we left early Monday morning to travel to Irele-ese-odo in the Odon State, Niger Delta and arrived at the Bishop’s Court and met Bishop Akinbuluma, head of the Missionary Diocese of Irele-ese-odo, a good friend of Samson Fatokun from University days. We had a good Nigerian meal and were escorted to the church for a parade leading up to the church accompanied by the Diocese band where we were also greeted by the mayor of the town. We went into the church and then out again to inspect the brigade and back to the church for an official greeting given by a number of people. Our time there finished with a lecture I gave on “Why Do Some Churches Reproduce?”

On Tuesday, October 6th, we continued ministry in the Missionary Diocese of the Anglican Church in Irele-ese-odo with a 9:50 to 10:45 study on Balanced growth – quantity, quality, and structure. Then from 12:00 to 1 p.m. “A Guide Plan for the Planting of Daughter Churches” and then 1 to 2 p.m. “Qualities of an Effective Church Planter” an abridged study. We finished with a final study from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on “Seven Principles for the planting, growth, and multiplication of Churches.” During this time, Noreen did study with ladies on “Six Qualities of a Godly Woman:

Sunday, February 21, 2010

More "Ups" in Church Planting

Here are three more "ups: or joys in planting a new church:

Sixth, there is the joy of planting a small church. Does this sound contradictory? This joy is taken away from many church planters who, if not careful, look at large churches and think that their church is nothing in comparison. Christian Schwarz, In his new book Color Your World with Natural Church Development: Experiencing all that God has Designed you to be (St. Charles, IL: ChurchSmart, 2005), gives a wonderful example of this. In speaking with a pastor of a church in Denmark, he discovers this pastor to be discouraged because he only has a church of 40 people. When Schwarz asked him how many he had 5 years ago, the pastor replied, “about 20.” Schwarz continues, “Did you catch what he said? Their church went from 20 to 40 people in five years? If a mega-church of 20,000 grew at that rate, it would have 40,000 attenders in just five years.” (p. 35). Schwarz has also discovered, in researching churches all over the world, that the larger a church grows the less it experiences quantitative and qualitative growth. So rejoice in what God is doing and don’t look down on the smallness of your church.

Seventh, there is the joy of leaving the work (this is a strange joy for it is mixed with the sorrow of tears in our eyes or heart) and not being needed anymore. Then it is a joy to look back and see that God started the work and he continues it. It is exhilarating to know that a new church has been planted in a region where it will continue to be a living body of believers and will shine for Christ and there is no need for your presence or help. Thus you can go on and see a new church planted in another region. I will never forget the day I turned over the keys for the facilities where our church had been meeting in France. I had to hold back the tears. But after there was the joy of seeing this church move ahead under godly national leadership.

Eighth, there is the joy of seeing the planted church multiply. When we left the Orly Church in France in 1974, Daniel Bordreuil (the French pastor who took responsibility for the church) declared, “O I see, this is a church that plants churches so I guess we should continue.” The result was the planting of two further congregations. And then there was the joy of seeing one of the daughter churches plant its own daughter church so that there was now a first granddaughter church. It has been a joy to challenge the pastor of that granddaughter church to plant a daughter church. This would mean four generations of churches—a goal only God can accomplish.

But an even greater joy is to work in such a way that new churches start with a vision that you share with national believers. This means that you don’t plant the first church at all. Others do it so that from the beginning the work is truly indigenous. This is the joy we are having as we see the great potential in Thailand. We will talk more about this in the section on the newer paradigm of church multiplication. This is the joyful direction we must take more and more so that we see the “sustained multiplication of churches having a missionary sending capacity.”

If you are a discouraged church planter, listen to what God says, “I will build my Church” and not “you will build his church.” He is the Great Planter for what he plants always grows. Paul describes him as “God, who makes things grow.” (1 Cor 3:7b NIV) Just look to him and do ministry by his working and grace and keep that wastebasket handy to throw your letter of resignation in when you get the down times. Weeping may come in the night but there is joy in the morning. Church planters can experience this joy in their lives and ministry.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Ups in Church Planting

First of all, the joy of seeing a new church created by God’s grace in a region where there is little or no witness. My wife and I can remember the thrill of starting a new church in the growing city of St. Quentin-en-Yvelines—a city of over 100,000 with no evangelical church at all (note: here I am not playing a semantic game saying there was no evangelical church like ours). There was simply no evangelical church of any kind. And this city was growing at the rate of almost 1,000 people moving in each month. After some beginning struggles, the church was planted, grew, saw two new daughter churches planted and was turned over to a godly pastor who ably continued the ministry. Now there is a goal of seeing a third daughter church planted by collaboration between the mother church and one of the daughter churches previously planted. What a joy it is to see God at work multiplying churches.

Second, there is the joy of seeing God do unusual things to open doors. Although there are discouragements in church planting, there is the “up” of seeing God do special things when a new church is planted. It is thrilling to stand back and see the Lord “plant” his church. 1 Cor 3:6 states in the original Greek “I planted (at a certain moment), Apollos watered (at a certain moment), but all the time (force of the verb here) God was making it grow.” What a joy to see God at work bringing people to himself in his wonderful sovereignty. In every church plant we have been involved in we have seen God give us divine rendezvous opportunities that we could have never finagled ourselves.

Third, there is that joyful word “sovereignty” I just used—seeing the wonderful hand of God at work. At Corinth, perhaps in a moment of church planter “down” time, God says to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you for I have many people in this city who are my people.” (ESV). Lean hard on that. God is at work before you ever got there and he will lead you to prepared hearts by opening new doors.

Fourth, there is the joy of starting a new church that can be free from the baggage that older churches tend to carry. It has been said that “it is easier to have a baby than to raise the dead.” Now we now that God can raise the dead but what a joy it is to be able to use creativity to see a new church with new ideas (always faithful to the Word of God) that fits better in a new context. So a church planted in 2005 can be a church that fits the 2005 context better (without compromise) than a church that is having a hard time coping with needed change.

Fifth, there is the joy of empowering leadership in a new church that is not always possible in an older church. I remember the joy of seeing God use people who would normally not be used in an older or larger church because others were doing the ministry and they were “pew-sitting.” What a joy to see them discover their gifting and learn to pray, evangelize, serve, preach, and teach others. Did you know that most Christian workers come from small churches? I believe that is because they are pioneering their gifts in a pioneer situation. In an Australian church plant, my wife and I watched in amazement as a man who said he could not pray in public led the Lord’s Supper and shared the meaning of Christ’s death. He had blossomed in an atmosphere of church planting.

Ups in Church Planting

Monday, February 8, 2010

Ups and Downs in Church Planting

I thought it would be good to discuss in a realistic way some of the ups and downs of church planting. In the in this week's blog and then next week move to the up times. Help in Planting and Multiplying Churches (HPMC) that we send out we have started a section on "Struggles in Church Planting" which is similar but here I want to discuss first of all what causes the "down times."

Why is it that church planters have their “ups and downs” in ministry? I got the idea for this from chapter 13 “Handling the Ups and Downs” in a book of church planting. The author talks about the fact that church planters get real “up” times from the joy of seeing a new church created but also have “down” times. And sometimes the “downs” can be as great as the “ups.”

THE DOWNS
First of all, “downs” come from too closely identifying the church you are planting with your ego. I read this quote recently, “Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls your ego falls with it.” I would apply this to church planting by putting the words “church plant” in the place of the word “position.” When we live by the success of our church plant instead of by faith and looking to God, we easily fall into a “down” time.

Second, “down times” come from counting too much. I am sincerely convinced that we need to keep accurate records and to learn from present trends but we need to watch out for what one has called “bodies, bucks, and buildings.”

Third, “downs” often come from not getting enough rest or balance in our lives. That is why you never want to think about resigning on a Monday morning. Wait a while and things will get better. When I interviewed TEAM missionary Pete Peterson in France about what was needed to start a new church, he replied, “a wastebasket.” Then he added, “so that you will have a place to throw your letter of resignation into.”

Fourth, “downs” come from not watching our spiritual disciplines. I remember a particular down time in my life when I sensed emptiness because I was not being fed spiritually by time alone with God.

Fifth, “downs” come from a sense of inadequacy when the task of church planting with all its facets seems too much for us. Who can say that they are “adequate” for this very demanding ministry? This turns us to the powerful Word of God that states, “our sufficiency is from God.” (ESV) 2 Cor 3:6

Sixth, “downs” come from forgetting that this is tough work. It is a struggle to see a new body of believers formed and growing. If we expect difficulty it will help us to be like William Carey who, when asked the secret of his staying power, replied, “I can plod.” So plod on, church planter, and you will see the fruit of your labor.

So these are the “downs” of the church planter and the reasons for them. In my next blog I will shift to the “ups” of the church planter. What gives a church planter joy and fulfillment? This is not just something we’ve thought up but these principles have encouraged us to keep on in spite of the “downs” over a period of 39 years of church planting and multiplication. These principles encourage us now as we work as consultants to church planters.