NEXT Church Planting Network Is Giving Away $10,000

Mercy Road

The NEXT Church Planting Network is hosting a conference late this summer that every church planter needs to attend. This no-holds-barred, church planting conference in Ocala, Florida will take place August 27-28, 2013. Nuts & Bolts is how-to training designed to provide you the tools needed to successfully launch and lead a healthy …
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Exponential Is Coming to the West Coast with Saddleback Church as Host

Exponential West

Plans Announced for Three-Day Exponential West 2013 Conference Oct. 7-10 at Saddleback Church in Southern California Rick Warren and Choco de Jesus Already Confirmed as Speakers On the heels of Exponential ’13 in Orlando selling out and drawing 5,300 leaders on site and 40,000 to the live Exponential ’13 Webcast, …
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God Loves Big Thinking

Storm Trooper World

Sometimes someone comes to Grace Hills from a larger church because they’re “looking for something smaller.” My reply is always the same. “You’re welcome here, but I hope we let you down.” It’s not that we’ve set out to be a “big” church or a megachurch. But we also haven’t set out on this journey merely to settle at …
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Church Planter Caught in the Crossfire in Watertown

Bullet In TV

WATERTOWN, Mass. (BP) -- A Southern Baptist church planting resident at a Boston-area church found himself, along with his wife, in the crossfire of a police shootout early Friday morning (April 19) with the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. Stephen McAlpin, who is nearing the end of a one-year North American Mission Board …
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What the Church Needs Now Is Roots. Deep Roots.

The Bible

I want the church – your church and my church – to grow. I’m encouraged when I see the church effectively demonstrating the love of God and communicating the good news of Jesus to a culture with an ever-evolving language. I’m concerned when I see the church struggling to connect with people who are far from God. This concern is …
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How to Protect a God-given Vision

Vision

Yesterday in our Pastor’s Virtual Coaching Network, we talked about the importance of protecting the vision in our churches. Proverbs 29:18 (NIV) Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. In other words, where there is a lack of vision, there is less focus and more …
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Free eBook – Be the Church: Discipleship and Mission Made Simple

Be the Church

Sometimes the simplest things can get lost in tradition or become over complicated due to confusion or lack of practice. Sometimes we are just too smart for our own good. The reality of who we are as Christians, the Church and as disciples, while having historical and eternal importance, has become somewhat muddled in our modern …
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Church Planters: 5 Steps to Take but Take Them Slow

planthands2

Every church needs a plan to disciple its congregation. You need a plan to take people from “come and see” to “come and die”—which is where Jesus took His disciples during His earthly ministry. For most of the history of the Church, that discipleship plan was simply called a catechism. It’s not a new idea. It doesn’t have …
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Debunking Megachurch Myths: Especially the One About Sheep-Swapping

How People Join Megachurches

So this week inadvertently turned into Megachurch Week on the blog. In the event you missed it, everything started Tuesday with some data on the continued growth of megachurches. Then on Wednesday, I shared a new infographic from Leadership Network on the financial health of megachurches. Throughout the week, I've received blog …
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Practice Stewardship: Pass on What You’ve Learned to Other Churches

Helping Hand

By Jimmie Davidson “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” (2 Timothy 2:2 NLT) As a new member of the Saddleback staff, I know I’m here because of the principle of stewardship. Saddleback …
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