Must See Video For Men
Last week Darrin Patrick shared the video trailer for his new book, Church Planter, at an event in the Bay Area. This is not simply a video for church planters or pastors, every man reading this blog post and every man you know should watch this 4 minute video. Women, watch it too. Then go make a man in your life watch it.
PS. My endorsement for the book/in the book lists me as a church planter in Phoenix. See here for why I’m not in Phoenix and still live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A Day With Darrin Patrick in the Bay Area (Tomorrow)
Tomorrow I’ll be spending the day with Darrin Patrick in the Bay Area. The Gospel Coalition: Bay Area chapter that a few of us formed is now partnering with The NorCal Network (which is now partnering with Acts29) to host this event.
In the afternoon Darrin is leading a seminar for church planters titled,”Leading the Mission.”
In the evening Darrin is speaking to the general public on “Redeeming Masculinity.”
Church planters who attend the afternoon session will receive a free copy of Darrin’s new book, Church Planter.
Here’s Tim Keller’s endorsement for the book:
“This is a great new book on church planting that balances the personal spiritual issues with the theological, cultural, and technical. Church planters should all read this.”
—Tim Keller, Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City
Acts29 has more info about the event.
Go here to register for tomorrow’s event. Cancel the plans you had for tomorrow. Come to this.
Endorsement: Darrin Patrick, Church Planter
Darrin Patrick’s new book, Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission, releases at the end of this month. Here’s the endorsement I wrote for the book:
This book is a weapon. Church Planter is one of the more important pieces of equipment that a church planter (or a man aspiring to any level of church leadership) can own. Darrin Patrick writes out of biblical conviction and proven experience, not preference or pragmatics. I trust Darrin. I trust what he’s written here. I hope this book is placed in the hands of men all over the world.
Click the link above to read the rest of the endorsements and to order the book.
What Every Church Planter Needs
“It does not seem that I can trust anyone,” said Frodo.
“It all depends on what you mean,” put in Merry. “You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin–to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours–closer than you yourself keep it. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the ring. We are horribly afraid–but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds.”
–J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (Houghton Mifflin 1994), 103
Out of Your Depth
Peter and I soon saw that God’s way of dealing with us was to throw us into situations over our depth, then supply us with the necessary ability to swim.
–Catherine Marshall, wife of Peter Marshall. A Man Called Peter, p. 119
Um’s 3 Essential Qualities for Church Planters
Last week I spent an afternoon with my new friend, Stephen Um. Stephen is a fantastic and friendly guy who has more degrees than I have bedrooms in my house and who has planted a great church, CityLife Boston. One of the questions I asked Stephen was what qualities he/Redeemer City to City looks for in church planters. He shared 3 essential qualities:
1. Entrepreneurial. A church planter must be entrepreneurial, must have the ability to start and build.
2. Above average preaching. A church planter must have an above average preaching gift.
3. Evangelist. A church planter must have a heart and the competency to engage people, especially skeptics, with the gospel.
Tim Keller: How to Get to Know Your City
Last week I asked Tim Keller what he did to “learn” New York City as he was preparing to plant Redeemer, and if he had any advice for a young church planter wanting to learn a new city (in my case, Phoenix). Tim shared four things:
Fiction. Tim suggested reading good fiction about your city. For NYC, Tim especially benefited from reading The Bonfire of the Vanities. (Anyone know any good fiction written about/from Phoenix?)
History. Tim encouraged studying the history of your city. Tim learned that New York was the only colony not founded by a religious group, that it was the first colony founded solely for the purpose of making money.
Interviews. Tim highlighted the value of pursuing one-on-one conversations with many Christians and non-Christians in your city, asking them what kind of church they think the city needs. (The same day I asked Tim this question I “interviewed” a barber in downtown Phoenix while getting a haircut. That one conversation yielded a load of helpful information about the pulse of Phoenix.)
Culture. Tim encouraged reading a variety of newspapers/periodicals/magazines produced by the city so that you come to understand the many different cultural strands of your city.
Photo: I took this shot a few days ago in Boston.
You Wish Lukas Naugle Was Your Friend
Lukas Naugle and I met 14 years ago during our freshman year of college at Whitworth University. The first thing I noticed about Lukas was that he wore Teva sandals, and so I wasn’t sure I could trust him at first. But things with Lukas only went up from there. Though I soon transferred to Westmont College because I missed the California sun, Lukas has remained a good friend.
After 8 years of working for Desiring God, Lukas is leaving Minneapolis to start his own business and to help me plant a new church in downtown Phoenix. Today the Desiring God blog recounts the pivotal innovation Lukas brought to DG/the ministry of John Piper and explains more of what’s next for Lukas. Read that post. Then, check out Lukas’ new venture, CHANGEGOAT CREATIVE, and make use of his services. Lukas does great work.
I’m thankful God has given me an old friend like Lukas to partner with in planting this church.
Building A Messy Church
This is a guest blog post from my good friend, Toby Kurth. Last year Toby planted ChristChurch in San Francisco. Toby is a great pastor, writer, and thinker. Enjoy his post.
“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” Proverbs 14:14
We are about a year into our church plant and have become increasingly convinced that a healthy church should be messy. If we really believe what the Bible teaches us about ourselves and others, how can it be any other way? Church is not just a meeting or an event; church is real people. Real people that have been saved by Christ and that are being transformed into his image. We all know that we have sin and struggles, but so many of us have gotten really good at hiding it.
The reality is that life comes with mess, mess that is produced by the work that God is doing in our lives. Work that can be painful and hard, but it is good. I think we are more or less resolved to accept that mess comes with our physical life, but what about spiritual life? Are you as quick to accept that? Do you believe that spiritual life is supposed to be messy?
God wants us to embrace the mess and work that comes with spiritual life because He wants to do real work in our lives. God calls us to acknowledge the mess of our own lives and the lives of those around us. He meets us in the mess. We grow in the mess. Christ redeems the mess.
We all face the temptation to present ourselves better than we are, to deny our sin and failure. We are often driven more by what people might think of us than reality. We slant stories to make ourselves look better. We hide our weaknesses from our friends and spend a lot of time reinforcing pretense. The more we do that, the more we drift from an active awareness of our dependence on Christ.
That is why we need the gospel. The gospel tells us the truth about ourselves and gives us the grace to embrace reality. The gospel tells us that left to ourselves we rebel against a good God and His ways, but that despite our rebellion God pursues us through Christ. The gospel is not a sales pitch. It is not a promise that everything will be neat and clean, that you can have your best life now. The gospel is grounded in reality. We all struggle to varying degrees and we are all desperately dependent upon the grace of Christ every moment of every day. God gives grace to us as we humble ourselves before Him and each other.
Living honestly is also a far better representation of the gospel to an unbelieving world. When we pretend that we are entirely with it and have no struggles, we make the gospel appear inaccessible to those that are not. When we live honestly we demonstrate that the gospel provides real hope for real people. If you are a follower of Christ you are not the way you are merely because you try to be a good person. It is because the Almighty Creator of the Universe is at work in your life to help you grow in the midst of the mess that is your life. A life without mess is a life without work. God is more interested in the fruit of your life than your comfort and reputation.
Weird Teams
Great post by Mark Driscoll: Weird Teams Are the Best Teams. This is what we’re aiming for as we begin to plan for planting a church in downtown Phoenix. An excerpt:
Jesus’ team is kind of a weird team. John’s young, Peter and the other guys are older. John’s apparently single. Some other guys are married and have kids. It’s kind of a weird team. Eleven of them are country boys. One’s from the city, Judas, didn’t represent us real well. It’s a weird team. On this team is a guy named Simon the Zealot, we read in Luke 6. He hates the Roman government because it’s ruling over God’s people, and he’s kind of a punk rock anarchist kind of guy. He’s a Fugazi fan. He’s that guy. And so he just wants to overthrow the Roman government. He says, “I hate the government. Down with the government.” He’s got the anarchist patch on his sleeve. He’s that guy. And then on the team as well is Matthew the tax collector, who works for the Roman government, ripping off God’s people, and these two guys are on the same team. It’s the antigovernment anarchist activist and the IRS auditor. Seriously? The guy with the gun, and the guy who tucks his shirt in, they’re on the same team? Yeah, that’s a weird team. That’s a very weird team.
Some of these guys are fisherman, one’s a tax collector. At least four guys, we don’t know what they did. Some are brothers, some aren’t. It’s a funky, little, weird team, but it works because they’re different, and they compliment one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Some of these guys had business experience, some had political experience. Some had leadership experience. Some of them already had pre-existing social networks and relationships. Just so you know this, the best teams are the weird teams.
