People of the Book

Adam Mayfield is trying an approach to Life Groups that goes contrary to what he's been taught - reading the Bible...

We sent the kids to the front room with their Bibles, journals, and pens. The adults sat in the big room with their Bibles, journals, and pens. I led the meeting and said "Ok, start reading." We all started reading from the Bible. We were reading the same passages, basically a Bible reading plan that allows you to read through the whole Bible in one year. For the next 15-20 minutes no ones said a word, the kids in the front room weren't talking either.....everyone in the house (except my dog Tanner) were reading their Bibles. It was a beautiful silence. As people starting finishing up their reading they turned in their journals and started writing, during this time I walked to the front room to check on the kids and they were writing away, A big sister was helping her little sister fill out her journal.....IT WAS AWESOME. As people were getting done I went and got the kids and brought them into the room with us. When the last person finished up, I spoke again. I said, "I don't want to lead this time so you guys tell me, what did God show you." I sat in the room and listened as God's people told us what God had shown them from His word. It was refreshing, encouraging, and challenging. We then discussed prayer requests which everyone (including some of the kids) were writing in the front of their journals. IT WAS AWESOME!

It was INCREDIBLE. I loved it, God's people being His people, and teaching me His word. Yeah that isn't what I learned in Bible College.

Thanks, Adam, hmmm.... the Bible as life group material - great idea!

Riding a Movement

Right now I am reading two books: Be Fruitful and Multiply by Bob Logan and The Silent Transformation by Christoph Schalk. Schalk is sharing stories from churches around the world that are transforming culture through the application of organic principles. Logan is focusing on cultivating church multiplication movements.

A common theme among both of these authors is that church is not something to be manipulated. Church planting is a partnership with God – He does the bulk of work and equips His people to do the little things. So many churches are struggling today because they are paddling upstream in human strength instead of riding a wave of the movement of God.

Sometimes we make things so complicated that in order to get more done, we have to learn to do less. In some situations, it may be necessary to deconstruct, downsize, or simplify in order to move to the next level. For example, in order for church multiplication to take place, we must employ reproducible methods. Much of what we do is not reproducible because it is too complicated. Before we can do what God has called us to do, we need to undo the things He has not called us to do.

If you are doing things that cannot easily be passed on to someone else, then you have probably over-complicated the task or process. If you think you have simplified and yet are not mentoring anyone, then you are probably still working too hard at the wrong things.

Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-12 and ask yourself the following questions...
1. What is my gift?
2. How am I using it?
3. How am I equipping the next generation of leaders?

Launching Large

I’ve been focusing on starting churches with little or no money. It can be done and it has been done since the beginning of church. Small, reproducible churches are relevant in any context.

However, I am by no means against starting large churches. Very few people have been able to successfully launch and sustain large churches in the Orlando metro. A few have done very well. If you want to launch larger (100+ people), let me encourage you to do the following things:

• Fast and pray, go on a spiritual retreat... cry out to God... beg and plead with Him to let you do something else
• Keep your day job as long as possible
• Kill your ego
• Listen to your wife
• Define church
• Read, attend seminars and interview respectable people who know church planting
• Do an internship under a successful church planter (6 mos. – 1 year)
• Get to know… really get to know… fall in love with … be willing to die for your community
• Build a team that compliments your weaknesses
• Focus on mission, not launch
• Don’t be driven by calendar – establish critical milestones instead
• Enlist as many partner churches as you can – at least 3, preferably 5 or more
• Start and multiply missional small groups before renting, building or buying a building
• Don’t launch publicly until you have 50-80 committed adults
• Raise 2x the money you think you will need, no 3x and don’t stop
• Commit to nothing less than regional transformation... develop a Biblical view of what a transformed region will look like... find your part in it and communicate it with passion

Let me know if you have anything to add to this list

Whispering Pines Community Church

Billy and Ellie Mitchell were forced out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina only to face another hurrican in SE Florida a month later. Now, they are planting a church in Port St. Lucie. Check out this video of Whispering Pines Community Church.

Church of the Highlands Port Orange Launches April1

My good friend, Hal Haller, is a serial church planter. He has a catalytic gift that suits him for starting and multiplying churches. Hal is a passionate evangelist, prayer warrior and multiplying leader. This Sunday, April 1st, he and his team will watch God launch Church of the Highlands Port Orange. If you are free any Sundays in the coming months, I am sure that Hal would love your help and encouragement.

Don’t quit your day job

If you are thinking about starting a church, I want to encourage you to keep working as long as you can. If you quit your job in order to plant a church, you will soon start asking yourself two questions; “How can I raise money?” and “How can I meet people?” You don’t have to leave the marketplace to enter the ministry. Try not to think of church planting as a career change and the church as an economic system.

A New Testament church is a community of disciples of Jesus Christ who are living missionally 24x7. Therefore, it is not necessary for someone to leave a marketplace mission field in order to start or pastor a church. A church planter here in Orlando recently entered the work force to (as he put it) “fund my church planting habit.” Although economics was his primary reason for going to work, he quickly found that his job gave him plenty of opportunities to develop relationships with people who are spiritually seeking.

It has been my observation that most failed church starts in Central Florida didn’t die, they were killed. Most of them simply ran out of money. Their outside support dried up and the young congregations could not cover the overhead of rented facilities, advertising expenses and staff salaries. So, someone made the determination that “we are no longer church” and told everyone to go home. This has been such a pervasive problem that Orlando has developed the reputation of being a church planting boneyard.

What if you could start a church with 0 start-up costs and no monthly overhead? What if you could do it without wondering if you were going to get paid or could afford medical insurance for your family? What if spent your week-days in an environment filled with hurting people searching for answers and got paid to do it? What if you planted a First Century church in the Twenty-First Century?

You can keep your job and start a church. You don’t have to rent a building to be the church. You can gather small groups of people in your home, community center, break-room, a coffee house, restaurant, etc. You can be the church wherever God plants you.

Myth Busters: New Church Survivability Rate

Ed Stetzer and the North American Mission Board have busted an urban myth about new church survivability. We’ve all heard the statistics, but few have offered any research to back it up. According to Stetzer’s research, the survival rate of new churches is much higher than has been rumored.

Download Report

Early or Probably Never

Erick is a young church planter in Lakeland, FL and member of reproducingchuches.com. He has discovered a central truth in church multiplication – build reproduction into the life-blood of the church early. Check out his entire post at muse.voxtropolis.com:

The DNA of a new church plant, even before its launch, should be actively
seeking to identify new leaders in other areas within the same geographical
location or abroad to help support financially and with sweat equity. Reason
being that a healthy church plant gives itself away, not the other way around.
It doesn’t take a few years to establish itself, but at its conception it is a
selfless entity. The organization of the church plant should model to it’s
constituents that they too are a temporary resource for that gathering and
ultimately as much responsible for leading and furthering the kingdom.
Furthermore, every person who has connected in a love relationship with Christ
should be viewed as a potential church and sending agent, not a faithful member
or contributor.

Good stuff, Erick, I couldn’t agree more!

Connect them or lose them

Creating community and serving people are keys to reaching young adults.  This is according to new research released by LifeWay:


Churchgoers or not, the study results indicate young adults are longing for community and fellowship with peers, looking for ways to reach people in need and circling the church but not always finding a home in it. Seventy-three percent of church members and 47 percent of non-affiliated young adults indicated that community with other young adults is extremely important in their lives. …The study indicates that social action is a big entryway to the church for young adults. In fact, social action is cited as the major reason unchurched young adults would consider being part of a church.

Read:  LifeWay Research Examines The New View Of Young Adults 
Listen to the Podcast: The Leaving Generation 

Church of the Highlands Four Corners

Here are some pics of Church of the Highlands Four Corners. I enjoyed worshipping Jesus with them yesterday. Ricc Conner is lead planter.
Click image for more...

Highlands Four Corners

Humana 2.0

Coming to Orlando February 7-8 2007. Register before the New Year and save. More info: http://fight4humanity.com/

Your Greatest Work

My friend, Lindsay cofield, sent this to me...

YOUR GREATEST WORK…“In work, in ministry, or in any other endeavor, imagine everything you've ever accomplished up to this point. Visualize every obstacle, every failure, and every success as nothing more than preparation for what you will one day accomplish. In one moment, one day, one week, one month, or one year, you may accomplish more - and have greater impact - than all your previous years combined. And that one incredible season of fruitfulness would not have been possible, but had it not been for all the years of toil that prepared you for your greatest work. Particularly in service to the Kingdom of God, by His power and His indwelling Holy Spirit, always be aware that years you spend in seeming futility may one day yield a harvest of staggering proportions, not to mention eternal reward and commendation from the…KING.....” W.J.Ericson

2 Timothy 2:1-7 Accountability

1. What is your highest God-Calling in this chapter of your life?


2. What has helped you stay focused & God dependent this week?


3. What Bible person/circumstance best describes you this week: Joseph, Daniel, Job, Paul, other_____________
   ~pit, prison, exile, mountain top, promised land, desert, pilgrimage, other________
   
4. Who is your Timothy? Barnabas? Paul?...and how have you invested in them lately?


5. What is hindering, distracting, blessing, or multiplying your Kingdom work lately?


6. What are you building now for future fruitbearing?


7. What is your #1 prayer support need today?________________________

Church Planter’s Christmas Party

Here are some photos from our church planter's Christmas party on Dec. 4.

Message or Relationship

We are bombarded by messages each day: email, commercials, billboards, sales pitches. We know how to spot hype and mile a way. We get a sense that something is wrong when someone misuses our relationships to lure us into multi-level marketing scams. So, why do we try to start churches the same way? Relational church planting is about building authentic relationships with people because God loves them and we are trying.

Please listen to the following podcast and post your comments regarding "Message or Relationship"

Gabcast! The Church Planting Podcast #5 - Message or Relationship

20th Century churches focused on the message. Twenty-First Century humans are bombarded with messages everyday. We delete or ignore most of the messages that are sent to us, except for the relational ones.

For more on relational church planting, check out: http://everywherechurch.com/ and Hanging out on the EDGE

Mega or Micro?

So, are we advocating mega churches or micro churches?  Yes!

Alex McManus has an excellent post on his blog: Mega Church and Home Church Networks: Twin Trajectories and Why We Need Them Both.

So, What is a Simple Church?

November 1, 2006
10a.m. -3:00 p.m.
Apopka, FL
Free Event
Register Online

Quite simply, a simple church is one that focuses on loving God, loving people and making disciples of Jesus Christ. Simple does not necessarily mean small. Some simple churches are small and some are quite large. Simple does mean uncomplicated.

Sometimes we get so busy doing church that we fail to equip people to be the church in daily life. Simple churches evaluate all that they do in terms of loving God, loving people and making disciples. They stop doing or don’t do things that hinder them from fulfilling the mission of Jesus.

Simple Church Planting is all about intentionally multiplying churches that focus on keeping the main thing the main thing. In some contexts, simple churches will launch large with a paid staff and a full slate of mission opportunities. In many others, they will start as single-celled organisms that multiply quickly. Regardless of size, the principles are the same.

You are invited to spend 5 hours on November 1st with some simple church planters and others who want to learn. Simple Church Planting is not an event, it is a collaboration of people on mission together to evangelize Central Florida and the world with the good news that God came near. If you are interested in joining us click here for more details.

Marketplace Networking/Training Opportunity

Westpoint Fellowship Church is hosting their 1st business leadership conference to connect with and serve the business leaders of the Central Florida region. On November 14th, participants will get to sit in on a live simulcast as though in a board room doing Q and A with Jack Welch, Marcus Buckingham, Stephen R. Covey, and Ken Blanchard. This is a one-of-a-kind event that will have thousands of participants all across the country and in 32 countries. Westpoint is the host for Central Florida.

If you would like to participate, you have 2 options:
· You can view it live @ St. Paul's Presbyterian across from West Oaks Mall from 11 to 5 on November 14th. The cost is $100 per head or $75 per head for a group of 10 or more. Admission includes the in-depth learning experience, networking discussions and opportunities with other business leaders, an application workbook, lunch, a free gift, and the change to win a door prize.
· You can pay to have the feed streamed into your own conference room and have a private day with your own team.
This is an awesome chance to network with other business leaders in the community, as well as be challenged by 4 premier and proven national business leaders. For all the details, go to www.higherlevel2006.com. All proceeds go toward WFC being the church in the marketplace.
To find out more about how WFC is being the church in the marketplace, surf through Restoration Concept's website and share the vision with your friends in the marketplace.

Collaborate with Google Docs

OK, this is really cool and revolutionary. Google has released their online word processor aka writley. The new release, known as Google Docs is integrated with Google's online spreadsheet. With docs and spreadsheets, you can invite others to collaborate with you on a project and keep the project private. Each user logs in with their own Google account. Revisions are tracked, so it is easy to revert to previous versions. You can also publish your work to a unique url so that it can be viewed by anyone online, but not changed. The really cool thing is that you can track all changes via rss feed.

Simple Church Planting

Simple Church Planting Conference
November 1, 2006 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Camp Joy Chapel

I am excited to announce the line-up for Simple Church Planting at Camp Joy on November 1st. Alex McManus will get us started at 10:00 with “Effective Evangelism." He will be followed by Neil Hughes with a session on “Reproducing Disciples.” During lunch, we will hear testimonies of some local guys who are planting simple churches in Central Florida. The afternoon session will kick off with none other than our own Jim Collins talking about “Multiplying Leaders.” We will wrap things up with Mark Weible and Mike Hoffmann encouraging “Organic Development.”

We will have a cash book table with copies of Beyond Church Planting by Bob Logan, Organic Church by Neil Cole, Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Revolution by George Barna. These resources will be available in limited supply at 75% off the retail price.

We have a limited number of spaces available for this free event. If you would like to know more or wish to register online, visit www.goba.org/cpn.

What is a Baptist Church?

Not all New Testament churches belong to a denomination. Denominations are organizations and they have the right to choose their membership. Denominations have specific requirements for membership. Here is the basic definition of a Southern Baptist Church form the 2000 SBC Baptist Faith and Message…

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.

Denominations have other requirements for membership such as financially supporting the organization and physical participation.