Roland Allen’s influence greatly shaped 20th century missions and continues to influence the expansion of the Church. Though best known for writings such as Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, his thoughts were not always appreciated. His adolescent grandson once asked to read […]
church
Though much of my twenty years in vocational ministry has been connected to the local church, I have also been significantly involved in parachurch (i.e., alongside of, not in competition with the local church) ministries. Even extending back to my college days, campus ministry was a major part of my […]
Evolution not Dissolution of the Parachurch
We reproduce what we know; we know what is modeled before us. As a pastor, I have the honor of seeing members regularly sent from The Church at Brook Hills to the unreached people groups in Birmingham, across North America, and throughout the world. As a faith family, we are […]
Sterility of Complexity
This week Baptist Press released the article, “SBC Reports More Churches, Fewer People.” Within hours, secular media outlets were reporting on these findings too. For those who have been tracking these numbers, this article brought no surprises. And while there is nothing surprising here, as a Southern Baptist, I have […]
Decline in Southern Baptist Convention Numbers
One reason churches do not participate in church planting is because they believe it is beyond their abilities. And I would agree that church planting is beyond most churches as long as we use the typical western definition of church planting. When we turn to the Scriptures, we do not […]
Your Church is Closer to Planting than You Think
If we recognize we must now serve lunch at 7AM, then we come to the conclusion: We must change the way we prepare others to serve in our blurred world. Church planting training cannot remain as it is. Pastoral training cannot remain as it is. Seminary education cannot remain as […]