Church Planters are the Neatest People

Take Tony McCollum.  He is one of the most creative and funny people I know.  Not only that, he would give you the shirt off his back (or at least ones that didn’t make the cut for his congregation). 

Tony sent me a free “These are my church clothes” t-shirt, and Tony, I’ve worn it already.

Tony’s blog is a must-read for planters.

Thanks, Tony.

The Dip - So That's What It's Called

I’ve been reading a lot of church planters’ blogs lately. We are very similar lot. In fact, it’s quite encouraging to hear that the hard stuff we go through, everyone else has too.

Ben Arment has a great 4 part series of posts on The Dip. Peachtree staff, we’ve been in the dip for over a year. This fall, we’re coming out. I can’t wait for our meeting on June 9.

One of my heroes of the faith

Here’s one of my heroes of the faith. Every time I’ve ever heard Bill Hybels speak, something wells up in me to go all out for the Kingdom.

Here’s what Bill said recently at a conference to church planters:

Bill said that his greatest horror is “what if I would’ve given my life to a lesser dream?”

Bill finished his talk by telling us that after 31 years this would be his advice to church planters:

1. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “HANKERING” AND A “HOLY DISCONTENT”. A “hankering” is thinking that you might like to try this someday; but a “holy discontent” is something that if you don’t do it you will implode! Church planting can not be a “hankering” it has to be a “holy discontent” that you have to do.
   


2. KNOW WHO HAS WHAT GIFTS. You need to know not only your gifts, but also the order of your giftings. Most people have 3 or 4 gifts and you need to know which is first, second, third and fourth. You also need to know the gifts of your team and the order of their gifts as well.
   


3. KNOW THE CONNECT BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND FAITH. Faith is what allows you as a leader to continue to move forward even though what you hope for is not yet in sight. Faith is essential for a spiritual leader.
   


4. DECIDE TODAY THAT YOU WILL TAKE THE “HIGH ROAD”. There are too many church planters who have ditched their efforts because they compromised in the area of sexuality or financial impropriety. If you are going to plant a church decide right now that you are going to take the moral high road.
   


5. ASK GOD TO LET YOU FINISH WITH A FEW OF THE PEOPLE YOU STARTED WITH. Don’t start this new adventure on your own; do it with a team. Create a community that feels more like a family than it does like a profession. And then ask God to let you finish with some of the same people with which you started this church.