Are We Building God’s Kingdom or Our Own?

I entered the ministry with the same ambitions many young pastors do. I sincerely wanted to reach people for Jesus, but I was also pretty interested in making a big name for myself. I wanted a large church, and I was pretty sure God was into that, too, because it seemed like a win-win for both of us.

The Church Multiplication Challenge

Across the United States, in churches of all shapes and sizes, God is breathing new life into his people as increasing numbers of leaders embrace the kingdom call to not just grow, but to reproduce and multiply.

A generation of seasoned pastors who’ve pursued the growth paradigm—and now an emerging generation of new leaders with an eye toward the next move of God—are uniting around the priority of reproduction and multiplication. These churches are leaning into their discontentedness and taking action. They are shining the light on a new and far-less-traveled path to success for leaders who’ve been focused exclusively on the church-growth paradigm of the past 40 years.

The 3 phases of church-planting churches

It seems for the last four decades or so, church communities have been talking about planting other churches. But much of that time was spent talking without taking action. The difference today is that people are actually walking out the talk. In other words, we’ve moved beyond just the idea of planting churches to actually doing it.

I would like to frame what has and is taking shape with regards to churches planting churches in three phases.

More Church Planting Is Needed

Among the best ways for us to reach people with the gospel is personal evangelism and church planting. Even with all the changes in culture this remains our best option for reaching unbelievers.

Church planting efforts need focus. A scattershot approach will not be the most effective.

Here are five things we are going to need to increase church planting capacity.

Jesus Started a Church

Perhaps the most radical thing Jesus did while on earth, besides taking the punishment for our sins on the cross, was starting a church. There is generally agreement amongst Bible scholars and theologians that what Jesus did with His disciples was not a church.

But I disagree. Jesus said He would build His church – not just after His ascension into heaven. He started His church while He lived on earth, planning for it to multiply to the ends of the earth.

Obstacles to Church Planting Movements

Church Planting Movements are acts of God, but it’s amazing how much mankind is capable of interfering with them. As with most of God's works among us, He allows us to actively cooperate with Him or become obstacles—consciously or unconsciously—to His desired purposes. Missionaries involved in Church Planting Movements have identified several very human courses of action that tend to obstruct, slow or otherwise hinder CPMs.

Provocative thoughts on Church Planting Movements

What is a Church Planting Movement and what does one look like?  David Garrison investigated this question by studying church planting movements around the world.  His approach was to observe what God was doing and then to describe what he saw. 

In his pioneering book, “Church Planting Movements,” he defined a Church Planting Movement as follows:  “A Church Planting Movement is a [1] rapid multiplication [2] of indigenous churches [3] planting churches [4] that sweeps through a people group or population segment.”

12 practices of a new Jesus movement

“Church planting is the most effective form of evangelism under heaven,” missiologist C. Peter Wagner once said. But is this still true today? Global nomad and missionary Andrew Jones, who works with emerging ‘Jesus movements’ around the world, suggests it’s time to rethink our missions practice, and move from ‘church as a weekly meeting in a building or a house’ towards ‘more sustainable, holistic, and measurably transformational Kingdom solutions.’

Don’t Empower People Too Quickly in Your Church

Church planters, fight the urge to empower people too quickly.

Some planters, desiring to expand their plant team and move ahead in their mission, will dole out leadership responsibilities to people they barely know. Many even counsel this: “Give ’em a job, and they’ll stick around,” as the logic goes. Yet that “logic” is suicidal.

Five step strategy for church planting

A successful strategy has to be biblical and simple. We have formulated it in five easy to follow steps: 1. Pray – 2. Meet – 3. Make – 4. Gather – 5. Multiply

How to get involved in Church Planting

There is a church planting movement happening right now in the United States and around the world. It is causing a rapid multiplication of new disciples of Christ across denominational lines and cultural divides. Experts say that church planting is the number one way to reach unchurched people and make new disciples for Jesus Christ.

C. Peter Wagner says ...

Top 10 reasons to join a church plant

1. If you want to see Jesus do something new and are sick of the status quo.

2. If you dream of being part of something bigger than yourself.

3. If you want to get into a fight/enter a battle for the kingdom of Christ.

4. If you feel a constant itch to see people who don’t know Jesus come to know Jesus and you believe church planting is the best way for the gospel to advance.

Top 10 reasons not to join our church plant

1.  If you’re looking for the next cool thing in town (We want to grow by conversion growth, not church-goer transfer growth).

2.  If you’re a Christian and you don’t like your current church (You will find reasons to not like this church).

3.  If you have a bad track record at churches of being unteachable and causing problems (You won’t change here, you’ll repeat the pattern).

4.  If you’re a consumer wanting to “go to church” 1x a week for a nice show (We are not a Sunday show, we are a community of disciples on a mission).

5 Tests Church Planters Face

I love being able to chat and dream with church planters, and one of the questions often asked by them is, "What's the one thing you would have wished you'd known before you started?"

My answer is simple: I wish that someone had told me the decision to launch the church was actually going to be one of the easier ones and during the next year or so I would face five critical tests that I believe every church planter goes through.

"Frog” or “lizard” churches?

Church Planting Movements are acts of God, but it’s amazing how much mankind is capable of interfering with them. As with most of God's works among us, He allows us to actively cooperate with Him or become obstacles - consciously or unconsciously - to His desired purposes. Missionaries involved in Church Planting Movements have identified several very human courses of action that tend to obstruct, slow or otherwise hinder CPMs.

Even though we cannot create a Church Planting Movement, we can certainly work to avoid blocking their emergence. Here [is one] of the most prominent obstacles to Church Planting Movements facing missionaries today: Planting “frog” rather than “lizard” churches.

Key # 7: The Mission Key

The most important thing to do to reach the world’s unevangelized and neglected peoples is to plant small, simple, easily reproducible churches. It is estimated that over ninety percent of the churches being planted in the world today are small, house-type churches that are led by non-professional leaders. They are easily reproducible because they are not dependent on buildings or programs to spread the gospel. Seminary trained leaders are not required to proclaim the gospel in the villages and slums of the world. In fact, Western models of church do not work in most of Africa, India, China, and the Muslim worlds.

Key # 6: The Disciple Making Key

Disciple making is the heart of planting church planting churches and preaching the kingdom of God. Making disciples gets at the heart of being and doing church. There is no short cut and no substitute. There is no program or school that can disciple people. People make disciples, one person at a time.

Key # 5: The Kingdom Key

There is a kingdom that is above all other kingdoms, a government that rules all other governments, and that is the Kingdom of God. God is the king over all kings. It says in Daniel 2, “God changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings.” (Daniel 2:21)

Key # 4: The Leadership Key

The apostolic foundation in the church is the ambition God places in the hearts of His people to make disciples and plant churches where Christ has not been proclaimed. When this ambition spreads in a community of believers, a culture takes hold that empowers a church community to have radical faith for the impossible. Apostolic passion enables a church to live boldly for the purposes of God. This is important because apostolic ambition originates in the heart of God: He longs for His Son to be worshiped by the nations and peoples who have never heard about Jesus.

Key # 3: The Culture Key

Every church planting movement should be focused on encouraging people to express their love for God in their heart language and culture style. Churches that are racially or linguistically mixed are important for demonstrating reconciliation, but may make it impossible for most people to feel at home in the church.