This was the title of my talk at the 2023 North Coast Leadership Conference here in sunny San Diego. I love this conference for many reasons, but what gets me is the core of the conference: a place where leaders can engage other leaders on similar paths as they are. And every once in a…

Church planting is expensive in the West. Equipment, legal fees, marketing, facilities, and of course, ministry salaries. Unfortunately, these expenses make sure that there’s a greater need to plant churches than funds available to pay for the start-up costs. Yet that’s nothing new. The Apostle Paul wasn’t rolling in cash either. That’s why he, and…

Each of us have areas of our lives that need adjusting. We may add new responsibilities and interests, while losing interest in other things. We collect new stuff while holding on to old stuff, and collectively we end up with cluttered lives. If any of this sounds familiar…you might need a life edit. In writing, editing is the process of making every word count. This…

Mission isn’t just something that happens “out there,” it happens within the four walls of the church as well. Too often we think of mission as a temporary activity instead of a way of life that permeates everything we do. When believers gather together, they should interact in a way that makes gathering times just…

This time of year, we talk a lot about New Year’s resolutions and about how to make our lives better. Many of us have spiritual goals, physical goals, intellectual goals, and a whole host of things that we think will improve the qualities of our lives and character. We have a notion of what an…

Spiritual power is a tricky thing because it must constantly be sought. We can’t do anything ourselves to generate or maintain spiritual power; it is only through the Holy Spirit that we have a modicum of power to minister. Sadly, rather than relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, most church planters today rely…