Category: Discipleship
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Discipleship Over Leadership: Lessons from Ephesians for Church Planting in Australia
Somewhat controversially I have said that leadership is not the deal-breaker for Jesus mission in Australia. That status goes to discipleship that can multiply. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “At the Exponential Conference, in October 2023, I attended a workshop by Alan Hirsch speaking on…
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Hard-Wired vs. Soft-Wired: Discipleship Must Stay Central in Church Planting
A popular methodology for planting is the campus model. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting I write: “I have observed that when churches plant churches these days, they choose to either hard–wire them or soft–wire them as a way of bringing sustained support and maintaining culture: (a) …
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Building Teams for Multiplication: Aligning Diversity and Discipleship in Church Planting
Creating teams that can produce multiplying churches is the great challenge. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: A calculated giftedness diversity in the team and in the relationships between the planting leader and team will have several important effects. First, it will keep the posture of…
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Bridging the Emotional Gap: Discipleship-Based Church Planting for Thriving Teams
The planting eco-system is a high emotional environment. In my view we often miss the significance of this reality. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “In my view, the coach and support personnel need to develop eyes for the real emotional and cultural distance between the…
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The First Five Years: Building a Strong Foundation for Multiplication in Church Planting
From personal experience and observation, keeping the leadership and team in place for the first five years of a church’s life is a key to it’s ongoing health. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church planting” I write: “….the longer the planting leader and team are in synergy and partnership…
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The Critical Defaults: Cultivating a Disciple-Making Culture in Church Planting
Historically, disciples of Jesus, wherever they went carried a specific “default” that meant that wherever they were they took personal responsibility for disciplemaking. Too few of us carry this “default.” In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “There are some defaults needed in a planter leader and…
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Inward work of the Spirit
Discipleship based Church planting will still need leaders. If Ephesians 4 means anything it means that Jesus is already committed to raising up leaders for His work. The shift to a discipleship-based church planting approach does not mean leaders are no longer needed. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church…
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Evangelism and Disciple-making
Planters can be strategic and that’s to be encouraged. But there’s a level of instinctiveness that is needed too. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “If, at the level of instinct, a planting leader can discern and pivot to the hopes and dreams of those around…
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Resilience in Leadership: Partnering with Jesus in Discipleship-Based Church Planting
Discipleship-based Church planting will still need leaders. If Ephesians 4 means anything it means that Jesus is already committed to raising up leaders for His work. The shift to a discipleship-based church-planting approach does not mean leaders are no longer needed. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I…
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Foundations of Love: Rediscovering the Heart of Discipleship in Church Planting
The period we are entering will be marked I believe by the refreshment of our foundations. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “From John 13–17, there is a kind of compendium on the heart of discipleship. It’s the heart not only of the internal world but…