Tag: the genius in the kingdom
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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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Three Stages of Intentionality in Church Planting
I have found that “the intentionality with which the Church planter and the planting team have thought through how best to connect culturally with their community is a key factor.” And in my experience, I have found there are several stages to being intentional and I want to take a moment to describe these stages…
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Active, Transition, or Passive: Assessing Your Church’s Missionary State
What I see now is that we here in Australia need to learn to think like missionaries. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “In my experience, I have seen three main states of missionary–mindedness among new churches in Australia. The first state that a new church…
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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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Intentional Support: Navigating the Emotional Landscape of Church Planting
Watching church planting take place over the years, I have noticed that the supporters for the new church are often weighing whether they should be involved or whether they should wait on a request from those involved. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “Sometimes the expectations…
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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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Guarding the Culture: Overcoming Pressure Points in Church Planting Leadership
There are numerous pressure points for leaders of new churches. I write of one such pressure point in “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” – “…culture is communicated not only by words but also by the example of the planting leader and the team. This is particularly important in the first…