Church Planting Prospectus
A church planting prospectus is a helpful tool for explaining the vision of your new church to potential supporters and members. Dr. Mike Dodson, professor of church planting at Southeastern Baptist...
View ArticleAssembling a Team
Canadian church planter and missiologist Jeff Christopherson talks about assembling a team for a new church. Jeff contends that too many Christians involved in the early stages of a new church can be...
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Interview with Dr. Ed Welch on the Fear of Man
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ed Welch, the author of an extremely useful and challenging book called, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure,...
View ArticleTwo New Iceland Videos
I’m elated about the good things that are going on in Iceland right now. We’ve been working to spread the gospel there for several years and over the years several other churches have joined our...
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D.C. HAS LOWEST PURCHASING POWER IN THE COUNTRY
Got this from Matthew Hawkins today over at ERLC, Very interesting info about DC. See the source HERE. Bad news for all you Morning Tax readers in D.C.: Our Kelsey Snell reports that District residents...
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Birth Announcement: Pillar Church of Kaneohe
I wish i had a dollar for every time someone sarcastically said, “Really suffering for Jesus, huh” about the Praetorian Project’s next move to Kaneohe Bay, HI. I understand the sentiment, in fact, i’ve...
View ArticleAdvice for Elders in New Churches
Paul’s Advice to the Ephesians Elders: “28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained...
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Missionary + Pastor = Church Planter
Most jobs have a static job description – the job is the same in the first year as it is in the fifth year. Church planting is not one of these jobs. When you start planting a church you are a...
View Article150 Church Planting Books
A few years ago I put out a list of 65 Church Planting books. That list has been accessed quite a lot over the past few years and a lot of people still ask me about it. My buddy JR Woodward has a top...
View ArticleAssessment Categories for Aspiring Planters
Aspiring church planters often want to know if there’s some examination, text or assessment they can take to confirm that they are “have what it takes” to plant a church. My advise usually goes...
View ArticleDirty Clint Video: First Sermon With @jthig
Today I sat down with Jordan Thigpen a Senior at Georga Southern University and a summer intern at Pillar Church of Dumfries. Sunday evening Jordan preached his first sermon at Pillar Church of...
View ArticlePillar "Thank You" from @jamiealetheia
Jamie Limato is Preaching at Pillar Church this morning and he put together a little thank you video for the folks at Pillar. I’m extremely thankful for all of the great things God has accomplished in...
View ArticleRetro Video, Book & Comic: The Gospel Blimp (1967)
In 2009 I sat in on the “intern discussions” at Capital Hill Baptist Church in DC. The semesters reading list was what you’d expect, books about ministry and polity… but during the course of the...
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Contest for SBC of Virginia Church Planters
Well, Christmas is around the corner and it’s the time of year we should be thinking about how we plan to connect with people in our community around the holiday season. This year, were going to try to...
View ArticleFour Don't (s) for Pastors
Don’t only give answers to the questions other people have about God. Be sure to ask questions, and be willing to learn from others. Don’t only speak to others about areas of sin and pride in their...
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Don't Miss Man Down Weekend
Since everyone else seems to be encouraging men to “man up” we decided that this October Pillar Church along with several other churches in our family are going to encourage men to do the opposite....
View ArticleFive Reasons that Becoming a Church Member is a Good Idea
REASON #1 – COMMITMENT IS GOOD – People these days are commitma-phobic. Marriage, Kids, Jobs… In practically every area of life, our society views commitment as a thing to be feared. But we, as...
View Article10 free things you can do in your church to warm your church up to church...
What’s that you say? You want your church to plant churches but you don’t know how to get them started. Here are my 10 Free (no cost) actions you can take to prepare you congregation to warm up to the...
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How to Adopt Without Going Into Debt
Julie Gumm published a book chronicling almost the exact same experience I’m writing about here in her new book, Adopt Without Debt. I’ve hesitated to write on this subject until the process is...
View ArticleAdoptiing Without Debt (Part 2)
In my previous post I talked about how we decided that debt wasn’t an option for us in the adoption process. If you haven’t read that post yet, you should – it will help make since of this one. Once we...
View ArticleThe Four Stages of Competence
A few weeks ago I heard someone reference “The Four Stages of Competence” like it was something I was supposed to know all about. I did not know all about it. Maybe was supposed to learn it at some...
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To My Love on Valentines Day
Jennifer, Tomorrow marks seventeen years since I stood before your perfect face, dimly lit by the golden glow of a nearby “Burger King” sign. That evening I invited you into my life and I have been...
View ArticleNew Praetorian Film
In 2005 Pillar Church was planted near USMC base Quantico in the Washington DC Suburbs. Since that time Pillar has been working to reach Marines and their families with the Gospel of Christ. Because...
View ArticleFive Priorities for Church Planting Families
This is a excerpt from the chapter I wrote in “PLANT”. PLANT is a new resource produced by “Innovative Faith Resources” designed to equip church planters. You can order “PLANT” or watch a promo video...
View ArticleFive Priorities (Part 2)
Priority #2 – Give you family preference on your schedule One of the unique privileges you will have as a church planter is the ability to leverage your schedule for the benefit of your family. You can...
View ArticleFive Priorities (Part 3)
Priority # 3 – Spend one-on-one time with family members. “It is common for ministry families to feel as if their dad/husband cares more about the members of his church than he does about the members...
View ArticleFive Priorities (Part 4)
Priority # 4 – Don’t do for your church what you are unwilling to do for your family. “The sad truth is that many pastors view their home life as a place to decompress from the stress of ministry, a...
View ArticleFive Priorities (Part 5)
Priority # 5 – Exploit the benefits of ministry for the joy of your family. “Planting a new church will tax your family in unexpected ways. Your wife and children will experience the ups and downs of...
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Church Planter Pirates (Part 1)
pi·rate (prt) – One who preys on others; a plunderer. The early church was characterized by a “concern for all the Churches”. Paul said he faced “daily pressure” and “inwardly burned” out of concern...
View ArticleChurch Planter Pirates (Part 2)
Yesterday I talked about Church Planter Pirates… Guys who are so focused on starting a new church that they don’t care what they do to hurt other churches in the process. Faithful pastors have concern...
View ArticleChurch Planter Pirates (Part 3)
James McDonald… My wife went through a lot to bring our three children into the world. Carrying them for nine months, the trips to the doctor, the uncertainty, the anxiety, the actual process of labor,...
View ArticleChurch Planter Pirates (Part 4)
So a church planter has three jobs… To plant a gospel-centered church. To do what he can to make sure his sending church has a good experience so that they will want to plant again. To lead his new...
View ArticleChurch Planter Pirates (Part 5)
One final way you can avoid acting like a church planter pirate is to work hard to reduce resource dependance on your sending church as soon as possible. In short, grow up. Make it a priority to elect...
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Planting the Gospel in Concrete
Planting Churches is in fashion among evangelicals today and I’m really happy about this. And Cities… cities are the “5th Ave” of the church planting buzz. Everyone loves the cities… Chris Tomlin is...
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The Link Between Prayer and Progress (Part 1)
Confession time, in the early days of Pillar Church I was doing everything I knew to do to grow the church because… I thought that was my job. We ran TV commercials, 10,000 piece mailers, nice...
View ArticleThe Link Between Prayer and Progress (Part 2)
Prayer doesn’t come natural for a church, especially for a new church. Unless a leader in the church is consistently urging the congregation to pray, the congregation is not likely to spend much time...
View ArticleGreat Advice from Matthew Henry
Worldly men, Henry writes, “are apt to leave God out of their schemes.” They make plans and then set them into motion without the consultation of God. Proverbs reminds us “Many are the plans in the...
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Really Exciting News!!!
This time seven years ago my family was living in Reykjavik, Iceland – the worlds Northernmost Capital. We’d gone there on Pillar Church’s first international church planting adventure The Iceland...
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The Church Planting Podcast
Over the past few months I’ve been working to put together a podcast that would be a help to planters and sending churches. Each episode includes an interview with an expert in his/her respective...
View ArticleDestinations to Discipleship
Disciple making is the foundation of church planting. If you want to lead your church to plant new churches, start by making disciples. While it’s possible to plant churches without making disciples,...
View ArticlePillar Church Family Tree
Nearly 12 years of ministry at Pillar Church! Watch our family tree unfold courtesy of the Send Network.
View ArticleThe Downside of Professional Christianity
Today I ran across a Huffington Post article that caught my attention called, “The Problem with Becoming a Professional Christian”. It caught my eye because it is almost the exact title of an article I...
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Church Planters – Try a Wishlist
As you are out trying to drum up support for a new church you may find a few potential supporters that are verbally supportive, but unwilling to give financially. I have found that churches that fall...
View Article5 Prayers for Multiplying Churches
We all know we should pray for direction from the Lord – but we don’t all know exactly how do we pray? So, allow me to give you five specific ways you should seek you should pray as your church makes...
View ArticleWhat Do We Need to Plant a Church?
Do we need money? Money would be helpful but churches all over the world get started with little to no money. So, no money is not necessary. Besides, money follows resources always accompany a...
View ArticleTwo Reasons to Preach From A Manuscript
The very strongest advice I can give, especially for a new preacher, is to write a manuscript of your sermon. Writing my sermons out word-for-word is the single most helpful habit I have formed as a...
View Article10 Signs a Church Leader Will Multiply
Virtually every pastor I know has a desire to multiply his church but very few actually do. Here are some characteristics I’ve noticed in those leaders who successfully lead their churches to multiply....
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Can Church Planters Expereince Postpartum Depression?
Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth. – Mike Tyson My wife is the rock in our family. She’s the emotionally stable one. I, on the other hand am not stable emotionally. When I’m...
View Article100 Questions and Conversation Starters for Your Children
Happy thanksgiving everyone! Holidays can be a great time with family and friends but if you aren’t careful it can quickly descend into the whole family sitting silently in the same room scrolling...
View Article225 Questions and Conversation Starters for Your Children
Last Thanksgiving my family published our list of “100 Questions and Conversation Starters for Your Children” – Today we give you the revised, expanded and updated version, “225 Questions and...
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