Tag Archives: church plant

Links I Like

Posted on by

0

Links I Like is a collection of blogs, articles and books I’ve come across recently and thought they were worth sharing. Click here for past Links I Like.

book

  1. Christine Hoover on 25 things a veteran church planter’s wife has learned about church planting. I couldn’t agree more with this list. So much truth here.
  2. What churches can do to prevent sexual abuse in their church.
  3. Darryl Dash on How many hours should a pastor work in a week.
  4. Victoria’s Secret is coming for your middle schooler. A must read for parents of daughters.
  5. Russell Moore on Should Christians boycott Starbucks.
  6. Knowing how much access to give as a pastor and leader. Great insights.
  7. An open letter to the church from a lesbian.

Links of the Week

Posted on by

1

  1. 7 reasons your church plant won’t make it. This list is right on.
  2. 7 marriage lessons I learned on the dance floor.
  3. Here is a great debate that Pastor J.D. Greear had with an Imam about about whether the God of the Bible of the God of Islam is more compassionate. J.D. is the author of the great book Breaking the Islam Code.
  4. The most and least churched cities in America. Tucson is in the top 10 least churched cities in America.
  5. Perry Noble on 18 myths singles believe.
  6. What is the main point of the book of Genesis? Great interview with Bryan Chapell.
  7. The latest update on our adoption.
  8. 2 Chilean miners accept Christ while underground.
  9. Most books on being missional are written to guys or leaders, but I came across http://themissionalmom.com this week. Great stuff on what being a mom, raising a family on mission looks like.

Links of the Week

Posted on by

1

  1. Tiger Woods trangression & the gospel. Great insights as to what we can learn from what has happened in Tiger’s life.
  2. Aaron Menikoff on Preparing to preach.
  3. Cody Brasher on the courage needed to be a leader.
  4. 7 ways to protect yourself and your marriage from an affair. I wrote something similar about the boundaries Katie and I keep, this is incredibly important for every couple, but especially for pastors.
  5. Mark Driscoll on When was Jesus born? This is a common question I get a lot from people and this is a good answer.
  6. Stuff Christians like asks the questions, “How do you invite people to church?” This will make you laugh.
  7. Pastors are always there for people who are hurting, but what about when they hurt? Who Pastors the Pastor? This is a great article in Christianity Today.
  8. Tim Keller on How to handle criticism.
  9. What if Target operated like a church? Great question, they would probably go out of business or at least turn people off.
  10. Perry Noble on 7 reasons church plants fail. This is right on.
  11. 5 hard truths for church planters. If you are a planter, thinking about planting, part of a church plant or support someone who is, you need to read this. It is hard to describe what planting does to a person and their family.

Testing

Posted on by

This morning I was reading through Luke 4 where Jesus is in the desert and is tested by the devil. I’ve preached on this passage before and have read it or heard it countless times, but the first line flew off the page.

“Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil” (Luke 4:1).

So Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit is led to a place where he will be tested. I love the phrase forty wilderness days and nights. That is what testing will feel like. It will not be pleasant, comfortable, or a place you will want to return to.

Since we know how the story ends, I wonder if the story ends differently if Jesus does not handle this testing the way he does.

In verse 14 he launches out his ministry and it says that he returned to his hometown powerfully in the Spirit. After going through testing and coming out the other side, there is this feeling that you can take on anything or anyone and do anything.

This is the sense we have at Revolution. Last year at this time, we were in the midst of severe testing. This time last year, we lost half of our launch team. It was by far, the hardest season of my life. God was refining us, proofing us, showing us whether or not we really believed the vision he had given us, seeing whether or not we would stick with it. He was sharpening me harder than I have had ever been sharpened. Asking me if I was really called to this, asking me if I was leading correctly. In the midst of that, we did some things right and some things wrong but we stuck with it.

For us, it is this sense that not only can we do anything God calls us to because of what He has brought us through, but this feeling that God is not done with Revolution here in Tucson or the world. There were countless times (and every church plant can say this) before we launched that we should have been shut down. The journey was tough, painful, friends were lost, tears were shed, but on the other side of that, because God saw fit for us to stay afloat and now to be thriving and fulfilling his vision here in Tucson, we know, He is not done with us.