Provocations & Pantings

» Get all the info on PLNTD Conference website » Register Now for just $39 (ends 2/14)

Get all the info here. Register this week for a special opening week rate of just $29. We are only making this rate available to the first 100 who register. I would love for you to this training opportunity on how to cultivate gospel communities on mission from Steve Timmis and Jared Wilson, along with [...]

Last week, we finished the first installment [Nov/Dec 2011] of the Roots Reading Initiative focused on the mission of the church.  In this installment, we read What Is the Mission of the Church? by Greg Gilbert and Kevin DeYoung (November) and Everyday Church by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. With each week, discussion questions are made [...]

Just as a heads up, the PLNTD December e-Newsletter is out. You can subscribe to the PLNTD newsletter on the PLNTD website.  If you know someone who may be interested in what we’re doing, spread the word by liking it on Facebook or plugging it on Twitter or Google+. This afternoon, I leave for Nashville, [...]

As I shared last month, I have transitioned to working full-time with PLNTD.  This means, among other things, that you will be hearing a lot more about the work we are doing as a church planting network here on my blog.  For the past month, I have been working with our team to refresh everything [...]

I’m excited to share with you a new project from PLNTD called the Roots Reading Initiative. Over the past several months, we have been working on the creation of a whole new approach to leadership and networking in church planting through what we are calling the PLNTD ecosystem. We endeavor to create an environment through [...]

2011 has been one of the most eventful years of my life. As someone who likes to plan and prepare things, I thought I had a good beat on where the Lord was leading me at the beginning of the year.  And yet I can say that the majority of my days this year have [...]

Last Saturday evening, I had a conversation about packaging.  Not packaging as in UPS packaging, but packaging as in presentation.  I had a mini-rant where I expressed frustration over the fact that the guys who have the best content often times do the worst job in packaging it.  Websites are goofy, cumbersome, and aesthetically off-putting [...]

IX Marks hosted a panel discussion at the 2011 SBC Annual Meeting where Mark Dever sat down with David Platt and Albert Mohler to talk about the state of the SBC, church planting, and the Cooperative Program.  Check it. HT: IX Marks Blog

Here’s a continuation of the panel discussion from The Gospel Coalition where Tullian Tchividjian, Dave Harvey, and Mike McKinley talk about the church planter and his identity in Christ.  I really appreciate these guys addressing church planting from a gospel-centered, theologically-grounded perspective. How does your understanding and appropriating the gospel impact your life as a [...]

Last summer, I began a coaching relationship at Grace with a young man sensing a call to plant a church in his urban neighborhood.  He is a sharp, articulate, and gifted brother who has not received any formal theological training.  In order to gain a better understanding of his theological bearings, I created what I [...]

Dave Harvey, author of Rescuing Ambition and director of church planting for Sovereign Grace Ministries, answers questions related to the calling of a church planting and pastor.  Check it. Part 1 Part 2

Mike McKinley, author of Church Planting Is for Wimps, answers the question about how God’s Word drives the agenda for church planting. HT :: Crossway Blog

I have always admired and sought to emulate the pastoral heart and compassion found in C.J. Mahaney. Speaking to a group of church planters, he implored them to love, love, love, and then preach to their people.  When I first watched this, the following verses came to my mind . . . 7 But we [...]

Dustin Neeley recently sat down with Mark Dever and asked about the importance of biblical theology in the life and work of pastors and church planters. I appreciated Dever’s response.