Church Planting for the Rest of Us

Here’s another winner for you gang.

If you haven’t planted, download this thing and use it as a template.

If you already have, download this and use it for your future planters.

Thanks to Brett Wagner for his hard work on this great document.

Click Redeemer Vision Packet to get it.

The 1st one is a website that I just found out about last night called GAZELLE.

You can click HERE and read all about it. I have not used this company personally, but it seems totally legit to me.

Click HERE to get some bonus codes if you decide to do it. (I assume they work…)

The 2nd option comes from one of my commenters from last week’s post, my good friend, Dan Gossett. Here are his thoughts:

“Though other than Siri, there isn’t much need for me to upgrade to the 4S. As I’ve compared the 4 and 4S side by side, I can’t see too much of a difference.

However, if you do decide to upgrade, you can always sell your iPhone 4 on Craigslist or Ebay for $200 or more – more than enough to cover the cost of an upgrade. People love to buy iPhones without contracts, so they are more than willing to pay more than the upgrade cost of a new phone. I’ve actually upgraded every iPhone before my 4 this way. Including selling an iPhone in the AT&T store parking lot for cash, then walking into the store to cover the cost of an upgrade, with more storage than the previous phone!

The catch is you have to be available for an upgrade price ($199).

Also, when selling anything on eBay or Craigslist, you need to be wise and not ship it overseas without actually verifying the funds are in PayPal (which I learned the hard way).

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience, Dan.

Anybody else got any creative solutions?

These are my quick thoughts on the issue.

Feel free to post yours below.

Especially, if you have clearly decided yay or nay. And why.

If you need a workaround to avoid buying an iPhone 4S, this may help…

You guys are going to owe me BIG TIME for this.

So…

I found a FREE app called VLINGO that is not exactly like Siri but sure looks a lot like it.

It wont allow you to schedule appointments, but it will allow you to dictate text messages, emails, web searches and voice dialing. Strong!

—

Since I don’t have a turn-by-turn GPS (and I get lost almost anywhere), I need an app that will do that for me.

I found an app called TELENAV GPS PLUS that will do just that.

It also plugs into your car stereo (assuming it is equipped for it through an adapter of some kind) and allows you to play iPod music and will automatically reduce and restore volume as the non-annoying voice gives you turn-by-turn directions.

It costs $.99 for a 30 day trial and $9.99 for an entire year. Love it!

So there you go.

My advice won’t replace a 4S, but it will save you some money until you get one (or wait for the 5) in the meantime.

A few weeks back, I began a series unpacking some of what I think is required to be an effective church planter. You can catch those posts HERE , HERE and HERE if you missed them.

Today, I want to add the next installment by asking what is perhaps the most important question of all - “Are you biblically qualified to be a pastor or planter?”

We can talk evangelistic effectiveness or entrepreneurial acumen all day long, by if a man doesn’t meet the Bible’s qualifications for being a pastor in one of God’s churches, he should’t plant a church.

Plain and simple.

My friend, Scott Thomas, published this helpful list of the Biblical qualifications and a little commentary a while back.

“The Bible specifically speaks about the qualifications for those who will lead a congregation of people. These qualifications have been the same for almost 2,000 years. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of these qualifications as the “senior pastor” of the Church.

Above Reproach (Titus 1:6, 7; 1 Tim 3:2)

This is the overarching, summarizing characteristic. You will find similar (but not identical) lists in First Timothy and Titus. Living a life above reproach is the first requirement in both lists and Titus repeats it. The other items on the list explain what “above reproach” means. If we peruse the two lists, as well as First Peter, we find 17 qualifications of an elder who is above reproach.

1. A Pastor must be devoted to his wife; one-woman man (Titus 1:6; 1 Tim 3:2).

The pastor’s marriage illustrates Christ’s love for His church—His bride (Eph. 5:22 ff.). A Pastor must love his wife exclusively with his mind, will and emotions and not just his body.

2. A Pastor’s children must be in submission, though not perfect (Titus 1:6; 1 Tim 3:4-5).

If a man does not know how to manage his own family, he will not know how to take care of God’s church. The first flock for a pastor is his own family as Pastor Dad. A Pastor’s qualification for the church starts in his home management as he leads them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).

3. A Pastor is a faithful Steward (Titus 1:7)

Here the term used is overseer (Greek episkopos). It is not another office, but a functional title of the elder. It is what he does. He is a steward, a manager of God’s resources and Jesus’ flock. He takes responsibility, but not ownership.

4. A Pastor must be humble – not arrogant (Titus 1:7)

A pastor must constantly demonstrate the gospel by admitting when he is wrong and assuming responsibility and restoring relationships.

5. A Pastor must be gentle – not quick-tempered (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3)

No man will be of any use in the kingdom that is quick-tempered. The difference between how Jesus demonstrated anger is that He was angry at the abuse of others in the name of religion and the dishonoring of God. We get angry at how it affects us.

6. A Pastor must be sober – not a drunkard (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3)

This is not just overindulgence in alcohol but is idiomatic for any behavior that fuels addictive responses.

7. A Pastor must be peaceful – not violent (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3)

A pastor is prone to inflict violence through his words. He is to be a peacemaker.

8. A Pastor must have financial integrity – not greedy for gain (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3; 1 Peter 5:3)

A pastor is to be upright in his financial dealings and not accused of pursuing money over the kingdom of God.

9. A pastor must be hospitable (Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2)

A pastor’s home is to be open for others to enjoy. A pastor’s home is not a heaven on earth, but rather a place of ministry.

10. A Pastor must be a lover of good (Titus 1:8)

A pastor genuinely loves what is good. He does not just think he should love it.

11. A Pastor must be self-controlled (Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2)

Self-control is a characterization of every area of a pastor’s life: diet, time, mouth, exercise, relationships, sex, and money.

12. A Pastor must be upright (Titus 1:8)

He has integrity in his relationships and in how he treats others.

13. A Pastor must be holy (Titus 1:8)

His life is devoted wholeheartedly to Jesus externally and internally.

14. A Pastor must be able to teach (Titus 1:9; 1 Tim 3:2)

All of the other qualifications are character qualities. This is the only ability-based requirement. He is to be able to teach sound doctrine, not just be able to communicate in an excellent manner. His teaching can be to one or two, to twenty, to a hundred or to a thousand. Most of the churches in Crete were house churches. The elders were to defend the faith once delivered to the saints against the numerous false teachers that arose.

15. A Pastor must be spiritually Mature (1 Tim 3:6)

Positions of authority without spiritual maturity lead to the trap of pride. When pride grows in a man, sin abounds.

16. A Pastor must be respectable (1 Tim 3:7)

That does not mean that everyone must like him or even appreciate him. It means that there is no credible witness to an ongoing sinful behavior.

17. A Pastor must be an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:3)

Elders are examples of Biblical expressions sexually, time management, marriage, parenting, worship, relationships and any other way. A pastor should be someone your sons could pattern their life after and the kind of man your daughter should marry.

After reading this list, take a moment and prayerfully consider these questions.

1. Where do you see the evidence of God’s grace at work in you producing these qualities?
2. Where do you most need improvement?
3. What is your PLAN to grow in these areas?
4. For those who are already serving, are there any areas in which you are currently in danger of disqualifying yourself for ministry? If so, what steps need to be taken to remedy the situation?

At the recent Plant! Conference, I sat down with my good buddy Daniel Montgomery to talk ministry. In this short video, he discusses how biblical theology can serve us as pastors.

Listen. Learn. Tweet.

A few weeks ago, I began an ongoing series of a few qualities I would consider a necessity in planting a Gospel-Centered Church. You can catch the first two posts HERE and HERE if you missed them.

Today, I want to briefly tackle another one on my list – a strong doctrinal foundation.

Because of the diversity of the readership of this blog, what individual readers would put on this list might vary. So I want to give you some handles and general categories of things that a man needs to have nailed down before planting a church.

I will also share briefly how I try to help them do so in our local church.

The most helpful way I have found to talk about these issues comes from my friend, Mark Driscoll. He speaks of doctrines being broken into CLOSED and OPEN HANDED ISSUES.

CLOSED HANDED ISSUES are the cardinal doctrines of the faith (God, Jesus, Bible, Salvation, etc.). In these kinds of issues, there must be accuracy and clarity from Scripture and unity with one’s sending church and organization. Most denominations or networks lay those out clearly in a document that all their planters must be in line with.

OPEN HANDED ISSUES are the secondary issues of the faith (Spritual gift issues, end times positions, etc.). While a man certainly needs to stake out a position on these issues, there is usually a degree of latitude on these.

One thing needs to be said — it needs to be made clear up front, preferably in writing, which issues fall into each category.

Since I am currently in a Southern Baptist, Acts 29 Church, I do this with my planters by using the BFM 2000 and the Acts 29 Doctrinal Statement which clearly delineate what the “closed handed” issues are for each network. Most of you could draw documentation from your own networks that would suffice, I presume.

In addition, I also take my men (and any other men in our church who are up for it) through selected readings from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and a whole host of mp3s, articles and books. You can check out those required items under the Gospel and Reading Lists tabs above. We are currently in the process of updating the other tabs with other content we require, but that will get you started.

To equip and assess men in these areas, we have monthly meetings for teaching, cohort learning, and lots of conversations over coffee to figure out where guys are and what further development is needed. We are also in the process of formulating a more objective / essay / verbal essay test module to aid in this process.

Of course, there’s plenty more I could say, but that’s enough to get us started.

For those who have already planted, what kind of equipping helped for you?

For those who haven’t planted yet, what would help you?

A few months back, I sat down with pastor, author and blogger Jared Wilson to talk about the Gospel and his forthcoming book Gospel Wakefulness. He has some good words to challenge us all in the right direction.