Free E-book - Top Issues Church Planters Face

This report was prepared by the team at Exponential in partnership with Ed Stetzer.  We listened to leaders with over 500 years of cumulative experience planting and working with 100′s of planters with the over 30 national leaders involved in this project. Individual planter interviews, online surveys, and volumes of real world experience were also included in the discovery process. This information will help you plant or help you help others plant for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

For your FREE download... click the link below!! (Courtesy of Exponential) 

When the odds are against you....

600lb vs 169lb MMA Mismatch - Watch More Funny Videos

I normally don't post sports videos on this blog. But then I ran across this video and thought about David and Goliath. My thoughts then went to the area of church start-ups and how this applies to those who are planting a church.

Planting a church is just plain tough! The odds are against us! By all natural signs, we should quit! I mean come on - it's time consuming, (and with little or no pay), then you carry the weight of  the ministry.  People are fighting with one another. People seem to major in the minor things :)

That is a lot to deal with on a regular basis. Here is the key though. God is with us! This is not something we do just for pay.... just for the experience.... just for our own whatever! We do this because He called us. That alone keeps us in the ministry. That alone is enough! 

As we see in this video: we can overcome large obstacles if we stay diligent! We can overcome anything the enemy throws at us! 

Zechariah 4:6 (The Message)

Then he said, “This is God’s Message to Zerubbabel: ‘You can’t force these things. They only come about through my Spirit,’ says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. ‘So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel you’re nothing but a molehill. He’ll proceed to set the Cornerstone in place, accompanied by cheers: Yes! Yes! Do it!’” 

20 Questions to Assess Leadership Potential

1. Have you ever broken a bad habit? To lead others, you must master your appetites. 
2. Do you keep self-control when things to wrong? The leader who loses control under adversity forfeits respect and influence. A leader must be calm in crisis and resilient in disappointment. 
3. Do you think independently? A leader must use the best ideas of others to make decisions,. A leader cannot wait for others to make up his or her mind.
4. Can you handle criticism? Can you profit from it? The humble person can learn from petty criticism, even malicious criticism.
5. Can you turn disappointment into creative new opportunity?
6. Do you readily gain the cooperation of others and win their respect and confidence?
7. Can you exert discipline without making a power play? True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and needs no show of external force. 
8. Are you a peacemaker? A leader must be able to reconcile with opponents and make peace where arguments have created hostility.
9. Do people trust you with difficult and delicate situations?
10. Can you induce people to do happily some legitimate thin that they would not normally wish to do?
11. Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without taking offense? Leaders always face opposition.
12. Can you make and keep friends? Your circle of loyal friends is an index of your leadership potential.
13. Do you depend on the praise of others to keep you going? Can you hold steady in the face of disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?
14. Are you at ease in the presence of strangers? Do you get nervous in the presence of your superior?
15. Are the people who report to you generally at ease? A leader should be sympathetic and friendly.
16. Are you interested in people? All types? All races? No prejudice?
17. Are you tactful? Can you anticipate how your words will affect a person?
18. Is your will strong and steady? Leaders cannot vacillate or cannot drift with the wind.
19. Can you forgive? Or do you nurse resentments and harbor ill-feelings toward those who have injured you? 
20. Are you reasonably optimistic? Pessimism and leadership do not mix.

This list was derived from the website - Missional Challenge. To read the full article by Dave DeVries click HERE.

Plan ahead....

Success is intentional! The Olympic athletes didn't just find themselves on the winner's platform one day. They planned for it.... they worked for it. They set goals. They did everything in their power to accomplish their goal.

That being said... we as church planters need to be intentional. Intentional about the harvest field... about church systems, and learning all we can prior to implementation.

You need a starting place? I recommend the Exponential Conference. Exponential 2013 is back in Orlando, Florida on April 22-25, 2013.

PLAN to be there.