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When I was 15 I began to preach - this is the first church I preached at, Harris Chapel Methodist Church.  There’s a lot of talk about “simple” church and “house” church - but as I was home over the weekend and reflecting I was stunned at how many of the things some people want the church to be today, in many ways, it was yesterday.  No one would have called them house churches - but look at all four of these buildings - they were all the size of a small, very small house.  Each will hold only about 75, if that many, packed out.  This church is on the trail that opened up Louisiana to New Mexico - running right through Lindale, Texas.

This church is around the corner from where my wife grew up, Sabine Methodist Church.  Her step-sister is buried here.  The church was in the neighborhood - you walked to it - you didn’t drive half-way across town.  The people were your friends in worship - not people you didn’t know or weren’t tied to during the week.  They really did “do life” together!  They had to - or they’d die.  Whatever people needed - they provided it.  In a sense all churches were community churches and missional.

This is St. Mary’s Baptist Church - the African American church in Lindale.  I remember when having finished preaching at Harris Chapel Methodist one Sunday me and 2 football buddies drove over to the church and sat in the back and worshipped.  The preacher began to preach loud and say, “We knew one day white folk would come and sit together in worship.”  I didn’t have a clue about civil rights and minorities - I was white, and in East Texas - life couldn’t be better - for me.  That one experience would one day have a profound impact on how I thought about race and justice, not just in the world, but in the place I grew up in.

This is Bethesda Presbyterian Church, where my wife’s mother and baby sister are buried.  Last weekend we had a family gathering around the corner.  JB Hicks still goes there - 87 …

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Matt is right on.  This is what I was saying yesterday.  I’m always asked how did our church get so missional and global . . . where are your sermon series on that, etc., The answer is by doing it - it isn’t found in a class - it’s found in the field.  Matt ties this to his small group ministry and it’s really good.  Proud of you Matt - keep rockin’ little Texas bro!

THE SHOW - for May 19, 2009 - Guest Matt Carter from Todd Rhoades on Vimeo.

If you have not read the CPW (Church Planting Wives) blog here on Glocal.net recently, you need to!  Amy has a great post Here: http://www.glocal.net/cpw/comments/every-church-plant-needs-one-of-these/

Enjoy!

Guest Blogger: Bobby Vaughn, Church Planting Director - NorthWood Church

I just spent an amazing week walking and worshiping God in the hill country of central Texas (which is prettier than this Colorado boy thought it would be… please forgive me, Texas!).  When you get away from the city, leave the laptop and cell phone at home, and run after God it’s amazing how fast He catches you! 
One afternoon, while I was basking in His glory in a meadow, it struck me that I can’t honestly remember the last time I remember a Church Planter telling me, “I want to plant a church for the glory of God.”  I think we sometimes assume too much when we assume all churches are being started for God’s glory… and not our own. 

Who’s getting the glory in your church plant?

Guest Blogger: Bobby Vaughn - Director of Church Planting, NorthWood Church

I’m an avid twitter-holic.  I have it on my phone, all my computers, and I even wake up to check it in the middle of the night (under the covers, of course, so my wife doesn’t catch me).  Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about (don’t deny it).  This morning on my twitter feed I read that someone wrote an article giving advice to young entrepreneurs, so I went to read. What a great article! I won’t go into the entire details here (click on the link to go read the entire article for yourself, it’s worth the time), but there was a paragraph that caught my attention and made me want to share it with you.

Jon writes:
“You guys are young. You’re already light years ahead of where I was at your age. And whether what you are doing now becomes a huge success or it doesn’t the most important is who you guys are becoming. Businesses come and go. But the stuff you learn now and the networks you guys build will be with you for the rest of your lifetime. And you’re in an incredibly fortunate position to be realizing that at a young age. Most people don’t figure that out until they’re in their 30s, 40s or later and they’re saddled with a mortgage and ton of credit card debt and they have families and then at that point there’s little chance they’ll step on the entrepreneurial treadmill.

“So do all of that. Take as much risk as you can as early as you can. Put yourselves in positions where there’s a really good chance that you’ll fail. And learn, learn, learn. We’re moving into a world where the person who is learning 8/10/12/14 hours a day is at a huge advantage over the person who isn’t. The world is changing ridiculously fast right now and that’s to your advantage if you’re continually sharpening the saw. And there has never been a better time to do that. With blogs, podcasts, Twitter, more great books than ever. You are really in an absolutely amazing position.”

Great advice.  Put yourselves in positions where there’s a really good chance that you’ll fail.

Godspeed.
(*original article taken from http://jonbischke.com on March 17, 2009) …

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1.  Connect with the rest of the world:
Our “methods” aren’t working.
Our “pride” demands that we connect so that we can be humble learners.
The church really is global now.  Really, it is . . . no joke . . .  we are not alone in the U.S.  Really!

2.  Love people more than the church:
Yes, the church is the people.  The problem is we focus more on the institution than the constituents. 
The church is a reflection of the disciples being made - make disciples and serve people.

3.  Rediscover God:
No revival came out of a church growth movement - but revival has produced church growth.
No revival came out of church planting - but church planting came out of revival.
Get on your face before God and pray - ask him to reveal himself to you.
Spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation, Scripture reading aren’t niceties but necessities.

4.  Let new believers and young people shape the form of the church more than yesteryear - or yester-century.

http://www.shapevine.com

Here’s an interview Lance Ford did with me on Shapevine - thought some of you might like it. 

Thursday and Friday we had a gathering of church planters, pastors, and church planting leaders that met to go over KINGDOM—> DISCIPLE—> SOCIETY—> CHURCH.  We did something new with a group called “WildWorks” that has worked with Leadership Network for years. Their leader is Tom McGhee and has been a friend of mine for years.  They facilitate conversations that lead to results - so we used their process and it was good.  No doubt we learned some things and will make adjustments as needed but it was well worth the adventure.  I always love being with church planters and the excitement about what God may be doing with them.  We started out and ended up on our knees.  Church planting is a holy adventure - one that must be born from God and directed by him at all times.  Rock on guys young and old, black and white, pentecostal and presbyterian - the world awaits the Good News and Good hope of people living out the Gospel.

Turbo is March 5th & 6th. In order to ensure we have proper materials and resources available for everyone, we are closing registration on Friday, February 27th.  Be sure to register now! Click the Turbo link above to go to the registration form! If you have any questions regarding the Turbo event, click on the “Contact Us” button at the top right-hand of this page!

November was a whirlwind travel month for me.  Nothing, of course, compared to Bob’s normal travels, but busy for me nonetheless.  I was on eight different airplanes in 15 days.  Some of you are chuckling beneath your breath, “rookie.” 
For those of you who travel a lot, you know the magazines in the back of the seat in front of you like you do your own children.  Ashamedly, I admit to an addiction to Sky Mall – the most expensive cheap “stuff” on earth!  They have everything a big kid could ever want.
On my last flight, I was reading in American Way Magazine.  One of my all-time favorite authors and poets is the great Maya Angelou.  If you have not read her book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” you have to – especially those of you who are planting churches (the book may be out of print, I cannot find it on Amazon or anywhere else – only textbooks and reading guides).  She, as the author of the article puts it so elegantly, is American royalty.  Controversial?  Yes.  Poignant?  Absolutely.  And she moves people beyond themselves to think of the others around them.
In this article, Angelou is quoted as saying, “I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love – for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.”  That quote struck me.  I sat on the plane for the next two hours and contemplated that sentence.  In a world that screams, “DOOM AND GLOOM” every time you turn on the tele and open a newspaper, especially in the recent months, we sometimes forget about the most powerful tool… love.
Even in the religious world and the neo-Christendom of the west (or some would like to think), we tend to see more of a “the-world’s-going-to-hell-in-a-hand basket” mentality. 
But I take heart because I have seen the heart of a new generation.  I have seen more churches with young and young-at-heart leaders begin to see that engaging society with the hope of love (remember, Deus Caritas Est – I John 4:16) is what Christ mandated.  I’ve offended some of you, I know.  But ask yourself, …

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