tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64727679250489214782011-07-31T04:03:59.953-05:00Connecting, Resourcing, and Praying for Illinois Church PlantersRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-79778062673249662642010-03-25T15:39:00.002-05:002010-03-25T15:45:09.816-05:00

Cloverleaf is finally holding its first network gathering! If you are in Central Illinois and are a church planter, want to be a church planter, want to learn more about church planting, or want to help churches get planted, you are more than welcome to join us.Date: Tuesday, April 13Time: 12-3pmHost: Delta ChurchCost: Free, plus we'll feed you lunch!There will also be an opportunity for planters

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-31078492208092534462010-01-12T14:17:00.002-06:002010-01-12T14:19:28.309-06:00

Preaching is necessary, effective, and powerful. In a recent post over on Desiring God, Sam Storms listed 8 reasons why we preach. Here's his great list:We must preach because of the power of the Word of God to change human lives and to transform the experience of the church. We must preach because preaching is God's ordained means for making himself known to us.We must preach because preaching

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-59739225508800884782009-11-04T10:14:00.002-06:002009-11-04T10:26:37.620-06:00

Sometimes God very tangibly shows us favor, seemingly out of the blue. As a church planter, one of the greatest challenges I face is finding adequate worship gathering space that will facilitate our worship needs, children's ministry needs, visibility, missional presence, and also be affordable. This takes greater precedence being in a smaller city in the Midwest where facility equals

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-54210471774170711842009-09-28T09:57:00.003-05:002009-09-28T10:05:28.295-05:00

If you are a church plater (or replanter, or a church planting church pastor), as we are trying to get us as men connected, my lovely wife, Dawn, is making concerted efforts to get wives connected as well.Being the wife of a church planter or pastor is a difficult position to be in. There are expectations - most of the them unsaid - and she is typically the only married woman in the church who

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-59005960785774829542009-08-28T14:46:00.002-05:002009-08-28T14:58:46.684-05:00

This list is completely un-scientific and based off of my own life and observations. So, in no particular order:1. Their own image (clothing, hair styles (including facial hair!), language used, etc)2. Their own ideas (read: arrogance)3. Culture (particularly their "cool city")4. Their particular theology (in my circles, theology that's more reformed)5. Their technology (Mac or PC? iPhone or

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-86138931418659717212009-07-27T17:10:00.002-05:002009-07-27T17:33:57.609-05:00

I was asked to speak at Immanuel Baptist Church's family camp the other weekend about church planting, particularly my story with planting Delta. The first point I made was to be sure in your calling, and there is a distinct difference between a call to ministry and a career in ministry. During a Q&A session at the end of my message, someone thoughtfully asked about how you in fact discern a

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-8049183833655496042009-07-10T15:26:00.003-05:002009-07-10T15:35:49.571-05:00

Whew...long time no blog! Talk about life being nutty...But here's something I was thinking about last week: as we seek to communicate well in a clear, understandable, exhorting, and motivating way, can you fit the central theme of your sermon in a "tweet"? You know, 140 characters (includes spaces!). Say what you want about the social networking/micro-blogging phenomenon called Twitter, it is

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-85142197129227490162009-05-29T14:51:00.005-05:002009-05-29T15:33:36.144-05:00

One of the primary things a new church planter does is exegete his city in order to properly contextualize the gospel.  Exegeting your city involves learning its history, demographics, economics, future planning, and main attractions (what your city is known for).  Basically, this is the type of thing you can find out by visiting the U.S. Census website and your city's website, in addition to

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-2810342897538665602009-05-06T11:20:00.003-05:002009-05-06T11:51:45.723-05:00

Part of the beauty of church planting is being mobile.  You typically don't have an office (I highly recommend NOT getting an office until at least after year 2; borrow space until then...but that's another post), you don't have church buildings to work in and maintain, and you get to actually be out in your city working in coffee shops, pubs, the park, the library, really, wherever you can

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-14888633530914111642009-04-16T14:50:00.002-05:002009-04-16T14:57:35.740-05:00

Hey Church Planters...Don't neglect your wife.I write this after sending my wife away for the evening for some personal rest.  We've had a tremendously stressful last 2 months, and she was about to crack.  We had a sitter set to come over on Wednesday night, and God put it in my mind that instead of dropping $30 bucks on dinner, but apply that to a hotel room for the evening for her.  So, I told

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-60684771581547702312009-04-09T12:21:00.004-05:002009-04-09T13:03:17.394-05:00

What is the vision of your church?  How big is it?  Is it attainable, or is it so God-sized that only He could pull it off?As lead pastors/planters, I think one way we can gauge what our true vision is for our church plants is by honestly assessing what our desires are, what gets us excited, and what gets us down about planting.  Here's what I mean: while our vision for Delta is (in short)

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-49338463742182270212009-03-20T10:40:00.002-05:002009-03-20T11:02:53.202-05:00

One thing that has been key for many new churches lately, and is a key marker in the Acts 29 Network, is church discipline.  This means that a church has a biblical plan for dealing with sin that creeps into its members, community overall, and its leadership.  Sometimes this takes the form of direct confrontation, like Paul did with Peter (Galatians 2:11-14); and sometimes this takes the form of

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-64930910840128427462009-03-09T15:44:00.002-05:002009-03-09T15:51:02.754-05:00

A brother was gunned down in the pulpit yesterday, with only his bible protecting him.Pastor Fred Winters is now with Jesus, whom he loved and served for over two decades.  Our prayers go out to his family and church.Sin and evil are real.  We do not know the number of our days, except that they are short.  There is no time to get lost in petty arguments or to waste our time on things that don't

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-6200830934075225272009-02-27T10:39:00.002-06:002009-02-27T10:48:20.137-06:00

When it comes to church planting (and ministry in general for that matter), the books we read are the proverbial "bullets in our gun" as books from dead guys and living guys provide tremondous insight, equipping, and encouragement to us.  Whether it's dealing with practical topics such as how to create systems or training men to theological issues to aid sermon preparation or biblical counseling,

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-69110472632298260542009-02-12T10:52:00.002-06:002009-02-12T10:55:41.134-06:00

The next Acts 29 Network bootcamp is in Seattle, WA from March 8-11.  In my opinion, the Acts 29 assessment process and training is some of the best stuff that I've seen regarding church planting.  Even if you are not interested in becoming an A29 church, the training will be invaluable.Check out the info on the bootcamp from Mark Driscoll:http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/i-need-900-men/

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-59596569997640133422009-02-03T15:38:00.003-06:002009-02-03T16:11:54.910-06:00

OK...so you think that God wants you to plant a church.  God through His Spirit & Word confirms this, and your spiritual authorities and community affirm this.  Now what?Too many guys immediately begin laying their foundation with the wrong things.  Things like:Location (most often the cool, hip, ungodly city)Style (what type of music will be used and how cool it will be to preach in jeans with

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-60877306081823875202009-01-30T10:59:00.002-06:002009-01-30T11:05:04.427-06:00

Hey all...Cloverleaf member Sean Benesh is helping to host an Epoch Center class on February 21 in Joliet on Missional Engagement.Sean's blog and the promo video is here.You can learn more about Epoch Center here.

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-13601629475062997212009-01-22T13:14:00.002-06:002009-01-22T13:17:10.327-06:00

Scott Thomas, my friend, Mars Hill elder, and president of the Acts 29 Network just finished a series of posts in response to a young, single 22 year old dude who is infected with church planting fever.  Here are the links to his 3-part blog posts:http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/puritan-porn--church-planting-fever-part-1/http://acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/puritan-porn--

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-23501406710317167202009-01-19T14:40:00.003-06:002009-01-19T14:53:59.533-06:00

There are so many different expressions of the church.  Traditional, contemporary, emerging, platform-driven, missional, organic.  Some meet in cathedrals, some in typical 'church' buildings, some in theaters, some in bars, some in homes.  Is there really a "right" model?  I don't think so.I think each expression or model of church will be primarily based off of two things: the main leader's

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-15770856980000859202009-01-14T11:40:00.002-06:002009-01-14T12:03:16.439-06:00

I was in St. Louis all day yesterday for the Acts 29 North Central Region Quarterly.  The overarching theme was on evangelism.  Darrin Patrick and Jonathan McIntosh started off talking about the differences and similarities between the "attractional" and "missional" church styles/philosophies.  This whole discussion got stirred up again last month due to some posts on the Out of Ur blog with

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-10086845802301234132009-01-12T07:14:00.004-06:002009-01-12T08:09:55.479-06:00

The New Testament uses the word "ekklesia" to describe what we call a ' local church'.  Ekklesia generally means "a gathering of called out ones."  So inherent to this definition is that the church is supposed to gather.  But how is the church to gather?  What are they supposed to do when they do gather?I want to set aside all the discussions about style, tradition, liturgy, specific theological

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-69190868470350015372009-01-07T14:17:00.002-06:002009-01-07T14:19:04.782-06:00

Join the Virtual Network, get connected, discuss, get resources, and find out about about upcoming events are Cloverleaf's new networking site: www.cloverleaf.ning.comRyan

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6472767925048921478.post-30324229060988455462009-01-06T15:03:00.001-06:002009-01-06T15:22:13.286-06:00

Cloverleaf is a new inter-denominational church planting network in Illinois and for Illinois church planters and pastors.Church planting is hard.  It will take a tremendous toll on you emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  It will take a toll on your family and your finances.  It will take a toll on you relationally.Church planters need to be connected.  Church planters need support from

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703961059363739739noreply@blogger.com1