On Saturday, Grace and I, along with my parents, were in Portland. By God's grace, the help of Dr. Gerry Breshears, and the flexibility of Western Seminary, I graduated with an MA in Exegetical Theology. I hope to go on in the future to work on a PhD, but likely after my kids get a bit older. On Sunday, I preached at Mars Hill Church. On Monday, Grace and I caught an early flight to New York to participate in the Dwell Conference for urban church planters, sponsored by the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Redeemer Church Planting Network. I had the honor of speaking along with Tim Keller, C. J. Mahaney, Ed Stetzer, Eric Mason, and Darrin Patrick. When the conference sessions are posted online, we'll let you know in case you want to catch any of them.

I was scheduled to have dinner with Keller and some other pastors on Monday night, but our flight was delayed a few hours. There was an enormously long line for cabs, so we found a bootleg Town Car driver who was willing to rush us into the city in a harrowing drive that felt more like a carnival ride than a commute. We pulled into the small Italian restaurant with luggage in hand just in time to enjoy the company of Keller and some great pastors who are dear friends with wonderful wives.

The conference went very well and in my opinion was a gathering of pastors who are reformed by conviction and missional by contextualization. It seems to me that this tribe is growing as more and more young pastors in general, and church planters in particular, want to be both faithful to the text of Scripture and fruitful in the context of culture. Sadly, there are some more fundamental and sectarian reformed folks who are resistant to the idea that a church should adapt its practice (though not doctrine) to best fit its cultural context. Yet, I do believe that, with love and patience, more bridges of understanding and partnership are being built, which only benefits the cause of Jesus, especially through church planting. 


One thing that reinforced this fact was the surge of interest we saw for the Dwell Conference. We had a difficult time finding a large enough facility to house us in New York, and the four hundred seats we had sold out very quickly and the room was packed out for all sessions. Furthermore, the international presence at the event was encouraging. I spent considerable time speaking with movement leaders from England, Australia, Germany, and India. Thanks to the Internet, missional ministries are connecting and networking with great collegiality. I am looking forward to a week of preaching this July with the Newfrontiers network and really enjoyed getting some time in New York with some of their pastors, including Joel Virgo. I also met a number of great pastors from Australia and look forward to seeing their country when I am there preaching in August. God is raising up young, reformed, missional church planters with deep affection for major cities all around the world and it is humbling and exciting to be involved. 


In Philadelphia we are meeting with some of the church planters from the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and are connecting with our friends at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, who have been incredibly helpful in training the leaders at Mars Hill Church in biblical counseling.

It's been a busy but fruitful week. I am learning a lot that will help us continue to improve Mars Hill Church and I look forward to huddling with the Executive Elders when I get back. In the meantime, it's been great traveling with Grace. Most of the time I travel with a male assistant, so having my lovely wife sitting next to me is much, much, much, much, much, much better. So, I'll stop typing now and hang out with her some more . . .

"You may be raising up your own assassin." Acts 20:30 tells us that wolves will arise from your own number. Patrick spoke of how it is crucial to understand the gospel and have it identifying you so as to be better able to warn off wolves and lead your self and others.

This session is a great encouragement and learning tool for church planters and pastors seeking to guard and grow their flock by growing in their own leadership ability and the leaders around them.

Listen to this session: Developing and Equipping Leaders.

At the recent Raleigh Regional Event, Tyler spoke from 1 Kings 18-19 about placing God at the centre of a church plant.

In 1 Kings 18 Elisha calls on God and he answers and comes down in a great fire. The response of the people watching this great event was not to bow down and worship Elisha but to cry ‘The Lord -He is God!' How often is it the case that when God works powerfully in the world we praise men instead of the one from whom all good things come.

Tyler unpacked this issue with specific focus on leading a church. He posed a number of probing questions:

Not delegating can be and often is disguised arrogance. Church planting is hard and tiresome work and Tyler recounted that it was not drugs he needs but Jesus.

Sharing some startling statistics about pastors' non-vocation bible reading tendencies and a bunch of stories, Tyler generously shared from his own experiences, both positive and negative, of planting a church.

Listen to the full audio here:

Acts 29 Regional events exist to:

Find all other regional events and other multimedia here. 

"Your church is going to [suffer] if you do not have strong men."

Bradley speaks honestly from his own experience as a high school teacher, college professor and now a seminary professor and provides a great amount of practical advice on how we can love, lead, and enliven men to God's great and radical mission.

Listen to the audio here.

By Pastor Scott Thomas
Director of Acts 29 Network
Executive Elder of Mars Hill Church

A church planter is a uniquely gifted pastor with a passion to proclaim the gospel to those who are unchurched with the goal of establishing a new community of believers on mission in their community for the glory of God.

But just because a man is called to plant does not mean it is easy to do without some help from those who are actively involved in birthing new churches. Acts 29 and Mars Hill Church want to humbly offer to help.

We are launching a Pastor Training Center to help equip potential church planters. The vision is to prepare men to effectively pastor new gospel-centered works through the Acts 29 Network.

Our valued outcome at the end of 12 months is to prepare men who 1) clearly articulate a gospel-centered theology, 2) shepherd well in the complexities of the church, 3) are competent in many practical skills and 4) are above reproach in personal and family life.

The training being used for the PTP is personalized for every man and can be applied for seminary credit. The goal is transformation, not just information. Each of the components will serve the participant as he prepares to plant a church. The work will be very practical and integrated into his personal church-planting prospectus.

Two Options
A participant can either stay in his community where he will plant the church and travel to the training events (expenses paid) or he can move to Seattle area and participate intimately with the area Acts 29 churches and with Mars Hill Church while he is training (stipend to assist).

Qualifiers
If you desire to apply for this program you must be able to attend training intensives on the following dates in Seattle (there will be funding for travel and training if accepted into this program):

July 25-28, 2008
Sept. 19-22, 2008
Nov. 7-10, 2008
Jan. 16-19, 2009
March, 6-9, 2009
April 21-24, 2009*
May, 22-24, 2009 (w/ wives)

Elective Date for personal interaction

*Training in Chicago in conjunction with Gospel Coalition

To diagnose your readiness to apply by the April 30th deadline, you must answer yes to the following questions:

Pastor Gary Shavey (PhD student) and I are facilitating this training that will integrate several Mars Hill Pastors as well as consultation and participation with Dr. Gerry Breshears, Dr. Bob Logan, Dr. J. Allen Thompson and Mark Driscoll. We are in collaboration on our materials with Redeemer Church Planting Center, Global Church Advancement (GCA), Glocalnet, Radstock, Dr Ed Stetzer and our Acts 29 member churches.

The deadline for this program is April 30 and we have limited number of spots remaining _ apply here.

Additionally, other Acts 29 churches are launching these types of training centers. If interested, contact them directly. Soma in Tacoma WA, Kaleo in San Diego, Journey in St Louis, Crosspointe in Orlando, and The Village in Dallas.

Missional is quickly becoming, if it has not already become, a buzz term in many Christian circles. The concept of mission(al) that is now so well publicized has roots from 1983 explains Stetzer.

‘The church is a mess but it is the bride of Christ - The church is God's instrument to reach the world'. Stetzer spends most of his time dealing with issues surrounding the concept of being missional and how it is to be supported biblically and concludes with a brief discussion about syncretism and obscurantism (or sectarianism).

How we deal with a quickly changing culture will define the evangelical world for years to come. In this session, Stetzer gives his views on the current state of Christianity and the need for missiology to be understood and implemented.  Check out the full audio here.

Part 4 - This fourth clip is made up of two questions: how do you balance bringing culture in and blocking it out of your house and what are some guidelines about spending time outside your home?

In the final question, Mark was asked: Where has your wife come alive in your planting, especially considering the messiness of ministry? Part 5

Mark again spoke honestly and forthrightly from his own life. Full time ministry is a difficult and stressful role and it is so important that a marriage and the home are a place of rest and refuge. Mark explains in this clip that a husband and a wife both need to have a lightening rod and a release valve.

In this audio from the Raleigh, NC regional event Daniel Montgomery, lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY, presents "The Gospel and Urban Culture" addressing what is involved in creating a holistic mission in our church and our lives personally.

Since we started doing multi-site we have been asked innumerable questions from Christian leaders either curious about trying multi-site, or already doing it and seeking to network with others to learn in community. In response to this kind of growing interest, Leadership Network is hosting a conference dedicated to multi-site. Anyone interested in joining us at the conference should visit http://www.multisiteexposed.com./.

The conference will be on Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15, at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Pastors John Bishop, Dave Browing, and myself will be available live to answer questions and serve you as best we can with this growing trend. My friends at Leadership Network, who have been helping us learn since our church started, have said in books such as The Multi-Site Church Revolution that:

The good news is that each of our churches does multi-site differently, which will expose those who attend the webinar and/or conference to multiple models and help them decide what is best for their cultural context, rather than simply promoting one method. Research by Leadership Network shows no less than five types of multi-site churches in America today:

Lastly, members of the three churches’ leadership teams will be on hand at the conference to teach breakout sessions and connect with folks who want to learn about specific aspects of multi-site ministry. In short, our hope is it to make this a practical time for ministry leaders and ministry teams to save themselves a lot of the mistakes and troubles we have experienced in improving how we do multi-site at our various churches. We would love to have you join us so that we can help serve you and learn from you as together we explore one of the leading-edge innovations in church ministry.

Church planters often speak about casting a compelling vision as the main tool by which we lead the mission. While casting vision is important, Patrick instead took us to Paul's books to Timothy and drew out seven principles by which to lead the mission. We lead the mission by: 

1.  Understanding the gospel
2.  Being qualified as an elder
3.  Being coached and mentored
4.  Sacrificing and Suffering
5.  Humbly controlling heresy
6.  Personally being on mission
7.  Using the gospel on yourself

Patrick constantly focused on humility and teachability of the planter and his message was filled with practical tips to lead with strength, devotion and faithfulness. His encouragement to cling to the cross was a refreshing reminder of the goodness of the God who has called church planters to such a calling.

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus - 2 Timothy  2:1

To hear the whole session and download the notes, click here.

Giving a few warnings about guarding and protecting wives, Driscoll encouraged planters to be careful and wise in the way you balance keeping your children safe and having an open and hospitable home.

Part 3 - The question was ask of Mark, "How do you love and train your children well?"

With a reminder about the fact that children don't blog, Driscoll shared about how his children are a great gift to a pastor and his wife. In this 10-minute answer, he shares very frankly about how he structures his days, separates his office and study, has structured and repeated family times and how he "plans" to deal with the high school boys who want to date his daughters.

First, Vintage Jesus, the book I wrote with my dear friend Dr. Gerry Breshears, was released by my friends at Crossway. The pre-sales alone far exceeded our expectations and we are very excited about the book. We are also grateful to those people who have helped us get the word out.

Second, last week the Text and Context conference was held at the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church in conjunction with TheResurgence.com. The attendance was over the 1,300-seat capacity of the building so sadly we had to turn away many people who wanted to join us. In all sincerity, it was some of the most helpful teaching I have ever seen and everyone who spoke did a phenomenal job. That includes John Piper, C. J. Mahaney, James Gilmore, and Matt Chandler, plus sessions from the concurrent boot camp for the Acts 29 Church Planting Network by Darrin Patrick and Jeff Vanderstelt. It was an honor to welcome Christian leaders from 46 states and 11 nations. The highlights for me included a session on interpreting culture by James Gilmore, how pastoral ministry influences pulpit ministry by John Piper, and C. J. Mahaney’s message on seeing evidences of God’s grace in our church, which devastated me and is one every Christian leader needs to hear. The staff at TheResurgence.com is working hard to get all of the sessions online for free in audio and video as soon as possible and when they’re all up I will let you know.

At the conference I also had the honor of spending some personal time with John Piper and C. J. Mahaney. They were kind enough to give me some very helpful pastoral counsel that I am grateful for so that I can mature in my service of Jesus and the people I pastor alongside the other elders at Mars Hill Church. Lastly, we set up a video studio and got interviews with Reach Records hip hop artist Lecrae, John Piper, James Gilmore, Matt Chandler, and Eric Mason (of Epiphany Fellowship in Philly). Those interviews were great and will also be given away online at TheResurgence.com.

Third, I got a call from Pastor Rick Warren last week. He called simply to see if there was anything he could do to help. His kindness was humbling and helpful. I asked him how he handled his critics and he had a great insight that in our day criticism has changed. He explained that there was a day when a critic would have to sit down and write a letter and then mail it into a newspaper. With limited space, the paper would then be able to only print a fraction of the letters they received. The printed letters were often not read and quickly became dated. However, Warren said, in our day criticism is marked by the following four factors:

Warren then went on to explain that, as Jesus experienced, the strongest criticism for any Christian leader comes from rigid religious people. When I asked him what someone should do when facing criticism, he gave the following insightful points:

I want to publicly thank Warren for giving me some good advice and taking time out of his busy schedule to speak into my life and ministry. I also pass his wisdom along to other Christian leaders.Fourth, on Thursday of this week I have the privilege of opening the Washington State legislature in prayer and then meeting with some political leaders who love Jesus and want to meet and chat, which will be a great honor.

Lately the pace of work has been great but so has the encouragement and wise counsel from godly Christian leaders who have been gracious enough to pour into my life, which is very welcome and helpful.

In a society that is marked by pastors being hypocritical, Dever shared from his own life about the importance of consistency through all parts of a church planter's life, especially in regards to living out the evangelism that is preached from the pulpit. ‘My life should back up my words' was his cry. He conceded that as the church gets bigger it will be harder to find time for non-Christian relationships but he pleaded to not over-book the church calendar.

After a word on understanding the identity of the church, the centrality of proclaiming the gospel and the cooperate witness he very generously answered questions from the live audience. It was a great reminder that Acts 29 is not just for the hip kids who are too cool to preach from behind a lectern but for all qualified people called by God. 

Listen to the full audio here:

Australian author John Dickson has written a very helpful book that addresses many of the issues Dever spoke about. Like Dever, Dickson's book, ‘Promoting the Gospel', speaks of the importance of individual evangelism, centrality of proclamation and cooperate witness to evangelism. Dickson adds prayer, money, works of the church and Christian behaviour to his insightful yet very accessible book.

By Pastor Scott Thomas 

Almost 1,200 people attended the Text and Context Acts 29 Boot Camp this week in uncharacteristically sunny Seattle. Among those were spiritually hungry people from 46 states and 11 countries, 49 Acts 29 pastors, 23 couples to be assessed as Acts 29 candidates and Mars Hill Church staff and an army of volunteers. For $99, the attendees got two free books (Driscoll and Piper), two lunches, two breakfasts, five snacks and three days of fantastic teaching.

What brought that many people to the conference was the lineup of speakers and a topic focused on the purity of the text of God’s Word taken into the context of culture as a sacrifice of worship to King Jesus. John Piper headlined the event and delivered well. In the Question and Answer session with Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler (pictured above), he was open, honest and hilarious. I was in the production room during this session and the whole room was constantly erupting in laughter, high fives and arm punching at the unexpected responses. All we needed were chicken wings and it would have had a Super Bowl party atmosphere.

Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney, Jim Gilmore, Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick and Jeff Vanderstelt each challenged the packed-out room and the 500 more online watching the live streaming.  It would take several blogs to describe the salient points of each speaker. Other bloggers have already added this service. People were aroused to the gospel in a profound way. The evening sessions were broadcast to four of our campuses where 1,000 others gathered to hear Piper. 

About 10 pastors passed the assessment and will enter into the candidate phase until they complete their conditions to be an Acts 29 Pastor. Several others are going to enter into a one-year intern/residency program to prepare to become a church planter.

I want to commend the Mars Hill Church staff and volunteers who served with humility and sacrifice each day to provide world-class hospitality for all the attendees. Thanks to the production team for their long hours of capturing the content to be distributed for free. I also want to thanks the Acts 29 staff for their leadership of the event: Tyler, Gary, Jon, Adriel and Jeannie. It is fun to serve alongside my friends. Lastly, thanks to Pastor Mark Driscoll for his inspirational leadership and sacrifice for pastors world-wide.

by Scott Thomas

Mark Driscoll led the session on Preaching the Mission to the students and faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and to the sold-out boot camp registrants in Chicago (Deerfield) at the end of January.

Mark was saved at an Evangelical Free Church and had a wonderful experience. That is why, he claims, he is not emergent because he did not have to rebel against any bad church experience. He claims all of the emergent church pastors are really just angry at their flannel graph toting Sunday School teachers from the 70's who would not have any "conversations" about the parting of the Red Sea.

Driscoll said he prefers to preach rather than teach about preaching. He cleverly said it is the difference between going on a date and teaching someone about dating. "Going on a date with your wife always ends a lot better than a lecture about dating your wife. Likewise, it is much more fun to preach than it is to talk about preaching."

Preaching is like driving a stick shift. It takes time to learn the rhythm. For the time being, there may be a lot of gear grinding. Take your time. Get your own voice. Listen to a lot of sermons. Practice preaching to anyone who will listen--or at least won't yell back.

The secret to church fruitfulness is opening the Bible, exalting Jesus through someone who believes in the authority of Scripture. Driscoll said, "Don't buy into the myth that preaching is out. Preaching is only out for those who suck at it."

2 Timothy 4:2 is every preacher's life verse and it says to "preach the word." In doing so, we need to preach with a tight fist on the Scriptural principles and a loose fist around the missiological applications. Our preaching is to be both timeless with the truth of God's word and with methods that are timely.

Six Framing Questions for Preaching the Word

1. What does Scripture say? - The Biblical Question
2. What does the Scripture Mean? - The Theological Question
3. What is my Hook? - The Memorable Question
4. Why do people resist this truth? - The Apologetic Question
5. Why does this matter? - The Missional Question
6. How is Jesus the Hero/Savior? - The Christological Question

To hear the whole sermon and download the notes, visit the Acts 29 website:

Upcoming: Dwell Conference - an urban church planting conference in New York City, April 29-30. Speakers include Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, C.J. Mahaney, Ed Stetzer and Darrin Patrick. Redeemer Church Planting Center and Acts 29 Network are co-hosting this premier church-planting event. Registration is limited to 350 church planters.

“You [Acts 29 Pastors] are taken to be the essence of cool by many young ministers, and I personify not cool,” said Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and founder of 9Marks, in his address at our Chicago Boot Camp last week. Dever, conspicuously clad in suit and tie, united the commonality of our mission by saying, “Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you.  And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority). But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home.  I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ.” 

This is the essence of cool, as I see it. Cool is an influential man who hangs around with the likes of MacArthur, Mohler, Mahaney and Sproul and still set aside his own reputation to challenge a bunch of young church planters for the advancement of the gospel. Our generation applauds that as a rare virtue—a cool factor the young, hip, Hurley-clad pastors can only hope to attain.

After the boot camp was completed, Dever and I had a one on one conversation for about 90 minutes at his prompting. He told me to come over to his room after the Republican debates. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated to knock on his door. He greeted me with a big smile and warmly welcomed me to sit down. We talked about our salvation, our sin, church planting, and the importance of leading well and about Hillary. After all, Dever pastors on Capitol Hill and remembers the last time the Clinton family moved into town! He invited me to a 9Marks Weekender--which I plan to attend the first chance I get--and he offered his assistance so that we can work together for the advancement of the gospel.

I have read numerous articles and all of Dever’s books and I had the impression that he was hyper-intelligent, but stodgy. Do people use that word anymore? What I discovered was a winsome, articulate, caring and generous person who offered 90 minutes of his time to invest in the director of a network of young church planters desperately in need of the gospel.

He expressed his need of that same gospel several times in our conversation. That’s pretty cool.

Mark Dever's Acts 29 Session and other Chicago Boot Camp Sessions can be found here. 

In the early years of my preaching I was not prepared far enough in advance. As a result, many weeks I was scrambling for study time amongst emergencies and disruptions of various sorts and kinds. Additionally, without knowing when I would be out of the pulpit, I ended up trying to squeeze vacations in, did not get enough time off (which started to take a toll), and did not have alternate preachers lined up far enough in advance to have adequate time to prepare well.

At present, I am blessed to actually have my preaching schedule lined up through both 2008 and 2009 so that I can preach well, get my vacations in with my family, take the study breaks to prepare and write as I need, and also give the other preachers in our church sufficient time to prepare for the weeks I am out. One of the most helpful insights I have received on preparing a preaching schedule came backstage at Ed Young Jr.'s church in Dallas. Being the son of a great preacher, he had learned which Sundays were the best for a preacher to take a break from the pulpit without hurting momentum. According to Ed, the following Sundays tend to have a lower attendance and are good times for a preacher to consider taking a break for vacation, study, or whatever else they need to do:

For most churches the likely time to get an influx of visitors is generally from the start of school in September through November, as well as January through Easter. So, it is often wise to start a new book of the Bible or series in September and January for momentum.

Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor of The Journey in St. Louis, MO and Vice President of Acts 29 Network, aims to answers some of these questions during talks he gave at the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute.

Session #1 - The History and Streams of the Emerging Church
Session #2 - Popular Terms of the Emerging Church
Session #3 - Emerging Church - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By Pastor Scott Thomas

(Acts 29 Director and Pastor of Global Church ~ Mars Hill Church, Seattle).

Mars Hill Church donates 10% of its general income to Acts 29 Network, a church planting organization. I serve as its director and as a pastor at Mars Hill Church. Acts 29 has over 120 member churches in North America and members in 7 International countries. Acts 29 seeks to plant church planting churches that collaboratively promote the gospel with a vision for the entire city or region through the local church.

Acts 29 provides church planting boot camps four times a year around the country and in foreign countries. At each church planting boot camp with Acts 29 Network, some participants complain that they did not receive pragmatic methodology and "how-to" steps. These are the men who may be looking for easy answers and a quick fix to a mission reserved for the pastors with strong character, competence and calling. Church planting is not for those who are fearful of mankind or those who are weak in character.

It is the aim of Acts 29 boot camps to provide a theological compass that will guide the church planter and pastor with the tools necessary to lead their church according to the gospel. The reasons we do not dictate methodology in our church plants is that we believe first that theology drives method; second, God's methods determine ours; third, the gospel both enables and informs our participation in God's purposes; and fourth, faithfulness to the gospel must be our measure of success, not results.

Our church planting boot camps are always open to all people and are beneficial to all church leaders. The next boot camp will be in Chicago January 29-30 on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). "Chicago at the end of January?" you ask, doubting our sanity?" I told you that church planting is not for wimps.

Scheduled to speak is Mark Driscoll, Ed Stetzer, Mark Dever, and Darrin Patrick. I will provide a final session to help you to appreciate the quality of the other communicators! We are thrilled to have Mark Dever participate in his first boot camp with us. He is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and founder of 9Marks Ministries. His book, The Deliberate Church, is extremely helpful to build a church on the gospel. In the chapter, Looking for a Few Good Men, Dever talks about the necessary courage of a pastor to stand up against the pressures of the culture. This includes the evangelical church culture. No wimps are allowed to pastor a church.

Click here to register for the Chicago Acts 29 Boot Camp.

I personally spoke with the three Acts 29 church planters who will be losing their promised funding from the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). Each one said they have faithfully upheld the abstinence agreement and are dependant on the funds for their personal income up to $1,000 per month.

The St.Louis Metro Baptist Association started the fund with a donation of $10,000. Some small churches in Missouri are chipping in, and others are needed to fill the gap.

These church planters have been screened and approved by the North American Mission Board as well as the Missouri Baptist Convention. Because of their affiliation with Acts 29, their promised funding is being cut. If you would like to assist those church planters during this time of unanticipated shortfall, you can send a check made out to:

St. Louis Metro Baptist Association

(Designate it for the "Show Me Church Planting Fund")

Mailing address:

St. Louis Metro Bapt. Assoc.

attn. Darren Casper

3859 Fee Fee Road

Bridgeton, Mo. 63044

Darren: (314)571-7579, extension 103

Lance Ford, co-founder of Shapevine will be doing a live videocast interview on Shapevine this Tuesday (Dec 18 at 2:30 pm CST) with Darrin Patrick. It is free and only requires a quick login membership. Darrin will be asked some questions about the recent MBC Decision and Acts 29 Network. Participants will have the opportunity to text live questions to Darrin during the interview.

By Pastor Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Director

Acts 29 is a trans-denominational network of church planting churches. We have affiliations with multiple denominations, including many in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Our position is that each individual church affiliated with Acts 29 Network determines their polity, mission works, vision, and ministries. We encourage absolute local autonomy. This is why many Baptists, SBC and others, find an affiliation with us as beneficial. Furthermore, Acts 29 encourages every affiliate church to actively give 10 percent of their general funds toward church planting. But, every local church determines to whom those funds are directed and they send their funds directly to the church planter or to those who monitor their missions’ funds. Acts 29 Network does not act as a funding agency for church planting. Additionally, Acts 29 Network expects those with affiliations and denominations to honor their financial commitments with the denomination first. For instance, an SBC church that is affiliated with Acts 29 will give 10% toward the SBC program and no other financial commitment is expected as a member of Acts 29. They do not have to give 20%.

The Missouri SBC met Monday during an ice storm and made the following decisions:

MOTION: Effective Jan 1, The Acts 29 Network is an organization with which the MBC Exec Bd. Staff will not be working, supporting, or endorsing in any manner at anytime.

Amendment: While recognizing the autonomous nature of all areas of MBC life beyond that of the Executive Board Staff, the MBC Executive Board directs the Church Planting Department and other ministry departments to NOT provide CP dollars toward those affiliated with the Acts 29 Network.

Motion as amended passed by a vote of 28-10

The reasons were not stated in the motion, but the MSBC became disenfranchised with Acts 29 after The Journey in St. Louis hosted a monthly theological discussion in a bar where some of the participants were imbibing. This particular church also received funding from the MSBC for a building purchase. This was the real offense: one church perceived to having violated a financial agreement.

Unfortunately, the Missouri SBC viewed this autonomous church affiliated with Acts 29 as a good reason to dis-fellowship (dismember?) with EVERY Acts 29 church and to cut off support from those who have honored the abstinence agreement, of which Acts 29 fully respects. These are the real victims of the recent decision by the MSBC.

Many would have supported a decision to admonish the church that had violated the abstinence covenant, if that was found to be the offense with the MSBC. What I cannot support is cutting off every faithful MSBC church that is affiliated with Acts 29—guilt by association. As pastors, we teach our members to follow the steps of Matthew 18 and we don’t dis-fellowship an entire family for one family member’s sin: i.e., “Everyone with the last name of Patrick is kicked out of this church.” This is what I perceive happened in Missouri. Every SBC church with the last name of Acts 29 was kicked out (no more funding, collaboration, fellowship, or fun) regardless of guilt or not.

Acts 29 believes (and practices) church autonomy. We choose not to exercise authority over any church except the one where we serve as pastor. As a network, we encourage the Acts 29 affiliates to be a network of networks with multiple styles, polities, core values, and denominational ties. We do not mandate either a no-alcohol policy nor do we mandate a pro-alcohol stance. This decision is made by each local church how they wish to teach and practice the delicate alcohol issue. Acts 29 does not promote alcohol, nor do we decry the personal decision of each church planter to decide what the Scriptures teach about alcohol. We strongly believe drunkenness and/or being controlled by or addicted by alcohol is a sin. By the way we don’t have premarital sex because we believe it leads to dancing. (grin).

Monday was a day when toddling church planters were left out in the icy cold. Justice was not served. On January 1, several church planters in Missouri will lose their promised funding, not because they were guilty of breaking a rule, but because they were associated with a small church planting network (only 9 churches in Missouri are affiliated with Acts 29 Network).

Acts 29 Network and the Southern Baptists share the same mission: to seek and to save the lost; to go into all of the world and share the gospel of Jesus and to baptize and teach the believers through the local church. For this reason, we love the SBC, have appreciated our partnerships throughout the country and are now mourning the loss of our fellowship with the MSBC. Since Acts 29 Network has never been contacted by the Missouri SBC to seek reconciliation, clarity and understanding, I am requesting justice and not retribution as an honorable response to an abstinence policy that we fully respect. I am asking you to consider reversing the vote to read, “We reaffirm the policy of the Missouri Southern Baptists to abstain from alcohol and will remove any funding from church planters who disavow this position. ”That way the baby church doesn’t get thrown out with the fermented bathwater.

Sources:

Scott Lamb

Micah Fries

Tommy Brister

TB Part Two

Founders

Tim Ellsworth

Steve McCoy

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle that is pushing 7,000 in attendance. He is the co-founder and President of Acts 29 Network and author of multiple books. Dr. Ed Stetzer holds two doctorates and is Director of LifeWay Research and Missiologist in Residence in addition to his insightful books on church planting. He is considered to be the premier missiologist for church planting. Dr. Mark Dever holds a PhD from Cambridge and is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. He founded 9Marks Ministries and is the author of several books on church health. Darrin Patrick founded The Journey 5 years ago and is running 2,000 in attendance. He is pursuing his D.Min at Covenant Seminary and is Vice President of Acts 29 Network. D. A. Carson (PhD, University of Cambridge) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author or coauthor of over 45 books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winning book The Gagging of God, and An Introduction to the New Testament.

During the conference, Dr. Bob Logan, founder of CoachNet and I will also be training church planting coaches for the Acts 29 Network. Bob Logan has written some of the most useful books on church planting, including The Church Planter’s Toolkit and he provides training, coaching and consulting to over 40 denominations.

The Church Planter’s Boot camp is open to all participants and is useful for all pastors. Please go to the Acts 29 site for more information. Register today online.

Is "Worship" the Only Word for Worship?
Dr. Harold Best unpacks what we really mean when we say "worship" and underlying issues of the heart when it comes to worship and idolatry.

Jesus the Sole Mediator of Worship and the Helplessness of Music
Dr. Harold Best explains Jesus role at the Great High Priest and the only one qualified and able to lead worship.

Missional Worship
Pastor Tim Smith walks us through how it looks to live lives of worship that focus on Jesus and seek to redeem the culture around us.

RSVP: metrophilly@acts29network.org

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Philadelphia, PA 19140

Date: December 14, 2007

Time: 1:00-4:30 PM

Further Details: metrophilly@acts29network.org infoar u2061898675='info'; var h744115774='realifephilly.org';var linktext=u2061898675+'@'+h744115774;h744115774='realifephilly.org';document.write('' + linktext + '');

Resurgence and Acts 29 are excited to host a premiere conference on preaching and church planting on February 25-27, 2008. Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA will be hosting this Boot Camp in connection with the National Resurgence Conference. Featured speakers include pastor/author Dr. John Piper, pastor/author Mark Driscoll, pastor Matt Chandler and author/consultant Jim Gilmore. This conference will also combine the Acts 29 Network Church Planting Boot Camp which will be open for attendees of the National Resurgence Conference.

Location: Mars Hill Church Ballard Campus, 1401 Leary Way Seattle, WA 98107

Cost: $99 per individual.

Registration: Click here

Click here for the schedule

"Theological Foundations of the Multi-Site Model"

"Practical Implications of the Multi-Site Model" (Part 1)

"Practical Implications of the Multi-Site Model" (Part 2)

What is Missional X? It's short for the "Missional Experience." Missional is not a model, nor a strategy, or a tool, but more of a way of living and being. The basic idea is that missional is the "activity of a missionary." What would it look like if we were to truly to adopt the mindset of "living sent" here in North America? How would we act? What would we do? What would our priorities look like?

Darrin Patrick's Sessions:

Bringing the Gospel Into Culture

Dealing With Personal Idols

Other Main Sessions

Session #1: What is the Vision of Acts 29 and What Kind of Churches Are We Planting?
Scott Thomas | Director of Acts 29 Network

Session #2: A Jacked up Pastor in Need of the Gospel
Chan Kilgore | Lead Pastor of Crosspointe Church | Orlando, FL

Session #3: Preaching the Mission
Tyler Jones | Lead Pastor of Vintage21 and host of the boot camp

Session #4: Gospel-Centered Theology
Daniel Montgomery | Lead Pastor of Sojourn Community Church | Louisville, KY

Session #5: The Man: Qualifications of a Lead Planter
Mark Driscoll | Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church and President of Acts 29 Network | Seattle, WA

Session #6: Understanding Missional Theology
Ed Stetzer | Director of LifeWay Research

A quick Google search for the words "executive pastor" will mostly give you hits for available job postings and existing executive pastor (XP) bios. Dig a little deeper and you might come across the occasional article. The reality is that there just isn't much out there for the guy who sits in the second chair pastoral role in his church. So XP's are often left to reinvent the proverbial wheel. This does not have to be the case. Below you will find descriptions of five resources that no XP should be without. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. If you have your own favorites, make a comment at the bottom to record the resources you have found most helpful.

1. Mike Bonum & Roger Patterson's book "Leading from the Second Chair".

This seminal work on the role of the XP charts out three leadership paradoxes that every second chair leader must wrestle with-The Subordinate-Leader Paradox, The Deep-Wide Paradox, The Contentment-Dreaming Paradox. XP's (and those wanting to be one), and LP's (Lead Pastor's) who want to hire an XP should start here. It's a quick, helpful read.

2.       David Fletcher's website http://www.xpastor.org/

Here you will find everything from articles on a wide variety of issues to policies and administrative helps from churches around the country. You'll even find a test to see if you really are an XP. The test (the XP indicator) would be extremely helpful for the church planter who is trying to assess a potential second chair leader. Fletcher sees the XP role as having 5 key functions: Administrator, Catalyst, Mentor, Minister, and Overseer. The XP indicator functions like a temperament or gift analysis using these five aptitudes. The list of resources on the site increases daily.

3.       The XP Conference held annually (February 6-7, 2008).   

This is literally the only conference designed for XP's in the entire country. Thankfully it's a good one. Each February in Dallas, TX 300-400 pastors who function as XP's (regardless of title) gather for two days of intensive training, idea sharing and community building. I went last year fully expecting to be the youngest guy there by 10 or 15 years. I was surprised instead to find a great mix of younger and older XP's at churches ranging from 200 to 20,000 attendees. The main sessions were lively, on target and challenging. The numerous breakout session choices involved pointed and specialized treatments of a myriad of issues you are probably facing in your church right now. Bottom line . . .  this conference is worth the trip. I went away last year with only one complaint; there was absolutely nothing for the church planter. When I shared my concern with sponsor Dr. David Fletcher of xpastor.org, he quickly invited me to lead a session for the church planting executive pastor at the 08' conference. In addition to that session, I'll be hosting an Acts 29 Pastors gathering for attendees at a local microbrewery on the first day of the conference. When you register, be sure to check the A29 box to receive information about this party. Find full details and registration instructions here.

4.       A local XP network.

Unless you live just east of nowhere, there are probably guys functioning as executive pastors in your area. They may not have the title and they may be at older, larger, more established churches, but as the XP at a church of 10,000 recently told me "We do the same thing. I just do it with more 0's at the end." I've been meeting regularly with a couple XP's locally for about two years and the time has been invaluable as we bounce ideas off of each other. Recently, we decided to invite a few other key local leaders to join us in forming an XP-Roundtable that will have its first meeting in a few weeks. Expect an article in a year or so on the successes and failures of this venture. If you are in a smaller church, don't be afraid to call the XP at your local mega church (even if they are a part of the Willow Creek Association). Due to the XP's inherent lack of stardom in the church, they remain pretty accessible even at the largest of churches.

5.       Regular meetings with your visionary Lead Pastor.

If I had to say in one sentence what role the XP/second chair leader plays on the leadership team it would sound something like: "The XP's overarching task is to see to the effective implementation of the Lead Pastor's vision." The only way to do this is to have dedicated regular meetings with just the two of you. In the early days of Terra Nova (as in . . . two years ago) I would barrage Ed Marcelle (our Lead Pastor) with questions until I got what he was saying.  I would ask him to write out his thoughts and concepts and then I would rewrite them and review them until they became my own.                                                                                            

The only way you can lead a staff and volunteer team in implementing a focused vision is if you own that vision yourself. View your Lead Pastor as the walking embodiment of the churches philosophy, mission and vision and go to that well often. For you lead pastors reading this, assume that a newly hired XP will need a good five hours of your time each week for the first few months. You will likely assume that your visionary rantings are clearly grasped in one conversation. They are not. In the long run, this lengthy time investment will reap huge rewards in freeing you up to do what you do best for the church.

By Phil Taylor
[executive pastor-terra nova church]

305 attendees were trained at our recent Acts 29 Boot Camp in Raleigh, North Carolina hosted by Vintage21 in their beautiful new digs. This is the largest boot camp we have had outside of Seattle. We assessed 36 couples as potential Acts 29 church planters. This is the most we have assessed at any one boot camp. We approved 23 planters - our best percentage. It was a Boot Camp on the "juice."

Tyler Jones, our Acts 29 east region coordinator and founding pastor of Vintage21 assembled a fantastic team of volunteers to serve the boot camp. It was well organized.

Acts 29 boot camps provide the theological compass for church planting. We do not provide lots (any?) of how-to tips. We rather present a compass in seven-parts that will help a church planter navigate through a difficult journey. How-to tips are not bad, but a pastor armed with character, a Bible, a mission from Jesus, the gospel message and a passionate calling will usually figure out how to lead people on mission for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not die on a cross so that we could start a cool church. He died to glorify Himself as the mission is completed through His redeemed people. Without the cross, we have no mission. Without a mission, we only have religion. Without a mission, we have no passion because we have no cure for the hopeless condition of humankind.

Jesus said, As the Father has sent me into the world, even so I am sending you. (John 17:18; 20:21)

All media from the Raleigh boot camp will be available here. 

In February 2008 I am publishing my next book along with my friend Dr. Gerry Breshears. It will be titled Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions. I am really excited about this book since it is my first hard-bound book and is by far better than anything else I have published to date. Additionally, my friends at Crossway have been great to work with. This book is also the first in an entire line of books called Re:Lit (Resurgence Literature). To help get the books sales started, we've done two things for you and anyone else you can help me get the word out to.

One, we have created a new website where you will find more details about the book: http://www.vintagejesus.net/

Second, we have a special pre-release special going that you'll want to take advantage of. The first 1,000 people to pre-order Vintage Jesus via the link to Crossway will receive the following:

About the Book:

Roughly two thousand years ago, Jesus was born in a dumpy, rural, hick town, not unlike those today where guys change their own oil, think pro wrestling is real, find women who chew tobacco sexy, and eat a lot of Hot Pockets with their uncle-daddy.  Jesus' mom was a poor, unwed teenage girl who was often mocked for claiming she conceived via the Holy Spirit.  Most people thought she concocted the crazy story to cover the fact she was knocking boots with some guy in the backseat of a car at the prom. Jesus was adopted by a simple carpenter named Joseph and spent the first thirty years of his life in obscurity, swinging a hammer with his dad.

In Vintage Jesus, one of America's most influential young pastors teams up with a seasoned theologian to lead you on a hilarious theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. The authors provide timeless answers to twelve timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Each chapter concludes with answers to common questions about each subject.

Contents

These questions are answered with insights from people such as Jesus himself, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Luther King Jr., Hugh Hefner, Jack Bauer, Fidel Castro, Oprah, Kanye West, Gandhi, Homer Simpson, Mike Tyson, Gil Grissom, and Madonna, along with some demons and a porn star. There have been seventeen thousand books written about Jesus, but none is like Vintage Jesus.

Another emphasis of our boot camp is our church planters' assessments.  Accurate assessment of a church planter is essential in a field with a high failure rate. Unless you really like pain and frustration, you do not want to attempt to plant a church unless you have been equipped, gifted and specifically called by God to do so.  We have 36 potential church planters and their wives joining us next week for assessment.  These church planters represent men that are seeking a final confirmation of their call to plant a church and men who are well established in their church plant desiring to partner with a like-minded, Christ-centered, missional network.  These 36 men are coming from everywhere and planting everywhere.  Some of the locations of these future church plants include Scotland, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Illinois, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and several in Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, and of course, Texas has to represent the largest number of potential plants.

There will be 26 Acts 29 lead pastors coming to participate in the speaking, networking, and assessing of boot camp.  Some have just celebrated their one year church anniversary, Catalyst Church, others will officially launch this coming Sunday, The Oaks Community Church, some are coming from the Pacific coast, Red Sea Church, Bremerton, WA,  Seaside Church and Soteria Church, from the South, City on a Hill and CityView Church, with a majority coming from east of the Mississippi River. 

Our speakers consist of some of the best that Acts 29 has to offer: Our host Tyler Jones and Matt Stevens,Vintage21, Chan Kilgore, Crosspointe Church, Daniel Montgomery, Sojourn Community Church,  Jason Roberts, Crossurrent Church and some studs like Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Dr. Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Research and Dr Alvin Reid of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. We will even have Kimberly Jones leading the wives' track.

We would count it an honor if you would join us in praying for an amazing work of God's grace to be poured out on the events of next week. Pray that churches would be planted and replanted that proclaim the name and work of Jesus Christ to their community, city, and surrounding area as we begin to see cities and a nation transformed by the saving work of the Holy Spirit. 

---

So we're releasing an original worship album.

Crazy.

No, I mean it.

The probability that our church would release an album is right there with the probability that Paris Hilton won't ever be in court again. We began with a core group of 7, none of whom could even play the spoons. Rather than go the a cappella route, I rang up the one guy I knew who could strum a guitar and didn't hate the idea of God or sleep until noon on Sundays, a student I had taught several years before. Surprisingly, he agreed to my job offer: he would play the guitar on Sunday mornings, and I would pay him $50.

And so John would show at 9:55, strum the three chords necessary for most of our songs, listen to the preaching with a blank-stare, and cash his check. The cycle went on for nearly three years: 3 chords, Gospel preaching, $50. But then, without any warning, one November night in a parking lot while on tour with his band in Georgia, God extended unexpected grace. The seeds of the Gospel that had been planted took root, John was saved, and the musical life of our church was altered forever.

Over time a vision grew in our hearts for writing and recording our own songs. We had received such grace from God and wanted not only to talk about it and preach about it but sing about it. Once Imagine was written, we were sure of it: we really were going to create unique, inspiring, theologically sound worship music to glorify God, music that could be used as a vehicle for worship in Jesus' church throughout the world.

3 years and 10 songs later, Truth Within the Static is our first shot at seeing that dream become a reality.

There are three distinct hopes we've held onto as this project has unfolded:

1. That our music would capture the grace that God has extended to our church.

From the moment we began talking and dreaming about having original worship emerging from within the life of the church, our hope was that it would be a community endeavor. There was something attractive to us about songs coming not from the isolated mind of a single song-writer as he or she engaged God and life on their own (which is cool), but from the experiences and perspective of a congregation as we sought to know and respond to God together. Whether that meant songs connecting to sermons series we preached, salvation we witnessed, storms we endured, or lessons we learned, we longed for our song responses to remind us of God's redemptive grace as it had been freely received by all of us.

We've tried hard to make this hope become a reality with this album. Imagine, which calls us to consider both the present and future realities of the Gospel, was birthed as we preached about Jesus' blood speaking a better word than that of Abel's. Soli celebrates the centrality of God in the Gospel, and the song burst out of us as we first introduced the congregation to the doctrines of grace. Awakened is an autobiographical reminder of the regeneration of John's soul specifically and all of ours collectively. Foolishness dropped into our hearts and minds as we preached through the paradox of the cross of Christ. Sovereign God came after much corporate wrestling with Romans 9 and Pharaoh's heart. Height From Which I Fell connects directly back to our wonder at the all consuming presence of a holy God among sinners that we discovered preaching through Exodus. Glorious Love was written just as we stuck the Gospel in the center of our church's life.

And so it goes. Every song we've written triggers in us memories of ways that God has worked among us. In a sense, each tune is like a postcard from some place along the journey we have taken as a people. If we ever make a compilation album, I suppose we'll call it Songs from the Seven Mile Road. May that album contain hundreds of songs reminding us of the thousands of ways God has extended grace to us.

2. That our music would be saturated with Biblical theology.

We are troubled by the fact that shallow, man-centered, glory-robbing silliness marks much of what ends up being sung in churches in our culture. So another hope of ours has been that all our songs would center on God, shouting about His glory in His Gospel of grace, hammering over and over and over again rich theological truth as it emerges from the Bible.

Every song we've written centers on our graceful God and is rooted in the text of Scripture. Awakened echoes Acts 12 and God's grace to Paul along the Damascus Road. Imagine speaks of God's mercy that has made redemption possible from Hebrews 12 and Revelation 21. Height From Which I Fell reflects upon the grand visions of both Isaiah 6 and John 2. Living Sacrifice reeks of Romans 12. Glory of God hits I Corinthians 10. Soli and Glorious Love tie themes together from throughout the Bible.

But Foolishness is, by far, our favorite example of incorporating theologically rich lyrics in our Sunday song response. There is more theology jammed in the chorus of this song than there are reckless drivers in Boston. Affirmations of the doctrines of propitiation, expiation, justification, atonement, adoption, ransom, and the victory of Christ can all be found, and that's just in the chorus.

We think that this kind of thing is good. We long for 7 Mile Road to be a people who are shaped by God's Word. Why should we read the Bible and preach the Bible, but not sing the Bible? The Word is the thread that binds our gathered worship together, singing included. May every song we write be nothing more (or less) than an echo of what God has already spoken.

3. That our music would reflect all the realities of our redemptive experience.

One cool thing about the Psalms is that they are all so different. One minute the Psalmist is giddier than I was in October 2004 when the Red Sox swept the last 4 games of the ALCS after being down 3-0 to the Stankees; the next he's more depressed than Michael's Vick's publicist. Dancing, shouting and tambourine whacking is followed with weeping and mourning. First David is convinced of God's empowering presence, then he's wondering if God is really there, and then he realizes God never left. Start at Psalm 1, and 150 chapters later you're gloriously dizzy.

And that's because life and sanctification are a roller coaster. We are works in progress. In beautiful and Fatherly grace, God is redeeming us moment by moment. Sometimes he is disciplining us, sometimes instructing us, sometimes blessing us, and sometimes allowing us to suffer. And while His work is always good and for our benefit, we're not so consistent. Sometimes we are responding in trust and obedience to His work in us. Sometimes we're stubborn punks refusing to listen. Sometimes we get it and want to run the streets shouting, but sometimes we're so lost and faithless we want to hide and eat a bucket of cookie dough. This reality necessitates that a wide variety of songs be available to a congregation, songs that bring the Gospel to bear wherever we are in our journey.

This is why the tone and pace and volume of our tunes is all over the map. Awakened is a song that you sing while doing 75 with the top down on a Friday night, singing to the steering wheel at the top of your lungs. Height From Which I Fell is best sung with your head buried in your hands, broken by your sinfulness and idolatry and refusal to honor God as God, only to suddenly discover that the Gospel runs deeper than even your sin. Sovereign God is there for you when the roof has caved in. Imagine reminds you that heaven's roof never caves in, forcing you to lift your head and take in the future grace that approaches.

And so we don't want Truth Within the Static to be the kind of album in which you cherry pick favorites songs. We long for people to feel compelled to listen to all the songs, in a row, over and over again. And in doing so, we pray that their souls are taken to depths and heights and everywhere in between, and that Jesus and the grace of His Gospel is the constant that meets them at every turn of the chords.

Occasionally, these various partnerships lead to varying degrees of controversy with varying groups on varying issues. Perhaps the most controversial relationship we have enjoyed has been with our Southern Baptist friends. As an example, upon recently returning home from a restful three-week vacation with my wife and five young children, I opened the latest issue of Christianity Today to see an article about my friend and fellow Acts 29 board member Darrin Patrick. He pastors The Journey Church in Saint Louis, which is home of Budweiser and one of baseball's most feared hitters, Albert Pujols. Apparently some people in his church have started hanging out at a local pub to talk with non-Christians about Jesus, which has become a bit of a controversy among some Baptists who promote abstinence from all alcohol. Without getting negative or into too many details, the bottom line is that apparently I am a bit controversial in the eyes of some Southern Baptists, a denomination that, for the record, I love and appreciate, especially their deep devotion to Scripture, though I myself am not denominationally affiliated with them.

Nonetheless, the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., has extended to me a very kind hand of friendship for which I am truly grateful and want to publicly declare my thanks. They have invited me to join my dear friend Dr. Ed Stetzer along with others such as Daniel Akin to speak at their upcoming Convergent Conference. The details are here or below for anyone wanting to join us. For the record, I will not be drinking, cussing, or sprinkling infants and calling it baptism but do hope to honor Jesus with my message.

What is it? The emerging church is, by nature, difficult to categorize. Is it a divergence from orthodoxy or the extension of it? What is the litmus test for orthodoxy anyway? Has the traditional church lost touch with culture or has the emerging church become saturated with it? Is it a question of methodology or theology--or both?

The 2007 Convergent Conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary seeks to sift these questions through the sieve of Scripture and combine the best practices of traditional and emerging churches. In Colossians 1:28 Paul expresses his desire to "present everyone mature in Christ." This calls a person to be aware of culture and grounded in the Word. The Convergent Conference will explore the practice and theology of the diverse Christian community to help you minister with truth and urgency.

When is it? September 21-22, 2007

Where is it? Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
Click here for directions

Who can come? Church leaders will benefit from this conference.

Who will speak? Speakers for the conference are: Mark Driscoll, Ed Stetzer, J.D. Greear, Alvin Reid, Mark Leiderbach, Daniel Akin and John Hammett.
Click here to learn more about the speakers

How much? Cost for the two-day conference is $30. Registration deadline is Sept. 7, 2007. Refunds can only be issued through Sept. 7, 2007, if you are unable to attend the conference.
Register here

What are the accommodations? Reduced rates are available for the Convergent Conference at Hampton Inn (919) 554-0222 and Sleep Inn (919) 556-4007 in Wake Forest, N.C.
Click here for more information about the area hotels

For more information: Call 1-888-290-7787

Click here to listen (1hr:8min)

The Acts 29 Boot Camp is considered by many to be one of the best available. It is required for Acts 29 applicants, but is open to anyone! Are you considering planting a church? Are you ready? Are you interested in partnering with the Acts 29 Network in your endeavor to plant churches?  Nearly 80 percent of church planting attempts fail. The Acts 29 Boot Camp can help make the difference between success and casualty.  The boot camp also provides an opportunity for established churches and existing church plants to see the vision and mission of Acts 29 and consider partnering together to plant churches and see the name of Jesus spread throughout our cities, nation and world.

Main Session:

Session #1: What is the Vision of Acts 29 and What Kind of Churches Are We Planting?
Scott Thomas | Director of Acts 29 Network

Session #2: A Jacked up Pastor in Need of the Gospel
Chan Kilgore | Lead Pastor of Crosspointe Church | Orlando, FL

Session #3: Preaching the Mission
Tyler Jones | Lead Pastor of Vintage21 and host of the boot camp

Session #4: Gospel-Centered Theology
Daniel Montgomery | Lead Pastor of Sojourn Community Church | Louisville, KY

Session #5: The Man
Mark Driscoll | Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church and President of Acts 29 Network | Seattle, WA

Session #6: Understanding Missional Theology
Ed Stetzer | Director of LifeWay Research

Session #7: Q & A with Driscoll & Stetzer
moderated by Scott Thomas

Workshops:

Fund Raising
Tom Mauriello Executive Director of Great Commission Ministries

Worship & the Arts
Matt Stevens | Worship Pastor of Vintage 21 | Raleigh, NC

TBD
Alvin Reid | Associate Dean for Proclamation Studies and Professor of Evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary | Wake Forest, NC

Legalities in the Church
Kerry Zook | Legal Representation for Vintage 21 | Raleigh, NC  

Leading the Mission 
Jason Roberts | Lead Pastor of Crossurrent Church | Virginia Beach, VA

Wives Track

Boot Camp Details and Registration

*Note: Church planter assessments are full at this time but if you would like to begin the application process, click here.

He began studying music and theology, taking music lessons and singing lessons, and before long was running the entire worship department for our church. In time, he proved to be such a gifted leader that we brought him on as a pastor and he has since built an enormous department. Currently under his leadership is the entire Sunday church event at Mars Hill and he has hundreds of staff and volunteers working under him in areas that include sound, light, video, composition, recording, etc., in seven services on three campuses (and expanding to fourteen services on six campuses in the coming year). Tim is in every way a brother to me and someone I deeply appreciate as a friend. The number of bands, variety of styles, and quality of songwriting and musicianship that he has led is nothing short of staggering. He is a godly man, deep theological thinker, gifted artist, skilled leader, and excellent preacher whom I often praise God for bringing to our church so that it could grow from hundreds to thousands of people.

Additionally, Pastor Tim has a deep passion to equip and encourage other worship leaders as both theologians and musicians. As a result, he is now embarking on a series of new projects that I wanted to let everyone know about in the following interview we conducted. Additionally, anyone wanting to check out some of his work can download live worship songs for free at http://media.marshillchurch.org.

MD: Could you explain to folks what you have going with Doxologist.com?

TS: Doxologist is the voice of my team and me as we seek to wrestle with the theology, missiology, and practice of worship, both gathered and scattered. It is primarily a blog-based site right now as we get it off the ground, but we have a lot of things planned, including additional theological content, an internet "radio station," and all kinds of other things. Here is a link to our "About Us" vision statement: http://voxpopnetwork.com/doxologist/about/

MD: What is going on with your new record project?

TS: We are currently working on our first full-length studio album in five years. It is a compilation of a number of our arrangements and re-writes of hymns. We are going to call it the Rain City Hymnal and it will be out sometime this fall with a pre-release available exclusively for attendees of the Continuous Worship Conference. The album will include some well-known standards like "All Creatures of Our God and King," "How Great Thou Art," and "I'll Fly Away," as well as some lesser-known hymns like "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" and "What Wondrous Love is This." Five of our current bands are contributing to the project.

Hymns are the perfect illustration of "missional worship." Most hymns have a separate author for text and tune. Over the years, many of these songs have had their lyrics put to three, four, or sometimes five or more different tunes. These amazing lyrics have been put to different musical contexts to fit the culture of a particular people, place, and time. Mars Hill is just one more link in that chain of musical missionaries trying to bring glory to God in a way that makes sense to the people of Seattle.

MD: Resurgence is launching the Re:Lit line of books. What do you have planned for the Re:Sound line of music?

TS: When it comes to the subject of corporate worship, there tends to be two divergent schools of thought: those with the theology and those with the music. Those that invest deeply in a larger biblical and theological understanding rarely have music you want to listen to. Likewise, those who invest deeply in particular cultural traditions of music, rarely have a solid, biblical theology as their foundation. Re:Sound exists to bring a rich biblical understanding of worship together with music you would actually like to listen to, all for the glory of God and the building of His church. Worship, in the most simple sense, is our response to God's initiation. The most appropriate response to God's initiation among a particular people in a particular place and time will come from that people. Re:Sound exists to highlight diverse musical expressions of worship and challenge musicians to the task of contextualizing the gospel into music.

MD: You are hosting the Continuous Worship Conference September 17-18, 2008 in Seattle. Could you explain the details of that event?

TS: The event will be a combination of both practical and theological instruction. Joining us will be the entire worship department of Mars Hill Church, helping to answer people's questions about everything from lighting to sound and video gear as well as systems, consultants, and resources that are helpful to worship leaders. Also joining us will be many of the worship leaders from the Acts 29 Church Planting Network. Our featured speaker is Harold Best, whose book Unceasing Worship is among the most important theologies of worship that I have read. The conference schedule is as follows:

Pre-Conference Track (Monday morning/afternoon): Mars Hill Music and Production Staff - Practical issues of corporate worship

Session 1 (Monday PM): Mark Driscoll - Worship and Idolatry

Session 2 (Tuesday AM): Harold Best - "Is worship the only word for worship?"

Session 3 (Tuesday afternoon): Harold Best - "Jesus: the sole mediator of worship and the helplessness of music"

Session 4 (Tuesday evening): Tim Smith - "Missional Worship"

Early registration ends August 31 ($35; $50 thereafter); for more information on the conference, the official statements are on both the Resurgence and Doxologist websites.

Tyler and his wife Kimberly moved to the Raleigh area in 1997 after graduating from the University of