Exponential NEXT Podcast

What does it take to be a church planter or other ministry entrepreneur? Most leaders start out with passion, a sense of calling, and a focus on building ministry skills. Such things might get some results, but they are not enough to sustain a healthy ministry―or a healthy life. Beyond the vocational capacities every church […]

Our bodies are designed to heal. We fall off our bikes and skin our knees—and without effort on our part, the skin looks like new in a few days. But while our skinned knees heal easily, it can sometimes feel like our emotional and relational wounds are left gaping open, broken beyond repair. If our […]

You show up at church every Sunday. You see people you know. You listen to a sermon together. And then you go home feeling just as isolated as you did before. What’s going on? We all know that a church is supposed to be a community. The trick is to actually make it one. Communities […]

Right before Jesus left planet Earth, He reminded His closest followers of His vision for how the mission would be accomplished and gave us this third ‘great’ in John 17:22-23: “…that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to […]

Mobilizing Missional Disciples Repentance: The catalyst for individual formation (discipleship) and community transformation (mission) — Featured Guests: CANDACE LEWIS — President-Dean of Gammon Theological Seminary JAIME JIMENEZ — Pastor of Mission and Mercy at Christ the King Presbyterian Church Hosts: RYAN HAIRSTON — National Director of Forge America BETH WOLFF — Pastor at Clarksburg Church […]

What is the difference between a small group and a house church? And what is the difference between a small group leader and a house church pastor? Some people simply adjust nomenclature, and accomplish no real change at all. Both consist of smaller groups of people, who have leaders. But, the distinctions create significant differences. […]

In the last decades of the 20th century, many churches moved to the suburbs. That was great.That’s where the souls were. But more and more, people are moving back into the cities. And the culture-shaping “urban mindset” — which is often post-Christian and even pre-Christian — is spreading everywhere.

In this webinar, Steve Pike, Jason Bowman, and Cole Yoakum will explore how church planters will need to recalibrate their timeline, from launching churches to emerging as a church.

The first component of the Great Collaboration is doing life together with God. Before God will create community through you, He must first be in community with you. Only a whole and healthy leader who lives in communion with God can lead their family, team and church into greater experiences of community with God and one another.

What does it take to be a church planter or other ministry entrepreneur? Most leaders start out with passion, a sense of calling, and a focus on building ministry skills. Such things might get some results, but they are not enough to sustain a healthy ministry―or a healthy life. Beyond the vocational capacities every church planter needs, there's a range of capabilities more difficult to measure but even more essential: what veteran church planter Tim Morey calls spiritual competencies. Morey provides here a practical guide to spiritual formation geared to the unique needs of church planters. He helps readers answer the questions, What are the spiritual capabilities that I as a church planter need to develop? How might I lean into the work Jesus is doing in these vital areas? Spiritual competencies have to do not just with behaviors but also with the motivations, agendas, and scripts that drive behaviors. Morey explores how church planters can become people who

invest in their own physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health

accept limits and share responsibilities

can be trusted with power

are able to stay resilient and grow through difficulties

can minister without being noticed

find a sustainable pace that helps them avoid burnout

The health of a church or any ministry organization is directly linked to the health of its leaders. Church planters may be used to improvising, but when it comes to their spiritual lives, they can't afford to just wing it. Featuring real-life stories from leaders, suggested practices, and discussion questions in each chapter, this book will equip individuals and teams (and those who coach them) to commit to an intentional plan for spiritual formation―for the good of their churches, their relationships, and their own lives as disciples of Jesus.

Our bodies are designed to heal. We fall off our bikes and skin our knees—and without effort on our part, the skin looks like new in a few days. But while our skinned knees heal easily, it can sometimes feel like our emotional and relational wounds are left gaping open, broken beyond repair. If our bodies instinctively know how to heal physical injuries, could they also help us understand how to restore painful emotional and relational ruptures?

In their groundbreaking debut book, Designed to Heal, physician Jennie McLaurin and scientist Cymbeline T. Culiat provide a fascinating look at how the restorative processes of the body model patterns we may adapt to heal the acute and chronic wounds of our social bodies. Through engaging patient stories, imaginative travels through the body’s microcellular landscapes, accessible references to current research, and reflections on the image of God, Designed to Heal offers a new perspective for healing our social divisions. By learning how the body is created with mechanisms that optimize a flourishing recovery from life’s inevitable wounds, we are given a model for hopeful, faithful, and enduring healing in all other aspects of our lives. Our wounds don’t have to have the last word.