Who are the people you should have in your inner circle as you plant a church? What should they be like?

Tory Mayo planted The Well in Austin, TX with a core team that moved neighborhoods to go on mission. Hear how he’s built a strong foundational team and what he would do differently if he did it all again.

Our hope rests in one of three places: the world, religion, or the gospel. But only one of them leads to freedom instead of slavery.

That’s the subject of Hope-Shifting, a book by Jim Applegate from Redeemer Church in Modesto, CA. Listen in to hear his take on what “gospel-centered” really means.

It seems like a contradiction: you can’t understand until you know nothing. Yet, that’s a reality church planters have to embrace in order to lead well.

In this episode, James and Kenny talk with Jake Chambers from Red Door, a church in San Diego, about approaching planting from a place of knowing nothing. Once you do that, you open yourself up to the outside help you need.

Jon Wolfinger is the lead pastor at Lumen Deo in Prescott, AZ—but he also oversees maintenance and facilities for a medical center.

Because of his experience, Jon has a great perspective on bi-vocational ministry. In this episode, he explains that knowing whether it’s right for you comes down to this question:

Is bi-vocational ministry a barrier or a bridge to church planting?

How much pressure do you put on your own sermons?

If the answer is “too much,” you may find yourself perpetually exhausted.

Listen in as Brian Hope from Mission Church in Walla Walla, WA packs a ton of wisdom about preaching into one episode. Topics include taking the “long-haul” approach to preaching, finding your own voice, letting the text be your guide, and how to prep.

In the past, some churches have been guilty of extracting from their people without giving much in return. As a result, many churches today don’t ask for anything.

Can church membership, done right, be a solution to those extremes? That’s the topic of discussion in this episode, featuring Allen Duty from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, TX.

Around the 5-7 year mark in the life of a church, there is an alarming tendency towards apathy.

All it takes is a little less worship, and a little loss of hope, to find the spirit of apathy everywhere in your life.

In this episode, Timothy Stewart from Reflect Church in Elk Grove, CA talks about his recent chapter of apathy and how a simple revelation turned it all around earlier this year.

There are a lot of great reasons to plant a church—but also plenty of reasons not to.

In this episode, James and Kenny talk with Joel Webbon from The Response Church in San Diego about the tendency of young men to plant churches to gain approval or prove themselves, and to plant as a reaction rather than a call.

In general, Millennials have no patience for “holy” pastors. If you aren’t appropriately transparent, they’ll sniff it out right away.

That’s Chuck Ryor’s central philosophy for reaching the “used-to-go-to-church” population around Prism Church in Pasadena, CA.

Hear Chuck’s wisdom on how much to share from the stage and, more importantly, why you should share it in the first place.

With the new year approaching, you have a choice: plan your year ahead of time or scramble week-to-week.

Justin Fordinal from BridgePoint Community Church in Cypress, TX bought himself a six-foot dry-erase calendar from neuyear.net. He’s using it to plan out his entire 2016.

Listen in to hear how following his lead can save you a ton of headaches.