Strike the Match with J. D. Payne

In this last episode of Season 1 of Strike the Match, I share about my forthcoming book, Apostolic Church Planting: Birthing New Churches from New Believers (IVP).

In the book of Acts, church planting begins with sharing the gospel. A church was not talked about until disciples were made; and disciples were not made until evangelism occurred. There is a general pathway to church planting that leads to the multiplication of disciples, leaders and other churches.

What are our present global realities of lostness? What is the most critical issue in church planting today? What is apostolic church planting? What are the 4 steps in the pathway to planting? What are the planned role changes and primary tasks of team members? What is the church multiplication cycle? In this episode, I address these and other questions. Check out this last episode of Season 1!

Disciple making and church planting movements are popular topics in many conversations today. In this episode, Steve Addison is my guest. Our conversation is about his next book, Pioneering Movements: Leadership that Multiplies Disciples and Churches, which releases December 2015 with InterVarsity Press.

In our conversation, Steve answers questions such as: Why write this book? What are the characteristics of leaders involved in multiplying disciples and churches? Why is the West not experiencing movements like those observed in the Majority World? What is happening in the West related to such movements?

Steve and his wife co-lead MOVE, an Australian-based mission agency. He is also the author of Movements that Change the World and What Jesus Started. You may find Steve on-line @movementsnet and at movements.net.

The twentieth century has been called the Age of the Refugee. And today, we continue to hear of the flight of the peoples of the world. At the time of this recording, the refugee crisis continues to grow in Europe. The United States is planning to increase her cap on the number of refugees allowed into her borders.

Stephan Bauman is my guest on this episode. Stephan is the president and CEO of World Relief, an international relief and development organization that serves 5 million people each year through 100,000 church-based volunteers.

Check out our conversation on the refugee crisis today and World Relief’s global efforts to partner with churches and church planters. You may find out more information about Stephan on the World Relief site, Twitter, or his personal site.

Here are a couple of the web sites referenced in the conversation: worldrelief.org and wewelcomerefugees.com

Dr. Travis Kerns is one of the leading evangelical scholars in the area of Mormon history and theology. He is also a missionary with the North American Mission Board and serves in Salt Lake City.

The state of Utah is the least-reached state in the United States, comprised of a 2% evangelical population. And within this state, an urban context such as Provo-Orem is only 0.5% evangelical.

Check out our conversation. We discuss Mormon beliefs and the Mormon Church’s desire to become recognized as part of mainstream Christianity. Travis also shares about his forthcoming book: The Saints of Zion.

You may find Travis at Twitter.  Also, watch this video produced by the North American Mission Board.

Dr. Ted Esler recently became the new President and CEO of MissioNexus. Ted joins me in conversation this week on Strike the Match. We spend time talking about his background as a church planter and an administrator.

MissioNexus is the largest network of evangelical mission agencies and church partners in North America. Ted and I talk about this group of 40,000 field and staff members, where the network has been, and where it is going in days to come. We also take time to discuss future challenges mission agencies are likely to encounter in the next few years.

You may find Ted at his blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Paul Dzubinski is my guest on this episode. Paul is the Director of Innovation for Frontier Ventures where he provides oversight for Launch Lab. In our conversation, we talk about the place of Spirit-led innovation in missions today and answer question such as:

Why should Kingdom citizens have conversations on innovation and the Church? What is innovation in missions? Why do missions organizations fail to consider innovation? How are Kingdom citizens to think about innovation. Check out our conversation!

You may find Paul on Twitter, his blog, and at Frontier Ventures.

God has not only made every person from Adam and Eve, but He has also determined when and where they will live (Acts 17:26). The reason? That they might find Him (Acts 17:27).

232 million people live outside of their countries of birth. While many of these people are followers of Jesus, many are from some of the world’s most unreached people groups. The West is often a destination for the peoples on the move.

The United States has an estimated 360 unreached people groups, making it the country with the third largest number of unreached peoples. Canada has an estimated 180 unreached people groups, making it the country with the fifth largest number of unreached peoples. Given these present realities–in light of Acts 17:26-27–how should we now live? In this episode, I discuss the movement of the peoples and how reaching them in North America can also open doors to reach them in other countries.

Check out these additional resources:

Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration, and Mission

Unreached Peoples, Least Reached Places: An Untold Story of Lostness in America

Churches and mission agencies have been thankful for the global work of the U. S. Center for World Mission.  For almost four decades, the Center has been involved in Kingdom advancing labors. If you are familiar with the name Ralph Winter, unreached people groups, or the Perspectives course (to mention a few examples), then you have been influenced by the Center.

A few months ago, the U. S. Center for World Mission rebranded itself as Frontier Ventures. In this episode, I speak with Dave Datema, one of Frontier Ventures’ general directors. We talk about the history of the Center, the need for rebranding, and possible future directions.

Dave shares that their purpose has always been and will continue to be about influencing believers for work in frontier missions. They want to continue in mobilization, training, and championing ideas and insights that will catalyze Kingdom breakthrough.

The decision to select a major and/or vocation is one of the most important decisions a person will make. This decision sets life on a specific course. This decision is often left up to the whims of youth, family tradition, and secular guidance counselors. The church is usually divorced from this decision. Personal comfort and the ability to make a decent living, rather than the mission of God, are often given priority.

In this episode, I address this problem with five suggestions to help church leaders shepherd their people to the marketplace. With billions of people in the world without Christ, evangelicals need to embrace a stewardship of vocation. Leading people to obtain marketable skills and degrees is a must for today’s pastor.

Patrick Johnstone’s leadership has been very significant among evangelicals for many years. It is a delight to have Patrick as my guest on this episode of Strike the Match. We discuss the history of Operation World, his latest books (Pray for the World, The Future of the Global Church, and Serving God in Today’s Cities), three challenges facing gospel advancement, and changes evangelicals will face in the next decade.

Patrick also takes a moment to share his thoughts about his future writing projects.

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My latest book on missions and leadership was released recently. Check out To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation.