How does a church go about planting 60,000 new churches, ahead of schedule? Lord willing, that will be the case for David Young and the North Boulevard Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, TN! In this podcast we review the state of our church planting efforts and talk about how God is working to birth new churches that birth new churches. The hope and prayer for this podcast is that hundreds, even thousands of other churches, can begin taking steps in this direction and watch God give the increase.

There were a number of resources mentioned in this podcast including:

Books

Leading Change by John Kotter

A Grand Illusion: How Progressive Christianity Undermines Biblical Faith By David Young

New Day: Restoring the Revolutionary Mission of Christ's Church By David Young

Kingdom Unleashed by Jerry Trousdale

Ministries

New Generations Ministries - Disciple Making Movements

Final Command Ministries

New Day Conference

Passion for Planting

Kairos

Stadia Church Planting

North Boulevard Church of Christ School of Discipleship

Heritage 21

New Creation! It is where the whole story is headed. The bookends of the Bible - Creation to New Creation. We can have hope because we know where and what God is pressing the cosmos toward! Act 5 closes out the Theodrama. We appreciate you listening and hope and pray it blesses many to embrace a richer and fuller biblical theology.

The church is the full on renewal of Israel. We cannot fully understand the life and role of the church in the world without the first 3 acts of the story. The church is the fulfillment of Israel. The church fills Israel's role and intention in the world. We have to know who we are!

The Theodrama is a 5 Act series on the story of scripture. It is rich theology that helps us grasp the broader narrative of the Bible. You can watch each video individually or you can watch them by Act. Here is Act 3 - The story of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection! There is continuity between each Act - from Creation (Act 1) to New Creation (Act 5) with Jesus right in the middle (Act 3). We pray this is a blessing to your understanding, not just of the Bible, but also of God!

Thank you for listening!

When God choose Abraham and made a covenant with him, God set into motion a family who he would work with to ultimately fulfill all His promises through Jesus. The story of Abraham and his descendants teach us many things about ourselves and God and the way God deals with people.

If you prefer to watch the Theodrama on YouTube you can do that on the Theodrama playlist. If you haven't checked out the Wineskins YouTube channel, please do! It is growing every single day with new subscribers.

John Mark Hicks is an author and scholar who has taught Bible and theology for several decades. His insight and humility are appreciated by Christians far and wide.

The Theodrama is 5 Act story of the Bible. It starts with the creation of the universe (Act 1). Then the drama unfolds as God chooses Abraham and the story of Israel. Third comes the Messiah, Jesus the Christ (Act 3). Fourth in the story is the birth of the church (Act 4). Finally the Bible hints all the way along about new creation - that God will redeem all things and bring together a new heaven and a new earth (Act 5). This is the Theodrama! We will post all 5 acts on the podcast. If you prefer to watch them on YouTube you can do that on the Theodrama playlist. If you haven't checked out the Wineskins YouTube channel, please do! It is growing every single day with new subscribers.

John Mark Hicks is an author and scholar who has taught Bible and theology for several decades. His insight and humility are appreciated by Christians far and wide.

With things in decline, on average in our churches (which, by the way is not unique to Churches of Christ) where do we go from here? How do we find the path? Is it finding the right program? Adopting a new leadership style? Is it equipping? What is the path to a better future? This podcast will explore how we move ahead and what it is going to take. It won't be easy but with God's help, all things are possible.

We all have to deal with suffering in our lives. How do we deal with suffering in a way that is honest and faithful? Trusting and lamenting? John Mark Hicks walks us through the suffering he has faced and works us through the five anchors in scripture that enable us to trust God when the storms get rough. For more information on this subject you will want to consider purchasing his book and journal. If you are wanting more or want to present this material to a Bible class please consider purchasing the video series. Wineskins doesn't get anything from your purchase. We believe this material is helpful and want to make people aware of it.

"Anchors for the Soul" (Book)

Journal

Video

"Meeting God at the Shack" - the other book John Mark mentions in the podcast.

To read more of John Mark's excellent work online check out his blog.

Did you know that 63% of ministers in Churches of Christ have considered leaving ministry entirely?

Did you know that only 56% say they know their next employment will be congregational ministry?

What factors affect the spiritual, physical, mental, familial, and vocational health of ministers? We ran a study of 118 ministers in Churches of Christ to assess what factors contributed positively and negatively to health outcomes. We also assessed minister longevity and attrition (how many ministers are considering leaving ministry and what factors affect that). At the end we point ministers to resources that can help them get healthier approaches to life and ministry.

This talk was given at the 2017 Pepperdine Bible Lectures and has been edited for the podcast. The data was collected in the Spring of 2017.

Resources:

The Boone Center (Pepperdine)

The Siburt Institute (ACU)

Hope Network Ministries

We sit down with Stan Granberg of Kairos Church Planting to review his findings on the decline in Churches of Christ and what we can do looking ahead to move our churches into the 21st century in meaningful and vibrant ways. There are a number of resources and organizations mentioned in the podcast this week. You can find that information here:

Kairos Church Planting

The Decline in Churches of Christ Power Point

Mission Resource Network

Mission Alive

Heritage 21

Let's Start Talking - They didn't make it into the podcast due to a recording glitch but were mentioned in the organizations working together for Healthy Churches.

Emerging Leadership (Vol 1)

Emerging Leadership (Vol 2)