In my last article, I discussed two key components for successful church planting: prioritizing and preparing. By prioritizing, I meant establishing “church planting” in the DNA of your church’s mission. By preparing, I meant sending out church planters and team members that are fully equipped. In this article, I want to address the third component of pastoring a church that plants churches. That third component is partnerships.

PARTNERSHIPS

We can do more together than we can on our own. I doubt anyone would argue against that idea, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. It feels easier and less complicated to do it on our own, preferring our way as the best way, unencumbered by the potential milieu of challenges partnerships present. But my pushback on that is: What about learning from each other? What about considering better ways of doing ministry? What about the strength of ministering together instead of solo? What about your wisdom and gifts being used to bless other ministries? Effective church planting means strategic partnerships.

This is one reason why I appreciate Calvary Global Network’s emphasis on collaborating for the kingdom. It’s clear that the vision of CGN is: big picture partnerships that facilitate healthy ministry relationships, leverage expertise and experience, and unite likeminded people in order to grow God’s kingdom for His glory. Strong partnerships make flourishing ministries. In this article, I want to suggest three key ingredients to having healthy partnerships.

1) Servant Attitude:

The purpose of partnerships isn’t to be served, but to serve. Of course, there is the strategic piece to partnerships that enables you to execute the mission of your church more effectively. But the disposition of each partner must be to serve the other. Certainly, this was the mindset of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 20:28). Servant-oriented partnerships provide the soil to grow humility, transparency, love and unity. This will assist in eliminating conflict that’s generated by pride, ego, self-centered ambitions and ungodly agendas. Of course, that would never happen in ministry (smile). This also causes the partnership to be of greater mutual benefit.

For example, we have an “Awaken Crusade” in Mexico City happening in 2019. We partner with well over 100 churches and organizations with the goal of, equipping churches to evangelize, reaching the impoverished with food, medical care and clothing, through an event called Blessfest, hosting a major evangelistic crusade and conducting church planting training conferences. The local church leaders have been overwhelmingly gracious to us, catching the vision, engaging their congregations and providing people to serve. As a result, people will be saved, the saved will be equipped and more churches will be planted!

2) Relational:

Having a servant’s heart creates partnerships that are relational. Partnerships do not exist to just execute an initiative. While that may be true for institutions, it’s not true for the church, which is a living organism composed of people. Honestly, sometimes I can become more focused on the system that is executing the goal, than I am on the people who are doing the work. That leads me to be impatient, uncaring and unrealistic expectations I place on others.

Collaborating for God’s kingdom means investing time in people and developing relationships founded in love, being unified in the Spirit, and having like-minded theology and ministry philosophy. Taking the time to develop these relationships makes partnerships a joy instead of a burden and maximizes their effectiveness. But not only that, these types of partnerships have the greatest capacity for alignment in theology and ministry philosophy. What’s the point of partnering if you are not going in the same direction? As the Scriptures say, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (cf. Amos 3:3). Relational partnerships not only begin with alignment, but deepen the alignment over the course of time, making them stronger.

3) Strategic:

Finally, healthy partnerships are complimentary. There’s no reason to partner if it means unnecessary redundancy. Be honest about the areas that are weak in your ministry and prayerfully consider partnering with an organization that can fill those areas in a way that is excellent. A few years back, we decided that we needed to engage an organization that excels in equipping Christians in apologetics. By God’s grace, a strategic partnership with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries was birthed and has become an integral part of our church.

Areas of partnership include: a regular rotation of world class speakers equipping the congregation, utilizing their home group curriculum called Everyday Questions, developing apologetics curriculum for our Christian School, hosting a ReBoot event to address relevant issues facing our youth, sending evangelists to RZIM’s Emerging Apologists Program and working together to reach the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. It would be impossible for us to replicate what RZIM brings to the table. Working strategically together enables us to fulfill our mission more effectively.

Years ago, a handful of us in New England had the desire to reach Canada with the gospel. Most of our churches were really small, and we felt by ourselves there was little that we could do. But we banded together, created Calvary Chapel French Outreach Initiative, and partnered with a Calvary in Montreal. God blessed the fruit of those labors! We discovered that what we were unable to do on our own, we were able to do together. Two truly are better than one (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:9).

Nothing excites me more than to see new churches planted. New churches mean souls being saved, lives being changed, God being worshiped, more churches being planted and the kingdom of God growing. Who isn’t excited about that? I’ll be at two conferences in Mexico this month where church planting will be a focus. Pastor Jonathan Domingo in Ensenada and Pastor Mike Vincent in Rosarito are passionate about church planting, and their respective churches are amazing at it.

It’s my firm belief that every church should be multiplying. Regardless of size, resources and staffing. According to recent studies, there are 148 million unchurched people in the U.S. alone. Las Vegas comes in at number five in the top 10 most unchurched cities in the U.S. So, I would say now is a good time to plant a church! There are three simple steps that any senior pastor and leadership team can take to help them move in the direction of church planting multiplication.

1. PRIORITIZE

The first and most obvious step is to make church planting a priority. My life is no different than any other senior pastor. There are a thousand things every day that can consume my attention, with another thousand tomorrow. One of the most challenging tasks as a leader is to wade through the milieu and crystalize priorities. I try to achieve this by focusing on four things: prayer, preaching, people and purpose. Those four responsibilities are non-negotiable and one day before God, I will be held accountable for how I’ve handled each one.

With respect to purpose, I believe it’s the responsibility of the senior pastor to know and carry out the mission of the local church he leads and to keep the congregation and the leadership team focused on that mission. You may call it vision or mission, but ultimately, it’s the same thing. What is it that God has absolutely called you to? Our strong conviction is that multiplying the local church in a national and international context should be a priority for every senior pastor. You don’t have to go any further than the Great Commission to see this mandate. Going into all the world and making disciples means that those disciples will gather together. And when they gather together, they are the local church ultimately reaching their community.

Therefore, all efforts to reach the lost in any context comes back to establishing churches.

There’s no legitimate reason for any senior pastor to discount this as a priority. Resist the temptation to fall into the “I can’t” category. I can’t plant churches because I don’t have the resources. I can’t plant churches because I don’t have enough leaders. I can’t plant churches because I don’t know how to train people. You get the point; there will always be an “I can’t.” You’re only in the “I can’t” category if you choose to be. I have seen some of the most unlikely pastors and churches used by God to multiply the local church in ways that can only be understood as supernatural.

Commit to church planting as one of your top priorities and communicate that. Communicate it in your mission statement, on your website, in the studies you teach, the events you lead, and when you equip the people for the work of the ministry. If you are passionate about church planting, your people will be too.

2. PREPARE

Second, prepare yourself, prepare your church planters and prepare your church. I see myself as a perpetual learner in the church planting process. Because it’s a priority, I want to be as educated and experienced as possible. That means learning not only from personal steps of faith but also from others who have experience.

Maybe more than ever there are excellent resources to develop a pastor to become an effective church planter. I believe the adage, “Leaders are readers,” is especially true for pastors. It works like this, “Prepare yourself so that you are able to prepare others.” And the importance of preparing others cannot be overstated. I have heard Calvary pastors say, “If a church plant succeeds, you know it was from God; if it fails, you know it wasn’t from God.” Well, what if the failure of the church plant was a failure in adequately preparing the planter? This might not be a comfortable question to ask, but I think it has to be asked.

We have two church planting programs. The first, is our national program called Pipeline and the second, is our international church planting arm called Calvary Church Planting International. Both programs utilize a classroom, internship, launch coaching approach to prepare and support church planters and their teams for successful plants. Our national program based out of Las Vegas is being consolidated into three Pipeline workbooks – Learning, Coaching, Launching.

As you make church planting a priority and prepare yourself, take the preparation of your church planters seriously. Find solid resources and customize them for your mission and context. No need to reinvent the wheel, but also no need to send out unprepared people. If you’re serious enough to take these steps, then it proves you are passionate about planting churches; and at this point, it will be evident to the people you are leading. Your passion for planting will come through in team meetings, in home group settings, when you’re praying and as you’re teaching the Bible. In other words, the people are going to get it. Frame the mission clearly. Pray that the people in your church become as excited about planting churches as you are. They may not be the planter or part of the planting team, but they are the prayer backbone and support arm for the churches that will be planted.

Next month’s article will be part two of Successful Church Planting focusing on the importance of establishing solid partnerships with some closing thoughts.

Like some of you, ministry has been a continual growth process for me. It seems that there are some who just “get it” and “got it” from the get go. But for me it’s been a journey; specifically, in leading a team effectively to fulfill the vision and mission that’s before us. For context, Calvary Chapel Las Vegas has paid employees in both our church and school and also has hundreds of volunteers who serve in multiple ministries. Over the past year, three principles have emerged that have helped renew the ministry and make us more effective. It’s not that these principles are new, of course they’re not, but they are being implemented more intentionally; and the fruit is evident. I want to share these things that I believe you have to get right as a leader to have a fruitful ministry.

1) RIGHT PEOPLE

First, its critical to have the right people on your leadership team. For leaders, the maxim has been that people are your greatest asset, but that needs fine tuning. It’s not just people; it’s the right people. Jesus spent an evening in prayer before selecting the 12 that would comprise His leadership team (Luke 6:12). He told them they hadn’t chosen Him, but He had chosen them (John 15:16); meaning they were carefully selected, not chosen rashly or arbitrarily. When you’re bringing someone into your leadership team, it’s worth prayerfully waiting, in order to choose the right person who is in love with Jesus, has biblical integrity, is gifted and skilled, and is passionate about what God has called them to. When it comes to your team, you are as good as the people you surround yourself with. Sometimes in the Calvary context excessive emphasis is put on the senior pastor, when in reality we all know it’s about much more than just one man. Moreover, it’s not just who we bring on, but also who we hang on to. One of the hardest decisions to make in a ministry is to let an employee go or to tell a team leader that their season in a particular area is coming to an end. But in the end, you always have to do what God is directing you to do, what is best for the leadership team, and what is best for the church overall. Consider your team right now and evaluate whether or not you have the right people on board. Make the right decision and choose the right people.

2) DEFINED MISSION

Second, its vital to define your mission. There are so many good things to be involved in: homeless ministries, radio and media outreach, missions, conferences, Bible school, schools of ministry and satellite campuses. It’s a potentially endless list, but there is a threshold you can reach where you’re involved in so many things, that you are effective in none of them. While the biblical mandate is clear for every local church to make disciples of all nations and to equip believers for the work of the ministry, how that works out practically changes from church to church. Put in the time to pray and fast, so you can hear from God. With your leadership team, define the mission that God has given to you. Then, evaluate all the things you’re doing and make the difficult decision to cut out those things (even good things) that don’t fit within that defined mission. We have been going through that process, and it’s bearing fruit for our church. This pruning process will help you avoid “mission drift” and make your ministry more fruitful.

3) UNFLINCHING FAITHFULNESS

And finally, as you have the right people and a defined mission, go after it with all your heart. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:2 that there’s one thing required of a servant of God and that is faithfulness. Every servant wants to hear Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” I like to note He doesn’t say, “good and famous.” He says, “good and faithful!” We need to make sure we are aiming at one thing as His servants, and that is unflinching faithfulness. In our ready-made culture, we want immediate results. The reality is that any good thing that lasts takes time to build, whether it’s a marriage, a business or a ministry. I remind our church planters that they’re embarking on an adventure that requires an investment of faithfulness over time. Be committed to put the time and effort in faithfully; day by day, person by person, outreach by outreach, teaching by teaching, like the faithful farmer that Paul talked about, and God will be faithful to bring the increase.

I’m praying that as you read this article, God guides you in each of these three areas and gives you the courage, strength and wisdom to make the necessary changes for His glory.

THE BOOK

A few months ago, I decided to reread Spurgeon’s classic work, The Soul Winner. Like most people, my view is that anything Spurgeon writes is worth the time and effort to read. This book of course is no exception. While many Christian books can be tedious and dry, the only thing I found to be dry in rereading this classic was my highlighter. Paragraph after paragraph, one liner after one liner, jumped off the page as I found God calibrating my focus for the gospel needy souls in my life.

From the time I gave my life to Christ, evangelism has always been a focus for me. Maybe it’s because I came to Christ on a Monday night at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where the gospel was always faithfully preached by Greg Laurie. Maybe it’s because, like many of you, I realize that the foundation of Calvary Chapel is in the hope that Jesus Christ provides to any heart, no matter how dark the sin or how lost the soul.

It’s not the machinery of ministry that has built this movement. It’s the power of Christ’s cross and resurrection; a truth we can never afford to forget. With that in mind, let me share three amazing quotes from this book and some brief thoughts.

IT’S THE GOSPEL

“Beloved teachers, may you never be content with aiming at secondary benefits, or even with realizing them; may you strive for the grandest of all ends, the salvation of immortal souls! Your business is not merely to teach the children in your classes to read the Bible, not barely to inculcate the duties of morality, or even to instruct them in the mere letter of the gospel, but your high calling is to be the means, in the hand of God, of bringing life from heaven to dead souls. Your teaching on the Lord’s Day will have been a failure if your children remain dead in sin…. Resurrection, then, is our aim! To raise the dead is our mission!” (Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, 1895, p. 64)

There should be nothing more precious to us and primary in our preaching than the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the soul winner, everything springs forth from the gospel. It is the seed that brings forth the root, the trunk, the branch and the fruit. It’s not only precious because of the fruit it produces but because of what it has done and continues to do in us personally. But make no mistake, the power of the gospel alone brings forth fruit for God’s glory (John 15:8).

Our message isn’t encouraging moral reform or church going; it’s for people to be resurrected by the power of the gospel. We beckon people to come to a Person not a religion; to the one name that can save them, the name of Jesus.

A CHURCH ON FIRE TO SEE LOST PEOPLE SAVED

“I like to burn churches rather than houses, because they do not burn down, they burn up and keep on burning when the fire is of the right sort. When a bush is nothing but a bush, it is soon consumed when it is set on fire; but when it is a bush that burns on and is not consumed, we may know that God is there. So is it with a church that is flaming with holy zeal. Your work, brethren, is to set your church on fire. You may do it by speaking to the whole of the members, or you may do it by speaking to the few choice spirits, but you must do it somehow. Have a secret society for this sacred purpose, turn yourselves into a band of celestial Fenians whose aim it is to set the whole church on fire” (Spurgeon, The Soul Winner,1895, p. 56).

If God’s people are spiritually on fire for anything, it should be to see the lost saved. There’s a battle for the very soul of God’s church in America. We are a nation of consumers, and that influence is beginning to consume Christians. Gatherings are geared to satisfy the most superficial impulses, and the thought that “it’s not all about us” is gone with the wind.

May God send a fresh wind into the hearts of our pastors and churches that stokes an unquenchable fire for the lost to be saved. John Wesley once said, “I set myself on fire and people come and watch me burn.” May that fire be lit in our lives first.

BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL DO THE WORK

“The most likely instrument to do the Lord’s work is the man who expects that God will use him, and who goes forth to labor in the strength of that conviction. When success comes, he is not surprised, for he was looking for it. He sowed living seed, and he expected to reap a harvest from it; he cast his bread upon the waters, and he means to search and watch till he finds it again” (Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, 1895, p. 22).

At every church gathering we preach the gospel and extend an invitation for people to respond. By God’s grace we see many come forward to receive Christ weekly. On the other hand, when I was church planting in New Hampshire, saved souls seemed harder to come by. Nevertheless, we never gave up believing in the power of the gospel to save.

No matter where God has planted you, His purpose for your life is to proclaim the gospel, to hold it up as the light in the midst of darkness, believing that it is powerful enough to save ANY soul. God is the one who does the saving; we are the ones who do the proclaiming.
One of Satan’s most powerful tools to silence the preacher is discouragement. Keep praying, keep preaching and keep believing, whether in the workplace, in your home, at the ballfield or in the pulpit! As Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

As I’m writing this article, one of the greatest soul winners, Billy Graham, has at last heard Christ say, “Well done good and faithful servant!” Billy has personally experienced, in the fullest sense, the power of his preaching. His life has left us so much to emulate and to pray for. His preaching and its impact is unsurpassed, and his integrity is unchallenged. While Billy Graham’s ministry was unique, let’s ask God to give us what He gave Billy; an unsurpassed love for the gospel of Jesus Christ, a deep and genuine burden for lost souls, a lifelong commitment to Biblical integrity, and above all, a desire for God’s glory to be magnified in the greatest way possible through our lives.

May God make soul winners of us all!

A few years back I had this great idea of restoring a 1972 Chevy Blazer 4X4. I loved that specific year, great body lines, removable top, and it looks great with a 6″ lift kit. A good friend in the restoration business started the search and called me a few days later with what he said was the perfect truck to restore. What I got in my garage was affectionately nicknamed by my kids “Mater” after the rusted-out bucket of bolts tow truck from the Disney movie Cars.

I really had no idea how much work was ahead of me. Step one was stripping the truck down to frame and body and grinding out all the rust. Everyone knows if you don’t get all the rust out it will come back with a vengeance. You can paint over it, but in time, it will bubble through the paint and eat away at the body and frame of the car. In other words, stripping is essential for not only a good restore, but one that lasts.

Sometimes the same can be said for our lives and our churches. We want an enduring work of God that brings Him glory but just covering up the imperfections won’t produce that. Sometimes what’s needed is a deeper work. This has been a prayer for our church over the last several months as we’ve seen God working in three specific areas.

1. STRIPPED OF RELIGIOUS PRIDE

Nothing is more dangerous to a genuine work of God’s Spirit than religious pride. The Pharisees stand for everything that any sane Christian doesn’t want to be. They had inflated egos perceiving themselves to be better in every way than those around them. They believed their religious works were the basis for their supposed right standing before God. They were all religious show on the outside while the things most important to God were missing on the inside. All of this and more made them inflexible old wine skins, unable (and unwilling) to contain the new wine of God’s desired work.

What a deep deception it is to believe you are God’s instrument, when in reality, you’re a hindrance to what He desires to do. That religious pride needs to be stripped away and replaced with a raw and tender heart toward Jesus. Jack Miller popularized the phrase, “Preach the gospel to yourself,” which has now been passed on by notables like John Piper and Tim Keller. It’s good advice. We need to constantly remind ourselves that it is the gospel and the gospel alone that has saved us. When pride and self-sufficiency or egotism begin to rise, we need to grind it down with the gospel and rest our hope and our work completely upon the grace of God.

2. STRIPPED OF WATERED DOWN, UN-EMPOWERED PREACHING

Since I pastor in Las Vegas, every weekend I see a very unique cross section of humanity, and the need is great. Yet, like in so many large cities, a good portion of pulpits are centering their messages on self-help sermonettes or inspirational encouragements. While the idea may be that we need to give people what they want, our real responsibility is to give them what they need, and they need Holy Spirit empowered preaching and teaching of the full counsel of God’s Word. I don’t mean teaching that is simply conveying information. D.L. Moody said, “The Bible wasn’t just given for our information but our transformation.” Our preaching and teaching stands on the power of God’s word, but it should be delivered with the fire of God’s Spirit and from hearts and minds ablaze with His presence and divine unction. Moreover, we need to travel where others fear to tread. Over the past couple of summers, we have focused on a series called “Uncensored,” where we have addressed the most controversial and taboo topics that our culture is dealing with such as transgenderism, can a Christian be gay, race, divorce, prescription drug abuse and more. I think our culture needs Spirit empowered pastors who are willing to lead the way in teaching the truth in love.

3. STRIPPED OF CATEGORIZING THE PEOPLE OF GOD

I love looking out over the congregation on any given morning and seeing an ethnically diverse group of people from all walks of life: homeschool moms, lawyers, casino executives, people who work in hospitality, former exotic dancers, prostitutes and pimps. Only God can do that. Only God can transform lives and simultaneously break down walls so that we see each other as “one in Christ.” There are no categories; the ground at the foot of the cross is level.

Sectarianism comes naturally to us, but in the church and among churches, it must die. Paul said to the church at Corinth that divisions like this are a sign of carnality in Christians. And from my experience, it hinders the progress of the Great Commission. There are moments where I want to shout to the people the famous words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all get along?” Ultimately, the answer is love and sharing His love with one another, which covers a multitude of sins and identifies us as belonging to Jesus. The world needs to see the miracle of Christ’s love working among His people.

We all share the desire of experiencing a mighty outpouring of God in our generation, a genuine work of spiritual restoration. It may be that the first step to this great God glorifying work is some good, old fashioned body work where it’s needed most, beginning with you and me.