With humor and humility, Jim shares how common oversights like neglecting the Great Commandment, underestimating opposition, and becoming overly attached to preconceived visions can derail even the most passionate planters.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

❤️ Great Commandment Leads to Great Commission – Prioritize spiritual self-care and genuine relationship-building to sustain long-term ministry.

⚔️ Take Opposition Seriously – Expect resistance, not just spiritually, but relationally, from within the wider community and fellow ministries.

🌎 Know Your Mission Field – Deep familiarity and genuine affinity with your community trump borrowed visions and formulaic strategies.

👥 Timing in Leadership – Avoid formalizing leadership too soon; let your leaders prove themselves in the context of your new church.

🤝 Intentional Networking – Church planting is relational, not transactional; prioritize consistent community presence over quick fixes.

Next Steps:

📌 Practical Advice:

• Join your local Chamber of Commerce and offer chaplaincy services.
• Identify key community spots as "office hours" for building relationships.
• Clearly differentiate between inspirational stories and actionable training.

🔗 Connect and Reflect:

• Regularly evaluate and align your vision with your mission field reality.
• Foster intentional relationships within your family and community, ensuring your ministry thrives beyond initial enthusiasm.
• Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate links with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

He emphasizes the importance of contextualizing ministry approaches rather than importing models wholesale, sharing practical insights about blending video preaching with live teaching and tailoring ministry methods to local culture.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

📈 Escaping the Comparison Game – Even remarkable successes can feel inadequate when constantly compared to other ministries.

🌍 Importance of Contextualization – Adapting ministry models to local contexts is crucial for meaningful community engagement.

🎥 Balancing Technology and Community – Video preaching has its place, but local live teaching is essential for true connection.

🏅 Celebrate Defined Wins – Clearly defining and celebrating milestones can prevent burnout and maintain perspective.

🙏 Deepened Compassion through Ministry – Church planting profoundly impacts personal spiritual growth, fostering patience and deeper understanding and empathy.

💡 Fundraising as Ministry – Viewing fundraising as spiritual work reframes it as a significant opportunity for kingdom impact.

Resources & Next Steps:

📚 Recommended Books*:

• Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley
• Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen
• The God Ask by Steve Shadrach

🔧 Tools for Ministry:

• State of the Church by Barna for research and insights
• The Bless App for community outreach
• Generis for fundraising guidance

📌 Connect and Reflect:

• Establish clear goals and define success in your local context.
• Prioritize meaningful connections over numerical growth.
• Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*These are affiliate links with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [10:10] Dave talks about his time a Kensington Community Church. You can learn more about these brothers and sisters here.

At minute [25:57] Dave references church planter Bill Young and The Rock Church here in Utah. You can learn more about these brothers and sisters here.

At minute [33:45] Dave mentions this podcast featuring David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock.

At minute [41:40] Dave briefly mentions Kansas City Underground and Salt City Underground.

The book I couldn't think of at minute [51:42] was Crazy Busy* by Kevin DeYoung. Right after that I mention 168 Hours* by Laura Vanderkam.

At minute [1:02:21] Dave talks about Peter Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.*

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [3:50] I mention Thom Rainer's book Who Moved My Pulpit?: Leading Change in the Church.*

At minute [45:59] I reference Building Your Church from the Ground Up* by Mike Mutchler.

At minute [1:04:25] Eric recommends a few books: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure* by Greg Lukianoff, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know* by Malcolm Gladwell, and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos* by Jordan B. Peterson.

And at minute [1:11:35] Eric mentions his own podcast, The Tax Free Crypto Podcast.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [3:12] I mention the trip I took to Honduras. That was with an organization called Hungry for Life.

At minute [9:32] I talk about taking teams to tour Temple Square.

At minute [25:21] I reference Steve Sjogren's book Community of Kindness.* His other book I couldn't think of in the moment is Conspiracy of Kindness.*

At minute [27:47] I talk about the volunteer rate of Provo. This is an article from 2010 highlighting Utah as the state with the highest volunteer rate and Provo as the mid-size city with the highest volunteer rate. This is a more recent one from 2023.

At minute [34:09] I share a couple books we had mission teams read before visiting, Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor* by Ross Anderson and Mormonism Explained* by Andrew Jackson.

At minute [35:25] I talk about wishing I had better equipped teams with simple Gospel tools. I've made short videos explaining such tools here.

And at minute [46:07] I recommend two more books, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness* by Timothy Keller and Essentialism* by Greg McKeown.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [8:12] David references the Neppls, church planters they've sent out of their own church plant.

At minute [24:19] he talks about an EF-3 tornado that hit Suffolk on April 28, 2008. I found this retrospective marking the fifteenth anniversary.

At minute [30:11] David recommends a couple of Nelson Searcy's books, Launch and Fusion.*

At minute [30:46] he recommends a couple of Larry Osborne's books, Sticky Church and Sticky Teams.*

At minute [31:00] he references a two more books: 101 Ways to Reach Your Community by Steve Sjogren and Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century by Aubrey Malphurs.*

And at minute [41:20] David begins talking about their Dream Teams, a pattern he based on Church of the Highlands.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [6:55] Josh talks about his father, Dave Teis, who is also a church planter in Las Vegas.

At minute [14:59] Josh talks about the Send Network. You can learn more about them here.

At minute [15:57] Josh talks about recently teaching through Colossians. You can listen to that sermon series here.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

At minute [7:15] Chris quotes our mutal friend Doug Lane. You can listen to my previous conversation with Doug here.

At minute [36:10] Chris mentions his being on the radio recently. You can catch him on Key Radio from time to time. Listen online here.

At minute [47:25] Chris recommends Tim Challies' Sexual Detox.*

At minute [48:22] he also recommends Relational Revolution* by John C. White.

At minute [49:25] I mention Steve Gallagher's At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry.*

The music at the close of the episode? That's Chris, aka CDZ the Messenger. Check out his music here.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

 *This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

At minute [17:04] Dave recommends Ralph Moore's Starting a New Church* (and how his own copy is now in the hands of Derek Murphy, a great brother here in Utah at Salt City Underground Church.)

At minute [20:41] Dave also recommends John Maxwell's The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.*

At minute [46:26] he talks about his experience at K2 The Church, a wonderful body of believers also here in Utah.

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

 *This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

I couldn't find the exact list I reference at minute [04:46], but here a similar one.

At minute [05:49] I mention visiting with Pastor Tommy Swindol of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, TN and church planter Ed Goode of Bridge Church in Champaign, IL on drive across the country. If you're nearby, you need to connect with these brothers!

At minute [06:24] I talk about going to the Ark Encounter. You can learn more here.

At minute [07:17] I recommend Brian Moran's book The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months. You can get a copy here.*

At minute [09:26] I answer the burning question, Where did you get your outfit? You can get the same blue light glasses here,* but you'd have to compete in this event to get the t-shirt.

At minute [10:16] I mention River Community Church in South Jordan, UT where I filled in some this summer. You can watch my message from Acts 20:17-31 here and my message from Acts 21:1-14, an exploration of New Testament prophecy, here.

At minute [23:04] I talk about real estate websites and their descriptions of the various neighborhoods. Here is an example. Here is another one.

At minute [29:23] I reference several churches that have met in downtown Provo at various times, including First Baptist Church, The Rock Church, and, currently, Mosiac Church. These are some great brothers and sisters!

At minute [31:56] I begin discussing an article titled "Ten Mistakes Church Planters Make" by Robert J. Vajko. You can read it here. You can learn more about Bob Logan, whose presentation is sited in the article, here.

At minute [45:12] I talk about using World Population Review to find growth statisitics for counties and states. Check it out here.

At minute [45:57] I talk about PIPSY—Poor, International, Prisoner, Sick, and, thanks to the suggestion of my friend Kevin Banberger, Youth—as outlined in Chris Galanos's book From Megachurch to Multiplication: A Church's Journey Toward Movement. You can get a copy here.* Also, be sure to watch our Q&A with Chris here.

At minute [49:15] I share a couple of books I'm reading. The first is Covocational Church Planting: Aligning Your Marketplace Calling & The Mission of God by Brad Brisco. This was given to me by Michael Cooper of ValleyLight Church in West Valley City, UT. You can get a copy here.* The second is Philip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew. You can get a copy here.*

Send your church planting experiences, stories, anecdotes, and questions to desk@crosspointutah.com. Connect with me further here.

 *This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

In this episode, I'm joined again by Orange County, California church planter Isaac Morin. We discuss the pros and cons of the preaching calendar tool specifically, and the importance of the calendar generally.

At minute [06:13] I talk about Nelson Searcy's audio recording, Planning A One-Year Preaching Calendar. You can download a copy here.

At minute [21:44] Isaac mentions Preaching Rocket. You can learn more about this coaching resource here.

At minute [22:07] he mentions J. Kent Edwards' book Deep Preaching: Creating Sermons that Go Beyond the Superficial. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [22:47] I recommend Wayne McDill's book 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [29:23] I reference a blog post by Michael Hyatt titled "How to Better Control Your Time by Designing Your Ideal Week." You can read it here.

At minute [37:26] I reference an article I wrote for Belay titled "Utilizing 'Small Big Days' for Building Relationships." You can read it here.

At minute [39:48] I talk about the National Day Calendar website.

At minute [52:12] I recommend the book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think You Do by Laura Vanderkam. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [57:38] Isaac touches on Zig Ziglar's "The Wheel of Life." You can get a PDF of this tool here.

Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

In this episode, I'm joined by Canterbury, Connecticut church planter Adrian Ferrari. We talk about his experiences in Argentina, Connecticut, and now Illinois and the importance of communicating and inviting others into your vision.

At minute [45:36] Adrian references the book Gospel Eldership: Equipping a New Generation of Servant Leaders by Robert Thune. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [52:27] Adrian shares a quote from Kevin Scott: "Keep fast to the vision but loose to the method." You can learn more about Kevin and this idea here.

At minute [56:29] he shares a quote from Mac Lake's book The Multiplication Effect: Building a Leadership Pipeline that Solves Your Leadership Shortage. You can order a copy here.*

Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

In this episode, I'm joined by South Daytona, Florida church planter Joseph Wyatt. We talk about authentic community within the church and moving beyond mere attendance to fostering genuine relationships with others.

At minute [39:19] Joseph mentions the book Doing Church as a Team: The Miracle of Teamwork and How It Transforms Churches by Wayne Cordeiro. You can order a copy here.*

Connect with me further here.

*This is an affiliate link with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

In this episode, I'm joined again by Isaac Morin of Orange County, California. We talk about mobile church setups and how we did a terrible job of utilizing our rented ministry spaces.

At minute [12:12] I talk about the Zoom Recorder I used in our services. The model we used is discontinued, but you can see a similar model here.*

At minute [33:02] I mention Portable Church Industries, a company that, among other things, provides predesigned mobile church systems. You can learn more here.

At minute [45:34] I again mention the book Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy. You can order a copy here.*

Connect with me further here.

*These are affiliate links with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

In this episode, I'm joined by Dustin Alley of Bristol, Connecticut. He talks about the fear of man and the danger of giving too much thought to what those outside your ministry might think of you and the importance of discovering who it is God made you to be and what He has called you to accomplish.

At minute [14:09] Dustin reaches for the book Order in the Church: A Manual for Church Ministries by Paul Chappell. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [16:47] I pull When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man by Edward Welch off my shelf. You can order a copy here.*

At minute [25:12] Dustin recommends checking out Nucleus for your church website needs.

At minute [38:10] Dustin references an article by Tim Keller titled "Leadership and Church Size Dynamics: How Strategy Changes with Growth." You can read it here.

The Theodore Roosevelt quote I was talking about at minute [46:28] is: “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

At minute [50:09] Dustin recommends the book Stop Trying: How to Receive—Not Achieve—Your Real Identity by Cary Schmidt. You can order a copy here.*

You can check out Dustin's podcast here. You can listen to his interview of me here.

Connect with me further here.

*These are affiliate links with proceeds going to support our ministry here in Utah.

As I wrap up the season, I'm joined by my wife Grayson to review and get her take on the stories and mistakes discussed in the previous eleven episodes.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by church planter Stephen Kimbrell of Irvine, California. He discusses a workaholism that led to unhealthy ministry and family rhythms.

At minute [30:34] Stephen references The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer. You can get a copy here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by church planter Heath Ferguson of Houston, Texas. As he shares his story, he talks about how perfectionism and not setting a launch date resulted in slow growth and hindered momentum.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by church planter Matt Manney of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He shares how he grew up in large ministries where attendance was over 1,000 and how he immediately started programs and created systems in his new church plant assuming he'd see the same sort of numbers.

At minute [17:51] Matt references How to Break Growth Barriers: Revise Your Role, Release Your People, and Capture Overlooked Opportunities for Your Church by Carl George and Warren Bird. You can get a copy here.

At minute [17:55] he mentions Hero Maker: Five Essential Practices for Leaders to Multiply Leaders by Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird. You can get a copy here.

You can check out Matt's books here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I recount the many community events we participated in and the incredible missed opportunity they represent as I focused on building a mailing list rather than sharing the Gospel.

At minute [10:02] I reference Utah being one of the most churched states in America. Here is a 2013 article on the topic for which I was interviewed.

At minute [13:25] I talk about the books we gave away at most of our booths, including Done by Carey Schmidt and How Good Is Good Enough by Andy Stanely.

At minute [14:00] I reference a book we gave away at our booth at the gym, First Aid for Your Health by Edward Moody.

At minute [15:20] I mention a book we gave away specifically at Chamber of Commerce events, Business By The Book by Larry Burkett.

At minute [19:34] I talk about fellow church planter Amos Dillard in Chula Vista, California. You can learn more about him and his ministry here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by former church planter Doug Lane of Provo, Utah. As he shares his story, he discusses how all of his many mistakes stemmed from a misplaced identity, finding personal worth not in Jesus but in his ministry.

At minute [16:15] Doug recommends Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor: A Quick Christian Guide for Relating to Latter-Day Saints by Ross Anderson. You can get a copy here.

At minute [16:19] he then recommends I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter-day Saints by David Rowe. You can get a copy here.

At minute [22:04] Doug mentions Discovery Bible Study. I explain the principles of this method in a video here.

At minute [22:41] he talks about Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery by David Watson. You can get a copy here.

At minute [26:43] he mentions Utah Valley Church. You can learn about these great brothers and sisters here.

At minute [45:27] Doug recommends Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan. You can order a copy here.

You can check out Doug's music here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by former church planter Christopher Murray of Santaquin, Utah. As he shares his story, he discusses how he was enamored with the product of church planting, rather than the process.

At minute [8:17] I mentioned a book discussion I led around From Mega Church to Multiplication. You can order a copy here. You can watch the recordings of our Q&A with the author, Chris Galanos, here.

At minute [8:33] Chris mentioned the We Are Church video series. We watched these as well, particularly the "Leader" series, after having already transitioned into house churches. You can watch them here.

At minute [37:44] Christopher references the video "A Sustainable & Effective Method for Making Disciples" featuring Doug Burrier. You can watch it here.

At minute [39:56] Christopher talks about the importance of financial partners in church planting endeavors. We'd love to have you partner with us and invest in the work in Utah! You can make a donation here.

At minute [40:34] he recommends The New Covenant Answer to Western Christianity by Christopher VanDusen. You can order a copy here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss how I gave no consideration to branding, resulting in inconsistent and embarrassing messaging.

At minute [18:20] I recommend GotPrint.com for printing promotional materials.

At minute [19:11] I share a story of printing follow-up letters on wedding invitations I bought at Office Depot. This is them.

At minute [22:49] I reference two articles I recently read, "The age of average" and "HGTV is making our homes boring and us sad, one study says."

At minute [23:54] I mention two churches that CrossPoint Church is often confused with because of the sameness of our names and/or logos: CenterPoint Church and Crossroads Church. Both are great churches!

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by Diamondhead, Mississippi church planter James Reardon who has been on the field for four years. We discuss the pitfalls of starting a church plant with "church people" and the important conversations that should have been had upfront about vision and expectations.

At minute [28:53] James mentions Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting Churches by Peyton Jones. You can order a copy here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I share how I went years without taking time to meet my neighbors—as I was planting a church. Now I realize that God may have put me in that neighborhood, on that street, in that house so that I could introduce others to Him (see Acts 17:26-27).

Starting at minute [09:12] I talk about The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon. You can order a copy here, and be sure to check out their FREE small group study here.

At minute [14:00] I mention that I serve on the board of Loving Utah. You can learn more about this great organization here.

At minute [16:07] I talk about the book A Meal with Jesus by Tim Chester. You can order a copy here.

At minute [20:55] I recommend prayer walking in your neighborhood. I've compiled a video resource, that includes some other simple discipleship tools, here.

At minute [21:57] I recommend the resource Bless Every Home.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined again by church planter Isaac Morin of Orange County, California. We discuss the whirlwind that was the few months between arriving in our respective cities and our launch services.

At minute [09:29] I mention two books I relied on ahead of our launch service. The first was Building Your Church from the Ground Up by Mike Mutchler. The spiral-bound edition I had is now out of print, but you can get the newest edition here. The second was Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy. You can get the newest edition here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined again by church planter Isaac Morin of Orange County, California. We discuss the value of mentors and coaches, the subtle differences between the two, and the need to seek those relationships out.

At minute [26:25], I reference a 2020 Idea Day session led by Pastor Josh Teis of Las Vegas, Nevada, titled "Developing a Team of Mentors & Coaches." He discusses this topic in a podcast episode by the same name. You can listen to it here.

Connect with me further here.

As I wrap up the season with this episode, I'm joined by my wife Grayson to review and get her take on the stories and mistakes discussed in the first seven episodes.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined again by church planter Isaac Morin of Orange County, California. We discuss the church planting books we read and the mistake of utilizing them as checklists.

At minute [11:16] Isaac mentions Lead Like It Matters: 7 Leadership Principles for a Church That Lasts by Craig Groeschel. You can get a copy here.

At minute [11:27] he mentions Building Your Church from the Ground Up by Mike Mutchler. The spiral-bound edition I had is now out of print, but you can get the newest edition here. 

At minute [11:47] he references Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy. You can get the newest edition here.

At minute [16:23] I mention Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal by Aubrey Malphurs. You can get a copy here.

At minute [16:33] I mention Planting and Growing a Fundamental Church by Roy Thomas. You can get a copy here.

At minute [16:50] I mention Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply by Ed Stetzer. You can get the newest edition here.

At minute [17:07] I talk about Getting a Church Started in the Face of Insurmountable Odds with Limited Resources in Unlikely Circumstances: How to Establish a Church Based on a Study of 10 New Small Prospering Congregations by Elmer Towns. You can get a copy here.

At minute [18:22] I mention Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts by Jim Griffith and Bill Easum. You can get a copy here.

At minute [23:36] I list some books on preaching I read during the same period: Simplicity In Preaching by J.C. Ryle, The 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching by Wayne McDill, The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper, and Anointed Expository Preaching by Stephen Olford and David Olford.

At minute [28:20] Isaac mentions Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung, which he built a sermon series around. You can get a copy of the book here.

At minute [31:00] he mentions Deep Preaching: Creating Sermons that Go Beyond the Superficial by J. Kent Edwards. You can get a copy here.

At minute [40:51] Isaac recommends the app MindNode for mind mapping and taking notes on what you're reading.

At minute [47:08] I mention From Megachurch to Multiplication by Chris Galanos. You can get a copy here. You can also watch a Q&A we had with him after Isaac and I and a group of other ministry leaders read his book together here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I'm joined by church planter Isaac Morin of Orange County, California. As he shares his story, we discuss the importance of assembling a church planting team regardless of your methodology.

At minute [26:23] I mention Nelson Searcy's book Maximize: How to Develop Extravagant Givers in Your Church. You can get a copy here. I go on to talk about his book Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy. You can get the newest edition here.

At minute [31:39] I recommend fivefoldministry.com, a tool for helping you determine people's gifts and subsequently their potential roles in the work.

At minute [34:00] Isaac talks about the acronym FAT (Faithful Available Teachable). You can watch a recording of a discussion around this idea here. He then mentions a second acronym, HHS (Humble Hungry Smart). Here is an article that explains it.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss how I expected—and assumed—our home church and pastor would be involved in our ministry but never verbalized those expectations. The result was confusion, frustration, and hurt, which could have all been avoided with a conversation.

At minute [06:12] I talk about my interview on the Beautiful + Believable podcast and the story of our moving to Utah. You can listen to it here.

At minute [06:25] I refer to the Micro Church Conference. You can learn more about that here.

Starting at minute [13:34] I recommend Serving as Senders by Neal Pirolo. You can get the most recent edition on Kindle Unlimited for FREE here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss personal fundraising and the mistake of making it entirely about money, focusing on reaching a numeric goal rather than connecting with the people and churches that gave.

At minute [20:25] I mention Nelson Searcy's book Maximize: How to Develop Extravagant Givers in Your Church. You can get a copy here.

At minute [27:01] I recommend Epistle.org for posting updates for ministry supporters.

At minute [28:16] I recommend Friend Raising: Building a Missionary Support Team that Lasts by Betty Barnett. You can get a copy here.

Since recording this episode, I have read The God Ask: A Fresh, Biblical Approach to Personal Support Raising by Steve Shadrach. This is a great book explaining the biblical principles of support raising and a clear process for doing so today, as well as providing helpful worksheets and resources. You can get a copy here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss my failure to explore various church planting organizations.

At minute [06:39] I reference my interview on the Beautiful + Believable podcast and the story of my and Grayson's ending up in Utah. You can listen to it here.

At minute [06:51] I mention the Microchurch Conference. You can learn more about it here.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss how I never personally made a disciple prior to moving to Utah and the erroneous mindset I held that preaching is the best or primary means by which disciples are made.

At minute [05:22] I talk about my interview on Shouts of Grace and the conversation I had with Steve Pierson about making disciples. You can listen to it here.

At minute [08:55] I mention preaching at a church in Cedar City, Utah. You can watch that message at True Life Center on YouTube here.

Starting at minute [21:00] I recommend examining all of the "one another" commands in the New Testament. This infographic is a great overview of those passages.

I did not mention this resource in this episode, but I would nonetheless recommend you check out this playlist on my YouTube channel of simple, easily reproducible discipleship tools.

Connect with me further here.

In this episode, I discuss what was a fundamental problem that continued to trip me up for a number of years: I did not have a biblical ecclesiology. And because of that, I didn't have a clear target to aim for as we got started or a standard by which to assess our ministry once we had begun.

At minute [16:13] I reference my YouTube channel. You can subscribe to it here.

Starting at minute [18:04] I begin discussing the importance of understanding the functions of a healthy church. We are currently using a tool called the Church Circle to help us both aim for and assess biblical church health.

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Through my story and those of other planters across the country, I aim to help you avoid the frustrations, heartaches, and missteps I faced. Whether you're just starting out or deep in the work, I hope to save you time, energy, and resources as you advance the Kingdom in your city.

 Connect with me further here.