The Need to Plant! – Part 1
By Nathan | December 17, 2009
A few weeks ago my friend Aaron Coalson asked me to write a post on Church Planting for his blog. Aaron has become a great friend. God has been and will continue to use him for great things in this life! The following post is part one of his request. I hope you enjoy! Check out Aaron’s blog when you get a chance!
Church Planting is my passion! Next year, Lord willing, my family and I will relocate to Raleigh, NC, to plant a church. We are excited about this new endeavor and cannot wait to see how God will work in our lives.
Why plant a church? Tim Keller, pastor/planter of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, states it best,
“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else–not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes–will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting.” (Source)
C. Peter Wagner in his book, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest, says, “The most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.” If we are going to reach America with the Gospel of Christ, it must involve church planting. The church is the mechanism God has chosen to carry out this task. Church planting is rooted in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) and its extent is given in Acts 1:8. The early church accomplished the Great Commission through church planting. It is the most effective means of baptizing and discipling new believers. That was true in the first century and remains true to this day.
On my personal journey, while in seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, I read a book entitled The Church of Irresistible Influence. The author, Robert Lewis, posed the question, “If your church were to close it’s doors tomorrow, would your community even notice you left?” Unfortunately, I believe many of our churches in America have become so inward focused that they have neglected their communities. They say they are interested in the lost, but they are not intentional about engaging them. Ron Sylvia, in his book Starting New Churches on Purpose, says, “Today’s churches must move outside the walls of the building and invade the community.” Unlike the Field of Dreams, we cannot have a “if we build it, they will come” mentality. We must take the church to the lost! Church planting is a great way to be intentional about engaging communities. It is my desire to plant a church that actively engages its community. Remember the statement, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
I challenge you to read through the book of Acts thinking specifically in the context of church planting. In doing so, you will see the book in a whole new light. It is the history of the church’s expansion, and it is the history of a church planting movement. I believe with all my heart that we can see a church planting movement in North America. If more churches catch the vision, and more Christians get on their knees praying for a movement of God, we can, in this generation, see the Gospel sweep through the United States and the world! My prayer is that God would use me in some small way in that movement.
Topics: Church Planting | No Comments »
A Much Needed Update
By Nathan | December 4, 2009
The title says it all…this is a much needed update to my blog. So much has transpired since my last post. Since the last post, my little girl has continued to grow so fast. It’s unbelievable how fast your children grow! Hannah is now 5 months old. Her personality shows up more and more every day, and she is such a joy to be around. Josh will be turning 2 on December 12th. I simply cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was holding that little infant in my arms. On December 5th, Jenny and I will have been married for 5 1/2 years. I can truly say these have been the best 5 1/2 years of my life. I am so blessed to have a wonderful wife like Jenny. I would not be the man I am today without her!
I’ve also been to Israel and back since the last post. What a wonderful opportunity to see the Holy Land! Maybe I can post something on it later, but all I can say is that it was the trip of a lifetime. I’ll never read my Bible the same again. When you get over there and see where all the stories took place it brings everything to life. One lesson that stands out is how practical Jesus was in his teaching. If you read the Biblical passage standing where He would have delivered the message, you see how He used the world around Him as the illustrations for His teaching. It’s a great lesson for all teachers of the Bible to apply.
We’ve also moved closer to our goal of church planting. As many of you know, we are planning on starting a church in the Raleigh, NC area. Currently I am looking more specifically at a suburb outside of Raleigh called Knightdale. With the completion of a new section of the I-540 bypass around Raleigh, this sleepy little town has been the location of a massive influx of people. In fact, the Raleigh area as a whole has exploded. There are 167,000 people projected to move into the area between 2008-2014. This massive growth, combined with a general lostness makes Raleigh a prime spot for a church plant. Knightdale itself has grown 69.9% since 1990. It has attracted my attention not just because of the growth, but because no other church planters have been going there. In other news, about a month ago Jenny and I had our church planting assessment. This was a huge step to go through. With the completion of the assessment, we have the green light to continue through the planting process. As more developments arise, I’ll keep you posted, but continue to keep us in your prayers as we seek the Lord’s will for future ministry.
Lastly, I want to invite all of you to be a part of our prayer network. I know many of my readers are already on my e-mail list, but we need more. Prayer is the fuel for the journey! Without prayer we could do nothing! I will be sending out prayer updates about every other week unless an urgent need arises. I would like to ask all of you to pray for us at least once a week. If you would like to get our prayer e-mail click here to send me a message. You can also follow me on facebook or twitter. I update both of these daily, and you’ll be able to stay up to date with me there.
Topics: Church Planting, Family, Prayer | 1 Comment »
August already?
By Jenny | August 3, 2009
It can’t be August already! Okay, so it’s been a LONG time since I posted anything. Rather than making excuses or apologies, I’ll just tell you what we’ve been up to! Hannah Ruth made her grand entrance on June 22 at 11:55 a.m. Josh was 19 days early, so I just naturally expected she’d be the same way….WRONG. We spent a night in the hospital at 37 weeks thinking I was in labor…but I wasn’t. So, at 39 weeks my midwife graciously offered to induce labor since we had family coming in town (they also expected Hannah to come early) and my induction with Josh (water broke, no contractions, labor induced) went so well. Hannah’s induction/labor was an hour shorter than Josh’s (5 hours compared to 6), and the delivery was great! She came into the world screaming and reminds us daily that she has a powerful set of lungs. She’s a beautiful little 6-week-old who has easily become part of our family. Josh is adjusting very well and only gets jealous occasionally when Daddy or Pop Pop pay Hannah attention. When I’m in the room alone with Josh and Hannah, however, I often catch him giving her kisses, showing her his toys (yesterday he was showing her some farm animals and demonstrating the noises they make), or talking to her. What a sweet pair!
Josh is almost 20 months old…hard to believe our “baby” boy will be two in December. He is such a delight – learning new words every day, understanding most of what we tell him. Nathan and I have really enjoyed having a newborn and a toddler. Hannah is sweet and cuddly, and Josh provides the entertainment. He does his fair share of cuddling, too, though. Josh has begun telling us when he’s ready for bed. We spent last week in Virginia with Nathan’s family, and Josh got to play with his older cousin Olivia. They wore each other out, and one morning, upon hearing me say that Hannah needed a nap, Josh ran upstairs to his bed and asked to lay down. Ever since then, he says “nap” or “bed” or “night night” when he’s tired. Nap time and bed time have always been fairly easy with Josh, but now it’s a cinch! Another sweet story about my boy – we’ve been trying to work on first time obedience with Josh – the idea that delayed obedience is disobedience. Up until now I’ve not been sure how much he understands about cause and effect or about the language I use when correcting him. I mean, I know he understands a ton, but I wasn’t sure how much information to hold him responsible for. Anyways, tonight, before bath time I asked him to clean up his toys. He shook his head no and tried to run to the bath room. I walked him back to the living room and instructed him to put his toys in the toy basket. This started a temper tantrum complete with screaming, etc. I grabbed his hands and walked him to the first toy and picked it up with him and we “together” carried it to the basket and dropped it in. More screaming, more crying. I told him he needed to obey Mommy and clean up. Screaming, crying, etc. As I tried to lead him to the next toy, very loud screaming. I knew he understood the command to “clean up” as he frequently sings the clean up song while picking up his toys. So I carried him to his room and explained that he needed to obey Mommy, but since he’d refused, he could lay on his bed until he was ready to try again. I closed the door and waited outside. After a few minutes of screaming and him trying to open the door, he quieted down and started saying “bey, bey” which is his version of “obey.” So I went in and asked if he was ready to obey Mommy. He grabbed his lovey and blanket from his bed, I carried him upstairs, and he immediately picked up the remaining toys and cleaned up. I cheered for him, hugged and kissed him, and then he had his bath before bed. What a sweetie! And how good of God to reassure this mommy that my efforts are worth it. Whew – that was a long story! Hope you’re not bored.
Well, my baby girl just woke up, so this mama is going to run check on her girl.
Topics: Family | No Comments »
Prayer
By Nathan | July 23, 2009
I want to make an appeal this morning for your prayers. After work today, Jenny and I are heading to Virginia to spend the night at my parent’s house. Then tomorrow we will drive to Greensboro, NC to talk to a church planting strategist about church planting opportunities in North Carolina. If you have been following me for some time, then North Carolina might come as a surprise. Jenny and I have been praying about planting a church in the west for a few years now, but God keeps closing the door. I’ll explain the whole story on another day.
Please pray for us that we will have wisdom from heaven as to where to plant a church. It is my fervent desire to serve the Lord with my life, and I want so desperately to go where He would desire me to. I’ll post an update about our meeting later, but please remember to keep us in your prayers. Our meeting is at 11:45 tomorrow. Thank you!
Topics: Church Planting, Prayer | No Comments »
Reading
By Nathan | July 17, 2009
I just wanted to let you know about a series of posts I am writing on my other blog called The Lost Art of Reading. I admit over the last several years I have become a nerd, but reading is an important discipline. That’s all I’m going to say about it, but go check it out! www.nathankmiller.com
Topics: Links, Reading | No Comments »
Family Update
By Nathan | July 10, 2009
Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know I posted a quick, and I mean quick family update on my other blog. There’s also some pictures, as well as, a link to more. Go check it out! www.nathankmiller.com
Topics: Family, Links | No Comments »
Great Commission Resurgence
By Nathan | May 1, 2009
ATTENTION ALL SOUTHERN BAPTIST! Go to www.greatcommissionresurgence.com to read and sign the statement from our President Dr. Johnny Hunt. In the past we fought for the Inerrancy of Scripture. That battle has been won! The time has come for a new rally cry. This document contains that cry, The Great Commission Resurgence. May we put our differences aside and join together to bring the gospel to the nations.
In brief, here are the 10 points of the document:
I. A Commitment to Christ’s Lordship.
II. A Commitment to Gospel-Centeredness.
III. A Commitment to the Great Commandments.
IV. A Commitment to Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency.
V. A Commitment to a Healthy Confessional Center.
VI. A Commitment to Biblically Healthy Churches.
VII. A Commitment to Sound Biblical Preaching.
VIII. A Commitment to a Methodological Diversity that is Biblically Informed.
IX. A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure.
X. A Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families.
Topics: Bible Topics, Misc | No Comments »
San Diego
By Nathan | April 16, 2009
Ask many of you know, Jenny and I just got back from a trip to San Diego. We went with the intention of looking at the city as a possible place to plant a church. Although San Diego needs churches, it is not the place for us. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but God didn’t give us a peace about planting there.
Thank you all for your prayers! We are now back to the drawing board looking for our next step. The Lord has been leading us down an interesting journey, and we are looking forward to seeing where He will take us. Hopefully I can share some stories about our trip, but in the meantime, here are some photos. You can see them all and many more here.
Topics: Church Planting | No Comments »
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