Study the map. What do you see? If you drew a map of your ministry, what would it look like?
Category Archives: 3. Contagious relationships
51% empty or 49% full?
9 December, 2011 – 9:15 PM
Researchers asked 1094 Australians who do not regard themselves as Christians: How open are you to changing your religious worldview? A majority of 51% are not open at all. So you can agonize over how to change the 51% who are resistant, or you can change your perspective and ask, How do we connect with [...]
Three degrees of influence
27 May, 2010 – 3:50 AM
We’ve all heard of the six degrees of separation. We’re all just six handshakes away from everyone on the planet. Nicholas Christakis talks about the three degrees of influence—our behaviors have impact on our friends, our friends’ friends, and our friends’ friends’ friends. It’s technical at times but you’ll get the idea—the powerful influence of [...]
Interview with Jay (4)
20 January, 2010 – 3:17 AM
Jay: So we have white-hot faith, commitment to a cause and I think your third characteristic of dynamic movements is contagious relationships? Steve: Contagious relationships reminds us that we are all half a dozen handshakes away from everyone on the planet. We can see this in Jesus’ ministry; he is recruiting disciples who bring their [...]
Nothing else comes close
15 December, 2009 – 8:46 AM
Until Jesus returns, this will remain the most important form of communicating the gospel. Two conditions: (1) the person doing the communicating is a new believer, and (2) a friend or relative.
Good to great church planting
7 August, 2008 – 12:14 AM
In a recent article Dietrich Schindler contrasts “Good” church planting from “Great” church planting. His thoughts on “Generational Distance” got my attention. My wife’s grandparents were married for more than seventy-five years when they died. Grandpa was 105 and Grandma was 97. They left behind over 150 progeny. In their lifetime, they saw themselves forwarded [...]
How they did it
30 December, 2006 – 10:34 PM
In the first century, if you had a church in your neighbourhood chances are: You lived in a port city. You lived in a port city that was Greek in language and culture. You lived in a port city that was Greek in language and culture and had a Jewish community. Q. Why a port [...]
Cities of God
30 November, 2006 – 6:56 AM
Plunged into Cities of God by Rodney Stark this morning. Three insights on church planting movements from first chapter: 1. No mission without monotheism The Jews were the world’s first missionaries because Judaism was monotheistic. Paganism doesn’t produce missionary movements. Within a polytheistic framework, new gods are supplements not alternatives. The Jews of the Diaspora [...]
Word of mouth
14 November, 2006 – 6:56 PM
Church planting movements spread through contagious relationships. So here’s a book every church planter and movement leader should take a look at: “Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking” (Andy Sernovitz) Sernovitz’s definition of WOMM: “Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff *and* making it easier for that conversation to [...]
How movements spread
4 October, 2006 – 3:56 AM
Jesus knhow important relationships are in the spread of a movement. From the beginning, the movement he founded grew through the favourable reports that spread from family member to family member, from neighbour to neighbour, from workmate to workmate. Jesus recruited his band of disciples through relational networks. John the Baptist, a relative of Jesus, [...]
