I read Hebrews 2:14-18 yesterday. Read it slowly, out loud, a few times: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were […]
Your “Big Dreams for God” Can End Up Crushing You
I started my church 11 years ago with big dreams for God. Church planting networks want people with big dreams for God. We create huge conferences to encourage people to dream big dreams for God. At this point your “cynic radar” is already starting to go off as you read this. Bear with me a […]
Interview with author Sarah Arthur on spiritually healthy ways of measuring success
In Episode 19, the one-year anniversary episode for Behind the Curtain, Noah Filipiak interviews 11-time author Sarah Arthur. Sarah’s book Walking with Frodo was the #1 bestselling youth resource in Christian publishing for the holiday season 2003, and #13 in all categories and Walking with Bilbo won the Logos Book Award at the Christian Booksellers […]
What I’ve learned from 10 years of church planting
In January 2006, I officially left my position as a youth pastor and set off full-time as a church planter in Lansing, MI. I was 22 when I went to the assessment center in August 2005 and was ready to save the world a few months later at 23. I was naive, arrogant, insecure and […]
Interview with “Failed” Church Planter Jeremy Dowsett
The church Jeremy Dowsett started 10 years ago closed its doors in 2015. In this interview, Jeremy takes us behind the curtain of how he’s handled this emotionally and spiritually. Every church planter who has gone through this experience is going to be unique and Jeremy is no exception. The interview walks through the flaws […]
What Does the Bible Say About Ministry Success?
What Does the Bible Say About Ministry Success? Worshiping Ministry Success like Gideon’s Golden Ephod Gideon is most well known for using the moisture level of a fleece to determine if God wanted him to attack an army or not. All in all, he is typically known as one of the good guys, someone who […]