Church Planting • Leadership • Children At Risk
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My favorite Exponential moments

May 3, 2013 

The Exponential conference is the largest gathering of church planters on the planet.  And this year’s Exponential Conference certainly exceeded my expectations!  Here are a few of my favorite Exponential experiences.

1.  2 new church plants funded in Latin America.  Everything about the Stadia banquet at the Hard Rock Café was wonderful.  But, for me, the most wondrous moment came at the end when church planters, churches, individuals and organizations committed $160,000 to launch two new churches in South America.

2.  The first ever Wess Stafford Too Small To Ignore award.  Scott and Vanessa Pugh were honored with Stadia’s inaugural award that lifts up the value of children.  Children in their home, in their local church, in the U.S. and around the world.  How cool was it to have Wess Stafford with us to help present the award?

3.  Breakfast with Stadia’s 2013 church planters.  It was an absolute joy to spend time with our 2013 planters and spouses while sharing breakfast at Mimi’s.  I loved hearing about new church plants in Corn Crib, Sedona, the Hispanic community and on and on and on. […]

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The difference that faithful followers of Jesus can make

April 11, 2013 

This past Saturday morning, Dr. Scott Todd (Sr. VP of Compassion International) and I sat at my kitchen table and reminisced about his visit six years before.  The weekend of his 2007 visit we had team taught during RiverTree’s weekend gatherings.  To dramatically illustrate the number of children that die every 24 hours as a result of poverty or poverty-related preventable diseases we poured 30,000 BBs from multiple pitchers into a galvanized metal tub.  With a microphone placed beneath the tub, the never-ending din of the BBs was deafening.

This past weekend, Scott once again taught at RiverTree.  As we closed the teaching time together we once again approached the galvanized metal tub with the microphone placed beneath.

Watch this video clip to see the difference that faithful followers of Jesus can make in six years!

http://vimeo.com/635111

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Top 5 reasons to plant churches with Stadia

April 5, 2013 

Top 5 reasons to plant churches with Stadia.

1.  Impact.

Stadia is committed to planting high impact churches.  Over the past 10 years we have launched more than 200 new churches in the U.S. alone.  In 2013 we are anticipating the launch of 46 new churches!  This is all accomplished with a success rate that exceeds 90%.

2.  Relationships.

Stadia is committed to maintaining healthy relationships with everyone involved in the church planting effort.  Our planter care for the church planter, spouse and family is absolutely exceptional.  We work in a collaborative fashion that partners local churches, Kingdom minded individuals and launch teams who synergistically plant new churches resulting in exponential impact for God’s Kingdom.

3.  Children.

God values children and so do we–period.  Recent studies reveal that 85% of those who make a decision to become a disciple of Jesus do so between the ages of 4 and 14.  Every church we plant is required to have a plan for how they will love children in Jesus’ name! […]

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Top 5 Life Lessons I Have Learned From Wess Stafford

March 15, 2013 

With this week’s passing of the leadership baton from Wess Stafford (President of Compassion International) to Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado (congratulations Jim!), I have been reflecting on the myriad of life lessons I have learned from my mentor and friend–Wess.

Not included in my Top 5 list is the foundational principle that EVERY CHILD MATTERS.  Children matter because they are close to the heart of God, they are the future, and they simply cannot fend for themselves.  This truth has led my family to sponsor numerous children through Compassion, visit and care for children around the globe, become foster parents and ultimately to adopt our son.  Hmmm, I guess Wess has had quite an impact on my life.

Top 5 Lessons I Have Learned From Wess Stafford

1.  The opposite of poverty is not wealth, the opposite of poverty is enough.

2.  Every child you interact with is a divine appointment.

3. […]

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Meeting Eddie

January 28, 2013 

Actually his name is Edino–but for us gringos, Eddie is an acceptable pronunciation.  He is five years old and lives on the island of Pampanal.  When I first heard about Pampanal, God wrecked my heart.  Several thousand people, descended from slaves, now living in slavery to abject poverty.  Houses built on stilts because their island floods several times every month.  AND, no church!  No hope that Jesus brings.  Until Stadia and Compassion enter the story.

I knew that I was supposed to allow God to make a difference through me . . . to plant a church and care for the children of Pampanal Island.  And so, my wife, Julie, and I raised money by climbing Mount Whitney for my 50th birthday.  By God’s grace, enough funds were raised to accomplish our goal.  This past Saturday, the new structure was complete and the church opened!  This past December, RiverTree Church sponsored every registered child on the island so that they could be cared for by Compassion. […]

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Catalytic Movement in LA

January 20, 2013 

I love what God is doing right now through church leaders in Los Angeles!

This month, the LA CPM started its first of many churches. Praise Chapel Los Angeles, led by planters Ruben & Meghann Nuño, is located in Westlake, the most densely populated neighborhood west of Mississippi. The neighborhood’s 130,000 people are mostly newly arrived Latino immigrants. There are many Spanish speaking churches in the area, but none are English speaking other than a few ethnic churches that have added on English services for their kids.

Praise Chapel is the first of the Los Angeles Church Planting Movement’s (LA CPM) church plants. The first of many Catalytic Movements Stadia is targeting in large US metropolitan areas, the LA CPM has a vision of starting a gospel proclaiming church in every neighborhood of metro Los Angeles.

Most people in Los Angeles identify where they live by naming one of the 200 neighborhoods in and around metro LA. […]

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Stadia & The Provision Family

January 18, 2013 

This week Stadia’s Leadership Team joined other Provision Ministry Group leaders to strategize how God can change the world through us.

Provision provides direction, leadership and support to a related group of non-profit ministries that serve Christian churches and ministries around the world. It’s really an honor for Stadia to be part of the Provision Ministry Group family. The collective wisdom, experience and vision of these world-changers makes Stadia – and thus our church planting mission – stronger and more effective.

Let me tell you about these ministries:

BUILDING/ARCHITECTURAL EVANGELISM
Visioneering Studios is often called the most revolutionary ministry in the Provision Family. Visioneering is a unique design-based ministry, established in 2002 to expand CDF’s commitment to “helping people build churches and helping churches build people.” Already their passion for creating environments with eternal impact is connecting with the hearts of church leaders everywhere.

FUNDING LOANS & INVESTMENTS
For nearly 60 years Church Development Fund has provided financing for the expansion, building and growth of churches and ministries all across the United States, thanks to thousands of individuals who have invested approximately $650 million. […]

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How We Teach People To Read The Bible

January 2, 2013 

For many followers of Jesus, the new year brings a fresh commitment to Bible reading. Maybe you’re scheduling a short daily devotional reading or perhaps you plan to read through the entire Bible this year.

If discipleship is hearing Jesus and obeying Him, and if the primary way Jesus is revealed is through the Bible, then we need to learn how to hear and obey His voice whenever we read Scripture.

Therefore, when I read something in the Bible, the key questions are, ‘What is Jesus saying to me? And what am I going to do about it?’ My goal is not to gather more knowledge (although that is helpful) – my goal is to become more like Jesus, which means I respond to His word to me that I am reading or hearing.

As we disciple others to read the Bible, we need to show them how to always be attentive to this ‘So what?’ question – what difference is this going to make in my life today? […]

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Sparkle Box Web Site

December 22, 2012 

I love hearing about the acts of kindness and compassion that families in our church are doing in honor of Jesus this Christmas. We’ve started a new tradition at Rivertree … writing these gifts down and placing them in a sparkle box … our gift to Jesus this Christmas, His birthday.

As another way to celebrate these gifts and to encourage each other, we’ve created a web site.

Here you can anonymously tell about acts of kindness that are listed (sponsoring a Compassion child, purchasing Water of Life filters, giving to the food pantry) or you can add a different gift, like a way your GoCommunity served together or something your children did as an act of kindness.

Take some time throughout the Christmas season to visit the site. As I’ve seen the gifts add up, I’ve really been encouraged by the generosity of our church family. I think you will be too. […]

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Happy Birthday Jesus!

December 21, 2012 

In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches us that whatever we do for the least of these . . . we do for Him.  In other words, when we bless those in need, right here and right now, we’re blessing Jesus.  When we give gifts of love, and kindness, listening and meeting needs . . . we’re giving gifts to Jesus.

This December at RiverTree we’ve been imagining . . .

Imagine Christmas . . . where no-one is hungry.  And as a result, 260 children were sponsored through Compassion International.  260 children that will not be hungry!

Imagine Christmas . . . where no-one is thirsty.  And as a result, nearly 600 Water of Life filters were purchased.  Filters that will provide clean, safe drinking water for more than 7000 people for life.  7000 people that will not be thirsty!

Imagine Christmas . . . where no-one is lonely.  And as a result, hundreds of fleece blanket kits were purchased, put together and delivered to people around us who needed a loving touch. […]

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