There are many great and important tools one needs to have and utilize to plant a church. Things like how to recruit, how to raise funds, how to find meeting space, etc. These concrete and tangible things are very important - we are not Gnostics - real life physical stuff matters.
But all the tools in the world cannot replace the central need to listen. A plant starts with listening to the Holy Spirit as he births a dream in one's heart. It rolls forward as one listens to Holy Spirit as he unfolds strategy and plans. The work of planting a church - like all Kingdom ministry - is not just a human endeavor. There is a God factor. One needs to be in tune with the Lord and one needs to follow the Lord.
The tools available for church planting really only work when they are understood as means for listening. Why have a coach? So the Holy Spirit can speak through the coach as you plant. Why read up on strategies and approaches to church planting? So the Holy Spirit can etch some strategies and plans in one's heart.
Church planting is God's work - it's not something we do for God and not even something we do with God. It is something we follow God into - beginning, middle and end.
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