Jeff records a solo episode and creates the first "What's On My Mind" episode. He and Jonny have been wanting to create some solo episodes just to speak personally to small church pastors, and this is the first one.

Jeff, of course, challenges Jonny to counter with his own "What's On My Mind" episode to follow... soon. :-) Jeff encourages the listeners to check out the "Podcast Series" page at www.200churches.com and peruse some great episodes in the 200churches Archive Vault!

Jeff's shares some inspiration and encouragement for pastors, some ideas on time/activity  placement/prioritization, and the latest books and podcasts that he recommends.

Jeff enjoyed creating this episode and sharing his love with you, pastors of small, and all, churches! :-)  And, he asked to include the following pics of his granddaughter, Addie, and his grandsons, Knox and Kash!

What is the process of making disciples? How do we form people into the image of Jesus, and develop the heart of Christ in them?

I hope it doesn't have to involve a huge time investment from me as a pastor - I'm short on that. Also, I hope I can scale the process... like if I write ten discipleship lessons, and then let people download them and work through all ten?! Then, maybe then they can be more like Jesus?

Sometimes we think if they just know the right stuff, or if they can memorize, word for word, large passages of the Bible, while at the same time stringing a lot of days together of consistent Bible reading and prayer - that's all got to help, right?

What exactly is the process of making disciples? There has to be an efficient, effective formula that will get the job done!

So, that's what Jonny and Dan Den Boer talk about in this episode. Dan serves at Northwestern College and focuses on the spiritual formation of the next generation, and he knows a little about that work in the church as well.

This episode will get you thinking on multiple levels, and for sure get your discipleship juices flowing!

Enjoy!

Jonny is joined by John Ottley to talk about his 30 years of ministry experience in small churches and his transition to becoming a chaplain. The conversation moves in directions that were surprising to Jonny--directions that will push and encourage you as you lead your church and find yourself in pastoral care situations!

Jason Wilson was pastoring a church in the Pittsburgh PA area just a few years ago when he and his wife felt called by God to move toward church planting. They wanted to create something new and provide a church for people who were not yet part of God's family. They left PA and moved to IA to become church planting residents at citylightcb.org/CityLight Church in Council Bluffs, IA.

Meanwhile Eric Carpenter and his wife have been serving across the Missouri River in Omaha NE at Christ Community Church, and also felt God's call to move toward a church planting partnership in Kansas City MO.

The Wilsons were ready to move to Des Moines, IA or Kansas City, MO. They just needed a partner couple to join them. A mutual friend and mentor connected the two couples and they are soon to move to Kansas City, and plant another "CityLight" Church. Several churches have been planted in the last five years from the original "CityLight" Church in Omaha NE.

Jeff sat down with Eric and Jason while at a conference recently and picked their brains. Then they won his heart. Jeff is going to follow up in 52 weeks with the Wilsons and Carpenters, when they will be the guests on Episode 328... of the 200churches Podcast! :-)

​Enjoy!

Jeff recently sat down with Dr. Joel Wiggins to talk about Christian Colleges, small churches, pastoral ministry, his experiences as a young, small church pastor, continuing education, and how to guide your own church students toward college, or not!

Joel is the President of Crown College, a Christian ministry and liberal arts college in St. Paul, Minnesota. You can find Crown so easily at www.crown.edu.

Joel is pretty transparent about his own pastoral challenges, and very passionate about his school's efforts to educate and prepare the next generation of Christian workers.

He also talks about the advantages of pursuing continuing education while you are in ministry, something that Jeff and Jonny talk often about.

Jonny and Jeff also begin a new segment on this episode, where they share what they are both reading and listening to these days (they ripped this off from the Theology On Mission podcast, but do it a lot better!)

We know you'll enjoy this episode and be encouraged to consider yourself as a lifelong learner.

Check out Crown College right here!