On the Road to No Place Left

Chuck Wood II and I talk about the dangers of being a reductionist in ministry. Read the article we discussed here: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/beware-reductionismQuotes:The trap we can fall into is being too reductionistic with ministry and how we go about it, thinking if I just follow a few easy steps: Boom, we're going to turn out a movement. Or if I do A, B, and C, then I'm going to have a new healthy disciple. We need to just be aware that that's not really how life works, not even how the kingdom works, if we read the Gospels and we read Acts.If you're struggling with the messiness and long-term timeline that this takes, go and look into the mirror and ask the question, how is God so patient with me? And when you come to that answer, then you will extend that same patience, that same endurance and persistence in your disciple-making ministry as well.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 12 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I talk about what happens if we hold on to our familiar tools too tightly. This is a conversation about my blog post: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/learn-to-drop-your-familiar-toolsQuotes:That's the one thing that Jesus came off the top ropes on the Pharisees for: You elevate your traditions above the commands of God. We don't want to get sideways with Jesus over tools, you know.Principles transcend time, culture, and geography. Tools do not. And so we, as pioneers, have to adapt our tools to the principle.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 11 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I talk about the two main traps we can fall into, thinking we’re being productive for the Kingdom.Quotes:In modern knowledge work, and it can also be true in ministry, there's a lot of things that we don't actually have an accurate, real measurement of how they might contribute to the bottom line.I think a lot of our results are measured by obedience versus outcome. Did I spend time with Jesus in the Word and prayer? Did I share the gospel? Did I practice my gift? Those kind of things, those are obedience-based versus results-based.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 10 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I discuss Riding the Wave: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/riding-the-waveQuotes:I love that idea of perfectly unrushed... For being fully God and outside of time in one sense, it's awesome to see what fully God, fully man looked like just walking in time, never busy... always with things grabbing for his time, but never hurried, never rushed.A soldier is built for war, not for the hospital. And so if we're spending all our time in the hospital, we're doing great things, but we're not winning the war... I think it's in the heart of every believer that they know the fight is out there among the lost.You actually are commissioned to go make disciples of all nations. But on the other side, the same thing is true is you have no chance of fulfilling the Great Commission.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 9 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I discuss a surprising way to persevere if you’re in a season of ministry that feels like the prophet Jeremiah. This conversation is based on my post, The Progress Principle: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/the-progress-principleQuotes:If your leaders are not asking you questions that facilitate rest and recreation, you might wanna find different leaders because your wheels are gonna fall off sooner or later. And that's part of making disciples.When somebody walks away from the faith or walks away from our discipling or our even shepherding or leading, that actually hurts and that does something to us. There's a little therapy in the fact that I can go and I do this job. And when I came back the next day, those wires didn't move themselves out of the wall.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 8 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I talk about how to conduct an autopsy when something in ministry isn’t going as you thought, or is an outright flop.This conversation is based on this post: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/how-to-fail-forwardQuotes:The original intent is the idea that we failed. But we're moving forward because we learned something from that failure. I think we can misuse it if we just say it flippantly without actually thinking about it, then that's what's going to lead to the actual fail and not the ability to move forward.The Army cranks out 300 to 400 paratroopers a week. The last time we had a major airborne assault was World War II... So why in the world is the army investing time and resources in teaching people an antiquated combat delivery system? One word: courage. The paratrooper learns courage, which translates to everything in a soldier's job... The goal wasn't teaching people how to jump out of the airplane. The goal was teach them courage.Don't be afraid to pull the plug.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 7 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

You cannot head out on your own in ministry. Listen in as Chuck Wood II and I discuss my latest post: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/pioneers-dont-go-it-aloneQuotes:We need to remember we're standing on the shoulders of giants. So even as we're pioneers in any context, we need to remember there's people that have come before us.Character is very important, but let's also put having people that are doing life with us right up there with our character.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 6 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II and I discuss what defines Pioneering Work from my latest post: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/what-is-pioneering-work.Quotes:We're looking to fully hold on to the ground we take for the kingdom. Not just check it out a little bit or drop three seeds and then head back to the city.The first adjustment might not be any movement whatsoever other than just get your life oriented around God.Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 5 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Another conversation with Chuck Wood II where we discuss my latest post on pioneering: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/we-need-you-to-go-firstSeason 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 4. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II interviews me about my latest post for pioneers: What is the Goal? Read it here: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/what-is-the-goal-018Season 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick, Episode 3. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Chuck Wood II interviews me on the concept of sticking with it in ministry. You can (and should!) read the original post here: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/we-need-you-to-stickSeason 9: On Pioneering/How to Stick; Episode 2: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Welcome to the start of Season 9 of the On the Road Podcast. I’ve had a few years now of sporadic episodes, but starting with this one, there should be a regular rhythm of new episodes for a while. Chuck Wood II interviews me about the first post in my new series: On Pioneering. The conversation will make a lot more sense if you start by reading this short blog post: https://pheaney.substack.com/p/on-pioneering This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

What does it look like to see God birth new churches among lost people?All around America there are bonafide living and breathing churches, filled with disciples of Jesus. These disciples used to be far from God. And these churches have cost nothing to start. Many of them are reproducing.In On the Road Season 4, we’ll be sharing stories of God working in and through these $0 churches. I can’t wait to learn together about the amazing work God is doing and how we can join him in it.The first part of Season 4 will be multiple interviews to help us better see those churches. Most of us can picture and even feel what church in a building at 10 am on Sunday is like. I’m hoping to help us better understand what simple churches look and feel like. Along the way, we’re going to learn a ton about what God is doing today.After those interviews, I’m hoping to put together a work with the lessons learned. I’m not sure what that will look like yet. It may be an audio documentary, a series of podcast episodes, a book of some sort, or just a one-page article. Regardless of the end product, I want to pull together the lessons learned so we can better understand and celebrate how God is working.There are a lot of people and places we could learn from, but I want to filter down to churches with the following criteria:They are autonomous churches, not cell groups.They are in a western context.They are made up primarily of people who were not following Jesus before the church came together.As already stated, I’ll be looking for low to no-cost churches.In addition, I’ll be looking for if the church is reproducing disciples and birthing new churches.I hope you’ll jump into Season 4 and learn with me. You can subscribe in the podcast app of your choice. If you’d like episodes, blog posts and the finished work of lessons learned from $0 churches delivered to your inbox, use a sign-up form at ontheroad.link to get everything delivered to your email inbox.Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for our first conversation on these $0 churches.Listen to this and other On the Road podcast episodes at ontheroad.link/podcast.Visit ontheroad.link to subscribe to get this podcast and blog posts from Pheaney delivered to your email. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com

Cory & Brian from the Kansas City Underground discuss the importance of a little structure in supporting decentralized movement work. Towards the end, we talk about a visual that you can’t see on my audio-only podcast, but you can find when they cross-publish this same episode on the KC Underground Podcast: https://kcunderground.org/podcastKC Underground Site: https://kcunderground.org/Hub Primer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hiH1NrjKPVR7IVeR_3Fxw3PNZ-PkO-S4/view?usp=drivesdkTimestamps (Topics & Quotes)3:53 - The myth of pure decentralization7:57 “You need a commitment to disciple-making first… but eventually you need structure.”9:45 - What are the biggest obstacles in America to legitimate disciple-making movements?12:08 - “Let’s stop worrying about the strategy, let’s just get desperate in prayer that God would move.”15:33 - The importance of perseverance17:34 - Hubs defined20:20 - “If you don’t flourish in your own soul, it won’t spill over into mission.”28:22 - Macro vision vs hyper-local work34:02 - “Jesus has sent me into my particular place, and if I don’t own that, who will?”42:39 - “Don’t be afraid to build something.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pheaney.substack.com