What Makes Hard Places ‘Hard’?

Acts 29: Churches Planting Churches

“This is what the gospel does to us: it humbles us and enables us to identify with the poor. In the gospel, we’re not superior to the poor; we are the poor, having nothing to bring to God. We’re not superior to the orphan; we are the orphan, and God has become our Father. We were the stranger with no homeland, and we’ve inherited a kingdom. We were the widow with no husband, and Jesus has become our groom.” — Tony Merida

Listen to Tony Merida talk with Doug Logan and Paul McLoughlan about planting and leading churches in hard places.

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You can listen to this podcast episode—recorded live at the recent Acts 29 Europe Conference—here.

Related:

Why I Planted a Church in My Former Hood (Kris Brossett)
Why Hard Places Need Hardy Churches (Mez McConnell)
Hard Places Aren’t Trendy, But They’re Worth It (Steve Timmis, Doug Logan, Mez McConnell)

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Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.

But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.

To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

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Tony Merida (MDiv, ThM, Ph.D from NOBTS) is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, Vice President for Planter Development for the SEND Network and a Board member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of a number of books, including The Christ-Centered Expositor, Ordinary,and Orphanology. He and his wife, Kimberly, have five adopted children.

Doug Logan, Jr. (PhD in Christian Organizational Leadership from Newburgh Theological Seminary) serves as the president of Grimké Seminary, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. Doug serves as the Director of Urban Church Planter Development for the SEND Network. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) and earned his Master of Arts (M.A.) in Ministry in Church Planting from Lancaster Bible College & Capital Seminary. He has been in urban ministry for more than 25 years, is a Church Planting Pastor at Remnant Church in Richmond, VA, and is the author of On The Block: Developing a Biblical Picture for Missional Engagement. In 2011, he planted Epiphany Fellowship of Camden with his wife Angel. They have three sons and four grandchildren.

Paul McLoughlan is a church planter in Bingham & Magdalene, a deprived housing scheme in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has worked for the 20schemes church-planting network since 2015. He and his wife, Rachel, have two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter.