There are currently more than 45,000 Southern Baptist churches across the United States. Most of those churches, however, are concentrated in the South, with fewer churches located in states like New York and New Jersey.

In an effort to remind people of the importance of church planting, especially in under-reached and under-served areas like the Northeast and West, the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board – currently the North American Mission Board – created Start-a-Church Sunday.

Placed on the SBC calendar in 1991 as part of the Convention's Bold Mission Thrust initiative, a multi-pronged emphasis on evangelism, missions and church planting, Start-a-Church Sunday continues to remain on the calendar today as an annual reminder to churches of the importance of starting new churches. more >>

Over 6,000 new churches were planted among Muslims in 18 different countries in Africa over the last seven years. And hundreds of former sheikhs and imams have become followers of Jesus Christ over that period. In just a few years, 45 different "unreached" Muslim-majority people groups in Africa now have access to God's word, with more than 3,000 news churches planted among them.

These awe-inspiring statistics, mix with heart-warming narratives about former Muslims, flow out naturally as one talks to Jerry Trousdale, a former church planter among Muslims in West Africa and now head of a disciple-making movement among Muslim people groups.

Trousdale, author of the new book Miraculous Movements (Thomas Nelson, 2012) and director of International Ministries for CityTeam International, spoke with The Christian Post last week about the group's successful but counterintuitive disciple-making strategy, why disappointment made him leave missions for a period, and how he thinks being a pastor is even harder than being a missionary. more >>

Many Christians think that they can't serve the Kingdom of God at work, but that's not true, says a North Carolina megachurch pastor.

J.D. Greear, founder of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. – which has a goal of planting 1,000 churches by the year 2040 – just finished a 2-part series about Christians and the workplace on the "Between The Times" blog.

Greear said that many Christians today believe that working for God is done by volunteering at church or attending small group, and that it is separate from their workplace. Work isn't always viewed as a way to serve God, he observes, but "a necessity that must be endured to put bread on the table." more >>

A youth missions leader said that part of the reason the American church has fallen asleep is that it fears suffering.

Tom Lin, director of Urbana Student Missions Conference, spoke at the Verge 2012 Conference in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. He said that the millennial generation of youth is one of the most knowledgeable generations, but also the most fragile – it is afraid of suffering.

The American church "has made leadership a sexy thing, made it cool – we don't teach our youth to engage in suffering," Lin said. But "when we look at Scripture, Jesus asked leaders to die to the things they care most about." more >>

A leading proponent of the belief that Christians should always be on mission, or "missional," in their daily lives says it's time for believers to stay and live longer in the areas of the world that they feel God has called them to.

Church planter Jeff Vanderstelt, who leads Soma Communities, a body of church planting churches in South Puget Sound, Wash., was one of several speakers discussing what it means to be missional on Wednesday during the first day of the two-day Verge 2012 Conference at Austin Music Hall in Texas.

During the conference, that is also being live streamed on the Web, Vanderstelt discussed what it means for Christians to move from not only being missional (living a life that brings people into a relationship with Jesus), but to be incarnational (adding a discipleship factor to daily living), as well. more >>

Recent reports that a church in Louisiana was ordered to stop passing out free water bottles and cups of coffee during a Mardi Gras parade have been unnecessarily sensationalized, a pastor revealed.

The situation at hand arose when Jefferson Parish officials approached volunteers from Hope Church in Metairie, La., telling them that they could not pass out free beverages along the parade route without the proper permits to do so.

According to Fox News, Hope Church did not know they had to secure an occupational license and register for a sales tax before passing out their water bottles labeled with the church's name and website address. more >>