Dr. Mark Alan Williams and friends answer questions about the Christian faith: questions about the God, Jesus, the Bible, eternity, belief, religion the reasonableness of faith and others.

Recently I was asked to make a 150 word contribution for an upcoming book by answering this question: “What has been your biggest failure as a church planter and what did you learn from this failure?”

Dr. Mark Alan Williams and friends answer questions about the Christian faith: questions about the God, Jesus, the Bible, eternity, belief, religion the reasonableness of faith and others.

Dr. Mark Alan Williams and friends answer questions about the Christian faith: questions about the God, Jesus, the Bible, eternity, belief, religion the reasonableness of faith and others.

As a new church planter, I was astounded that we faced serious conflict in the first two months. It wasn’t the heated boiling-over kind of conflict; it was more simmering and hidden, on the back-of-the-stove kind.

A mature leader and I went to the home of the family involved to discuss things, but when we rang the doorbell no one answered. We suspected they were home, but were avoiding us.

Unfortunately, I made lots of mistakes in that unhappy episode, and I have made many more since. But I’ve also learned a few helpful things from my own mistakes, from my training, and from mentoring by others.

Dr. Mark Alan Williams and friends answer questions about the Christian faith: questions about the God, Jesus, the Bible, eternity, belief, religion the reasonableness of faith and others.

One of the kids on our school bus route in middle school was a guy named Kendall Weaks. Kendall was quite slim and looked weak which, unfortunately, made him an easy target for bullies.

Once in a while I tried to defend Kendall when someone was pestering him. But I often regretted not defending him more decisively. I didn’t want to become the new target of the bullies. But Kendall needed protection.

You and I need protection. Spiritual protection. We need protecting prayer.

One of the kids on our school bus route in middle school was a guy named Kendall Weaks. Kendall was quite slim and looked weak which, unfortunately, made him an easy target for bullies.