The Early Church planted the presence of God before
they planted churches. In the Book of
Acts, our original church planting manual, the birth of a local church came
after the presence of God was released in a community through signs, wonders and
miracles. The by-product of that release
was the birth of a local church. Today,
in some circles within the Church, we have lost this understanding. Our efforts have been focused on developing
well-groomed plans for church planting while somehow thinking this can be accomplished
and sustained apart from on-going encounters with the supernatural God of
heaven. We may have become too practical and measured in our desire to reach
our cities.

We owe people a supernatural encounter with God. These
encounters are not always practical or measured.  I wonder what would happen in our denominations
and church planting movements if before we created well-crafted models of
ministry we instead rediscovered the power and value of these God-encounters as
a biblical key to unlock a city?  Cities
locked in unbelief would be turned upside down if cancer were healed.  What would happen if lame people walked out
of our hospitals or if a word of knowledge released in a corporate boardroom was
able to create a new technology? 

All of these breakthroughs would come as the result of
a God-encounter, not our best laid plans. Those gathering around to witness
these manifestations would then want to know more about the supernatural God
they just witnessed.  The by-product of
that kind of an encounter would be a shared hunger that would find its
expression in what we call a church plant. This is a healthy Kingdom
progression where the product is always placed before the by-product.