In this episode of the Church Planter Podcast, Peyton Jones sits down with Dr. Michael Cooper to talk about his new book, Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement.

Building on his work in Ephesiology, Michael explores how archaeology helps us better understand the early church, the spread of the gospel, and the world Paul and the first Christians inhabited. From Ephesus to Laodicea, they discuss house churches, public gathering spaces, Christograms, the Hall of Tyrannus, and the evidence of Christian movement in the first centuries.

The conversation also challenges church planters to think beyond simple church growth formulas and recover the kind of patient, contextual, culturally engaged mission we see in the New Testament. The early church adapted to real places, engaged real people, and took the time to make disciples who could carry the gospel into new spaces.

If you want to understand first-century mission, think more deeply about church planting, and learn how history and archaeology can sharpen disciple-making today, this episode is for you.

Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement

NewBreed Training

Thanks for listening to the Church Planter Podcast. We’re here to help you go where no one else is going and do what no one else is doing to reach people no one else is reaching.

Make sure to review and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast service to help us connect with more church planters.

In this episode of the Church Planter Podcast, Peyton Jones and Pete Mitchell put on the tinfoil hats and talk through aliens, AI, faith, science, and why none of it has to shake a biblical view of the world.

The conversation moves from UFO files and government disclosures to C.S. Lewis, quantum physics, angels, demons, creation, evolution, and the way people interpret evidence based on the assumptions they already bring to it. Peyton and Pete wrestle with why Christians don’t need to panic every time a new headline claims it will “change the way we read the Bible.”

Instead, they point leaders back to a grounded faith that can think clearly, ask honest questions, and stay rooted in Scripture while engaging the strange and confusing conversations happening in culture.

If you’re a church planter trying to lead people through a world of AI-generated content, conspiracy theories, spiritual confusion, and big questions about reality, this episode will help you think with more clarity and confidence.

Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:

NewBreed Training

Thanks for listening to the Church Planter Podcast. We’re here to help you go where no one else is going and do what no one else is doing to reach people no one else is reaching.

Make sure to review and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast service to help us connect with more church planters.

In this episode of the Church Planter Podcast, Peyton Jones and Pete Mitchell talk about why most churches never multiply—and why the issue usually starts long before a church is ready to plant again.

Peyton explains that churches can do a lot of things right and still fail to multiply if they are not mobilizing people on mission. Instead of building everything around Sunday gatherings, leaders need to slow down, invest in people, call out gifts, and help everyday believers take real steps into disciple-making.

The conversation unpacks the difference between addition and multiplication, why mobilization has to come first, and how pastors can begin creating a culture where people are equipped, sent, and ready to lead others.

If you want your church to move beyond gathering people and start multiplying disciples, this episode will help you focus on what matters most.

Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Simplify Church: simplifychurch.com

NewBreed Training

Thanks for listening to the Church Planter Podcast. We’re here to help you go where no one else is going and do what no one else is doing to reach people no one else is reaching.

Make sure to review and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast service to help us connect with more church planters.