Resources by Jim Putman:
Jim Putman
Jim is the founder and senior pastor of Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. Prior to his role as senior pastor, he served as a youth minister in two small churches. In college, Jim won three All American titles in wrestling and went on to become a successful wrestling coach. Real Life Ministries began as a small group in 1998 and has grown to a membership of more than eight thousand. Ninety percent of its fellowship is active in small groups. Outreach Magazine continually lists Real Life Ministries among the top one hundred most influential churches in America.
RelationShift: Five Shifts for Disciple Makers to Live and Lead from Relationship
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO RELATIONSHIPS THAT FUEL DISCIPLE MAKING Many church leaders hear of the power of relational disciple making to transform churches, and they want in. The problem is they’re programmed to see everything as—well, a program. In the hurry…
Jim Putman
Two-Fisted Fighting (Spiritually): The Importance of Relationships AND Truth
I am the lead pastor/minister of a church in Post Falls, Idaho, but many people who know me have heard about my past in wrestling. At the collegiate level, I wrestled in national championships. They also know I was an unbeliever who took my skills learned in wrestling to the streets. Unfortunately, fighting was a...
Jim Putman
Letting Jesus Define Our Terms
Words and their meanings matter. When it comes to words like “disciple,” “discipleship,” and “kingdom,” we need to let Jesus define the terms. When we redefine them, these words lose their power.
Jim Putman
Jim Putman
Is It Legalism–or Obedience?
“I don’t want to be a legalist, but . . .” I heard that phrase in a life group once. Someone’s teenage son wanted his girlfriend to be able to spend the night. The parent was against it for moral reasons, but didn’t want to come across as legalistic. “I don’t want to be a...
Jim Putman
Comparing New Testament Interpretations with the Church Fathers
Just a few months ago, I (Bobby) was a part of a meeting where national church leaders discussed/debated the essential definition of church (the subject of “minimum ecclesiology”). After all, if we are going to plant churches together, then we need to have a shared definition of a church. One of the leaders stated that...
I Led a Growing Megachurch, and We Were Losing
At its three-year mark, Real Life Ministries enjoyed what other church plants achieved only in their loftiest dreams: a brand-new 25,000-square-foot building and 2,300 people. And yet… We were overwhelmed. The largest church any of us had ever been in was three hundred. None of us had ever done what we were doing. I...
Jim Putman
The Key To True Discipleship Is This
Most pastors in the US long to teach to a huge crowd of excited people on Sunday mornings: people packed into pews, pens and notebooks in hand, waiting for a download of all kinds of top-rated, inspiring information from the Bible. But this kind of learning environment is exactly what a good schoolteacher would hate:...
Jim Putman