Growing Disciples

Awaken 2012: A 21-day Prayer Guide

2011-11-09T19:20:00Z

Our great need in North America is for a spiritual awakening that transforms lives, families, cities, and ultimately our society and culture by the working of God's Holy Spirit. Awaken 2012 is a 21-day prayer guide to direct the prayers of God's people toward revival and awakening. First written for Louisiana churches, it is available for all who wish to join in prayer and fasting for revival and awakening. In this video I challenge churches to undertake the following:

December 31, 2011 Celebrate a Watch-night Service (or Cry at Midnight)
January 1-21, 2012 Follow the guided prayer of "Awaken 2012"
January 22, 2012 Call a Solemn Assembly for the following Sunday and begin an 8-day process of preparation using "Consecrate the People."
January 29, 2012 Celebrate a Solemn Assembly and Renew Your Covenant Commitments to Jesus Christ.

Awaken 2012 Print Files:

Download one of the following files for a 40-page version. One is single pages and the other can print double sided pages and be stapled into a booklet format.

Other Uses Besides January

Use it for 21 days of prayer and fasting leading up to:

Easter
The National Day of Prayer
Pentecost Sunday
Evangelistic services
City-Reaching Efforts

To download the 64-page Louisiana prayer guide and journal and view video supplements go to: www.LBC.org/awaken

Discipleship: Stepping-Stones to Developing Your Church's Strategy

2011-10-17T19:26:13Z

Stepping_Stones-2008.pdf

Use this 36-page booklet with your planning team to develop your church's strategy for intentional discipleship. This was first published in 2008. I'm posting it here to make it available for those who need a tool like this for planning their disciple-making strategy.

Week One: Taking Your First Steps as a Follower of Jesus Christ

2011-09-30T18:50:04Z

Provide new Christians with a daily devotional guide for their first week in following Jesus Christ.

I've designed the booklet so a church could give it to people making a decision for Christ with encouragement to "start today." I built in a coaching process so new believers can develop and discuss questions with a more mature believer. Ideally they immediately will move into a connection with an ongoing Bible study group and continue growing as a disciple.

LifeWay has agreed for me to share this freely. The copyright notice grants rights to translate and/or reproduce for non-commercial purposes.

The Daily Devotionals include:

Day 1: Understanding this New Life
Day 2: Spend Time with God Daily
Day 3: Learn about God, His Will & Ways
Day 4: Live in Victory
Day 5: Connect with the Body
Day 6: Tell Your Story
Day 7: Plan and Take Next Steps

Week_One_Booklet_2011-a.pdf

Week_One_1-sided_2011.pdf

Courage to Study "Experiencing God"

2011-07-06T21:00:00Z

A missionary working in the slums of Lima, Peru, gave me this copy of Experiencing God (Spanish). The owner had been beaten by her husband as he burned this book and her Bible. He threatened to kill her if she ever went back to church. She brought this book to the missionary and asked for a new copy to continue the study. I yearn for that kind of hunger for God and His Word.

God's Activity in Bartow County, Georgia

2011-07-01T11:00:00Z

Last December (2010) I had the privilege of interviewing David Franklin about God's activity in Bartow County, Georgia, that is transforming lives, churches, and the community. God is working in such encouraging ways that I've become a "prisoner of hope" (See Zechariah 9:12.). I pray that God will find pastors and churches all over the nation who will surrender to His use and purposes to see a similar work in their communities.

To watch other videos about God's work in the county see my Vimeo Album at:

http://www.vimeo.com/23652961

Homage Ceremony and Full Surrender to King Jesus

2011-06-29T17:04:38Z

I came across a statement in an Andrew Murray book that pointed me to the homage ceremony. It has become for me a powerful reminder every time I pray of my need to fully surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The homage ceremony of the Middle Ages gives us some powerful imagery of full surrender. Christians translated that into a posture for prayer that included full surrender to King Jesus as Lord and Master. Added to the definition of "consecration" as "to fill up the open hands," we have a wonderful invitation from our Lord to consecrate our lives to Him, or as Paul put it "present your bodies as a living sacrifice." Will you join me in full surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ?

Experiencing God in Appalachia, Part 1

2011-06-28T19:52:56Z

God is using the stories of His work in Lynch, Kentucky, to stir many others to respond to His invitations that require a walk of faith. In Part 1 you will hear of Lonnie & Belinda's call to minister to mountain. You will hear about a "hedge clipping ministry, the Freedom Center clothing ministry, Hair & Nail Day, a back to school ministry, and God's provision for remodeling a theater for Christian community programs. These testimonies come from the DVDs in "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God" by Henry & Richard Blackaby and Claude King. They are used by permission from LifeWay Christian Resources. Go to www.Lifeway.com for more information about Experiencing God and two books co-authored by Lonnie: "By Faith" and "Miracle in the Mountains."

You can watch and/or download all five segments or one clip that includes all 55 minutes at my Vimeo Album at: www.vimeo.com/23652961

4Groups: Build Great Groups for Great Growth

2011-06-20T18:08:45Z

July 25-28 I'll be leading the discipleship track for 4Groups at Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. My plenary session will focus on discipling toward maturity in keeping with Paul's goal of presenting "everyone mature in Christ" (Col. 1:28). My breakout sessions will include: (1) Growing Disciples Who Pray, Care, and Share; (2) Launching a Men's Discipleship Ministry with Courageous (the movie); and (3) Mastering the Challenge of Multiplication in Disciple Making.

Other leaders include Allan Taylor (Sunday School Groups), Bill Donahue (Small Groups), and Dennis Pethers (Evangelism Groups). Chris Adams will be training women's ministry leaders.

Listen to this invitation from Dennis Pethers (author of More to Life)

An Invitation To 4Groups from Dennis Pethers from BiblicalSolutionsFor on Vimeo.

Will you join me at Ridgecrest? For registration call 1-800-588-7222 or go to www.lifeway.com/event/361

The first 200 registrants receive: Building Biblical Community DVD Leader Kit: Celebrate. Learn. Love. Serve. by Bill Donahue and Steve Gladen.

Developing a Prayer Culture

2011-06-10T20:34:08Z

Through the Transformational Church research we've found that "Prayerful Dependence" is almost a universal characteristic of churches that see transformation in lives, their church, and their community. Prayerful dependence describes more than just a church that has a variety of prayer activities or even a prayer ministry. Recently I heard Phil Miglioratti, founder of the National Pastors' Prayer Network, talk about moving a church from a church that prays to being a praying church where prayer permeates everything they do. I asked Phil to share a summary of that presentation in this video. Let's join together with Jesus in praying that God will transform our churches into houses of prayer for the nations, where "prayerful dependence" would describe our prayer culture and lead to transformation!

For more helps from Phil go to nppn.org

Parable of the PVC Pipe

2011-02-15T13:00:00Z

The Christian's life can be compared to a PVC pipe. God wants us connected to Him and available so His Living Water flows through us to impact the people we are connected to through our relationships.To function effectively:

1. We need the relationship with the Lord to be right.

2. We need our lives cleansed of all the impurities that could clog our "pipe."

3. We need to reconcile and forgive so no broken relationship would hinder the free flow of God's love and life through us.

Catalytic Event Part of Transformation

2011-02-08T17:30:00Z

In a church running 70-80 one year prior, God visited Fellowship Baptist Church of Cartersville, Georgia (Bartow County) with a special sense of His presence. Since that Experiencing God Launch Weekend they've seen about 110 baptisms. Pastor Jeff Duvall explains: "That was where God began to reveal that He was tired of us playing church or just going through the motions, but He had something real for us." The key to what God is doing? "We've stayed on our face before God seeking Him." Jeff challenges his folks to "Brag on Jesus.... The presence of God is in the house!"

God has used the message of Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God to deeply impact individuals, families, and churches. An Experiencing God Weekend is one way churches introduce the message and invite members to experience God as they walk through the Bible study together.

Experiencing God Leadership Summit

2011-01-13T12:00:00Z

Have you led a study of "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God" or led an Experiencing God Weekend? Are you a pastor, staff member, denominational leader, or missionary? On March 17-18 and again March 18-19 we are hosting an Experiencing God Leadership Summit at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. Come join Henry & Richard Blackaby and me as we recount the spiritual markers of the past 20 years and consider God's call for the future. This may be a spiritual marker you will not want to miss. For more information and to register go to www.lifeway.com/EGLeadershipSummit

Solemn Assembly #8: The Elijah Strategy

2010-12-28T14:00:00Z

When it seems the whole culture has turned against the Lord and His ways, we need a leadership strategy that can turn that tide. Elijah's strategy (1 Kings 16-18) included (1) recognizing that only God can turn hearts back to Him, (2) waiting before God in prayer for directions about what to do and when, (3) obeying all the commands of the Lord, (4) giving God the credit when He turns the hearts of His people back again.

Over the course of the following days, I'll be blogging 8 videos related to the topic of understanding and leading a solemn assembly. If you don't want to wait for the blogs, you can view them in a video album at: http://vimeo.com/album/1495849

Solemn Assembly #7: Leadership

2010-12-27T14:00:00Z

Based on the example and encouragement of Scripture, multiple leadership provides a sound model for solemn assemblies today. Most of the biblical revivals were attended by multiple leaders: normally two or more of the prophet, priest, and king. The example of God's decision to spare a generation from His judgments because of King Josiah's repentance that took place prior to the response of the people is a great encouragement that leaders can lead the way toward revival. But only God can turn the hearts of His people back to Him. Be encouraged that He can. Pray that He will.

Solemn Assembly #6: Departure Markers

2010-12-26T14:00:00Z

Just as remembering the spiritual markers of God's activity with and blessing on His people is important, identifying departure markers can be a valuable aide in returning to the Lord. A departure marker is a time when a church or group departed from God's will or violated a command and now suffer the consequences of His divine discipline. This can help a church confess and repent of the sin and return to the Lord for restored fellowship.