Missional Challenge

Shopping for a Coach

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Church Planters often recognize they need a coach, but how do they find the right coach? (see 5 Reasons Why Church Planters Need a Coach)

An important step in the process of shopping for a coach is to discern their coaching approach. This requires doing a little research. You cannot assume a person is a good coach for you just because someone calls themselves a "coach."

Interviewing a prospective coach is a great place to start! Here are some topics and questions that you may want to explore...

1. Coaching Training - excellent coaches have invested time and energy to gain the skills to coach well. There are a lot of training programs available. Explore the breadth of their training: How many hours of coach-specific training have they received? What ongoing courses or teleclasses have they taken? How are they improving their skills as a coach?

2. Coaching Experience - in addition to training, discuss the coach's experience. Are you comfortable with the amount of experience they have had coaching others? Can you talk to others they have coached to learn more about them?

3. Availability - as you think about how frequently you'd like to meet with a coach, determine if they have the time available to meet with you. Are they accessible between appointments? Will they respond to email or texts?

4. Competencies/Credentials - the International Coach Federation is the leading global coaching organization, with over 19,000 members, dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches. What credentials does the coach have? Who has granted those credentials? What was the process they completed to receive credentialing?

5. Coaching Approach - there are many different approaches to coaching. Some coaches focus primarily on generating awareness, others focus on skill development, others are more holistic in their approach. Discover who sets the agenda for the coaching conversations (the coach or the client). Who generates action steps? How is progress evaluated?

6. Cost - unfortunately when it come to coaching, you often get what you pay for. Many church planters are looking for free coaching or "cheap" coaching. Beware of settling on an inexperienced coach simply because that's all you can afford. Be creative as you explore ways to pay for coaching. Bottom line: can you afford coaching?

7. Ministry Experience - while it's not necessary for your coach to be an expert in the area where you need coaching, it is valuable to understand if your coach is familiar with the challenges of being in ministry. What is the coach's ministry background? How are they currently engaged in ministry?

8. Spiritual Dynamics - explore how faith and cooperating with the Spirit's work in your life fit into the coach's mindset. What is the coach's spiritual background? Do you sense the coach has spiritual depth and awareness?

9. Trust - coaching cannot be successful if you don't trust your coach. How does the coach build trust? Do you sense that confidentiality would be honored?

Today's Missional Challenge: Explore the value of coaching for your ministry and personal life!

If you are shopping for a coach, check out davedevries.org.

If you are considering how to become a coach, check out Creative Results Management.

Related Posts:
Coaches Speak Truth Directly
How to Become a Better Coach
Coaches Create a Learning Environment

Who Are You Called to Reach?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:58:00 +0000

Understanding the people that God has called you to reach is a necessary part of the process of engaging in the mission of Jesus!

The people who live in the culture around you are most likely different than those who live around me. They have different values, behaviors, attitudes, and motivations. Their world view and beliefs are unique. Before you can reach them with the hope of the gospel, it is helpful to understand what makes the gospel good news to them.

Today I completed a week of teaching at Adelphia Bible School on the mission of the Church. We spent part of our time focused on discovering the importance of Exegeting the Culture and Incarnating the Gospel.

I gave each of the students a large Post-It® poster paper and had them draw a map of the geographic area that God has called them to reach.

Then they took another poster and drew pictures of a man, woman and child - and listed the interests, activities, values and motivations of the people who live within their mission field.

Each of the students did an excellent job of keying in on how they might reach those in the culture around them with the gospel.

6 Steps to Know Your Mission Field

1. Draw a Map of Your Community
Include major highways, streets, businesses, schools, parks, natural boundaries, landmarks and where people connect. Add details – residential areas, other churches, where you and your launch team members live, etc.

2. Pray!
Thank God for this area where He has called you and ask God to reveal His love through you to your neighborhood.

3. Evaluate Your Neighborhood
- What different kinds of people live in your area? - What attracts people to your area as opposed to other nearby options? - What is different about your area compared to those surrounding/nearby?

4. Draw Your Focus Group
Outline the body of a Man, Woman and Child on your poster paper. Using your creativity, include the unique sociological and anthropological characteristics of those within your Circle. You may choose to include: Interests and Free Time Activities, Values & Beliefs, Hopes and Dreams, Careers & Jobs, Personal & Community Interests

5. Circle three indicators that show that they are “not far from God.” (Acts 17:27)

6. Write a one paragraph description of those you are called to serve.

Today's Missional Challenge: Take some time to really get to know your mission field!

Related Posts:
Exegete Your Culture
Take a Missional Tour of Your City
Understanding the Culture
Know Your Mission Field
Invading Secular Space

Church Planting Lessons from Frog and Toad

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:16:00 +0000

Planting churches is hard work! Most church planters know this.

The Frog and Toad video "Garden Story" is a great illustration of focusing on working hard to get your church to grow. Watch the video here.

What great lessons can be learned from this short video!

This is a great video to watch with your friends and discuss the implications for trying to get your church to grow!

Frog tells Toad to plant the seeds and "quite soon" he will have a garden. When the seeds don't grow as fast as he would like - Toad gets impatient and yells at the seeds, "Now seeds, start growing!"

Frog tells Toad that the seeds are afraid to grow. He tells him to leave them alone and to let the sun shine on them, and the rain to fall on them, and then they will grow.

In an effort to get the seeds to grow, Toad tries reading to them, singing to them (in the rain), and reciting poetry to the seeds -- thinking that will help them to grow.

In an act of desperation, he performs a violin concerto, hoping that the seeds will want to grow.

Finally when the seeds grow, Toad concludes by acknowledging, "It was very hard work."

As I watch this video, I keep thinking of all the ways that church planters and pastors try to grow the church. It is important to remember that God causes the growth.

I Corinthians 3:6-7, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

The church planter's responsibility is not to grow the church. That's God's responsibility.

Church planters are responsible to make disciples who make disciples - sowing the seed of the gospel! We can't take credit for the growth and then claim what we did was "very hard work."

Today's Missional Challenge: Be patient. Remember that God is the One who causes the growth.

Related Posts:
Good Coaching Questions
Thoughts on Church Planting
Lessons I Learned Planting Lake Hills Church
Be a Lifelong Learner
Start Churches by Making Disciples

Thanks to my friend Kevin Stebbings for sharing this video with me!

Leadership is #1 Limitation in Reaching the Harvest!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:45:00 +0000

“The number one limiting factor in reaching the harvest is leadership. The future of the church is in its leaders. Any church multiplication movement that wants to multiply churches must also find a way to multiply leaders, for it will quickly run out of existing, ready-to-go leaders. Creating solid, reproducible methods for raising up indigenous leaders from the harvest will feed and sustain a church multiplication movement.”
--Bob Logan, Be Fruitful and Multiply

I have never heard a pastor say to me, "We have enough leaders. We don't need any more leaders. All we need is more followers."

Where do pastors and churches find spiritual leaders?

How are emerging leaders developed?

What is the process for raising up spiritual leaders in your church or ministry?

Who is responsible for the ongoing training and development of leaders?

10 Practical Helps for Developing Leaders:

1. Embrace a Leadership Development Process (read more)

2. Identify Necessary Qualities for Leadership (read more)

3. Consider 10 Factors in Developing Leaders (read more)

4. Determine the Kind of Leaders You Need (read more)

5. Assess Leadership Potential (read more)

6. Improve Your Own Leadership Skills (read more)

7. Train in Ministry, Not For Ministry (read more)

8. Two Things Every Leader Must Do Well (read more)

9. Stop Trading Leaders for Lessons (read more)

10. Develop a Culture of Leadership Development (read more)

Today's Missional Challenge: Don't let leadership be your limiting factor in reaching the harvest. Start developing leaders around you!

Related Posts:
Facing the Leadership Challenge
Developing Your Leadership Greenhouse
Developing Leaders

Listen More, Talk Less

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:30:00 +0000

The Seattle Times included an article today entitled "Shhh: Pope urges silence to communicate better." What a great reminder for coaches.

As Susan Scott says in Fierce Conversations, "Let the silence do the heavy lifting." New coaches often feel the need to talk. Others like to hear their own voice and assume others will too.

However, one of our best tools as coaches is using silence to communicate.

Shhh: Pope urges silence to communicate better

Pope Benedict XVI is asking everyone to quiet down.

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY —
Pope Benedict XVI is asking everyone to quiet down.

In his annual communications message released Tuesday, Benedict extolled the sounds of silence. He said a little bit of quiet makes people better listeners and better communicators by giving them more time to think about what they are hearing and saying.

And in a world inundated by Tweets and 24-hour news coverage, that precious time to think and reflect gives words greater value, he said.

"Joy, anxiety and suffering can all be communicated in silence - indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression," he said in his written message.

Benedict has in recent years used his annual communications message to comment on social media. He has urged priests to blog and Catholics who spread the faith on Facebook and other social networks to be respectful of others.

This year, his attention turned to the need to occasionally tune out the social media information overload to allow time for greater reflection. He called for striking a balance between silence, words, images and sounds.

"By remaining silent, we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself, and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested," he said.

(Read the full article).

I can't help but reflect on James 1:19 - "But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger."

I often tell coaches that listening is a gift that we give to someone. Don't you appreciate being listened to? And aren't you frustrated when someone isn't listening?

In a coaching conversations, we must be intentional and truly focused on listening. We also have to turn off our own voice to actually hear what is begin said. We pay attention to the words, tone, and body language, as well as noting the situation, emotions, and behaviors.

Excellent coaches are excellent at listening!

If you want to grow in your coaching skills - consider the Core Coaching Skills Certificate Program.

Today's Missional Challenge: Listen to someone. Truly listen to them. Be slow to speak and quick to listen!

Related Posts:
How to Prepare for a Coaching Appointment
Coaching for Christian Leaders
Coaching and Self-Awareness

3 Spheres of Personal Development

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:35:00 +0000

You are responsible for your own personal development!

There may be others in your life who will mentor, coach, guide, influence, counsel, supervise, manage, direct, correct, or confront - but ultimately, you are responsible for your own growth and development. That's the way it should be!

You have the power to choose! You can choose to grow or to stay the way you are. You can choose to ignore your flaws or shortcomings, or you can choose to take action to change.

3 Spheres of Personal Development

1. HEART: Character Formation

Ø Being = who a leader is…

2. HEAD: Biblical Formation

Ø Knowing = what a leader understands…

3. HANDS: Ministry Formation

Ø Doing = what a leader does…

This morning, I met with a young man who wants to grow as a spiritual leader. I drew this diagram on a napkin while we drank coffee and challenged him to consider specific things that he needed to KNOW, to BE, and to DO as a spiritual leader.

If you want to focus on your own Personal Development, ask the following questions:

1. What Kind of Development is Necessary? - prayerfully identify 7-10 qualities (Being), skills (Doing), and truths (Knowing).

2. Where Do You Need to Grow? - evaluate your strengths and limitations.

3. What's Your Plan to Grow? - identify specific actions to take in your personal development.

4. Who Can Help You? - find a coach to come alongside you to assist in your growth plan.

5. When Will You Start? - do it now!

Today's Missional Challenge: Make a list of the qualities, skills and truths that you'd need to possess to align with Jesus' mission. Take an inventory and get started on your personal development plan.

Related Posts:
Building Spiritual Leaders
20 Questions to Assess Leadership Potential
16 Categories for Spiritual Leadership Development

Challenge: Comment on 10 Posts This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:25:00 +0000

On Monday, January 23, I begin a week of teaching at Adelphia Bible School. I have really been looking forward to this opportunity to teach on the mission of the church!

As part of this week's teaching sessions, I am asking the students to comment on 10 MissionalChallenge.com posts and to interact with one another as they consider the application to their lives.

So I thought I'd extend the same challenge to my readers: Consider commenting on 10 MissionalChallenge.com posts this week! Here are 10 of the 512 posts that I'd recommend...

1. Cookie Jars and Church Planters (July 14, 2010)

As I work with church planters, I've seen that many of them are more interested in designing cookie jars than they are in making cookies. They spend a lot of time and effort and money on having great cookie jars. They look at other cookie jars and try to copy the best designs that they can find. They dream of having large, over-flowing cookie jars - Mega Cookie Jars. Church planting isn't about the cookie jars - it's about the cookies! (read more)

2. How Do Non-Christians View Your Community Service? (April 26, 2009)
As believers take steps to focus on meeting needs beyond the walls of the church, it's important to consider how those being served (as well as those who may observe your acts of service) will interpret your actions. It's possible that your best intentions and efforts to serve may be misunderstood. (read more)

3. Training Disciplemaking Trainers (June 13, 2011)
If you want to see a multiplication movement, switch from simply training disciples, to training disciplemaking trainers. Don’t just train leaders, train leaders who are training leaders. (read more)

4. 7 Elements of Starting Churches (February 9, 2010)
In an effort to equip church planters as missionaries, I've developed a new training model that focuses on embodying the gospel in your community and making disciples, rather than moving into a community and starting public worship. (read more)

5. 3 Simple Skills Every Christ Follower Needs (August 8, 2010)
Jesus was a disciplemaker. He started a disciplemaking movement. He not only made disciples, but He sent His disciples to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). In the 21st Century, the practices of being a disciple and making disciples aren't intuitive to Christians. Yet it should be the most basic missional activity for all believers. (read more)

6. Pastors Don't Know HOW to Make Disciples (July 20, 2010)
One of the reasons that many pastors don't personally disciple anyone is that they don't know HOW to make disciples. That's what one of my friends suggested to me in a recent email. He writes, "One of my concerns is that pastors are not personally and intentionally involved in making disciples." (read more)

7. Pre-Conversion Discipleship (March 26, 2008)
When Jesus sent His disciples to "make disciples" - He wasn't telling them to find "baby Christians" and help establish them in their faith. He intended that they would engage with those in the culture around them who did not yet believe and proclaim the Good News of the cross! (read more)

8. Developing Leaders: What Kind of Leaders Do You Want? (May 15, 2008)
"How many training events have you been to that missed the mark because they were irrelevant?" The key question we need to ask when it comes to training leaders is: "What do leaders need?" One of the best ways to get an answer is to ask them. Then provide training that actually provides what they need. (read more)

9. 4 Ways to Show Outsiders You Care (February 4, 2011)
Those outside the faith typically aren't interested in knowing what you believe. They are probably more interested in knowing how you live out what you believe. "What difference does you faith make in the way you treat me, or in the way you care for others?" (read more)

10. Remove the Queen (February 10, 2010)
Many churches overuse the Queen. What is the Queen? Too often the “Queen” is the Sunday morning worship service. Churches tend to use the Sunday service to try to accomplish everything – worship, teaching, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship. What if we could change that? (read more)

I hope you enjoy reading these posts and adding your comments.

You may also consider: Take the Missional Challenge: 31 Days to Align with Jesus' Mission!

Also - like Missional Challenge on Facebook or join Missional Challenge on LinkedIn.

Invading Secular Space

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:58:00 +0000

Martin Robinson and Dwight Smith's book Invading Secular Space challenges the Church to live out the mission of Jesus!

If you haven't read the book yet, I'd strongly encourage you to pick it up on amazon.com.

Here are some ideas from the book that have challenged my thinking about Missional Strategies:

"The church is called to share in the mission of God." p. 15

"Christianity is gradually becoming confined to the cultural margins of society." p. 26

"It can never be sufficient to constantly construct programmes designed to pull people into secular space, we have to also consider how we might invade secular space." p. 29

"The populations of the West are open to spirituality, they yearn for an experience of community that the church would like to offer but has forgotten how to model. What we see before us is not a hopeless cause but an open door for mission. We might very reasonably conclude that the Holy Spirit has been busy preparing the way for the church. In such a situation the church is called to reconsider its core life and purpose." p. 36

"The challenge for the church now is to stop thinking merely about methods to reverse decline but to reconsider the basic purpose and call of the church. To return to mission as the core raison d'être of the church will inevitably mean that the shape of the church will change. Our very failure may well assist us to return to that innovation stage of the life of the church when the church ceases to do church but do do mission." p. 56

"What is at stake here is much more than beefing up the programmes of the church so that congregations can attract more members. The challenge is not just to make the church effective in its own life and witness but to do so in such a way that the core interaction with the culture is changed." p. 59

"It doesn't take much imagination to realise that a missionally driven church requires a missional leadership to allow it to function in a healthy manner." p. 83

"...gathering people to sit and listen to somebody talk about the Bible was not the primary reason for the existence of the church, that more people, happy people, bigger budgets, more programs might not be the main reason for the existence of the church. Success by numbers was seductive." p 92-93

"...mission is not evaluated first and foremost by the growth of the church either in numbers or in power and influence but primarily by the difference the church engaged in mission makes to the world. ...The success of the institution must never be our focus but only the mission impact of what the institution of the church accomplishes." p. 94

"Once church buildings became the norm, the term 'church' and the idea of a church building became interchangeable to the point that for most people in the Western world a church is a building. Indeed to speak about the church as people seems to strike most of the population as a rather strange idea." p. 97

"The renewal of the church is not for the sake of the church but for the sake of the mission of the church." p. 102

"Christianity grew in the first few centuries, not through the effectiveness of a professional leadership, but by the patient, consistent witness of ordinary traders, soldiers, civil servants and slaves, who carried the faith with them wherever they travelled in the world. The equipping of ht saints to be active participants in the mission of God is a primary principles of mission." p. 104

"We are bound to ask the question: what would the church look like if it really did live out the grace story of its members? ...what would it look like for a church to function in such a way that the goal of church life was not merely to attract more people intro membership and attendance but to produce people that had a profound sense of their personal relationship to God, resource in Christ, and could take that reality into the world with them?" p. 107, 111

"To use the gifts of every member requires a church to structure its life around mission. Once that has happened there is no limit to the number of gifts that can be used." p. 116

"When God's people are growing in intimacy with him, we are approaching success. When God's people are fulfilling his designs for them, especially as it relates to the expansion of his kingdom, then we are approaching success." p. 156

"Good leaders are not afraid to begin something. While many can be frozen by the fear of failure, good leaders are risk takers." p. 158

"Our lives are the primary conduit that God uses to tell his story of grace to the world!" p. 168

"Our objective cannot be to 'grow' the church, but to live and give the grace found in the gospel in such a way that the environment is created for God to do what only he can do." p. 172

"Of all things that believers do, this is the most powerful, to bear daily witness through both word and deed to the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus." p. 174

"The average Western church is organized to survive." p. 178

"The collapse of a missionary hart int eh church sees a corresponding diminution in intentional strategies for reaching all people in a given area. In other words, chutes hope they will grow but fail to take responsibility for taking the gospel to those beyond the church. There is almost the feeling that it is the responsibility of the church to preach the gospel but it is the responsibility of those outside the church to come and hear it." p. 182

"In truth, the church is not the object of ministry, but is instead the instrument of ministry into the world, which is the true object of ministry of the church." p. 184

"At its best, Christianity is a lay movement. Wherever Christianity is growing around the world, whether in South America, Asia, Africa or Eastern Europe, this single characteristic is the most significant element in that growth." p. 195

"The recruitment and training of more leaders than you yourself can ever use is the key to the growth of movements." p. 201

"The purpose of the church is not to grow itself but to invade secular space with grace lived out int he lives of believers." p. 207

"Increased members do not necessarily mean increased effectiveness." p. 208

Today's Missional Challenge: Consider what God is saying to you as you ponder these quotes above.

Related Posts:
What is the Church For?
The US Church is Marginalized
The Danger of Attractionalism

Self-Evaluation: W-I-N

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:57:00 +0000

Today I completed five days training coaches in Bellevue, Washington as part of CRM's CORE Coaching Skills Certificate Program. It was a great week!

One of my co-trainers, Kevin Stebbings, introduced me to a simple approach for coaching clients to generate self-feedback using the acronym W-I-N.

What did you do W-ell?

What could you I-mprove?

What will you do N-ext time?

Three simple words:

Well - Improve - Next

Many times when coaching church planters I realize that I'm not able to offer feedback because I have not directly observed them with their teams. However, I can help the to generate self-feedback.

These three questions are a powerful tool for coaches. They allow you to increase the learning of your clients even when you are not present to observe their behaviors directly.

I'd encourage you to try it at the beginning of a coaching conversations. Even if you aren't in the role of a coach - these W-I-N questions can be useful as you lead your team, work with individuals on your staff, or even seek to self-evaluate your own performance.

As you have heard - "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Today's Missional Challenge: Take some time to ask yourself these W-I-N questions as you reflect on this past week.

How's Your Church Making Disciples?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:15:00 +0000

How are you and those in your church involved in making disciples who make disciples!?

Recently I surveyed a number of church planters and asked them to describe their church's primary disciplemaking method. Here's what they reported...

Taylor, Alex and Joey - serving together
at Summer Safari!

1. We are discipling our missional community leaders and training them to walk through life with the people in our missional communities.

2. Small groups.

3. One on one mentoring using the Purple Book Discipleship guide and Life groups.

4. Organic personal times with folks in small groups, one on ones, preaching the word, shepherding care, living mission in community, serving those less fortunate.

5. We meet weekly for 3-6 months in Discipleship Groups. Each DG has one discipler and 1-3 disciples. They cover our 5 core values: the gospel, communion with Christ, community with one another, commission to the world, and multiplication. Under each core value we cover several subtopics. Each disciple is required to do daily devotions, reach out to their oikos, and complete weekly assignemnts such as readings, memory verses, and real-life assignments. At the conclusion of the DG, which is determined by the discipler, each disciple is evaluated and if he/she is ready, they are helped to recruit and lead their own DG, preferably with the people they have been reaching out to.

6. Teaching youth about Christ and his Church and having them teach others...

How is your church or missional community

actually making disciples who make disciples?

Tell us in the comments below...

Today's Missional Challenge: Consider how you will join Christ in His mission of making disciples who make disciples!

Related Posts:
5 Lessons for Disciplemakers
Disciplemaking Strategies: T4T
Disciplemaking Strategies: Bible Storying
Make Disciples to Plant Churches
Video: This is Discipling

5 Lessons for Disciplemakers

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:36:00 +0000

I feel compelled to keep on emphasizing this truth:

"We don't start churches to make disciples.

We start churches by making disciples."

I planted a church in 1990 in Southern California and now I train and coach church planters. As I've worked with new churches, I'm more convinced that churches need to be started by disciplemakers.

I wrote the book Six-Word Lessons to Discover Missional Living to encourage every believer to align with Jesus' mission. If you are called to start a church or be part of a church planting team, I want to encourage you to keep the main thing the main thing: the mission and message of Jesus!

Here are five of the 100 lessons from the book which focus on Disciplemaking:

Lesson 5: Discipleship starts with non-disciples, not Christians.

Too often people think "discipleship" is for new Christians. When Jesus said, "Go and make disciples," He didn't mean to find those who are already followers and help them follow better. He sends us to make disciples of non-disciples.

Lesson 8: Key to multiplying disciples: obedient Christians.

Jesus told His disciples to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples who... (Matt 28:19-20). You're a disciple of Jesus today because of Christians who obeyed Jesus. There'll be more Christians and more churches when more Christians obey Jesus.

Lesson 9: Making disciples is not an option.

Obeying the Great Commission is not optional. Jesus expected His disciples to "make disciples." And that's what they did. So how is it that so many Christians treat Christ's commands as optional? Why is disobedience tolerated in so many churches?

Lesson 11: Jesus' method was to multiply disciplemakers.

Jesus was a disciplemaker. He launched a movement of disciplemakers. Are you part of the movement? Are you a disciplemaker? How are you multiplying disciplemakers?

Lesson 15: Reproduce disciples to the 4th generation.

Neil Cole notes, "Don't call it multiplication until it reaches the fourth generation." Anything prior to that is addition. Unless those whom you are discipling are actually discipling others who are making disciples, you are not multiplying.

Today's Missional Challenge: Consider how to apply these disciplemaking lessons to your life. How are you making disciples who make disciples?

Learn more about Six-Word Lessons to Discover Missional Living - click here.

Order on amazon.com.

Related Posts on Six-Word Lessons to Discover Missional Living.

3 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Instead of calling tech support recently to address issues with my new wireless router, I decided to try interacting with chat support first. It was a difficult experience.

After quickly describing my problem, I hoped to be told what I needed to do to fix it. Unfortunately, my first attempt was unsuccessful. So, I logged in to the support site once again and described my problem. The chat support person proceeded to instruct me what I needed to do to fix the problem.

Every thing I was instructed to do I had already done. The chat experience was a huge waste of time!

I was irritated that the person on the other end of chat support hadn't asked more questions to discern my issue before trying to solve my problem.

When they sent me an online survey to provide feedback on my interaction they asked: What can we do to improve your experience with Chat Support?

I was only too eager to offer feedback.

This got me to thinking about the process of improvement. Most leaders want to become more effective. But how do you actively pursue improving your leadership skills?

3 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills

1. Be Intentional - Identify specific areas where you know you need to improve and devote yourself to practicing those skills.

2. Ask for Feedback - Find ways to get feedback from others that will help you improve. Don't be afraid to ask - "What can I do to improve your experience with my leadership?"

3. Engage with a Coach - Leadership Coaches come along leaders to help them discover ways to improve and specific actions to take to move forward. (For more on coaching - click here).

What steps will you take this week to improve your leadership skills?

Today's Missional Challenge: Evaluate your leadership effectiveness. Ask for feedback from others. Determine steps to improve.

Related Posts:
Take an Inventory
Evaluate Your Missional Orientation
The Power of Coaching
Building Spiritual Leadership
Be a Lifelong Learner

Embrace a Leadership Development Process

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:36:00 +0000

J. Oswald Sanders describes the process of qualifying as spiritual leaders:

Spiritual leaders are not made by election or appointment, by men or any combination of men, nor by conferences or synods. Only God can make them. Simply holding a position of importance does not constitute one a leader, nor do taking courses in leadership or resolving to become a leader. The only method is that of qualifying to be a leader. Religious position can be conferred by bishops and boards, but not spiritual authority, which is the prime essential of Christian leadership. That comes often unsought to those who in earlier life have proved themselves worthy of it by spirituality, discipline, ability, and diligence, men who have heeded the command: “Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.” and instead have sought first the kingdom of God {and His righteousness}. Spiritual leadership is a thing of the Spirit and is conferred by God alone. When His searching eye alights on a man who has qualified, He anoints him with His Spirit and separates him to his distinctive ministry… (Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, pp 18-19)

In every generation God’s people are given the opportunity to respond to His invitation to be a distinct people used to demonstrate and proclaim hope in the midst of their generations’ present crisis. In each generation, God calls out individuals who will take up the reins of leadership.

On my sabbatical in 2000, I sensed the need to intentionally develop spiritually qualified board members. It seemed that every year as we sought nominations for board members, I was pulling teeth to get anyone to serve. In the fall of 2000, I invited six men to join me in a monthly four hour training session. We shared a meal together and prayed for one another. We also discussed an assigned book and I taught a lesson on spiritual leadership. This process bonded us together and was invaluable in preparing two of these men to serve as deacons and one to serve as an elder the following year. I realized that I had to be involved first hand in the leadership formation process at our church.

And yet, I can’t be the only one concerned about leadership development. As we continue to grow as a church, all leaders must embrace the responsibility for leadership multiplication. Just as all disciples of Jesus ought to be disciple-makers, so all leaders ought to be mentoring leaders.

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” This process of leadership multiplication won’t just happen in your church. Spiritual leaders are developed over a lifetime and they need the input of godly leaders on the one hand, while continuing to invest in the mentoring of the next generation of church leadership.

An intentional process of leadership development that strengthens the local church’s leadership base must be initiated with non-leaders who are faithful followers of Jesus. And this process must continue through identifiable phases that equip emerging leaders with ongoing ministry assignments and responsibilities.

Learning to lead won’t happen in the classroom, but in the context of ministry.

Today's Missional Challenge: Commit yourself to the process of both developing as a leader, and developing others to lead!

Related Posts:
Spiritual Leadership
Understanding Leadership
20 Questions to Assess Leadership Potential

Are You Aware of Your Assumptions?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:14:00 +0000

Your attitudes and actions flow from your assumptions!

My friend and colleague Kevin Stebbings recently shared this insight with me. Kevin explains,

"If someone is only working on their actions or only working on their attitudes, they will see some change. But they won't see the long-term change they want unless they are working on their assumptions."

I often find that many church planters that I coach are focused on their action steps and want my help in determining what steps to take next to get a new church started. However, it is necessary to explore their awareness of their assumptions before concentrating on what they need to do next.

"An assumption is something that is accepted

as true or certain without proof."

Consider these assumptions:

Being friends with non-Christians can hinder your spiritual growth.
Disciplemaking starts after a person becomes a Christian.
God will love me more if I do more for Him.
This city is too hard to reach with the gospel.

What are your assumptions regarding God? or regarding the church?

Are your assumptions true or false? How will you become more aware of the validity of your assumptions?

Today's Missional Challenge: Examine your assumptions regarding Christ and the church.

Good Coaching Questions

Questions & Answers: Starting a Church

Coaching and Self-Awareness

SOAP Journaling: Application Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:44:00 +0000

SOAP Journaling is a great way to study the Bible and seek to apply it to your life. Whether you are using the SOAP method in your daily time alone with God or in a group, it's important to not only read the text and observe what it means. It is also critical that you discover how to apply the truth to your life.

In Living by the Book (amazon affiliate link) by Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks, they emphasize bombarding the text you read with questions. This is a good approach when you are making OBSERVATIONS, but it is also true when it comes to your APPLICATION.

Here are 9 Application Questions you can ask whenever you come to the Word:

Is there an example for me to follow?
Is there a sin to avoid?
Is there a promise to claim?
Is there a prayer to repeat?
Is there a command to obey?
Is there a condition to meet?
Is there a verse to memorize?
Is there an error to mark?
Is there a challenge to face?

Today's Missional Challenge: When you read Scripture, focus on what it means and what God wants you to do in response. Consider using these questions to focus your application!

Becoming a Self-Feeder

Understanding the Bible

Infantilism

For more on SOAP Journaling - click here.

Quote: God is a Missionary God

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:54:00 +0000

God is a missionary God and He has sent the Church to participate in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself. That mission is the purpose of the Church on this earth, and the message is the good news of the kingdom. Missional activity encompasses the redemptive mission of Jesus. Just as Jesus was sent to seek and to save what was lost, the Church is sent to seek and to save what was lost. -- Dr. David DeVries

Today's Missional Challenge: Align your life with His redemptive mission.

Related Posts:
Quote: The Church in Mission
Quote: The Relationship Between Church and Mission
Quote: The God of Mission
Quote: Don't Bash the Bride
Quote: Sent By Jesus

For more missional quotes - see Wikiquote: Missional

Disciplemaking Strategies: Training for Trainers (T4T)

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:37:00 +0000

A discipleship revolution emerged in a densely populated corner of Asia as believers faithfully followed Jesus as obedient disciples, passed on the gospel, and discipled others they led to faith. At last count, more than 1.7 million people had been baptized and more than 150,000 churches started. This movement is known as Training for Trainers (T4T) because every disciple is expected to train others.

You can read about it in the book Training for Trainers (Kindle Edition - affiliate link).

T4T is an all-inclusive process of training believers over the course of 12-18 months to witness to the lost and train new believers to form reproducing discipleship communities generation by generation.

T4T Goal: Multiplying generations of trainers and churches – at least four generations and beyond.

Disciples of Jesus are learning to live out the twin call to 1) follow Jesus, and 2) fish for men (Mark 1:17). They see people in one of two categories: lost and saved. If someone is lost, witness to them. If someone is saved, offer to train them to make disciples.

Key Disciplemaking Activities:

Look for Persons of Peace – spiritually prepared people.

Presence – lovingly bring the presence of God to them
Power – cry out to God to miraculously reveal Himself to them
Proclamation – give clear message of salvation (Gospel + Call to Commitment)

Witness to five people every week. Sow the gospel broadly to find Persons of Peace.

Get to the Point. (Don’t ask, just tell.)
Get them to Lostness.
Get to the Gospel.

Do whatever it takes to fill your weekly (or bi-weekly) schedule with as many training groups as possible.

After leading someone to faith in Jesus, include them in a T4T group...

Session One: WHY – WHOM – HOW

A new believer needs to walk through this WHY-WHOM-HOW session within minutes or hours of salvation

Why? Cast Vision – Why has God saved you? To reach you and your household
Whom? Make a name list of their oikos and prayerfully prioritize it
How? Give them a gospel bridge (e.g. testimony) and a gospel presentation

Provide adequate time to practice it and set goals with prayer

Session Two and Beyond: Training Trainers

These three parts (or three thirds) are integral to developing trainers

First Third: (Looking Back)

The goal of this time is to evaluate how the trainers did while apart, celebrate together and encourage them that God can build a movement through them.

Pastoral Care
Worship
Loving Accountability
Vision Casting

Second Third: (Looking Up)

The goal of this time is to look up to God for new direction by studying a new lesson or Bible study.

New Lesson (give enough Biblical content to obey and pass on) - Use "SOS”

o Say: What is the passage saying?

o Obey: What should we obey from this passage

o Share: Who is someone we can share this message with?

Final Third: (Looking Ahead)

The goal of this time is to prepare the trainers to implement the things God has been teaching them – evangelism, discipleship, training others, starting a group, etc.

Practice the Lesson
Set Goals and Pray for One Another

CRITICAL FOR REPRODUCTION – Some activities are more important to build multiplying generations of disciplemakers. These four are most critical:

Loving Accountability
Vision Casting
Practice the Lesson
Set Goals and Pray for One Another

If pressed for time – don’t leave out these four activities, or you will end up with a traditional Bible Study and no reproduction. Cut down the content before cutting anything else. You only need to give enough content to obey and pass on!

“If you want real obedience-based discipleship, avoid one of the chief traps: Never give an assignment or goal unless you plan to ask about it at the next meeting. Failing to ask about it is the fastest way to kill obedience-based discipleship.”

You may introduce a short discipleship curriculum (6-10 lessons) but long-term disciplemaking must focus on inductive Bible study – ask questions of the text and learn together from the Holy Spirit.

Today's Missional Challenge: Try the T4T approach!

Related Posts:
Bible Storying
This is Discipling
Life Transformation Groups (LTGs)
Discipleship Diagram
Start Churches by Making Disciples

For more posts on Disciplemaking - link here.

7 Support Raising Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:26:00 +0000

I always wanted to be a missionary (since I was a teenager) but I never wanted to raise support! When God led us six years ago to commit ourselves to joining OC International to serve as missionaries and to accelerate church planting movements, raising support was not on my mind. It was only after I responded in obedience to God's calling that I began to consider the challenge of raising 100% of our support (including our monthly income, insurance, pension, ministry expenses, travel, etc).

One of our first support raising events

Recently, some good friends of ours who are planting a church in Long Beach have started the process of raising support. This caused me to reflect on our experience. If you are in the process of raising support, I cannot predict how your friends (potential donors) will respond to your appeal, but I'd like to share some learnings from our experience as we began raising support.

First, I thought we could raise all our support need in six months. After six months, we'd raised about 50%. This was great! But it was only half of what we needed. Whether you are raising a large amount or smaller amount, be realistic about the length of time it will take. Learn from others. Be patient.

Second, while we raised 50% in six months, it took us 18 months to raise the next 40%. I'm not suggesting it will take that long to reach your goal. Just don't be surprised by the timing. Keep trusting God and His care for you and your family.

Third, churches had a much longer process for committing to our support. This was a big surprise. One church wouldn't start giving until we were actually moving to Seattle. Whether you are moving near, far or staying where you are, don't be surprised if the commitment process is slower with churches.

Fourth, many of the people I expected to give didn't and those I thought couldn't did. God will definitely surprise you by those who join your team! Don't predetermine who cannot support you.

Fifth, ongoing communication is important. Keep sending updates and prayer requests and praises to everyone who is interested in what you are doing. You never know what God may use in someone's life that compels them to join your support team. Tell lots of stories!

Sixth, raising support was much more challenging for me personally than I expected. Don't be intimidated by asking people to join your support team. Relating to potential donors has become easier as I ask them to consider whether God wants them to support us or not. He is our Provider! We are trusting Him to move people to as a channel of His provision.

Seventh, celebrate every gift and every giver! No matter the amount, thank God and thank the person for their contribution! Pray regularly for your donors - and ask them how you can pray for them!

We are so grateful for the individuals and churches who contribute monthly to our support! We are completely dependent on their faithful and obedient giving to accomplish the calling God has for us as missionaries.

I have to confess that I'm still learning in this area. I'm not great at support raising. I'm still learning and feel that I have a lot to learn. But I'm trusting God and that's a great place to be - dependent on Him to meet our needs.

"And my God will supply all your needs

according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

"Let us see that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways and seek to please and glorify Him in everything, great and small. Depend upon it, God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supplies." J. Hudson Taylor

Today's Missional Challenge: Consider how God may be leading you to be a channel of His resource to meet the relational, financial or physical needs of a missionary! Whatever He tells you to do, do it!

Related Posts:
Discover God's Calling
OC International
Join Our Monthly Support Team
CBC: Supporting in Mission

Passion for Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:48:00 +0000

What's your

passion?

(besides good coffee)

Watch this short video as my colleague in South Africa, Barbosa Oliveira, shares his passion! (43 seconds)

Barbosa:

I'm passionate about cities, neighborhoods, countries, districts, states being transformed by the power of the gospel with every church in every small community being a beacon of light. Healthy churches multiplying, saturating the places with the message of the gospel. For that, we need to train pastors, train leaders, lay people that can do the job and spread this message like a wildfire wherever they are. That's my passion!

What are you most passionate about? What compels you to action?

My passion is to accelerate exponential disciplemaking movements

that transform America and beyond!

Share your passion in the comments below...

Todays' Missional Challenge: Discover your passion and pursue it! Spend time in prayer asking God to increase your passion for ministry!

Related Posts:
The God of Mission
A Missional Charge
Make Disciples to Plant Churches

My 500th Missional Challenge Post!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:19:00 +0000

This is my 500th blog post!

I started blogging in June 2006. When you read my first post Finishing Well, you'll understand that I started blogging as I began the transition from serving as pastor of Lake Hills Community Church which we planted in 1990 to serve as missionaries with OC International.

Over these five years, blogging's been an outlet to share my thoughts and musings on missional living, church planting, coaching, disciplemaking, leadership development, exegeting culture, movements, and SOAP journaling.

In reflecting on my experience as a blogger, I have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with people whom I've never met that have read my blog and been challenged in some way toward greater alignment with Jesus' mission. I'm always surprised when I meet someone and they tell me, "I've been reading your blog." Maybe all the hours spent writing new posts is having an impact.

Just today I got a message on facebook from someone I've not yet met who told me he had "discovered it and added it to my blog feed about a week ago." This made me smile.

I decided for my 500th Blog Post that I'd like to share:

5 8 Lessons I've Learned Blogging

1. Daily blogging requires discipline. Several times I've committed myself to write and post daily. For me, this has been very rewarding. I realize that I can now write in advance and schedule when to post, but I still like trying to write what is fresh to me at the time.

2. It's healthy to take a break from blogging. In my efforts to blog consistently, at times I've felt pressure to keep posting. After writing 500 posts, I realize that I've been fairly consistent and I've given myself permission to take a break. (In fact, the second half of 2011 I rarely posted and this break has renewed my focus on blogging in 2012.) Frankly, if you don't have something to say, don't post anything.

3. Paying too close attention to blog stats is a distraction. There are a lot of ways to track what interest people have in what you are posting: comments, unique visitors, repeat visits, subscribers, etc. For me, I've found that focusing on writing good content is more important than focusing on your stats.

4. The posts I like the most aren't necessarily the most read. When I write something I believe will help people, it's disappointing at times when it's not read by many people. However, you can never know what the life of a post might be. Some things I've written several years ago have found new life and been tweeted or posted by others. Just focus on good writing and allow yourself to be surprised at who discovers it.

5. Keep you blog simple and uncluttered. When I first started I added all kinds of widgets and links and had three columns so I could include more stuff that I thought was interesting. I realized that all the extra stuff made it difficult for people to actually see the content. Simple is better.

6. Learn from other bloggers. I've discovered a lot about blogging by reading blogs and observing what I like about them. Then I've tried to apply these observations to my blog. I've also enjoyed reading ProBlogger - I don't have time to implement all the ideas I've read, but I've benefited much from how my thinking has been expanded.

7. Use social media to share your posts. I've linked my blog posts to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. This has introduced others to my blog and allowed them the opportunity to interact with my content.

[ 8. Always proofread before you hit post. Even today I missed something before posting - makes me laugh! I had written 5 Lessons but actually posted with 7. Proofreading helps. ]

I'm not a professional blogger. I'm not ready to quit my job to invest myself full-time in blogging. I enjoy coaching and training church planters too much! However, I have found blogging to be a great way to share what I've been learning with others. I hope you find Missional Challenge to benefit you.

If you haven't taken the 31 Day Missional Challenge - I hope you'll take the time to discover it.

I'd also invite you to subscribe to The Missional Challenge Newsletter.

Finally, I want to thank those who are subscribed or follow Missional Challenge!

Today's Missional Challenge: If you like what you read, feel free to comment or like or +1 or share with others!

Related Posts:
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Lifelong Learning and Blogs
7 Missional Posts
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If You Want to Start a Blog

Also - consider adding a link to Missional Challenge to your website or blogroll!

The Missional Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:02:00 +0000

How is your life aligned with the mission of Jesus? How are you engaging those in the culture around you with the message of the gospel? This is the challenge facing every believer!

Speaking the language of the culture has always been the key to success for the church. But in recent years, the culture has become increasingly complicated. Creating a meaningful connection with the next generation requires more than painting the old fellowship hall in a hip new color. In some cases, it means rethinking our whole calling to ministry. It’s one thing to add a contemporary worship service. But it’s another to truly comprehend the church’s role in bringing the Gospel to life for an entire culture. (Ben Ortlip, “The 7 Languages of Culture,” Catalyst Groupzine, p 12)

This is a Challenge!

Every believer has been sent by Jesus with the gospel in community to the culture for the sake of the King and His kingdom. The challenge, therefore, is for every follower of Jesus around the world to embody the mission everywhere they go!

Mission is not just a program of the church. It defines the church as God’s sent people. Either we are defined by mission, or we reduce the scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church. Thus our challenge today is to move from church with mission to missional church. (Guder, ed, Missional Church , p 6)

Here is the Missional Challenge:

Every believer and every church aligning with the mission of Jesus!
Every believer equipped to exegete his or her surrounding cultural context and to contextualize the gospel in that context!
Making disciples who make disciples who make disciples who keep on making disciples!

Today's Missional Challenge: Embodying Jesus' mission everywhere you go!

Related Posts:
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A Missional Challenge
Seize the Mission of Jesus

Sign up to receive our complimentary Missional Challenge Newsletter!

Go. Be. Do. (2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:24:00 +0000

Each year our family gets together at the beginning of the new year and shares where we want to go, who we want to be, and what we want to do over the next twelve months. Over the years we've called this our "Go. Be. Dos." Several times during the year, my wife will send us a copy of our list with a reminder to reflect on how far along we've come.

Go. Be. Do.

GO - Where do I want to go this year?

BE - Who do I want to be this year?

DO - What do I want to do this year?

Last year I posted my list on my blog. It was great to reflect on which of the things on my list I'd accomplished, as well as the the factors that kept me from completing all of them.

Here is my list for 2012:

GO:
1. Fun place for 25th Anniversary (Aug 22)
2. NYC for Doug's Graduation (May 25)
3. London with Deanne for ICF Conference
4. South Africa

BE:
1. Live more on mission
2. Dependent on the Holy Spirit
3. An excellent coach
4. Disciplined
5. Generous

DO:
1. End 2012 fully supported
2. Engage partners for Puget Sound Multiplication Initiative (PSMI)
3. Blog Daily - expand online content distribution
4. Exercise regularly - Gold's Gym 3x/week
5. Payoff most of remaining debt!

What things have you dreamed

to Go+Be+Do this year?

How committed are you

to pursuing these dreams?

ABC Time

Welcome 2012

Take an Inventory

Disciplemaking Strategies: Bible Storying

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:18:00 +0000

The Bible Storying method is an excellent disciplemaking strategy. It's based on the reality that "even if people like learning through reading, reading by itself is not the best way to move information from the head to the heart." (Real Life Discipleship, p 156)

One of the best things about Bible Storying is that it keeps the Bible central to the process of making disciples who make disciples. Jim Putman, pastor of Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho, notes, “We believe that the Bible is the best curriculum available, but we also believe that having trained leaders with the Bible in their hands is God’s best way of making disciples.” (p. 157)

If you are looking for a simple, reproducible method of disciplemaking that places a high value on the authority of Scripture, utilizes the Bible as the curriculum, and affects people at a heart level, consider Bible Storying.

Here's how it works...

1. Choose a story set from the Bible that is relevant (OT to the Cross, The Gospels, Book of Acts, etc.)

2. The group leader learns one of the stories or assigns someone to learn the story. (Learn so the story is told without reading it, but not word for word.)

3. While the storyteller tells the story, the group reads along to see if the storyteller has missed anything.

4. When finished, the storyteller or leader will rebuild the story, pointing out anything that was missed.

5. The leader often asks someone to tell the story back to everyone without reading. (No one knows who will be asked, so everyone pays attention.)

6. Once the story has been told, rebuilt, and told again, the group leader asks questions to draw out the important truths in the story. For example:
a. What new things did you discover in the story that you did not know before?
b. What did you learn about God?
c. What did you learn about people?
d. Which person is most like you in the story?
e. What will you take away from this discussion?
f. What will you do with what you have learned?

7. Each person identifies application points for their own life.

Bible Storying gives every believer an opportunity to engage in the disciplemaking process. You will quickly discover that you don't have to be an expert to tell a story. By simply telling the story, asking questions, and committing to this process - you can reproduce disciplemakers!

8 Benefits of Storying
1. It helps people know the Bible.
2. It helps recruit leaders. (Storytelling is part of the human experience.)
3. It is better for real learning.
4. It better arms people for service.
5. It helps people disciple their kids.
6. It helps leaders assess where people are spiritually.
7. It keeps small groups from being boring.
8. People get to know each other.

Today's Missional Challenge: Use Bible Storying with a small group of friends. Discuss the benefits of this strategy for disciplemaking!

Related Posts:
Making Disciplemakers
Pre-Conversion Discipleship
Disciplemaking Starts with Non-Disciples
The Key to Multiplying Churches
Cookie Jars and Church Planters

If you'd like to learn more about how you can use Bible storying as part of your disciplemaking strategy, visit www.reallifeministries.com and www.averywillis.com.

Also - discover more about Real Life Ministries approach to multiplying disciples and small groups in Real-Life Discipleship by Jim Putman. (amazon affiliate link)

Discover God's Calling

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:54:00 +0000

God is calling every believer to align with His mission!

At the end of December 1984 I attended the Urbana Missions Conference sponsored by Intervarsity. It was a life changing experience for me as I gathered together with thousands of college-age adults who felt God’s call on their lives to engage those beyond the reach of the gospel message. For me personally, the speakers, workshops, conversations, prayer times, and worship together sharpened my focus and commitment toward church planting. At that time, I knew little about church planting; yet I knew that God was calling me to be involved in starting churches.

Two years later I spent the summer in the Philippines on a missions trip and I had the opportunity to serve alongside two Filipino pastors who had started churches. This experience focused my attention toward training nationals to start new churches. I didn’t know where God was calling me. I just knew that I was to be training nationals to start churches.

Training church planters in Rome, Georgia.

Now, more than twenty-five years later I am fully engaged in assessing, training and coaching church planters! This is the focus of my life. My mission field is the United States and my mission is to accelerate multiplication movements across the US and beyond!

How is God calling you?

How are you aligning your life with His mission?

Where is your mission field?

Today's Missional Challenge: Align your life with God's mission! Spend some time with God seeking confirmation of His calling on your life.

In 2011, I was blessed to assess, train and coach over 100 leaders to start new churches! God continues to provide opportunities to partner together with churches, denominations and networks to fuel the multiplication of disciples and churches that change our world. As 2012 begins, I invite you to pray with me that God would allow me to equip over 250 workers to start new churches by making disciples!

Related Posts:
Wanted: Missionalists
My Vision of Training Church Planters
Helping Fruit Grow...On Other People's Trees

A Village Community - From Darkness to Light

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Dave DeVries) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:35:00 +0000

My friend Chris Fukunaga moved to Long Beach, California six and a half years ago to start a simple church called A Village Community.

It's a small urban church located in the epicenter of downtown Long Beach. They meet in and run 24/7 an art gallery called The Creative Design Lab. There they hold Sunday worship gatherings, offer mid-week Bible studies, and also do a variety of service projects and art show outreaches to the community.

Chris has been a student of the culture he is trying to reach. Just like good Bible study requires exegeting the text, Christ has exegetes the culture in order to reach those around him with the gospel. He reflects,

What I and others found here was what we believe is a peek into the future of American spirituality. We are now seeing a shroud of darkness fall on Christianity in America. There have been scores of scholarly studies, books, and conferences over the past several decades that affirm this one basic spiritual reality: that at the closing of the 20th-century and the dawn of the 21st-century, the church in America is...declining. This is fact from a pure numbers standpoint.

...Today, "informal" and "independent" forms of spirituality are rising to take the place of traditional religion, It is our belief that the final frontier 21st-century religious battlefields are for the American Christian church will be non-traditional forms of spirituality.

Long Beach is a greenhouse for non-traditional spirituality. She is secular humanist ("I can do great things without God."), New Age ("I am god energy already."), and gay ("I worship myself as a god."). It is these aforementioned expressions that represent spirituality without Christ. It is in this sense that Long Beach matters as what might be a sneak peek into the beliefs, morals, and values that will represent the primary future alternatives to the Christian church in America.

God is at work through His church to bring those who are living in darkness into His marvelous light. Check out this amazing video of what God is doing in Long Beach, California through A Village Community - click here or view below. (7 minutes)

Please pray for A Village Community as they bring the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ into dangerous, dark places. Chris and his wife Lorraine are missionaries in their neighborhood. According to Chris, "Before we go abroad to share the gospel, are we not summoned to go across the block first? This is what we are wrestling with, trying to live out."

Today's Missional Challenge: Be a student of the culture around you. Discover how to bring the light of the gospel of Jesus into the darkness. Be the light!

Read more about A Village Community in these previous posts:
Missional Leader's Summit
The Murder Jesus Project

Related Posts:
5 Reasons Why Christians Don't Engage the Culture
Engaging Indian Culture
The US Church is Marginalized