Evangelism

What Does It Mean to Be Bold and Faithful in Witness?

What does it take to become the kind of person who launches movements? Last week I wrote about twelve important characteristics we must develop in our lives. Becoming the kind of person who is bold and faithful in their witness was #2 on my list. For some, this is incredibly obvious. For others, it’s uncomfortable and difficult.

A few days ago I met with someone for a coaching call. They told me, “A brother I am working with is excited about DMMs and wants to train many others in this. The problem I see, though, is he rarely shares the gospel with those in his neighborhood or life.” Probing a bit further, I discovered a common problem. Many of us are better theorists than we are practitioners.

You may be more gifted in training or coaching than in evangelism. Anyone seeking to launch a movement, however, must develop a lifestyle of bold and faithful witness. We can not coach others in something not active in our own lives. This doesn’t mean this has to be your primary gift. You’ll be far more effective, though, if it becomes your regular practice. read more

How to Respond to Indifference & Opposition

opposition

I feel a bit sad,” she said. “I’ve been trying to share with Muslim neighbors about my faith. Now they are avoiding talking with me! I’m not sure what to do.” I could hear the frustration and concern in her voice. When you begin to share boldly with those around you, opposition and resistance are sure to come.

How will you respond?

Abundant gospel sowing sounds great and is an important principle of DMMs. It is clear that bold witness is a characteristic of every Disciple Making Movement. There is a price to pay.

Three Responses

As you become more active in sharing your faith, there will be three main responses from those around you. The first is indifference. Some people will show little interest in your message. Uncomfortable with the bold way you share your love for Jesus, they may distance themselves from their relationship with you. You might notice they even avoid you if you talk about your faith too much. This is especially true in Western contexts, but can also be true in the East.

The second response is opposition. You may experience overt attacks, especially from those of other religious persuasions. One movement leader had people burn down his house when he started reaching out to the Muslims in his area. In other contexts, the opposition could be more subtle. Religious leaders may hear you are actively sharing Christ with the members of their mosque or temple. They will often tell their people to not spend time with you. They fear the influence you may have on those who are part of their community. read more

Will You Focus on the Living or the Dead this Easter?

dead

The news has been full of death statistics of late. New York Post headlines from April 8th read “Coronavirus kills 1,000 in NYC in just 36 hours.” Not good news! On April 5th, the death toll in Spain had crossed 12,000 dead. How are we to celebrate Easter in such a time?

If there ever was a time for us to proclaim the incredible news of Christ’s resurrection it is now.

Jesus is alive. He conquered death and the grave. By His stripes, those He suffered on Calvary, we are healed (Is. 53:5). The coronavirus has no grip on Him…nor on us! What a wonderful message we have to share.

And God’s people are sharing it! There is evidence that Disciple Making Movements are growing in this season. Many are coming to Christ. It is time to press in and make disciples like never before.

Accepting Christ Online

One of the Nepali church planters I previously coached shared this. “A Nepali brother in Malaysia accepted Christ online yesterday. He was having trouble sleeping. We prayed for him and shared the good news.” Others from Africa report similar online responses to the gospel. It’s important that these people are followed up and trained as disciple makers. We don’t want to just see “conversions.” We want to see multiplication! read more

How an Ordinary Man Launched a Movement of Disciples

ordinary

Stories are powerful and each person’s story unique. I love to listen to the testimonies of the “ordinary” people I coach and train. It’s amazing how God has been at work in each individual’s life bringing them to the place they are today.

A few days ago as I sat and listened to a movement leader’s story. I was once again touched by the power of God to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

He was not outwardly impressive. His English was decent, but not fantastic. The ways God has used him to multiply disciples…that was pretty great though!

Troubled by Demons

Peter* had studied hard to earn a Bachelor’s Degree. Wanting to improve his employment, he pursued further study. As he studied late into the night, his wife and young son slept.

He was half asleep at his desk. Suddenly, his son began crying loudly. “Somebody is cutting me! Save me! Save me!

Alarmed, Peter tried to calm his son. Thinking his wife might be able to help, he roused her. To his distress, she too began crying out in a loud, strange way. He was in serious trouble! She too screamed, “Help me! Save me! read more

Quickly Finding and Activating Persons of Peace in a New Area

entry strategy

“How do I get started with DMMs? I’m finding it difficult to find a Person of Peace. I can’t even find someone ready to have a spiritual conversation!” my trainee said. The frustration in her voice was notable. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting an Asian movement leader who has seen incredible fruit. Their movement is now well over 20,000 believers. He shared an excellent entry strategy. As my trainee asked this question, his example came to mind.

To find a Person of Peace, or several at one time, you have to cast your net wide. You can’t “fish” with a pole…you need a big net. The Asian movement leader’s example demonstrated how he did this.

Agricultural Training Opens Doors

This is how I heard him describe what he did.

Several years ago, a person from another part of the country came to my area. He was struggling to see his agricultural work succeed. Knowing I had some expertise in this area, he asked me to come to his area to train. He was connected to the government, an employee in the agricultural department. read more

4 Easy Steps for Sharing Your Testimony

testimony

I played basketball in high school and college. Our coach made us spend hours on the fundamentals. Dribbling, passing the ball, shooting layups…over and over again. “Fundamentals win games,” he said with confidence. I felt bored. I wanted to learn how to spin the ball on my finger or shoot a fancy shot. Nope. Fundamentals were what he drilled us on. In starting Disciple-Making movements, there are some key fundamentals. One is the skill of learning to share your story (testimony), quickly and with clarity.

This vital skill must be taught and practiced again and again. It is one of the important building blocks of discipleship. Train every disciple to do this. Keep training them until you see them sharing their testimony boldly and often. Don’t stop training on this until you see them training others (they have led to Christ) to do the same.

No matter what your disciple making method is, you can’t afford to ignore the power of sharing a simple, clear testimony of how God changed your life. This is true whether you are using a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) approach or a Training for Trainers (T4T) approach. Sharing your story is a crucial skill for disciple makers. read more

The Importance of the Invitation

invitation

You’ve got to ask if you want to make the sale. It’s basic business practice. After presenting your product, you ask them to buy. A salesperson who never asks the customer to commit will not make sales. Though what we are doing is not business, the principle applies. If you never ask people to commit to following Christ, you will make very few (if any) disciples.

We can not let fear prevent us from asking people to commit. After sharing a gospel presentation, testimony, or praying for someone, you must ask. You must extend the invitation.

Jesus always invited people to make a decision.

He was not hesitant. Christ didn’t worry about building a relationship with them first for a few years. He met them once, demonstrated the Kingdom in word and deed, then said, “Follow me.” The choice was theirs.

When sharing the gospel or building relationships around spiritual conversations, we must be bold. Give people a clear invitation to respond. Let them decide to take a step toward Christ.

Invitation on a Sickbed

I visited him in the hospital. When I entered the room, he glanced over at me weakly. Approaching his bedside, I greeted him and we chatted briefly. I asked if I could pray for Jesus to heal his body. read more

Do you Assume They Are Closed to the Gospel?

closed to the gospel

It sounds so easy on the mission field to share the gospel! It is harder here,” said a young woman attending one of our talks. She went on to explain. The people around her didn’t want to hear the gospel. She was afraid of offending them. So, she kept quiet. Inside, she longed to share the good news of Jesus. Outwardly, she found it difficult. The key issue was her belief that the people around her really didn’t want to hear the message she had to share. This false belief can paralyze us in evangelism.

Why should we overcome our own fears and inhibitions, give up our precious time? If they won’t listen anyhow?

It may be true that some do not show interest or even resist your message. That doesn’t mean everyone will feel that way. In fact, sometimes those who reject you are actually hearing more than you realize. Evangelism and faith must work together.

Start From a Position of Faith

We can assume that God is working in people’s lives around us. As we share the gospel, we begin from a place of faith, believing that He is already at work in this person’s life. He loves them. He created them. He has been preparing them to hear what we have to say. read more

Short-Term Teams, a Blessing or a Curse?

short-term teams

Long-term, pioneer, frontier missionaries can get a bit cynical. We’ve seen lots of problems. Many things have gone wrong over years of service. It is easy to start to see the negative, rather than the positive in both people and situations. Seeing young people God sends your way on short-term mission teams, as God sees them, is important. Finding ways to help them be a blessing, as well as being blessed, is even more vital.

Not a New Phenomenon

Short-term teams are actually not a new invention! Pioneers like Loren Cunningham (and others) led the way in their acceptance in modern missions. Yet they are a very ancient (and Biblical) strategy.

The Apostle Paul went on many short-term trips! We call them his missionary journeys. He took young people he was training along with him….people like Timothy, Silas, and John Mark. Some of those experiences were good. Others were not so good.

Don’t completely disregard the benefits of short-term volunteers. Instead, consider the gifts and help they can bring. read more

4 Kinds of People in Your Disciple-Making Group

4 Kinds of People

Green people?  Are we talking about Martians?  Nope.  In every disciple-making group there are different kinds of people.  Check out this video to find out more about the four kinds of people in every group.  Read further to understand how to help red and yellow people become green or blue!

4 Kinds of People
4 Kinds of People in a Disciple-Making group

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Red People – come to the group faithfully but don’t obey.

Yellow People- come to the group, share the gospel, but don’t disciple others.

Green People- come, share the gospel and disciple others. They don’t train them to start new groups though.

Blue People- do all four things. They come, they share, they disciple and they train others to do the same.

It is the blue people who drive the movement into multiplication!

Jesus Talked About 4 Kinds of People Too!

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” read more