“Nobody likes you. It would be better if you and your Jesus had never been born. We hear that you are all cannibals–you eat the flesh of your children in your sacred meetings.” This was said by Caecilius to his friend Octavius in the 2nd century. Pretty significant cultural misunderstanding about Christianity, don’t you think? …
Do you long to see more multiplication through your discipleship training? Are you tired of only seeing a few new disciples each year? The last two blogs talked about Keys for seeing DMMs released. The first keys were Key #1: Praying With Faith and Key #2: Perseverance. There is another crucial key to releasing a …
Many people struggle with the idea of reporting progress on church or ministry growth. Reporting in disciple making movements can be controversial. Recently, I had a meeting with some people to bring a better understanding of this issue. There was a lot of confusion related to this topic. Emotions ran high. Why report and track? There …
In the next few blogs I want to share some keys to seeing breakthroughs that lead to a Disciple Making Movement. The first one is praying with faith. Let’s start with a funny story to illustrate. A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. …
The New Year approaches! One of my favorite moments this Christmas came the day after. I sat for a few hours beside our Christmas tree. It was early morning. I found myself reflecting on the goodness of God in my life over this past year. I allowed those moments to surface in my memory- the …
“Is my home group a church?” you may ask. “We don’t have a pastor and we are only a few families that meet together.” “Does time of day and day of the week have to do with if we should call this a church? Can a church meet on a Tuesday night and still be …
When people typically think of church, they think about a building, pastor, pulpit, church members, and a weekly meeting. Sadly, this is what the definition of a church has become. Even Merriam-Webster defines the word church as “a building for public and especially Christian worship.” This definition, though a commonly used one, is sadly not …
Last week we looked at the questions related to being ready for baptism. Today I want to look at another important baptism question. Are They A Believer? *Can someone be considered a “believer” or “disciple” if they don’t desire (or are not willing to take) this the step of obedience? To find answers to this …
Church definitions can be confusing. As a result, this question “What makes a church a church?” is an important question to ask! Last week, in Part 1, we looked at the two primary metaphors in the New Testament used to describe the church; the Body of Christ and the Family of God. Today we want …
Here is some water! Can you baptize me? Ever been asked this question before? There are some big questions around the issue of baptism. Who can baptize others? How do you know if someone is ready to be baptized? Can someone be considered a “believer” or “disciple” if they don’t desire (or are not willing …