Tag Archives: church planting movements
Church Planting Discipleship Evangelism Missions

3 Things That Increase Bold Evangelism

By on Sunday, June 4, 2023
bold evangelism

“I have tried and tried to get the believers in our fellowship to share the gospel, but they are fearful, shy and just don’t seem able to witness. Bold evangelism just isn’t happening!”

This is not unusual to hear from the church planters I am coaching. What can we do to increase boldness and help the disciples we work with to overcome their fears?

3 Things That Increase Bold Evangelism

1. Receiving the Holy Spirit

The classic biblical example is Peter in Acts Chapter 2. When Jesus was being tried, three times he denied even knowing Him. He certainly wasn’t witnessing at that point! But after he received the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he stood in front of thousands and boldly proclaimed the gospel with authority and conviction. If your church members aren’t witnessing, pray for them to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. It will make a world of difference.

2. Practicing

Many people lack confidence to witness. They are embarrassed when they stumble over their words or don’t know what to say, how to answer questions, etc. After teaching them how to share their testimony, make sure to take time practicing it in a safe environment with other believers. Let them share it several times and get feedback. Do the same when training people to share a Creation to Christ story. Practice builds confidence and helps them to overcome fear of failure. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship

5 Things That Destroy Discipleship Movements

By on Sunday, March 12, 2023
Death Factors

Some months ago I wrote about 6 Factors That Get Your Movement Moving.  It’s always good to look at positive things we can do to see greater fruit and growth!

It is also important to be aware of what kinds of things kill a Disciple Making Movement(DMM).  Sometimes we call these “Death Factors.” These are things to be extremely careful about.  While seemingly normal or innocent, if your goal is a multiplying movement, they will definitely “sink your ship.” When these things start to happen, you can be sure that the movement will stop growing.  If you are just getting started, the movement can die before it every really starts.  There are other “death factors” to consider, but here are five of the most common.

1. Bringing Outside Funding Into The Movement

In Acts 20:34-35 Paul says,  “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.  In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”  Paul went the extra mile to model tent making. He gave an example of locally generated funds. We need to train local believers that it is more blessed to give than receive.  We must protect the movements we start from the huge dangers of foreign funding. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Missions

Starting Strong with New Believers

By on Sunday, February 19, 2023

Starting strong with new believers is important. Unfortunately, many times we don’t do our discipleship job well as people come to Christ. Here is an example.

You shared the story of Jesus. At the end, you asked the question – Do you believe that what I’ve been sharing with you is true? Do you want to receive the free gift of salvation Jesus offers you today? They respond with a yes! Woohoo! Praise God! You pray with them introducing them to Jesus for the first time. He becomes their Lord and Savior. Things are going well. You are thrilled at what is happening in their lives!

What Is Next For New Believers?

It is at this critical point when the “slow down” factor often happens in our disciple making. This is not the time to reduce our engagement with this person. Not if we want to see a disciple making movement take place. Sometimes we don’t take the next steps because we don’t know what to do. Or perhaps we are just relieved that they are now “saved.” We feel we can relax just let them grow slowly by attending church.

A Critical Time

Immediately after someone receives Christ is as critical a time in their spiritual life. It is the same as the first month is for a newborn baby. We would never think of bringing a child into the world and then telling the baby, “Now come once a week to this meeting we have and you will get the food and care you need.” Would we? Of course not! Yet this is exactly what often happens with new believers.

If we train people in evangelism but don’t train them in how to disciple new believers, they don’t know what to do next. At this point, many simply invite the person to start attending church with them. That is all the follow-up they do. This is a major loss of opportunity for that person and for the movement. If we train on this issue and make a few key changes, we can see much greater multiplication!

There are a few critical things we must train our disciples to do with new believers.

new believers
Share the good news with boldness
1) Get them to immediately start sharing their story (testimony) with others.
2) Start meeting with them regularly to teach the basics of what it means to follow Christ.

Jesus Told New Believers To Immediately Share Their Testimony!

In Mark, chapter five, we read the story of Jesus casting many demons out of a man. The man begs Jesus to let him stay with him. How did Jesus respond?

“Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'”(Mark 5:19)

Immediately after this man met was set free, the Lord instructed him to begin evangelizing others. If Jesus felt new believers were ready to start ministry immediately, then we too can follow that model!

Teach Simple Baby Lessons

In addition to encouraging new believers to witness, start meeting with them often. They need to quickly learn some basics. Ying Kai, of T4T, calls these the Baby Lessons. There are different foundational discipleship tools you can use. They need to be simple and reproducible. Make sure you get the new believers to start praying, receiving from the Word of God daily, and connecting with their new spiritual family. For this to happen, those who led them to Christ will need to meet with them often. Generally speaking, I’d recommend a few times a week in the first few months.

Obstacles- Time and Training

What are the biggest obstacles to quality discipleship for new believers? They are training and time.

  • Training. We often train disciples to evangelize but don’t train them in how to disciple new believers. It is not hard to train them in this. Equipping in this way will make a huge difference in releasing multiplication. Give trainees a simple system to do this. A system makes it easier and less time-consuming than creating from scratch. (Sign up with the form below to learn how to use the oral culture friendly “Baby Lessons” we recommend).
  • Time. People with full-time jobs and families, don’t have a lot of free time to follow-up on those who respond. Encourage them to give adequate time to care for those who receive Christ. Show them how to train the new believers to witness to their friends and family. This may mean they will have less time for evangelism. That is okay.

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    Church Planting Discipleship

    Disciple Making Urgency and the Kingdom of God

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
    disciple making movements

    Whether it is a cricket match between England and Australia or two teams playing in the Super Bowl- we like to pick a side. Who are you cheering for? The same is true in many other aspects of life. Disciple making urgency or transformational discipleship? Which is more important? Put more simply- what matters most? Getting people saved or transformed?

    Both-And Not Either-Or

    Many Kingdom priorities are not either/or issues. Instead, they are very much both/and. Jesus is both God and man. We must both love God and also love our neighbor. Our human tendency, however, is to put ourselves into one camp or the other on theological issues.

    The Urgency to reach the lost versus transforming disciples in Disciple Making Movements (DMMs), is a both/and issue. We can not emphasize one and forget the other.

    note-2762271_1280

    Apart from a relationship with Jesus and accepting Him as Savior, unreached people are on a path toward a literal Hell.

    and

    Discipleship that changes lives and brings the Kingdom of God to Earth is a critical part of the gospel message.

    We don’t get people saved just to give them a “get out of Hell” card and then think our work is done. They are not saved “from” something alone. They are also saved “to” something- a new life with Jesus here on Earth!

    We have to fully embrace both of these things to see Disciple Making Movements that lead to the transformation of individuals, communities, people groups, and nations.

    How I Accepted Christ- Is Hell A Real Place?

    My own personal testimony connects with both of these important theological truths.

    I was born in a missionary family and grew up in Africa. My mom and dad taught me from childhood about Jesus. I learned about God’s story from the time I was a baby.

    When I was about four years old, I remember asking my mother a question. Is Hell a real place? My mom stopped whatever she was doing and took the time to talk to me.

    “Yes, it is. But, you don’t have to be afraid of Hell. Put your trust in Jesus, ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. You can know for sure that you will go to Heaven when you die,” she explained to me. After a bit fuller description of the gospel message, she asked me, “Do you want to invite Jesus into your life to be your Savior?”

    I wasn’t sure. Off I went to play. I kept thinking though. After some time I returned with the same question for my mom. “Is Hell a real place?”

    This happened a time or two until finally I knelt beside my mother’s bed and prayed to invite Jesus to be Lord of my life. Though I was very young, I still remember the sense of joy that entered my little heart. I knew I was saved! My sins were forgiven and Jesus was now my best friend!

    From that point so many years ago, I’ve been sure that if something happened to me and I died, I would spend eternity in Heaven with Him. The critical journey of discipleship, however, has been lifelong.

    Lake Of Fire And The New Earth

    In Revelation 20:15 and 21:1 both Hell and the New Heaven and Earth are mentioned together. That is interesting. Remember, chapter breaks and verses were added later.

    “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” Rev. 20:15-21:1 NIV read more

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    Church Planting Generational growth

    5 Steps for Moving from 1st Generation groups to 2nd, 3rd and Beyond

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
    generational growth in disciple making movements

    How Do You Get Generational Growth In Disciple Making Movements?

    They were a faithful and passionate team of local workers. They shared the gospel often and led people to the Lord. They worked hard. They had started 10 1st generation groups of disciples. Not too bad by most peoples’ standards. Generational growth in disciple making had not yet begun though.

    They were stuck at 1st generation (1G) growth. They only knew how to start groups themselves. They didn’t know how to get the believers in those groups to start new groups. Sound familiar?

    Is This Your Team? Or A Team You Are Training?

    As we began to work with them, things began to change. Today, they have reached 6th generation growth and the movement has grown by about 400%!

    What do you do to get from seeing only 1st Generation growth in disciple-making to seeing many generations?

    5 Steps To Increase DMM Generational Growth:

    1. Share A Clear Vision For A Disciple Making Movement.

    A Clear Vision for a DMM must be understood and owned by the existing churches and believers or you will find it difficult to see generational growth. Do all the believers understand what a Disciple Making Movement is? Do they understand why a DMM will reach more lost people than if you are just a traditional church? Have they prayed and received this as their own? Have you shared scriptures about how the gospel spread and multiplied in the book of Acts?

    Regularly share the Vision for a Movement until it takes root in their hearts.

    Then share the Vision over and over each time you meet.

    2. Train Everyone To Share Their Testimony

    Use a simple method to train everyone to share their testimony in 3-5 minutes. I like to use Ying Kai’s 3 steps from T4T.

    1. Before I met Jesus-what was my life like?
    2. How I met Jesus- briefly who shared with me and what they shared.
    3. After I met Jesus- what changed and how was my life different?

    After you introduce this, get them to practice it several times. Then set goals for who you will share your testimony within the coming week.

    In one place, a church planter did this and one of the believers immediately turned around and led about 50 people to Christ!

    3. Filter and Focus On The Obedient Disciples

    After you train them on how to share their testimony, practice friendly accountability. Watch and see who is doing what they learned.

    Whenever you teach a new skill and set goals, ALWAYS check and see who actually did what they said they would do. Celebrate and affirm those people and invest more in them. These are the people with the potential to start new groups!

    4. Lead Them On A Clear And Simple Path Forward To Starting A New Group

    Almost everywhere we train, we find that the natural tendency when someone leads a friend to the Lord is to want to bring them to the church (or house group) that they are already a part of. If you want to see second-generation groups start though, you can’t do that. Instead, you have to get them to start a new discipleship group through that new person who is believing.

    For that to happen,

    they have to gain confidence that they know what to do when they begin to meet that person to disciple them read more

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    Church Planting Coaching

    Coaching and Disciple Making Movements

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
    coaching disciple making movements

    Coaches can be scary! I remember one I had when playing American baseball as a kid. He had a good heart, but he intimidated us a lot! Just knowing he was watching me try to hit the ball made me strike out. Coaching in disciple-making movements, however, shouldn’t be frightening.

    Similar to me, many people have bad experiences with coaches or teachers. These so-called mentors have been harsh, have scolded them or expected more than they were capable of. Even worse, some have shamed them when they failed. These negative experiences affect how we think about coaching. It doesn’t have to be like that. Coaching is a very fruitful and helpful practice in Disciple Making Movements (DMMs).

     

    Having a good DMM coach makes a major difference. It can be a major factor in whether or not you see a movement get started and be sustained. Coaching provides friendly accountability. This helps us move toward our goals step by step. Good coaches assist us in thinking about how to overcome obstacles so we don’t get stuck.

    Why Peter Needed A Coach

    His name was Peter*. He was charismatic and dynamic. His church members loved him and he knew how to inspire and motivate people. He had an obvious natural gift. Passionate about reaching his own people group, he was a man of extraordinary faith. Growth in the number of disciples had been happening, but it was not consistent. People would come and people would go. He was stuck in addition rather than multiplication growth. Though deeply committed, he didn’t know how to see his work become a multiplying movement.

    Then, by God’s grace, he got a DMM coach and started attending regular Just In Time Trainings. His movement suddenly sprang into multiplication growth! Rather than only adding new fellowships and believers, they started seeing generational growth. In the following year, thousands believed and more than 15 new teams were launched.

    As Peter had regular coaching and accountability, his progress became more consistent. He overcame challenges he faced and addressed them in proactive ways.

    He also received encouragement and affirmation from his coach. The coach helped him stay on track and not drift in his focus. The result? The Kingdom of God grew. Lives and communities were transformed as people met Jesus! Glory be to God!

    That is the power of coaching in disciple-making movements!

    “Without consultation plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” Prov. 15:22 NASB

    3 Specific Ways DMM Coaches Help

    1. Listen & Encourage.

    A good coach spends a lot of time listening to you share what is happening in your disciple-making work. This verbal processing helps you gain perspective and see what is happening yourself as well. As with Peter, they also provide encouragement and affirmation.

    Working with the unreached can be a lonely ministry. We don’t always have people who understand what we are trying to do and who believe in our vision. A coach will encourage you and help you celebrate small victories along the way.

    2. Ask Questions & Help You Consider Options.

    A coach asks skillful questions that allow you to consider the pathway forward. It helps you pause from the fast pace of ministry, take a moment and think about what you are doing and why. This is extremely valuable.

    We all get stuck at different points on the journey toward seeing a sustainable disciple making movements. We hit obstacles and plateaus where growth slows down or seems to stop completely. A coach helps you think through options to move forward.

    Coaching in Disciple-making Movements

    Don’t stay stuck. You don’t need to. You may need help to get moving again. That is the job of a DMM coach.

    3. Provide Accountability for Action Steps & Goals.

    I am a pretty goal oriented person. I set goals and I like to fulfill them. Usually, I do my action steps.

    In spite of this, without friendly accountability, when I get busy it’s easy to put off doing what I know is needed. Knowing that I am meeting with my coach and he/she will ask me how much progress I have made on my action steps, motivates me to do what I need to do.

    A good coach never scolds when we fail to complete all our action steps. Instead, they ask, “What would you like to do about that now?” This helps us refocus and get back on track.

    Do you have a Disciple-Making coach? Have you been meeting with them regularly?

    Even those of us who coach and train others, need to have our own coach too. Coaches who are also coached are better coaches!

    Make an appointment with a coach today! It’s time to move forward and through those obstacles and places where you are stuck.

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    Church Planting Discipleship Missions Women in ministry

    Women in Disciple Making Movements- Why Not Women?

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
    women in ministry

    There is a simple way to almost immediately double or triple the number of people you are reaching with the gospel. Do you want to hear how? Most people would! Here it is. When you properly understand the key role of women in disciple making movements, your disciple making efforts will take a leap forward.

    The tremendous potential of mobilizing and releasing women is a blind spot for many people. There are various reasons for hesitation to release women in ministry. This article will not address them all. Instead, I hope to shine some light on this topic, share my story, and take a look at scripture. The goal is not to convince you of a particular position on this topic. I hope, instead, to give you a key to growing your movement rapidly. By considering changes in how you release women, many more lost people come into the Kingdom of God.

    Women In Disciple Making Movements- Key Players

    Female disciples can serve as evangelists, disciple makers, trainers of disciple makers, and as very key players in disciple making movements. Jesus certainly saw this! So did Paul. Modern-day apostles like Loren Cunningham of Youth With A Mission have also lifted up women to important roles. Doing this has always brought an increase in spiritual harvest.

    women in disciple making movements

    Women played key roles in the movement that started in Jesus’ time. We find them playing a key role in the new churches described in the book of Acts as well. Historically there are also many instances where the release of women in ministry was key to the rapid growth of the church in a nation or people group. China and Korea are just two examples.

    If you are serious about seeing thousands of unreached people become disciples of Jesus quickly, you can not afford to ignore the vital need for women to be active in disciple making movements. They can and should serve in key roles such as; evangelists, disciple makers and even leaders of a growing movement.

    The Struggle To Embrace My Call & Gifts

    My husband and I both felt a call to church planting among the unreached when we were in our twenties. Obeying God’s call, we moved to Asia and began to learn a local language.

    In our early years of ministry, we were still figuring out who we were. We experimented with many different types of things. We were discovering our spiritual gifts.

    As the years passed, it became clear that God had given me the gifts of teaching and leadership. I also began to flow in a gift of faith. My deep passion and desire for pioneering work in new areas and for work with the unreached made me wonder if I may have an apostolic gifting as well.

    My husband’s gifts also became more clear as we worked in various roles. He is very strong in the gift of helps and hospitality.

    Wait! These were not the typical giftings that our denomination normally ascribed to men and women. Were we wrong to use these gifts? Should we try to be different or more “normal”?

    I then studied 1 Corinthians 12 and was especially struck by verses 7 and 11. Verse seven said that it was God who gave gifts to each person. Verse eleven emphasizes how the Spirit is the One who distributes these gifts as He determines.

    “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”- 1 Cor 12:11- NIV

    So, if God had given me the gift of leadership, the gift of teaching and a passion in my heart to pioneer New Kingdom work in new places among the unreached…who was I to tell God that wasn’t allowed!

    With God’s help, I embraced the gifts He had chosen in His wisdom to give me. I knew then that women in disciple making movements had a place. They had a spiritual inheritance to claim.

    These gifts may not fit the cultural and stereotypical norms in my denomination and I may be a bit “out of the box” for some people.

    We decided that it was more important to us that we:

    1) be ourselves and

    2) faithfully use the gifts God had decided to give us,

    than to stay in the box and be who other people wanted us to be.

    The Unreached Are Worth Our Sacrifice

    Had we not made that decision as a couple, we may have been a bit more comfortable. But there would be hundreds who would not have been trained as disciple makers, movements that hadn’t been launched, and unreached people who would not have met Jesus and experienced His love transforming their lives had we taken that path. It was not an easy choice to make and there were sacrifices and challenges along the way. God chose me to bear fruit, and He chose women in disciple making movements to play a key role. I’m so glad I said, “Yes!” to His calling.

    The Church Must Lead The Way

    There are many cultures where women are oppressed by society and culture. Jesus did more than any other historical figure to uplift and restore women to their place in the Kingdom. Sin and Satan put women under oppression, Jesus came to set them free.

    The church must lead the way in releasing women to fully develop and use the gifts and talents God gives them. read more

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    Church Planting Faith Missions

    Want to start a DMM? Heal the Sick!

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022

    Healing the sick is an important part of a disciple maker’s life.

    What? Heal the sick? How can I do that? Only God can heal the sick! True. Not true. Wait! It can’t be both. Or can it?

    There are several foundational things needed in disciple making movements. Obedience to God’s Word is one of them. In DMM training, we often focus on obedience to Christ’s command to share the gospel or be baptized. These are vitally important! If movements are built only on miracles, they tend to be shallow and often don’t see generational growth. At the same time, Jesus gave us an important model. He healed the sick and trained His disciples to do the same.

    Jesus said, “Heal the sick.”

    It is interesting that Jesus told His disciples not just to pray for the sick, but to heal the sick.

    8 “Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”– Luke 10:8 & 9- NASB

    Yes, it is God who heals, but He does this healing work through people. He heals through me and you. We heal people by His power, not our own.

    Every disciple making movement around the world, be it a historical or modern-day one, has been characterized by signs and wonders- including the healing of the sick.

    It is part of the way God works. He confirms His Word through signs and wonders. He demonstrates His love and power by doing miracles.

    An Entire Village Believes

    Let me tell you about Jeremiah*. I met him when I was teaching in a training program. The topic was “God’s heart for the Lost.” He was a very simple man. When he was about 30, he put his faith in Christ and slowly taught himself how to read. He had only studied in school up to Class Two.

    As I taught that week, he listened keenly. I shared about God’s desire that all would be saved. At the end of the week, he committed to take the good news to a nomadic unreached people in his nation that were hunters and gatherers. He moved to where they lived and began to build relationships with people from this group.

    They listened to his message but they were not ready to receive. He told stories from the Bible of how Jesus healed the sick and set people free from demonic power. They listened but didn’t want to commit to this new “foreigner’s” religion. Then one day it all changed.

    Many of the villagers were suffering from sickness. About fifty families had become ill. Jeremiah went to talk with the village chief. Expressing his concern, he offered to pray to Jesus for healing. As he laid his hands on the chief and his family, strange things happened. A type of flying insect came out of the skin of the man and others in the village. Once this happened, the entire village recovered fully.

    The chief was convinced. Within a few weeks, he called a meeting and the entire village decided to put their faith in Jesus. If He loved them and could heal them, they would give their lives to Him. On one day more than 50 adults obeyed Christ’s command and were baptized! A movement was born!

    We read stories like this and get excited. We want these things to happen in our people group. Yet, we still feel cautious.

    What makes you hesitant to pray for the sick?

    healing

    3 Things That Block The Release Of Healing

    1. Unbelief.

    This sin isn’t easy to identify. For me, it isn’t that I don’t believe God can heal. It is that I doubt whether He will heal through me. In the book “The Essential Guide to Healing,” Randy Clark writes about “Unbelieving believers and believing unbelievers.” How often as believers, we slip into unbelief! I know I have been guilty of this! My words say I believe, but my actions show something different.

    The good news for DMMs is that often the unreached around us are more quick to believe the Word of God than we are! Crazy, isn’t it?

    When we share scripture and stories of what Jesus did when He was here on earth and tell them God’s word is true today…they believe us! God loves the faith of new believers and seekers. He often releases miracles in response.

    Could you be struggling with unbelief?

    2. Prayerlessness.

    Jesus’ disciples tried in Matthew 17 to cast out a demon, but they could not. Why? Jesus told them that this kind only came out through prayer and fasting. It isn’t a magic formula- I pray more and God will heal more. It is a principle to follow. As we spend more time in prayer, in God’s Presence, connected to the vine, abiding in Him…demonstrations of power flow out of us. He lives in us more fully. His works flow out of us more freely.

    Could it be that you need to pray a bit more?

    3. Timidity.

    Sometimes we are afraid to take a risk of faith. We are hesitant to ask someone if we can pray for them. This is especially true when you are praying for something more than a common cold! You see someone in a wheelchair. All kinds of reasons enter your mind as to why you shouldn’t offer to pray for them. So we don’t. Sometimes even when we feel a prompting by the Holy Spirit to do so, we ignore or dismiss it.

    2 Timothy 1:7- “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”– New Living Translation

    Could it be that fear is greater in your life than faith?

    Ask God to take away your fear and fill you with His Love, His Power, and the self-discipline to obey His command to heal the sick around you.

    Your act of risky faith may catalyze a DMM in your village, city or area! It has happened in many other places.

    Why not where you are? Why not today?

    *Name has been changed.

     

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    Church Planting Faith Inspiration

    The Struggle to Believe for Disciple Making Movements

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022

    Do you ever struggle for faith that disciple making movements are possible? Or possible in your place? Or possible through you? I certainly have. I’m not proud of it, but it is true.

    Sometimes in what Michael Hyatt calls the “messy middle” we stop believing. The “messy middle” is a place between the vision’s beginning and it’s realization. It’s the place where we wonder if our dream is possible.

    My Struggle For Faith

    There was a long “messy middle” for me. It was 20 years from when I heard about DMMs (back then we spoke of multiplying daughter and grand-daughter churches) and the time I first saw 4th generation groups. On that journey, I often wanted to quit. I regularly doubted it could happen.

    struggle for faith

    I remember saying, “This isn’t a fair thing to ask people to do. For the vast majority of people, movements are just a dream. It’s like asking a junior league baseball team to attempt to win the World Series.”

    Stuck In Unbelief

    Let’s just call it what it was. I was stuck in the sin of unbelief. I didn’t believe God was able to do this through me or through the people I was training. Thank God, He took me through a process and convicted me of my unbelief. He renewed my faith. Faith not in myself, but in Him.

    Jesus was never soft with his disciples regarding the sin of unbelief. He regularly rebuked them for their lack of faith.

    Stubborn Refusal

    I recently re-read the account of His resurrection. The words “stubborn refusal to believe” jumped out at me.

    9 “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”

    12 “Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”

    14 “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”

    Mark 16:9-14- NIV

    They were presented with eyewitness accounts that He was alive. Still, they refused to believe.

    We may have heard of Disciple Making Movements in other places. Perhaps we have even heard first-hand accounts of them taking place. Still, we doubt. Still, we are skeptical.

    “They must be lying or exaggerating the facts,” we say. “That works in China, but it doesn’t work in my country.” or “That happens with tribal people, but not with Buddhists.” On it goes.

    We don’t recognize that what we are doing is giving in to unbelief. We stubbornly refuse to believe in God’s power to bring about His will.

    Does this sound harsh? I don’t mean it to be.

    Recognizing this sin in my life was the key to unlocking what God wanted to do through me. My heart is for you to experience the same kind of breakthrough. Victory over the struggle for faith starts first in our hearts.

    Repent Of Doubt (Skepticism)

    Are you convinced that God wants to save the Lost? Do you know He desires that none would perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)? In spite of this, do you still find yourself cynical or skeptical? Does it seem highly unlikely that thousands of your people could be swept into the Kingdom in a short period of time? Dear one, that is called unbelief. It is a struggle for faith.

    Name the problem and repent. I had to.

    Even now, stop and ask God to forgive you for your lack of faith in Him. Ask Him to replace your skepticism with hope. Ask Him to fill you with faith in His ability to do what is impossible through you.

    Make Faith Declarations

    Then, begin to make declarations of faith. Pray the promises God gave when you first started to work among these people or in this place. Praying scripture will build your faith. Pray them as declarations over your people group…over your life.

    These are some of my favorites. I go back to these when I face a struggle for faith.

  • Phil. 4:13- “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”…even start a DMM Lord!
  • Mark 9:23 “All things are possible for those who believe”…even seeing my Buddhist neighbors come to faith in you!
  • John 4:35 “I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.” That is my people group, Lord. They are ripe for harvest today.

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    Church Planting Discipleship Missions

    What Makes a Church a Church?-Part 1

    By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
    church what is it

    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 biblical.

    Church – What Is It?

    In the New Testament, the original Greek word for church is ekklésia. It means those who are “called out of the world to God.” To the Greeks it meant an assembly of people.*

    There are two primary metaphors used in the New Testament to describe the church.

    These are 1) the Body of Christ and 2) the Family of God. When the church functions as a body and a family, it begins to look like what the Bible describes as a church.

    THE BODY OF CHRIST

    The church is made up of people contribution different gifts.
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