Tag Archives: Discipleship
Discipleship

Do Disciple Making Movements Produce Mature Disciples?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
critics of disciple making movements

Ever heard the phrase, “Never listen to your critics?” It’s popular in business circles. I get it! Critics of Disciple Making Movements abound. We shouldn’t waste time defending ourselves, arguing with those who disagree with us. Why not invest that time in evangelism and disciple making instead?

We never want to come under a spirit of controversy. But, Solomon said in Proverbs 15:31, “If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise” NLT. Sometimes we ignore critics and sometimes we consider what they say. It is good to know how to filter criticism. We should not be confused by it. We must learn how to weigh it with grace before the Lord. One of the major criticisms of Disciple Making Movements is that its discipleship is weak and ineffective.

For the most part, this is simply not true. Instead, we find the exact opposite. Normal principles and practices of Disciple Making Movements lead to deeply transformed lives. Disciples in movements grow in both maturity and the ability to lead others to follow Christ. 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. read more

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Church Planting Missions Training

What is Just In Time Training?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022

“Just in Time Training” was an unfamiliar concept for me. Why are they not applying what I taught them? We taught how to create a set of stories for discipleship in the Orientation Program, but they are just preaching. They seem to have completely forgotten everything they learned in the training! Argghh!!

Have you ever felt frustrated that you invest a lot in training people only to see little field application happen?

I sure was! Then I put into practice what is called Just in Time Training. Just in Time Training (sometimes called Micro-Learning) is when you give people only what they need to use immediately. You train in small learning segments.

You start with where they are and train them step by step.

  • Do they already have five 1st generation groups? What do they need to see those multiply?
  • Can they share the gospel effectively? Maybe they need help with choosing a gospel story?
  • Are they just beginning to learn the language?

This style of training is in contrast to giving them in one long training for everything they will face over many years as they work to start a DMM.

I first caught a vision for disciple making among unreached people when I was on a missions trip in college. I then went through a 4-year program to learn how to do church planting. It was excellent. I had great teachers and had excellent material that was “cutting edge” for its time. read more

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