Church Planting

Church Planting

An Investment in Heaven- My Tribute to A Kenyan Movement Leader

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Leonard Kyalo

This heart is heavy today. My Kenyan brother, Leonard Kyalo, went home to be with Jesus yesterday. He was a dear friend and someone I’d coached regularly for the past three years. Instead of my normal blog, this is a tribute to his life and a challenge to join me in raising up hundreds to take his place.

Social Media Friendship

I first met Leonard on Twitter. It was early in my learning stage on how to use social media to spread the message of Disciple Making Movements. We chatted about his vision to reach his nation and multiply movements there. I sensed sincerity and a hunger to grow in his understanding of DMMs. read more

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Church Planting Generational growth

What Matters Most? Church Traditions, NT Practices, or the Commands of Christ?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
church tradition

Can a layperson or woman baptize? Are baby dedications important or should we baptize the babies of Christian parents? Do pastors need to wear a tie when they preach? These and many other questions we face have a lot to do with church traditions. When we go to the Word of God, on many of these things, we find little (if any) specific guidance.

How do you sort out what to do in your Disciple Making Movement effort? Is it helpful to follow your own denominational tradition? Or do you need to embrace a different way of doing things if you want to see a DMM? read more

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Church Planting Evangelism Faith

How to Cooperate With God and Release Miracles

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
miracles

A Disciple Making Movement trainer I know uses this question with potential seekers. “If God were to do a miracle for you today, what would it be?” Let them answer, then pray for whatever they said. Watch and see what God will do. This simple evangelism strategy makes room for God to show off His power and tremendous love.

It’s a somewhat scary strategy for some.

When we pray for a miracle, we can feel like we will be evaluated based on what happens. If God does something unusual, great. If not, then we wonder if we will be discredited somehow. People might think we are dishonest, fraudulent promoters of kooky religious ideas. Or they may reject us as just plain weird. Others might feel we are trying to be someone great, but aren’t able to deliver the goods. read more

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Church Planting Strategy Training

Healthy Church Quiz

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022

How do you evaluate the health of disciple making groups and house churches you’ve started?

Like healthy plants, healthy churches reproduce and grow. If you aren’t seeing the kind of growth you hope for, adjustments may need to be made.

Evaluate!

Take this short survey (5 to 10 minutes maximum.) Evaluate the health of your disciple making group, church, or overall Disciple Making Movement.

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Take-Aways

What did you learn from the quiz about healthy churches and movements? What action will you take?

Share in the comments below or on the DMM Frontier Missions Facebook group. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Missions Prayer

Prayer- A Leader’s First Ministry

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
prayer and leadership

A Disciple-Making Movement (DMM) leader’s most important job is to intercede for those they lead. Leader’s who accomplish much, do so on their knees. It is in the place of prayer that we hear His voice, gain direction, strength, perspective, encouragement and where ultimately our real breakthroughs happen. Prayer in leadership is essential.

Prayer Can Not Be Delegated

The work on our knees can not be delegated to others. It is the responsibility of every Christian leader to pray themselves. We need to lead the way in prayer. That is not to say that we don’t also mobilize and raise up many others to intercede. We do. We must. There are others who may spend more actual hours in prayer than we do, or who may carry the work of intercession in very significant ways. As leaders, delegation is an important skill. This is one that you cannot delegate away though. read more

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Church Planting Leadership

Movement Leaders Move in the Power of the Spirit

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Spirit

Growing up in a Pentecostal tradition, as a teenager, I enjoyed debating theology with Baptist friends. We had long, somewhat heated discussions, about what it meant to be “Spirit-filled.” Looking back at our arguments with the wisdom of years, I see we were both right. This is not an either/or issue, nor is that question worth fighting about. These kinds of debates take our focus off the lost. Instead, let us simply agree that all Disciple Making Movement leaders must learn to move in the power of God’s Spirit. read more

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Church Planting Faith Strategy

Should Movement Catalysts Help People in Financial Distress?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
financial distress

It is tricky. How do you love people well, without giving to their financial needs? Our words must not be empty. We don’t want to say “I’ll pray for you,” and do nothing practical to help those in true financial distress. At the same time, if we give in the wrong way, we create unhealthy dependency. This is a death factor in movements and can destroy the chances you will multiply rapidly.

As you reach out to the least, last, and lost, inevitably you will encounter those with desperate needs. These needs are emotional, physical, and spiritual. A disciple maker needs to avoid burn-out by setting boundaries on what they will do for those they minister to. How much do you give? When do you give? How do you give? These are vital questions to answer as you attempt to start Disciple Making Movements among the unreached. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship

How Can Local New Testament Churches Challenge Us Today?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
New testament church

In previous posts, we looked at the characteristics of Jesus’ movement. We also looked at the movement the apostles continued in Jerusalem. As the movement developed, we see what local assemblies (house churches) looked like. This adds to our understanding of New Testament movements. As we study the scripture below, we can examine our existing views of the church. Let us try to see the passage from the perspective of the early disciples, instead of our own.

What did the disciples in Jerusalem regularly do?

A summary of what the disciples regularly did in their local context, Jerusalem, is found in Acts 2:41-47. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Missions

Do I Start With Believers? It’s Hard For Them To Change!

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
new believers

“The harvesters are in the harvest,” the trainer said. “Hmm…I thought. What could that mean?” I was curious to know more. Would it be possible to start a Disciple Making Movement with brand new believers instead of older Christians?

A few days ago, one of my readers wrote this to me. “It’s hard for people to change,” they said. It is a common complaint of DMM practitioners. We, humans, are slow to change our paradigms.

It is not the new believers they were talking about. The older, more mature Christians they were training were not quick to shift their ideas about the nature of the church. My suggestion? Cast vision to all, but focus effort on new disciples. Give the most time to those who readily accept the Word of God as truth and aren’t steeped in church culture already. read more

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Church Planting Generational growth Strategy

What to Measure in an Emerging Movement

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
measure

I felt overwhelmed. How in the world would I gather all this information? I had to answer twenty-five different questions about our disciple making work. While I understood it might be valuable to have that data, it was too much. I put off the request and didn’t complete my report. How do you know what is most important to ask for data on, as you measure the growth of the movement?

It’s an important question to ask. Keep things simple. Only measure what is most important to evaluate. Track what is most valuable in relation to DMM indicators you must see happening if you want to multiply. If you make the process of tracking too complex, it will fail. Your reporting process will not be sustainable. read more

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