number 10
Today we shared 10 discipleship ideas at CELS (CE Leadership Summit). Over the next few days, I'm going to share them with you.
10.Use your senior high in your junior high.
We saw this in action at
Western Reserve. Marty runs senior high youth group on Wednesday nights. Then on Thursday he runs junior high youth group, and he asks his student leaders from senior high to be there. They help to lead small groups, they help plan events, they build relationships and love on those kids. Talk about creating 'buy-in' -- those senior highers LOVE that group. They are so invested in that church. It's awesome.
Stay tuned for more ideas...
Labels: discipleship, western reserve
roots.
We've been in Ohio for 2 weeks. Leaving today to head back to Winona Lake (for
CELS. You should come.) And personally I have been experiencing and learning something that, I think, connects to the idea of discipleship...
Some background for those of you who don't know me too well -- my mom is originally from Worthington, Ohio, so I grew up coming out here as a little girl. My grandma owns a home here that Stacie and I use as our 'home base' when we're in town. As I've gotten older, more and more of my college friends have settled in the Columbus area, and lots of Barnabas & Ambassador time in Columbus have allowed me to become very familiar with the area.
So this week I've been surrounded by friends. I've gotten to talk honestly about work, ministry, relationships, fears, excitement. I've laughed so much. I've had that safe, 'I belong here' feeling. I spent significant time with women, women close to my own age & women older than me, and I soaked that up. At one point I was standing with Kelly Coville and Tammy Nuzum, listening to them talk about speaking truth about relationships to high school students, and I honestly wished that conversation could go on forever--there is such wisdom and grace and experience in those women. I have so many questions I would love to ask them.
On top of that, there's a huge number of students here we know. Really well. Students we get to continue to invest in each time we're here.
I think
Mark said it best.
I have roots here. There are so many people I know and who know me. People who encourage and challenge and refresh me. It's community. It's what we're created for. And that's why it's so hard to leave. It''s hard to walk away from a place where I experience so the beauty of the body of Christ.
There are plenty of people who have the chance to be connected to community like this, and they choose not to. That kills me. Being here reminds me that discipleship and community aren't options--they are energizing, necessary, and life-breathing. Why would you want to pass something up that is so sweet?
(Don't believe me? Work a job where community is difficult because you're in a different place every 24 hours. Bet your tune will change.)
I'm hungry for these things. I'm thankful my job has taught me the necessity of these things. And I'm thankful that the Lord gave me one of the most refreshing weeks I've ever had. I'm asking him for more like this.
Labels: columbus, community, discipleship
vacuumless ministry
I love reading different angles and practical understandings of discipleship.
Read
Mark Artrip's practical ways to keep your ministry from becoming a vacuum.
Labels: discipleship, Mark Artrip
we are SPARTA
I have always loved to read, and grew up loving fiction. I still read plenty, but a fiction book is rare amongst all the other reading I have/want to do.
Right now I'm in the middle of a few books, and one is a historical fiction about the battle of Thermopylae, where Sparta fought the Persian empire. There is a story of a Spartan warrior comforting a Spartan youth, Alexandros, after the boy's friend died. Here is the commentary on that conversation:
Throughout this conversation the older man maintained a voice tender and solicitous with love. Nothing Alexandros could do would ever make this voice love him less or abandon him. Such is the peculiar genius of the Spartan system of pairing each boy in training with a mentor other than his own father. A mentor may say things that a father cannot; a boy can confess to his mentor that which would bring shame to reveal to his father.
Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield
This depicts so many of the truths of discipleship.
- the discipler genuinely loves his disciple, regardless of the disciple's struggles or shortcomings.
- the discipler is, in some sense, bound to his disciple. There is a sense of responsibility to the younger.
- the discipler ('mentor') can and should say the difficult things.
- the disciple can be brutally honest with his discipler, and can expect him to respond appropriately (challenge, comfort, etc).
Note: Let me be totally clear -- in no way do I believe the discipler should take the place of the parent (In case you think this sentence, 'A mentor may say things that a father cannot; a boy can confess to his mentor that which would bring shame to reveal to his father,' conveys that.)
If warriors disciple to prepare people for physical battle,
should not believers disciple to prepare people for spiritual battle?
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6.12
Labels: discipleship
it starts with one
A question that we're asked a lot is:
'How do we get our people/church/youth/adults to "get" discipleship?'
How do we show people it's important, how do we make people passionate, how do we encourage them to do it?
In talking with Randy Smith of Grace Church of Sebring yesterday, we heard a great answer:
'Just find one person, and do it.'
If you are the only person in your whole church that wants to be involved in discipleship, find someone younger who wants investment, and do it. Just do it. Be the example. Live it. Let the passion spread, grassroots. It will. Then when people ask why disciple, or how to disciple, you will have answers. You'll have answers because you'll be living it.
I'm not trying to oversimply the fact that you may be struggling to find other who want to be involved in discipleship. But if you aren't doing it, how can anyone else follow?
Lead. Disciple.
What's the worst that could happen?
Labels: discipleship, leadership
imitation::my discipler? or Jesus?
Like I mentioned earlier, Stacie and I had the opportunity to teach a small group elective at
Wooster Grace on discipleship this past Sunday and Wednesday.
(We had a blast, by the way.)
Wednesday evening we had a high school student, Dakota, stick around to talk with us. She told us that she is in a small group, that she meets regularly with her small group leader, and that this woman clearly holds the role of discipler in her life. And then she asked us, quite simply and straightforwardly, who she should be imitating ... Jesus or her discipler?
(Now let me tell you right now: this girl is sharp. You can tell when you talk to her that she loves Jesus and she loves people. You can sense her hunger to grow. She's just one of those people that you know is so sincere. She genuinely wanted to understand the disconnect.)
We clarified the idea -- that her discipler is merely to point her to Jesus. To help her better understand what it is to imitate Jesus. That to imitate one is to imitate the other. It was a great conversation.
And in that moment, I was reminded of a truth that we can so easily lose sight of:
it's not about us.
We are a picture, 'Jesus in skin' if you will, for younger people to imitate. We help them bring the truth of Scripture into today. Absolutely.
But if we ever, EVER cause people to chose between imitating Jesus OR imitating us, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Discipleship (investment, imitation, whatever) is a high calling. Let's not forget Titus 2 -we are called to live holy lives, and then to have others follow that example.
It should never be imitate Jesus or imitate my discipler... they should always go hand in hand.
Labels: discipleship, Wooster
why i love discipleship #284
Because you get phonecalls that go something like this,
'Ever since I've been back at school, I have had so many good spiritual conversations with my friends. It's amazing! Thanks for praying with me... God is totally answering.
Hey can we talk about what the Bible says about...'
What could be sweeter to hear from a 19 year old college freshman?
(or from anyone, for that matter...)
Labels: discipleship, Leah
the thrill of your passion...
Stacie and I are sitting here prepping for a 'hot topic small group' teaching time. We're teaching on, surprise surprise,
discipleship. We have taught this lesson dozens and dozens of times, yet, somehow, it never gets old.
When you teach on something you're passionate about, it always feels like the first time.
Labels: discipleship, Wooster
point to the Spirit
I think this is so good:
Director of the Resurgence
Jesus points the disciples to the power of the Holy Spirit
At the last supper Jesus points to the coming of the Spirit, which will allow them to continue in the work that he's started. Jesus is under no illusion that the sheep have become smart enough to stay away from the dangers of wolves, disease, bad pastures, and the like. He knows they will need guidance, they will need power, and they will be given all of that by the Spirit.
Jesus makes sure that they know that the Spirit is operating out of the same authority from the Father that he was given. He tells them that they are dependent on the Spirit for everything they will need.
We must point our disciples to the Spirit. They need him. They need his power. The Spirit is often avoided because he's not defined in the flesh and blood way the Son is, nor is he as obvious as the Father, but the Spirit is full of power, and is omnipresent, and is omni-powerful, and is good, and is essential to the salvation of all people. Disciples need the Spirit, without the Spirit you have sheep leading sheep off a cliff or into a wolf's den. We need the Spirit to guide us, to convict us, to empower us, to lead us to repentance, and to continue to point us to the cross of Christ.
This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.
If it's not about getting them to rely on our Lord, then it's fruitless. You don't want a bunch of disciples who depend on you for their every move.
Labels: discipleship, Mike Anderson, the resurgence, the Spirit
biggest loser... discipleship edition?
This is the first year that I've really followed the
Biggest Loser. Last week I got to see the 'where are they now?' episode. (If you don't follow it or missed the show, they followed up with a bunch of people that have been on the show over the past 7 season to see where they are now. Clever.)
At one point, 10 or 15 of them gathered for a dinner (and then a half marathon the next day... they are healthy now, after all). These are people from various seasons who have built relationships with each other over their common interests and experiences. At the end of the meal one of their trainers came out and told them how proud she was of them, and how glad she was they were in community with each other, holding each other accountable, pushing each other.
Then Bob (another trainer) drops in on Erik, a previous winner who lost over 200 pounds... and gained 195 back. Erik says he was worried about seeing and talking to Bob because he didn't want him to be disappointed or angry. And Bob tells Erik it's okay, and that they are going to come up with a plan of action to get the weight back off.
All I could think as I was watching was ... ohmygosh this is discipleship. These people have learned that the way that they can best achieve their goals, the way they can grow and learn and change the fastest, the way that they can stay on track is in community with other people. With their peers, and with their trainers.
Why do we think it is any different with our spiritual lives? The best way to achieve our goals, to grow, to learn, to change, to stay on track is in community. With our peers, and with our trainers... our disciplers.
Sometimes it amazes me when I see such biblical concepts played out in the world...
Labels: Biggest Loser, discipleship
missing Christ because of your cause
Read this today on
Heather Zempel's blog.
"The disciples didn't lay their lives down for a cause but for a person."
That's how Dave Buehring kicked off his talk on the Ways of God at our Kaboom Retreat (formerly zone leader/team leader retreat) this weekend.
For some reason, that one statement is really challenging me personally and challenging the way I lead my team. I fear that I have spent too much time motivating people to a cause- make disciples, advance the Kingdom, create culture, change a generation, etc. That's all good stuff, but it's not the ultimate goal, is it? Maybe I should focus a bit more on simply elevating the person of Jesus Christ.
Causes are good. Causes build fans and create evangelists. Christ is better. He builds communities of faith and creates martyrs. Not that we all want to rush out to the Colosseum to volunteer ourselves for lion dinner. But laying down our lives is one of the ways we follow Jesus Christ.
The disciples didn't lay their lives down for some great cause that had captivated their emotions and imaginations. They laid their lives down for a person who had already laid his own life down for them.
Why am I more cause focused than person focused? Perhaps it is more comfortable and easy for me to acquaint myself with and attach myself to a cause than to enter a messy and flesh-killing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Making me think. Thoughts soon to follow.Labels: discipleship, Heather Zempel
statistics
I was a math major in college. (Some of you are judging me now. That's fine. I love math and I don't care who knows it.)
Anyways. I love numbers. So I thought I'd share some with you now.
In the last 6.5 weeks:
# of states we've visited: 3
# of Operation Barnabas 2009 alumni we have seen: 62
# of 09 alumni that are in (or are actively pursing) discipleship: 61
Okay. I don't know what that does for you. But 61 out of 62?! That is clearly the work of the Lord. He is protecting, growing, and using these students in awesome ways. There are stories of these young people sharing their faith, confronting believers in their sin, leading their peers, investing in younger people. I am so so thankful.
There is that one though. And it makes me think of the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18.10-14. I am praying often that Jesus will pursue this one who is wandering from Him, that He will draw their heart back and restore them. I ask that you pray the same. We rejoice greatly over our 61. And we grieve over the 1.
We just wanted you to know where we're at. Thank you thank you thank you to those who pray for us and our ministry. Thank you for praying for these students. Don't stop. Just because their summer is over doesn't mean they don't need prayer --- they need it now more than ever. God is moving in and through them.
tomorrow: Michigan
the weekend: Iowa
next week: Ohio
Labels: 2009 alumni, discipleship, Operation Barnabas
t09ether ... should've been there
T09ether was this past weekend. If you weren't there, you should've been. (Too bad you can't turn back time.) It was a blast to reconnect with students from
Operation Barnabas &
Momentum, to worship together with Jeremy Byng and his band, and to hear great teaching from our friend Kondo Simfukwe.
The whole goal was to encourage students to continue to pursue Jesus. We really focused on the theme, Together, and challenged students to be committed to each other for accountability, and to older believers for discipleship.
Kondo took us to 2 Corinthians 12, and reminded us that God allows 'thorns' in our lives to keep us humble. To remind us that we are weak. That anything good about us, any strengths we have, any accomplishments we achieve, are ALL by his grace and power.
And so we need to be real about our weaknesses. We need to be open with others about them. We need to let people see who we truly are - that we're not always strong, that we don't have it all together. Why is that so important? Because when people know that we are weak and broken on our own, they will have no choice but to recognize Jesus' work in our lives when good things happen in or through us.
Here's what he left us with:
- what is your spiritual 'claim to fame'? (what's your strength?)
- what is your thorn? (what's your weakness?)
- who are you going to share your weakness with?
If you are discipling someone,
you should ask them these questions.And if you're not being discipled, you should find someone to tell your answers to.
Labels: discipleship, Kondo, Momentum, Operation Barnabas, t09ether
praying for your timothy
Had a meeting with Drew, one of our students, and his discipler this week. His discipler said something so sweet. He told us about how he's been learning about discipleship, about the relationship between Paul & Timothy, and how he started to
pray for a Timothy.
And then Drew came home from his summer on Barnabas and approached him and asked to be discipled. It was a no brainer.
That is seriously beautiful to me.
If there isn't any discipleship in your life -- are you praying for a Timothy (someone younger to invest in) or for a Paul (someone older to invest in you)? I challenge you to that.
Labels: discipleship, Paul, Timothy
goals of discipleship :: biblical understanding
biblical (adj) : of, relating to, or contained in the Bible (Oxford American Dictionary)
understanding (n) : mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation (
dictionary.com)
The second goal of discipleship is to see your disciple's biblical understanding develop. Your disciple should understand the origin and reliability of the Bible, know how to study the Bible, and be able to trace salvation through the story of the Bible.
Here's the reality. The assumption is being made that because students have spent some amount of time in church, or youth group, or whatever, that they know their Bibles. That somewhere along the line, they've picked up the skill of Bible reading.
Wrong.
The more time we spend with students, the more we recognize that they don't know how to read their Bibles. They don't know where to start, what exactly they are supposed to do, even what they're supposed to get out of it. They have no plan and no skills, and we just keep telling them 'Read your Bible'. Not too helpful...
We need to help our disciples see the need for reading their Bibles. What's the point? Well here's a few:
- nourishment (1 Peter 2.2)
- mental transformation (Romans 12.2)
- victory over sin (John 8.31-32)
- discernment and wisdom (Hebrews 5.13-14)
- ministry (2 Timothy 3.16-17)
- appreciating grace (Romans 2.4)
- understanding self
- motivation (this was mentioned in the character portion -- we want our disciples to make right choices because their hearts desire to follow Christ. Conviction, motivation, instruction-these all should come first from Scripture.)
As your disciple understands the need for reading Scripture, he or she will need to know how to study. This summer, we taught our students' a simple 4 step hermeneutic (Bible interpretation) method:
- Grasp the text in their town: who is the original audience? where did they live? what are important aspects of their culture? what is the meaning of the text to this audience?
- Measure the width of the river to cross: what are the differences in time, culture, language, situation, covenant, etc? (this is where we focus on differences between 'them' and 'us')
- Cross the principlizing bridge: what is the theological principle in this text? (this is where we focus on similarities between 'them' and 'us')
- Grasp the text in our town: what is the application for a believer today?
We need to teach our disciples that they cannot just apply every verse that they read immediately to their lives. They need to go through the process of interpreting the passage and understanding how they fit into the story of Scripture, instead of how the Scripture fits into their story.
To aid in this process of studying Scripture, our disciples should be equipped with good tools. At the very least,
a good study Bible. (We highly recommend the
ESV study Bible -- it is a reliable translation, has great notes, and excellent articles (such as an God's Plan of Salvation, Biblical Ethics, Interpreting the Bible, Reading the Bible, the Reliability of the Bible, the Bible and World Religions, Salvation in the Old Testament... just to name a few).) There are also tons of commentaries, Bible dictionaries, sermons (free online!), and Bible studies. We live in an age with a plethora of Biblical materials available to us. Let's help our disciples learn to make use of them.
Lastly, your disciple needs a plan. Without a reading plan, it is so easy to skip one day, two days, three, five, ten, a month ... When there is a plan in place, it is much easier to stay on track day to day. The plan may be to read through Matthew this month, and study the sayings of Jesus. Or it may be to read the Bible cover to cover and keep track of principles of God, however long it takes. Or it may be to read Ephesians once a day for a month. It doesn't matter what the plan is, just as long as there is one.
- You may need to show your disciple why we study Scripture.
- You may need to teach your disciple the basics of hermeneutics.
- You may need to provide your disciple with some study tools.
- You may need to help your disciple develop a reading plan.
- You may need to ask your disciple every.single.day. if he or she is reading.
- You may need to actually read with your disciple when you get together.
Do whatever you need to do to stress the importance of Scripture. The reality is, you don't want your disciple to rely on you. You want him or her to rely on the Lord, on His Word. You will only truly communicate that if you model that, and if you empower & enable them to rely on Him.
Labels: biblical understanding, discipleship, ESV study Bible, Grasping God's Word, hermeneutics, Organic Disciplemaking, principlizing bridge
goals of discipleship :: character
character (n) : the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
(Oxford American Dictionary)
The first goal of discipleship is to see your disciple's character develop. This includes the way that your disciple loves others & loves God.
Character change involves identifying and overcoming sins and bad habits, and replacing those things with attitudes and behaviors that honoring to the Lord. Of course, that's often easier said than done.
I think we have seen churches attack this goal through accountability groups (your church may call them something different, but you know what I mean). We get involved with one other person, or even a small group of people, we let them know what we struggle with, and then we check up on each other once a week or so. Of course, if we're honest, we have continued to struggle with our sin or bad habit, and admit that to the group. Most accountability groups I have been a part of end up being a time where we lament how badly things are going, or where we (silently, of course) compare ourselves to each other and breathe a sigh of relief that at least we're not as bad as that person.
(Now I'm sure that some of you have been involved in groups that have been nothing like that, and you have seen good encouragement and growth. Praise God for that. I certainly believe groups like that exist out there.)
I've learned something important through this though. Accountability, or character development, can't just be about identifying the sin/bad habit and fighting against it with all your might. It has to start with a love for Jesus. I mean, a real, deep love for Jesus. Because when you love someone, you want to please them. If your disciple loves Jesus, he or she will want to please Jesus. And pleasing Jesus includes living in freedom -- freedom from habitual sin, and freedom to love Jesus & love others.
That said, I believe character development must begin with a focus on Jesus Christ. Your disciple needs to have a vital walk with Jesus, including:
- daily Bible reading
- consistent time in prayer
- confession of sin
As your disciple spends time in the Word and in prayer (and you, as the discipler, will likely need to instruct your disciple on these things.
Read with them,
pray with them,
set goals for their time in the Word and in prayer, and hold them to it), he or she will have to come face to face with the kind of life that Jesus requires of HIS disciples. So now it is not just you, the discipler, 'nagging' over 'unacceptable behavior', but the Holy Spirit of God is involved in the process of identifying and convicting the sin.
Certainly there will be times (particularly, I think, when your disciple has a young or immature faith) when you will need to point out the area(s) of sin that exist. Sin (and the Enemy) have a way of blinding us, and as the discipler you have the privilege and responsibility of bringing those areas to light.
Pray for your disciple. Pray that the Lord gives you insight and discernment, that you would know the strongholds of sin that exist in your disciple's life, and even that you would know what specific areas the Spirit is working on so that you can be on the same page. And then set goals for addressing and overcoming that sin or bad habit. Remember, goals are measurable and attainable. Give your disciple a project, a set of verses, anything that will help to make progress.
Loving Jesus deeply doesn't just eradicate us of all sin instantaneously. Obviously. We know that in our own lives. So we shouldn't expect that of our disciples. We need to recognize, and help our disciples understand, that character development is a process. It's not an overnight quick fix. And, praise God, we are not in this process alone - we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us and working with us.
A quick summary:
- character development starts with an intimate walk with Jesus (including Bible reading, prayer, & confession of sin)
- pray for insight and discernment into the stronghold of sin in your disciple's life
- work alongside the Spirit: deal first with the sins that the Spirit is convicting your disciple of
- set goals for your disciple to assist in overcoming a sin or habit
- remind your disciple (and yourself) that this is not a quick fix, but a growth process
- you have the power of the Holy Spirit. use it.
Lastly, I'll leave you with some 'marks' of character development:
- understands security in Christ, & how actions should be empowered by God, not self-effort
- knows how to worship God in all ways, and with enthusiasm
- understands the process of spiritual growth vs. quick fixes
- knows and practices the means of growth as a lifestyle
- able to withstand suffering with an attitude of faith
- obeys God much of the time
- victory over discrediting sin
- loyal to God over materialistic goals
- possesses an eternal value system
- convinced that self-giving love is the key to fulfillment
Labels: character, discipleship, Organic Disciplemaking
goals of discipleship
Almost anytime we talk about discipleship, we highlight the
practical aspects of it: what should discipleship DO? We believe it should affect 3 different areas:
1.
character: how is your student's character becoming more like Christ as a result of your
relationship?
3.
ministry skills: how is your student being equipped to live missionally for Christ?
Over the next few days we'll talk through these things: a deeper explanation of each one, biblical support, and resources and ideas. Just wanted to whet your whistle (what does that even mean?)
(Note: posts on Crusade & Youth for Christ are still in the works. I realized it's going to take a little more research than I anticipated. Just didn't want you to think we were making empty promises.)
Labels: biblical understanding, character, discipleship, ministry skills
discipleship at western reserve
In January we sat around with Marty Dent and a bunch of his students who had been on Barnabas in the last couple years (o7 & 08). We discussed the need for discipleship and what it should accomplish. And we saw Marty affirm the value of discipleship as he publicly apologized to a couple of girls for setting them up with a discipler who hadn't come through in the way he had anticipated.
We walked away that night having learned a few things:
1. Marty Dent is the man.
2. He seriously believes in and invests in discipleship.
Wednesday night we found ourselves back at
Western Reserve, this time with mostly 2009 Barnabas alumni. We heard from each one of them about their transition home - about what has been good & what's been difficult, and about how they're currently involved in ministry. Here's what we learned
1. All 5 of our students are being personally discipled by an older adult.
2. All 5 also are involved in leadership for the middle school group. They help with their small groups, they go to their large group gatherings, they go to their outreach events. These high school students are all about loving on these younger kids and investing in them. Discipleship? Totally.
3. Most of them are spending consistent time in the Word and are excited about what they are learning. They're asking for new resources and ideas to further deepen their understanding of God's Word.
4. They recognize that they have an awesome church. They are surrounded by people who value, train, and use them. And they are so thankful for that. That shows some maturity.
This church is full of people that we just genuinely enjoy being around. In large part, I think it's because they understand and implement biblical discipleship.
Titus 2:
2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers s or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned.
Thanks, Marty & the rest of the Western Reserve-ers, for showing us a practical example of what this passage looks like.
Labels: discipleship, marty dent, small groups, western reserve
discipleship at rittman
Installment 1 of the promised updates:
Discipleship at Rittman
We met with Brian (a 2009 alum) and his pastor, Bud, & discipler, Rob, yesterday. Brian had a great summer learning and developing as a leader. He's a senior in high school now, and continues to attend Rittman Grace Brethren Church.
Brian came home excited to be involved and make a difference. He plays both soccer and football, and has really stepped up in leadership on his soccer team especially. After being home for a few days and struggling to really connect well with his team, he publicly apologized for his behavior and his attitude that were not honoring to Christ. Since then, his team has responded in an entirely different way to him, giving them their respect and followship. (I know that's not a word, but it should be.) He's also started a weekly Bible study with his youth group, and is discipling a guy that attends their church.
It was sweet to hear from both Bud and Rob about his growth and progress since he's been home. They both recognize that God has given Brian the skills and opportunities to lead, and so they're pushing him hard. They will not be content to let him be an unfaithful steward of what God has given him. That's exciting.
And that's discipleship. Pushing, challenging, encouraging your student to use the gifts, talents, abilities, relationships to honor the Lord as much as possible. Don't let them squander it.
Because the truth is, your student is your stewardship. You want them make the most of their opportunities? Then you have to make the most of yours.
'Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.' --Paul. (1 Corinthians 11.1)
Can you say that?
Labels: discipleship, rittman, stewardship
mark batterson strikes again.
Sometimes people just speak right to your heart. Or communicate your heart for you without even realizing they're doing that. Read another blog by
Mark Batterson that is SO important -- to discipleship, to leadership, to believers in general.
Spiritual Hunger
How hungry are you?
Spiritual hunger is the key to spiritual maturity. When you lose that spiritual hunger you stop seeking, asking, and knocking. You stop growing.
As leaders, this isn't something we can "give" to people. But we need to salt the oats so to speak. And we need to set the example. You know what you owe God and owe your congregation as a pastor? A deep spiritual hunger to know God more!
I remember when I first starting seeking the Lord. It was between my freshman and sophomore year of college. I would stay up late reading my Bible. I'd get up early to pray. I went to sleep and woke up thinking about God. I was hungry. And I'm still hungry. I know it waxes and wanes, but how hungry are you?
If I could pray for one thing for you it'd be this: an insatiable hunger to know God more. There is no substitute for spiritual hunger.
Deuteronomy 4:29: "Seek the Lord and you will find him, if you search for Him with all of your heart and all of your soul."
God reveals Himself the most to those who want to know Him the most.
Labels: discipleship, leadership, mark batterson
love it
Talked with one of the girls I disciple on the phone this morning. She told me about how God is answering her prayer for direction and guidance. It is SO sweet to have the chance to be involved in intercessory prayer for someone.
Labels: discipleship, intercessory prayer
discipleship in action
This morning Stacie & I went with 6 students (5 Barnabas alum and one of their disciples) to downtown Columbus to pass out food to homeless people.
Actually, the story starts yesterday -- a bunch of us were hanging out last night and went over to Starbucks to grab some coffee (Carolyn had gift cards and wanted to pay for everyone. So obviously we went.) After we all order, the guy behind the counter starts pulling out food -- muffins, bread, scones -- and asks if we want anything. Apparently once they've had food for a certain amount of time they can't sell it anymore. He said that they usually donate the food but right now they 'don't currently have a donation site' so they were just going to toss it if we didn't want it. So a few of us grab some things, and then it hits Stacie and I literally at the exact same moment and we jumped out of our chairs, "WE'RE GOING TO FEED HOMELESS PEOPLE TOMORROW MORNING! Can we take this stuff!?!' The guy got pretty excited and said sure, and that he'd wrap it up for us. At that point there were like 6 things left on these plates. Sweet. We'd add it to the stuff we bought the next day. Then he comes out from the back a few minutes later with 2 HUGE bags full of all kinds of stuff wrapped up. I mean, at least 60 different things. It was an incredible blessing. We were all so pumped.
So this morning we meet up and head downtown to a soup kitchen/homeless shelter that one of the guys with us volunteers at (and that Barnabas team had been to this summer). We saw some volunteers outside, but that was about it. A couple of us talked to the guy who seemed to be in charge and he said that Monday-Friday there are over a hundred homeless people just all over the street. Too bad for us it's Saturday.
We talked it over, made a couple calls, and headed to another area of downtown where we parked & walked the streets with our Starbucks goodies. The Lord brought us across 4 different homeless people -- we had the chance to have spiritual conversations with 3 of them, really get into sharing the gospel with one. None were super responsive (to be honest, a couple were pretty wasted), but we walked away feeling excited. Excited that we had been obedient to feed 'the least of these' (Matt 25.40) and to share the good news of the gospel (Romans 10.13-15)
This is discipleship in action. Giving students the chance to stretch outside of their comfort zone and be involved in ACTIVE MINISTRY.
Discipleship should develop
character,
biblical understanding, and
ministry skills.
What are you doing with your students? How are you developing their ministry skills?
Labels: columbus, discipleship, homeless, ministry skills, starbucks
calling out their gifts
On Operation Barnabas, our high school students get to experience a wide variety of ministries. Children, youth, adult, senior citizen, homeless, local church, manual labor, dramatic arts, music, preaching/teaching... the list goes on.
One of my favorite things is to see a student come alive in one of those ministries. You know what I mean? Like, they are in a situation where they are using their gifts ad their strengths and they are flourishing. And, they are probably loving it.
What's shocking to me is that so many of these kids don't even recognize their strengths, their gifts. They have no idea they are leaders, encouragers, administrators, servants, teachers, preachers....
Why? Because no one has ever affirmed them. No one has pointed out their gift, and then helped them find ways to use it and to continue refine it.
We need to speak prophetically into each other's lives. We need tocall things out--gifts, passions, goals, dreams, desires. Isn't that what Jesus was so good at? He saw the martyr in a denier named Peter. He called it out by calling him "the Rock."
Prophets call things out of the people. It's also called leadership. I'm thinking of this today because I read a manuscript an aspiring author sent to me and he definitely has the gift. I emailed him back and called it out. I want to call the best out of others the way Jesus did. That's leadership. That's discipleship.
Who do you have the opportunity to call out? Do it. Today.
Labels: discipleship, gifts, leadership, mark batterson
HSM Powell
I've known
Mark Artrip (the youth pastor at Powell) since I was in junior high. (We called him Elton John then... he was hilarious even back then.) Mark is a graduate of
the National Institute (CE's youth ministry program through Grace College), an
Operation Barnabas alum, has been an
Operation Barnabas leader, and continues to be more and more involved with
Momentum. In other words, he's had tons of training and experiences through CE National.
Last night we had the chance to speak at HSM (High School Ministry) at Powell. It's only their 2nd week back, so they are in their 4 part "Vision" series: worship, grow, serve, outreach. We spoke on, you guessed it, grow. It was a blast. We tied in 2 Peter 3.18, Ephesians 4.11-14, and Acts 2.42 to the concept of discipleship within the body of Christ. We challenged the students to quit being babies in Jesus and take the necessary steps to grow up.
The sweetest part of the night was what happened AFTER the "planned" part of the evening was over:
1- Students had the opportunity to join Grace Groups (small groups that meet in homes once a week). I bet we saw at least 20 students make their way to adults to get connected to a Grace Group. (there are already 62 kids involved)
2- Student leaders are seriously ministry minded. I was chatting with a few of them and after a few minutes they said 'Well we need to go connect with some new people.' and off they went. Those kids have ownership of their group.
3- A couple of people shared the gospel with a girl. She's getting together with Kristin, Mark's wife, later this week. Love it.
There is some incredible stuff going on at that church. And in a big way I believe it's because adults are passionate about the discipleship that goes on during Grace groups. Scripture is studied, accountability happens, relationships are built, leaders are developed, evangelism happens, all within these groups. Students are taking ownership of their faith and of their youth group.
Discipleship is not one size fits all. But maybe small groups would be a great catalyst at your church. They certainly have been in Powell.
Labels: discipleship, Mark Artrip, Powell, small groups
Gospel-Centered Discipleship
So as I was reading over some blogs today I found this quote on
The Resurgence, in a post called '
Gospel-Centered Discipleship'.
The Gospel Is the Center For Everything
Alan Hirsch reminds us that "Discipleship, becoming like Jesus our Lord and Founder, lies at the epicenter of the church's task. It means that Christology must define all that we do and say… It will mean taking the Gospels seriously as the primary texts that define us." Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves individuals is also the gospel that grows individuals through discipleship.
Understanding the Gospel
There is a need for a clear understanding and a rediscovery of the gospel in the 21st century. Jerry Bridges says, "The gospel is not the most important message in history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living their lives by it."
What is the gospel? The gospel is the declaration of the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died for our sins on the cross of Calvary. Simply put, there is no gospel without the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Tim Keller beautifully describes the gospel this way: "In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever."
I love this. I think it's essential that we understand that discipleship demands a clear understanding of the gospel. That we recognize that the gospel is not merely for unbelievers, but it is for us, believers, every single day. What else could motivate us as powerfully to discipleship as the life-given truth of the gospel? And what could better define what we DO in discipleship than the pattern that we see in the life of Jesus? I love this sentence:
Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves individuals is also the gospel that grows individuals through discipleship.
Amen. What does that look like, today, for you, with those you disciple?
Labels: discipleship, jerry bridges, the resurgence, tim keller
