The New Year approaches! One of my favorite moments this Christmas came the day after. I sat for a few hours beside our Christmas tree. It was early morning. I found myself reflecting on the goodness of God in my life over this past year. I allowed those moments to surface in my memory- the …
“Is my home group a church?” you may ask. “We don’t have a pastor and we are only a few families that meet together.” “Does time of day and day of the week have to do with if we should call this a church? Can a church meet on a Tuesday night and still be …
When people typically think of church, they think about a building, pastor, pulpit, church members, and a weekly meeting. Sadly, this is what the definition of a church has become. Even Merriam-Webster defines the word church as “a building for public and especially Christian worship.” This definition, though a commonly used one, is sadly not …
Last week we looked at the questions related to being ready for baptism. Today I want to look at another important baptism question. Are They A Believer? *Can someone be considered a “believer” or “disciple” if they don’t desire (or are not willing to take) this the step of obedience? To find answers to this …
Church definitions can be confusing. As a result, this question “What makes a church a church?” is an important question to ask! Last week, in Part 1, we looked at the two primary metaphors in the New Testament used to describe the church; the Body of Christ and the Family of God. Today we want …
What makes a disciple making movement move? How can you get multiplication growth to happen (and be sustained) as you make disciples? There are certain movement growth factors to keep in mind in your ministry. The following are the most important keys to pushing your disciple making into multiplicative growth. Some are obvious. Some are …
When sharing the vision for Disciple Making Movements (DMMs) most people are excited to hear what God is doing. As a Christian worker, who wouldn’t want to see a movement of genuine Jesus followers? We all do! It’s not hard to get people on board with the vision. It is more difficult motivating people to …
One of the important aspects of a growing movement is that it becomes indigenous. Disciples are free to live out the gospel message in a contextual way. What does the word indigenous mean and how can we contextualize without going too far? Miriam Webster defines indigenous as: produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a …
Merry Christmas! I hope you are reading this blog with a happy heart as you celebrate the miraculous arrival of our Lord! What incredible good news we have to share with the world! Sometimes this message seems so incredible it is almost scary. The shepherds definitely felt afraid when they first heard of Jesus’ birth …
It’s His birthday that we celebrate each year on December 25th, right? He should definitely be given a birthday gift. The question is what? What do you give to the One who made it all? What would really make His birthday a party in Heaven? In Luke 15, we find three very similar stories; the …