In a post i did titled All Church Growth Starts With… I wrote  ”transformational power is not in our institutional structures or systems; it is in our living grace testimonies.”

Our power in the faith comes from God. God uses a powerful message and a transformed medium to tell His story. The message being the gospel and the medium being transformed lives. You match those two things together and we have our story.

Weirsbe wrote in his book  Be what you are: 12 intriguing pictures of the Christian from the New Testament

It is interesting to examine the statistics recorded in the Book of Acts. About 120 believers met in the upper room for prayer after our Lord’s ascension (Acts 1:15). Three thousand were converted at Pentecost (2:41), and later the number grew to be about five thousand (4:4). Day by day, believers were added to the Lord (5:14), so much so that the apostles had to appoint assistants to help them (6:1 ff.). “And the word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (6:7).

If we are to help enlarge God’s family through our witness, we must first of all be sure that we are filled with the Spirit of God; because it is only through his power that our witnessing glorifies God and brings true conviction to sinners (Acts 1:8; John 16:8–11). While God certainly wants us to share our personal experience of salvation, he can use that experience only as it is related to the Word of God and as it magnifies the Son of God.

But after being challenged with the decision of placing them all in one room, we decided the best method was to teach everyone in a small group. We only wanted 10 students per teacher.

Now keep in mind, we were not teaching anything in the church but in a public school system. Those who have been educated and trained in the business of teaching understood the process that Jesus used in his short three years of ministry.

Jesus not only laid down the challenge of what we were supposed to do in order to win the world, He lived it out personally. Notice how He spent His three years of public ministry.

• He preached and ministered to the crowds (the multitudes).
• He taught and deployed the convinced (the “seventy”).
• He trained and challenged the committed (the “twelve”).
• He focused on and mentored the core (the “three”).

Jesus knew that though there was a time and place to preach and teach the larger numbers of people, the success or failure of His movement would be in the hands of the smaller numbers. This strategic investment in individual people through organic, lifestyle discipleship was the key to the continuation of Jesus’ message and the establishment of His kingdom.

I will be blogging over the next couple of weeks talking about what i learned and how we can make a difference in the lives of those we disciple, but I wanted to get the juices flowing by making a quick and simple statement.

People Change When…

1. It is too painful to stay where they are
2. They have a vision or goal
3. involved in a significant relationship
4. Have a special talent or skill

This can apply across the board. Spiritual, finance, emotional, physical, etc.

Have you ever wondered what would be the perfect discipleship class? I know I have!

I had a discipleship class that lasted a year and now one that lasts six weeks. So it runs the gamut.

But I wanted to share with you the perfect discipleship class. it might very well be the best one yet. The thing I love the most about this discipleship class, is that it comes strictly from scripture.

So What Do You Need For This Discipleship Class?

• You Don’t need lesson plans.
• You don’t need a classroom.
• You don’t need paid clergy
• You don’t need resources
• You don’t need a local church

All you need to do is follow the method we see Jesus using.

Jesus’s Discipleship Class

• In order for Christ to teach his disciples about faith, He led them into a dangerous storm.
• He sent them out on mission trips to teach them to trust God for their needs and to learn how to preach, heal the sick and cast out demons.
• They learned how to pray by watching him pray and hearing him teach about prayer.
• Jesus threw them together in a mobile missionary community and taught them lessons about authority and humility.
• They watched Jesus’ clashes with the Pharisees and learned how to deal with opposition.

Jesus’ training of the Twelve fused content and context.

Jesus’ discipleship class was obedience oriented. His model of training assumed that the disciples did not know something until they had learned to obey it.

There you have it…now go and do the same.

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The reason the local church is losing so much ground isn’t because our theology is bad, or that we have nothing to offer the next generation. But because our experience with faith does not match our theology of God and the Church.

This is so prevalent because the local church is built to meet the demands of the uncommitted. Uncommitted people are those who do not own the vision.

There are four levels of church affiliation for the average person:

1. Attendees – attend the church’s services
2. Members – join the church through regular attendance
3. Ministry partners – personally “own” the ministry/church
4. Vision partners – personally “own” the vision

The key is to build with vision partners, not ministry partners or members.

Think about this survey that was done. The question was asked, “What is the purpose of the church?”

• 89% of the church members said, “The purpose of the church is to take care of me and my family.”
• 11% of the church members said, “The purpose of the church is to win people to Christ.”
• 90% of the pastors said, “The purpose of the church is to win people to Christ.”
• 10% of the pastors said, “The purpose of the church is to take care of the people.”

Clearly, the above survey shows that the leaders and their followers did not share the same vision for the church, or they did not communicate the vision clearly to their congregation.

Turn The Ship Around

One way to turn the ship around is by re-evaluating your vision. I am not talking about revamping old ministries. Or implementing the next hottest thing that came out in the books.

But to truly spend some time with God. Asking what is it going to take to truly transform my area with the gospel of Christ.

Get The Message Out

In today’s world of technology and information it is very tough to get the message out.

It takes a message that is fresh and a medium that can penetrate the informational overload people experience.

That message is the Gospel and the medium are those transformed by the message. Not influenced but truly transformed by God.

Invest Your Resources

When you build around those that have given their life to God and His mission to the World, is the moment things begin to change for you and your ministry.

It is these people you cast vision with and invest in. It these people who you build with. It is these people who the vision gets defined around. It is these people who will carry the vision further than you ever imagined.

It is with these people that you begin to see theology match reality. 

Some Questions You Could Ask

1. What does your vision say about God (not what does it say about you)?
2. Is your vision impossible apart from God (or can you do it without Him)?
3. Does it go beyond yourself (is it bigger than you)?
4. Does it go beyond your church (or can you fit it inside four walls)?
5. Does it express what God is doing?
6. Is it transformational (does it call people to change)?
7. Is it transcending (does it take people where they have never been)?
8. Is it reproducible by anyone who hears it?
9. Is it locally-oriented or globally-oriented?
10. Is it worth the lives of your people?

One more “visionary” question: “If I took away your Sunday service(s) and your building(s), what would you have left?”

People are willing to sacrifice for what they deeply believe. The vision of your church must be something worth the sacrifice of your members’ time, resources, and lives! If not, you are wasting their time, resources, and lives.

1st Samuel 8 deals with the moment Israel demanded to be ruled by a king. Up until this point they had been led by God and judges. But they felt it was their time to have a king.

It should be pointed out that 1 Samuel 8 is a very literal fulfillment of the prophecy of Deuteronomy 17:14

Read what was said about the people during this time:

Source: It would appear that the elders and the nation are not seeking a radical change but recommending a refinement of the current system, an administrative “tune up.” They want justice. They want a judge who settles their legal questions. They simply want a king to be their judge, rather than having a judge like Samuel. It sounds good, but it is not a simple change at all. They want to completely overhaul the system of justice for Israel. They want to be rid of this system of judges and be ruled and judged in the same manner the nations around them are judged. They don’t want to be a distinct nation, set apart from the nations around them. They are not simply attempting to fire Samuel as their judge; they are seeking to fire God as their King.

Now lets fast forward to the church. 

The local church may not want a king to rule it. But the local church wants to influence society. We were not called to become part of society, we were called to transform it.

Because of this desire we have adopted a plan that may be a hindrance to our mission.

Historically, the church system which we use today is the same one that developed through the Edict of Milan.

While there were some adjustments to that system because of the Protestant Reformation, most of how we do church is about 1,700 years old!

Let’s think about this for a moment:

Let me pre-qualify this. I love the local church and served in it for 13 years. I also know great things take place within the local church.

But I also know there are times when our theology of God and the church do not match our life experiences. Could it be that we at times substitute the mission of Christ for the church system.

The premise of this post is that we lost some of our fire and zeal for the mission of Christ. It is more important to be political correct among our friends and peers. Or we substitute the gospel for the ministries and causes we pursue.

Sometimes I wonder if our faith actually has enough to fight for

So with that being said…

1. The current way we do church is a major departure from the practices and supernatural experience of the first 300 years of Christianity. Do we really want a system that has as one of its chief effects a movement away from the godly supernatural roots of our faith?

2. The institutional church system was designed to legitimize its role in and relationship to the world around it. The Church became a part of the world it was sent to change! The system it developed assured its acceptance and dominate role for centuries.

3. Perhaps the most devastating effect of the Edict of Milan was that the Church embraced a vision for itself that de-emphasized its dependency on the leadership of the Holy Spirit and its (the Church’s) mission to reach the world.

In 1st Samuel 8 the people wanted to be like the world around them. Not only was Samuel getting older but his sons were corrupt.

From 1st Samuel 12, we learn that the military threat posed by Nahash, the king of Ammon, is perhaps the fundamental reason the Israelites want a king. The Ark of God is out of commission, Samuel is soon to be, and the Israelites want a king in whom they can place their trust.

The Church Became A State Religion…

Once the mission of the church changed from its first 300 years to a political power, it moved from releasing the gospel and empowering people, to an institution designed to gain control and influence the world around it. Taking on a political flavor instead of an apostolic movement. The results have been a change in methodology.

The growth model for the church is…

• Planting Churches
• Political activism
• Culture Relevance

Could it be we left the power of movements and substituted them for institutions of control and management.

Think I am Crazy…

We grown easy with the idea of replacing our theology with natural experiences. We are comfortable not experiencing spiritual transformation. The people of 1st Samuel concluded they had earthly challenges and wanted earthly solutions. “Give us a king like everyone else.”

The local church did the same. It adopted new models, methods, and systems to run the institution. In reality we placed shiny new bolts on systems that survived for over 1,700 years.  We neglected the most powerful growth mechanism at our disposal.

The most unique message (gospel) and the most powerful medium (transformed lives).

When we surrender our theology to a secular life experience:

• Pragmatism and expedience will replace truth.
• The natural will take priority over the spiritual.
• Disciples (followers) will become believers (attendees).
• Christians will live by preferences rather than convictions.
• Membership will replace transformation.
• Ministry will follow and be defined by structures.
• Spiritual leadership will be reduced to a series of management tasks.
• The Church (organism) will become churches (organizations).

One Step Further

If you will allow me to take this one step further…

Examples of theology that is disconnected from practice

• No evangelical leader holds to a theology that the Church is a building, or a meeting in a building which takes place on a set day at a set time. Yet, that is exactly what we practice and promote in our behavior, language (we “go to church”), budgets, and training.
• When we, in practice, reduce the Church to a building, a meeting, or a set of structures, we embrace a worldview that denies the chief means or vehicle of the immanence (affective presence) of God in the world, namely His indwelling presence in His people. Should not the chief quality of the Church be that God is present in His people?
• Most evangelical leaders hold to a theology that there is a spiritual (invisible) realm inhabited by spiritual beings and forces which affect the natural (visible) realm. Yet, especially in the West, we do not live with nor teach our members to develop an awareness of the spiritual realities we say we believe exist around us and affect us.
• The result is a Christian secular lifestyle – a focus on the visible and natural realities in our lives and a practical rejection and negligence of the spiritual realities in our lives (1 Cor. 12:1).
• There are two terrible results from this: (1) Christians do not experience the supernatural aspect of their faith, and (2) lacking an experience and knowledge of spiritual things, they often redefine them as natural (carnal) realities (i.e., spiritual gifts are defined as natural talents, inclinations, or abilities).
• Theologically, most Christians would agree that at least one of the purposes of the Church is to make disciples, but in actuality very few disciples are really made.
• Again, we believe men who die without Christ go to Hell for eternity, yet it is estimated that less than 5% of all Christians are regular soul winners and the average church has no accountability and little teaching for members to share their faith.
• We believe prayer can change the world, but prayer remains the most neglected part of Christian life – even in our prayer meetings!
• We further believe and proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the Administrator of the Church, but we continue to train our leaders and structure our ministries in such a way as to enable us to function apart from His leadership, input, and voice. The leadership of the Holy Spirit is more a theological assumption than a manifest reality and practice in our lives. If He did not show up on Sunday would we do anything differently? Would we know it?
• The institutional church believes it is the center of the Christian world. The truth is that the center of the current world Christian movement is in the third-world developing nations and is largely outside of the institutional church (house churches, small groups, cell churches, disciplining movements that defy definition, etc.)
• Despite a theology that believes the Church is the universal, mystical body of Christ (i.e., Spirit-filled disciples), our worldview is really defined by our institutional church experience and defies (violates) our theology.

The Israelites substituted God for a King. I wonder what have we substituted God with?

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1. Does your system produce relationships or structures?
2. Does it produce transformation or transactions?
3. Does it reflect transcendence (does it take people beyond where they are) or relevance (does it keep people in the same lifestyle and place)?
4. Does it emphasize and reward character or abilities?
5. Is it identified by spiritual or natural things?
6. Does it produce fruit or works?

I wanted to break these down a little bit and add some concrete examples. For the sake of keeping this as short as possible I will use one example.

I’m not against systems or structures. 

I wanted to get this out up front. I think we need systems and structures in place. What I am against is building structures that are designed to influences instead of transform people’s lives.

Using Structures

What i want to do is give an example of how we can use a structure to obtain great measurement in ministry. This is a concrete example!

This is a true story of how God allowed me to use a system designed in a mega church to build relationship, move people out of comfort zones, and bring the redeeming message of Christ into people’s lives.

The Documented Story

Here is the documented story told through the eyes of a single mom… http://www.sugarcreek.net/news/filling-a-need

Cliff Notes

With every description I give below, tell me, does it match up to the descriptions listed above. 

• I was invited to tell my testimony in a Sunday School Class at this mega church.
• From that testimony I was invited to come and share it in someone else home
• The person’s home invited a friend to come and hear
• They in turn invited others
• On the day of the testimony there were over 30 people who showed up in this single moms home
• I invited them to spend more time with me learning the story of God
• From that we developed a team of adults pouring their lives into students who were unchurched
• From those relationships we had men joining men groups and other ministry programs in churches throughout Houston. As stated in the article linked above My friend’s husband started attending a Bible study for men every Tuesday night with James Ross and Mike Anderson, who he would have never met.
• Not to mention the ministry done outside of the groups
• We took everyone downtown to help the homeless at the end…

Very important to Understand

This entire thing started with only two things.

1. The gospel message
2. A transformed life communicating the change

Those are the only two things you need to grow your ministry, transform your ministry, and even plant a church. Our ministries and churches do not grow with fancy programs and cool looking people. They grow through the transformed lives of those impacted by Gods message.

Here is a hard saying…we do not grow the church through church planting…we grow the church by making disciples.

Paul’s discipleship model was no doubt fueled through the power of the Spirit. But something else we see with Paul was that he came to people with no pre-determined assumptions. He also came with a single message.

Paul Came void of Wisdom and Speech: (1 Corinthians 2:1)

One of the first things we see in leadership is the selection process of those we lead. We look for those who are wise, accomplished, great in speech, good-looking, and perhaps have money.

Those would all be signs of success in our world.

Except for Paul did not operate out of the natural world but the spiritual world. He proclaimed he came only with the testimony of God. He made it very clear that he did not even come to baptize.

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

Paul Came With A Single Message: (1 Corinthians 2:2)

I love the idea of approaching people with no pre-determined idea of who you will meet or how they should respond. Paul just went with the single message of the Gospel.

People get squirrely when I say this. But he pre-qualified people with the gospel. He would share the good news and then talk and walk with those who responded in some way.

Paul Came In Weakness and Fear: (1 Corinthians 2:3)

It is amazing how he approaches those he reached. He did not come riding into town on the white horse with all the answers. He actually came in great humility. (1 Cor. 4:10)

Paul Came In The Power Of The Spirit: (1 Corinthians 2:4)

This is a key understanding of the Church. That our theology matches up with our experience. All the things listed up to this point were of weakness and humility.

But Paul quickly points out that he may not be wise and one of great speech, but he does posses the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is not the only place he mentions this…Romans 15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

The thing about Paul was that his theology of the Church and faith matched his experiences. It is vital that we find ways to align our theology of God with our own experiences.

Paul Came With The Proper Medium: (1 Corinthians 2:5)

What we learn in the mission field is that the medium dictates the message. Paul makes it very clear that faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but the power of the Spirit.

But we also know that Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

Not only does the message (gospel) transform people, but this message travels within us. An earthen vessel (us).

There is no better way to communicate the Mystery of God (gospel) then through someone who has been transformed by it.

I hate to say this, because it sounds so simple, it is so cost effective, and it is so easy to program. Matter of fact I would probably do it for free in a church if one ever asked me too…

But here it is…drum roll please…

We grow the church by making disciples!

Did you know: The world we seek to reach is the same world Christ died to save.

While we come up with cooler and cooler ways to plant churches, launch missional communities, build small groups, and build more efficient buildings, the truth will always remain the same. That the church grows through the process of making disciples.

I know it is not sexy and actually costs you almost zero money to accomplish, yet it is the one thing we suck at.

• Disciples are not made in group settings. They are made in the field
• Disciples are not influenced through speech but transformed through the Gospel

Let’s face the facts, conviction does not equal action

While the world has changed in terms of technological advancements, the universal problem of sin still rules the hearts of men everywhere and requires the same solution – the finished work of the Cross!

• God’s answer to sin is the transformational power of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
• The power of the Gospel is that it transforms those who obey it (Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18).

It is only when we have people who are transformed through the Gospel well we see true explosive growth within our church.

We must be very clear about the nature of ministry and the nature of how God works.

God doesn’t merely influence; He transforms!

Our ability to grow a church is tied to the ability of the church to transform the world, not influence it.

It drives me bonkers when I hear pastors and church leaders fret and sweat over the idea that the local church has lost influence in the world…it is true. But who cares who you influence…we are called to proclaim the message of Christ…we don’t want to influence anyone…we want Christ to transform them.

As already stated, we are called to proclaim the Gospel which transforms people…not influence people. So, the question is, who are you transforming.

• This transformational power is not in our institutional structures or systems; it is in our living grace testimonies.
• Transformation is not the result of better management or programming; it is a work of the Spirit in the human heart.

All true Spirit-led ministry facilitates this work of the Spirit.

Two Errors

We may be facing two fundamental problems.

1. We no longer teach or preach our theology (what we believe) with clarity and conviction to the average person sitting in the pew.
2. We do not live what we profess to believe.

We must challenge Christian leaders to live what they say they believe! 

A man who has been making disciples who make disciples for the better part of 20 years on the streets of Houston has said it this way. The problem with the church today is that the leaders of the church are no longer transparent.

My heart ache came when I realized that our theology did not match up with our experiences. The things we preach do match up with what we experience in our life. Nor did we expect it to with those sitting in the pew…

The Christian worldview originates from three things:

1. Our existential awareness (or life experience)
2. Our understanding of Scripture
3. Our own self-interest

The local Church places a greater emphasis on #2 (understanding Scripture) and #3 (self-interest), than it does on #1 (personal experience).

The result of this shift in emphasis is that Scripture becomes something I am expected to know and believe but not something I am expected to live or experience.

The result is a worldview that in practice denies the primacy of the Holy Spirit and the godly supernatural realities of the Christian faith, “holding to a form of godliness” (or religion), but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5).

The Importance of Worldviews

• Worldviews produce convictions.
• Convictions produce value systems.
• Value systems produce life choices.
• Life choices produce lifestyles.
• Lifestyles produce communities.
• Communities produce cultures.
• Cultures produce the context for history – a generational impact.

I know you blew through that bullet list, but re-read it. Think through the growth that is communicated in those bullet points. Serious…it will change your life, ministry, and church.

Application: To grow your church you need to help people match their theology with their experience!

1. A message that is different and significant
2. A medium that is authentic and personal

I suppose it is not the answer you hoped for. But I can not stress how important these two things are.

The Two Change Agents:

1. The message (the Gospel) is different and significant, speaking to the deeper felt needs of every generation. Calling men and women into a supernatural experience with a supernatural God.

2. The medium (Spirit-transformed followers of Christ) is authentic and personal, demonstrating the glory of God through the lives of those who know and love Him.

Marshal McLuhan stated; The medium is the message. In other words the vehicle you use to share your message actually shapes your message.

When people are transformed by the message, you gain a person who is authentic and excited to share that message. Nothing is more valuable to your ministry than a person telling others about their transformation.

Our ministry is not about influence and building great programs.

Our ministry is helping people match their experience with their theology of God and the Church.

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul showed us that he came in great humility, brought the gospel, and walked in the power of the Spirit. With those three things he changed the world as we know it.

What would happen if we were to include these in our ministry.

1. Train people on how to share the message
2. train people on how to discern the voice of God

They would no longer follow us, but follow Christ, and involve themselves in the Work He is doing.

When you surrender the ministry to redeemed people, and they begin developing disciples, your ministry will forever change.

In A Nutshell * you package the gospel in transformed lives…

The spiritual transaction that results in salvation is universal to all men. Whatever medium or method we may choose to use, and whatever group we are targeting to reach, we are all seeking to produce the same spiritual transaction.

We need to understand that it is not our jobs in ministry to influence people. It is our job to communicate the one thing that transforms people, and that is the Gospel.

When the gospel begins to transform people, you have a built-in medium to communicate your message. Your medium for transporting the message is transformed people. When people begin telling others the same message they had heard (gospel) it produces incredible growth.

 That spiritual transaction cannot be produced by an act of man, but only by an act of God. A ministry led by the Holy Spirit will result in conversions.

Definition: Spirit-led, Christ-centered ministry is doing what God is doing.

Jesus modeled this pattern for us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son does also in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing” (John 5:19-20).

When we begin to move away from a natural setting of ministry and into a spiritual one, we are no longer inventing ministry and ideas, but joining God in the work He is already doing.

When Paul set out to set the world on fire, he made the claim that he was not wise nor great with speech. But what he did bring was…

• An unassuming idea of what would happen
• He brought the gospel
• He walked in the power of the Spirit

When Paul came to town it was very obvious that his experiences in life matched his theology of God and the Church.

WHY? Because he was doing what God told him to do. He was working in the lives of those God was already working.

Jesus did what He saw His father doing and He did it in like manner.

Which means, He not only did what the Father was doing, but He did it the same way the Father was doing it.

He intends the same for us: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).

This is the Biblical pattern for all ministry in all ages.

In the description of David’s army in 1 Chronicles 12, we read of the sons of Issachar who were “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.”

That is a perspective – understanding the times and knowing what we should do in those times.

My view of the Church was shaped not only from my theological view but my experiences within the church.

Because I have a rather conservative theological view-point, it is safe to say that the Church is made up of believers and God is the head of the Church. (Ephesians)

It is also safe to say that I lived out my theological viewpoint within a western local church understanding. I served as a pastor for 13 years.

• I love the local church.
• I loved being a pastor
• I love working with other pastors

However there was discontent in my heart. I couldn’t place my finger on it and it took me stepping away from the pastorate to fully understand it.

But I realized my experience was not matching my theological understanding of the church.

• I found myself very programmed
• I was caught up in the politics
• I was into everything except for moving the mission of Christ forward
• My ministry had become about me instead of Christ

I don’t blame the local church for any of this. It was my own sin.

I failed to realize my responsibility as a leader was to help people match their theological view to their experiences.

Instead…I lived and died to align the church to fulfill the vision and mission that God gave the senior pastor. It is hard to comprehend how dedicated I was to that task.

In reality what I should had been doing is helping people live out what they said they believed.

Once this became clear in my mind, everything changed.

Being a system guy and designer of ministries, I was always judged on one thing. Did you grow the church. Which is ok when you receive compensation for the ministry you do.

However, now that I receive zero funds from any church or organization, I can freely say that this measurement is a bit off kilter. I have nothing against growth. My own mission is to develop disciples that make disciples so that we can reach 2.1 million people in Houston. So, I am not afraid of systems and or growth.

However…

• My measurement has changed somewhat
• The way I look at growth has changed somewhat
• The way I view the Church has changed drastically

So now instead of Butts, Budget, and Buildings I measure things much differently.

We all know the saying…Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you are getting.

So if you are not happy with the results you are getting, then here is a new measurement you can use for growth in your ministry.

Judge your system by the results it produces:

• Does your system produce relationships or structures?
• Does it produce transformation or transactions?
• Does it reflect transcendence (does it take people beyond where they are) or relevance (does it keep people in the same lifestyle and  place)?
• Does it emphasize and reward character or abilities?
• Is it identified by spiritual or natural things?
• Does it produce fruit or works?

Jesus made disciples by doing four simple things (see Matthew 10). While He continued to preach to the multitudes, He gave more and more time to these four things and increasingly moved from a public speaking ministry to preparing His disciples for their own ministry.

1. Jesus called His disciples (Matthew 10:1).

There is a major difference between “calling” a disciple and “attracting” new people. When I attract someone I have to appeal to what they want instead of calling them to what God wants.

You do not attract disciples, you call them.

This calling involves a personal and individual selection as opposed to a universal appeal made to many people.  Jesus did not call everyone to be His disciple and even turned some away (Matthew 13:10-17; 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27; Luke 10:25-30; 18:18-27).

It is good to desire that all should be saved (2 Peter 3:9); but the sad reality is that most will not be (Matthew 7:13-14).

Do not neglect the multitudes, but invest more time into making disciples than appealing to crowds and you will see more of the multitudes saved.

As we have seen, the multiplication of disciples will produce a greater number of people preaching and hearing the gospel. Jesus carefully selected (called) His disciples and invested most of His time in them.

2. Jesus empowered His disciples (Matthew 10:1).

Whom God calls, He enables. The power Jesus gave His disciples was authority.

In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” In Matthew 10:1, Jesus gave His disciples authority over every sickness and over demons.

We are not stronger than demons, but we have authority over them.

Disciples must know how to use the authority Jesus has given to them. They can only learn this as they are discipled and trained.

3. Jesus instructed His disciples (Matthew 10:5).

Instruction differs from general teaching in that it requires two things:

1. the impartation (or giving) of knowledge and specific commands through teaching (Matthew 10:5-15), and
2. the development of skills and behavior through mentoring (Luke 9:10).

This is what discipleship is:

• teaching and mentoring
• learning and doing
• commanding and obeying with accountability

4. Jesus sent His disciples (Matthew 10:5).

After calling, empowering, and instructing them, Jesus sent His disciples out to do ministry. He released them to do what He was doing.

Traditional church structures encourage pastors to focus on collecting more and more people. The larger the collection the more successful the pastor is considered to be.

Jesus did not collect people. He called and sent them.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you.”

When it comes to choosing disciples most would give you a list of things you should be looking for. Some would even point you to scripture in Timothy or Titus.

People have told me that we should be checking their character and competency before discipling someone.

But I have to tell you, we really can’t measure someones true character. (1 Corinthians 2:11)

How do you really know what someone does behind closed doors. How many people have come on strong only to fade away.

It always seems the one you never choose or the one you passed over because of there skin color, weight  employment, etc, is usually the one you never expected to rise to the top.

So How Do You Find People To Disciple

Re-read John 15:16.

Normal practices say someone will choose those they wish to disciple. But, Jesus shows us that He actually chooses them for us. Why does He choose, because He wants those who will produce a fruit that will last.

Now, I will admit I never know who Christ is choosing for me to walk with and disciple and sped time with?

So I do the only thing I can.

• Pray
• Share the vision of discipleship
• Talk about it every chance I get

And somehow, someway, Christ brings those people forward. I do not look for weight, color, position in life, or any markings what so ever.

I showed up to one group that had two out of the three people smoking weed when I arrived. I walked with the one who was not smoking weed…

But do we spend all our time with just anyone…no way!

Test people

What do I mean by testing people. See if they will complete simple tasks.

One test I use on new people is to see if they will just show up. It might go something like this.

Person: “Hey I want to join you in discipleship”

ME: “You do, then I will tell you what…email or call me with a time and place that we can sit down and talk”

Person: “Ok I will do that”

Now if they follow through, then we are on our way. If they do not, then I never chase them down or ask what happened. I just move with those that respond to the test. Make sure your always testing throughout your disciplining process.

1) Movements are launched by people who have a burning faith…Most people believe that they need a ton of resources and money to launch movements…but the reality is that Church history is not made by well-financed, well-resourced individuals and institutions. History is made by men and women of faith who have met with the living God.

2) You need a plan…there is a specific way to develop a plan to reach your city, community, or block for Christ.

3) It starts with an individual, but forms into a team fairly quickly. You need to develop a Ephesians 4:11 team

4) You need an unwavering commitment to the movement

5) You need a short-term and long-term plan for discipleship and launching movements…Short term is what you use to train people quickly, test their resolve and interest, long-term is what your disciples use to grow in Christ

6) You pre-qualify through the gospel. You share the gospel and walk with those who respond in some form or fashion

7) Those that give their life to Christ are fully qualified to join the process of leading others to Christ and teaching what they have learned…

8) It is not about you teaching others…it is about training others…we train others to teach others what they have learned…

9) We do not teach others to rely on us for information…but train others to hear and discern the voice of God…we do not want followers of us…but disciples of Christ…

10) we only gather so that we may scatter again…

11) We listen to the heart of those we disciple, but help them align that with the mission of Christ…”Lords Prayer”

12) You are not a disciple until you are discipling someone else

13) You always up the testing of those you walk with…conviction does not equal action

Just a few lessons learned on the streets