Category: Discipleship

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Metaphors and the Church by Dave Guiles

DaveGuiles-Headshot
Dave Guiles

Encompass World Partners director, Dave Guiles, has been doing some intriguing study and work on “Conceptual Metaphors” and how they play a significant part in developing concepts and behavior.

Dave’s research shows that real change takes place when we are successfully introduced to new metaphors. This is true because:

1) Metaphors organize the way we think,
2) Metaphors enable us to gain new insights,
3) Metaphors create identity, and,
4) Metaphors serve as a guide to future actions.

To help illustrate this important truth, Dave explored how the self-concept of the early church was formed through the introduction of three important conceptual metaphors:

THE CHURCH IS THE FAMILY OF GOD
THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST
THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

“The success of the early Apostles in establishing churches in the diverse cultural soils of their world was directly related to their ability to lead new congregations into a clear understanding and acceptance of these metaphors. Because of their importance in revealing the true nature of the church, these can be referred to as ‘essence metaphors.”

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Praying for the “New America”

On this eve of the “National Day of Prayer,” I wrote a little ditty for @LosAltosGrace and compelled folks to actually pray on this day… and even tried to create some white space to help it happen.

Then I was scrolling through my email and came across a forward article about our nation from a patriot in our @LosAltosGrace Church family.  The title of the email article was “We Are Not Coming Back.” It caught my attention because it was written by a Rabbi…

It was written originally in the days following the 2012 Presidential Election (Read it on his blog here). It certainly talked about politics and was very insightful. The part that grabbed me was this paragraph:

Obama also knows that the electorate has changed – that whites will soon be a minority in America (they’re already a minority in California) and that the new immigrants to the US are primarily from the Third World and do not share the traditional American values that attracted immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a different world, and a different America . Obama is part of that different America , knows it, and knows how to tap into it. That is why he won.

The bigger question for me is not how the elections will go in this different and new America, but how can we see the Gospel and disciples of Jesus penetrate this different…and new America.  This “new America” has long been rooted in our urban areas. I saw it for 8 years as I lived in downtown Columbus, Ohio.  And now I’m living in one of the largest urban areas in the world…I’m still praying and wrestling with what is it gonna take?

This different or “new America” provides us with great challenges and opportunities for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s take our energy, prayers and creativity and leverage them toward seeing our Jesus draw many to Himself!

Many prayers in the next 24 hours will be made for “revival” and I’m in favor of that.  But what about our prayers for the thousands of people in our country who have never had a “__vival”; that is a “first life with Christ”, been “born again” nor even known about Jesus. We must pray for these and for the church and Jesus’ disciples to sow the Good News!

We see the fields white for harvest. Isn’t that what we should see in this different and new America?  God is bringing the world to us and let’s see Jesus bring the world to Himself through US.

 

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Understanding “Disciple” in the Biblical Era

According to The New International Dictionary of Testament Theology (NIDTT):

“A man is called a [disciple] when he binds himself to someone else in order to acquire his practical and theoretical knowledge. He may be an apprentice in a trade, a student of medicine, or a member of a philosophical school. One can only be a [disciple] in the company of a … master or teacher, to whom the [disciple] … generally had to pay a fee. An obvious exception to this is when [disciple] refers to spiritual dependence on a thinker long since dead.” It is interesting to note that Socrates avoided using this term in part because of “its impersonal and commercial associations.”

 

Upon reading these words, you likely thought, “That’s close, but not really what Jesus intended!” Keep in mind, however, that this was the manner in which most people living in that period understood the term disciple.

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Seed of the Gospel and Indigenous Christianity

“The Gospel is like a seed and you have to sow it. When you sow the seed of the Gospel in Palestine, a plant that can be called Palestinian Christianity grows. When you sow it in Rome, a plant of Roman Christianity grows. You sow the Gospel in Great Britain and you get British Christianity. The seed of the Gospel is later brought to America, and a plant grows of American Christianity. Now, when missionaries came to our lands they brought not only the seed of the gospel, but their own plant of Christianity, flower not included! So, what we have to do is to break the flower pot, take out the seed of the gospel, sow it in our own cultural soil, and let our own version of Christianity grow.”
-D. T. Niles ( from Sri Lanka)

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Dependence…learned from a couple of Jesus Stories

Dependence

In the USA, we love the Declaration of Independence. In fact, rugged independence defines us at a deep level.  In the spiritual world, it is the exact opposite…we are totally dependent! We enter into a relationship with God totally reliant, trusting on Him & Him alone! In truth, we are reliant upon God for everything!

On Sunday, we ventured into a story about Jesus which nails this concept:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 

                        (Mark 10:13-15)

Here are kids…who know more about the kingdom of God because they are dependent! When it comes to our relationship with God we need to always remember that we are kids!

To put even a finer point on this, the very next story in the Gospel of Mark is about the Rich Young Ruler. Jesus doesn’t give the same answer to this man (i.e., “become like a child”). This Rich Young man claimed that he had kept everything in the law since being a child. And Jesus asked Him for something more than keeping the law, “You lack one thing, sell everything you have and give the money to the poor!”

This Rich Young Ruler was self-reliant. The issue wasn’t his stuff, but it was rather Who he trusted in. He trusted more in his own riches, his own youth, and himself than Jesus.

We must trust Jesus! Become little children and depend our our Great and Mighty God!!!

 

These thoughts were spawned from the message by Phil Helfer on 11/11/2012 @LosAltosGrace. Published in the MidWeek E-newsletter  If you want to hear Pastor Phil Helfer talk through this message and much more, tune in online here.

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Rethinking Leadership by Curtis Sergeant

Insightful and experienced strategist Curtis Sergeant shares about leadership…

Rethinking Leadership

Therefore, since ministry is not only for the “mature” but for all of us who follow Christ, all of us are “leaders” in some sense of the word. In the church we tend to think of leaders as those who serve in a role of one or more of the five-fold gifts in Ephesians 4:11-12, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; or else in terms of the officers of the church, bishops/pastors, elders, or deacons. We tend to have an attitude that leaders in the church must be mature believers. This view is fine as long as we remember that is one type of leadership. In another sense, God has given each individual a sphere of influence. A poor, illiterate housewife in the developing world can be a “leader” for her children and neighbors. This type of “leadership” needs greater emphasis in the Kingdom of God today.

I like to think of this type of leadership in terms of the metaphor of a mother duck leading her ducklings. 20121110-173035.jpgAs they walk or swim single file, only the first duckling is following the mother duck. Each of the other ducklings is following the one preceding them in line. In order to lead a duckling like this, one does not have to be a mature duck, just one step ahead of another duckling. In this metaphor, it is important to realize there is only one Leader of leaders – Jesus. All the rest of us are simply ducklings. None of us is totally mature (to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ). We are all “in process”. This does not excuse us from the responsibility to lead those whom we can, however. We still have the responsibility to steward whatever leadership opportunities God has given us.

This excerpt is used by permission from a fuller article: Planting Rapidly Reproducing Churches by Curtis Sergeant

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Can we make disciples like Jesus modeled? video by Erik Fish

Erik Fish

Catalytic leader of the Student Church movement, Erik Fish shares about making disciples at Cornerstone Community Church in Kansas City, KS. Erik challenges us with the question “Can we do what Jesus modeled for us today?”

© 2012 Cornerstone Community Church and Erik Fish – posted originally HERE

Erik & Jen Fish have a passion to be on mission with Jesus – as a family. They help catalyze Student Church Movements –see how student church planters are bringing the gospel to universities and the nations at http://studentchurch.org

More at http://ErikFish.com or on Twitter @FishErik

 

See also the articles:
Dumb Mistakes I Made Growing Movements by Erik Fish
Matches and Movements: What Kind of Revival Do We Want? Erik Fish

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A Simple Way to Organize Your Life by Ed Waken

Priorities

Put the following four words in the correct order of importance;

Work, Family, Church, God

What did you come up with?

Actually, this is a trick question.  The best option is to remove God from the list, put the other three words in any order you’d like and then place God on top of the list.  It might look something like this:

PrioritiesMost of us today would describe our lives as busy.  Probably too busy is more like it.  When we consider our lives as having compartments like work, house work, hobbies, family time, devotional or quiet times with God, church activities, evangelism and on and on, there is simply no way we have time for it all.  However, if we follow the picture above, and we write God over whatever category you place on the list, pretty quickly we can begin to have more time.  How can that happen?.

The Scriptures teach us that “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17).  In this verse we find the principle of writing God over our lives, in all we do.

Here are a couple of suggestions to help you realize the time you need to live a full, faithful and fruitful life.

1. Hold your life open and accessible to God at all times.  Ask Him what His priority is for you in any given situation.  This will require you to die to your agenda and replace it with God’s agenda.  This may require you add a hobby to your life so you will engage a person of peace (Luke 10) and help them to learn to follow Jesus.  It may require that lay down a hobby or other activity that is distracting you from hearing the Lord and following His lead.  Whether God adds, subtracts or rearranges things in your life, you will need to learn to become flexible in some ways as you discipline yourself to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in your life.

2. Stop seeing life as a bunch of categories (work, rest, play, church etc.) and begin to see your life as a continuous story where God interacts throughout.  When we move in this direction then God is prevalent in every moment.  Whether we are pumping gas, watching a sunrise, straining to lift weights, enduring another meeting at work or spending time leisure around the home, when life is viewed as a continuous action of worship, we find rest and fulfillment.  We are no longer missing out on doing something, we are enjoying God in whatever we are doing.

So stop categorizing and start writing the presence of God over everything you do.  Listen to His voice and follow His lead.  You will more time than you can imagine and more fruit than you ever dreamed possible.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Let me know if this is helpful to you and your church.

©2012 Ed Waken

Originally posted on Ed’s Blog here
Ed tweets @EdWaken
Used with permission.

See also:
Conversations Not Conversions – Ed Waken
Who Is In Charge?: ReTooling Leadership 1
Jesus’ Example: ReTooling Leadership 2
The Leader’s Priority: ReTooling Leadership 3
Organic Evangelism Principles
The Deal on Disciple Making – Video

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Impact from Greenhouse Training in Milwaukee

Greenhouse Story 1

We at CMA Resources were encouraged by this email:

Greenhouse Story 1
Subject: HOLY SPIRIT IS MOVING MIGHTILY

Hey,

Just a short update after our time at the Milwaukee Greenhouse Training. I am leading 3 simple churches now and we have at least 2 that have planted from people in these. I let God do what only God do and am PROFOUNDLY dependent on Him to lead these. I have grown so much in my faith and like you, I desire to be nothing and Him everything. I learned alot from your trainers.

I have been meeting with our lead pastor and sharing what God is doing in our simple churches. He is going to have a total makeover of our 35 small groups and have them based on the organic church. We are spending the summer in our groups digging into 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus for leadership development and disciple training. We are desperate to learn from Him and Gods word.

There has been alot of heartache in my journey and I would not have it any other way. I will save a few of those stories for another time. I am living my dream my friend and I love it. Please pass what God is doing in Milwaukee on.

I am simply focusing on 2 things; the lost and leadership. You are always a great inspiration to me.

Jim

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Quick Explanation of Neil Cole’s Books

Neil Cole

Our calling at Church Multiplication Associates & @CMAResources is to multiply healthy disciples, leaders, churches and movements.  Neil ColeOur friend, Neil Cole has articulated many of the things we have learned in these areas in his written works.  Below is a listing of those resources authored by Cole and their focal points:

 

Disciples:

Search & RescueIf you want to learn about making and multiplying disciples, then read Cultivating A Life for God  and/or  Search & Rescue [paperback version is titled  “Ordinary Hero“]

* (Practical Resource- Life Transformation Group brochures

 

Leaders:

If you want to learn about growing, releasing and multiplying leaders, then read Organic Leadership 

Organic LeadershipIf you want to lead a group of emerging leaders through advanced doctrinal study so they can be trained in context, and not be shipped off to a seminary, then check out TruthQuest 

If you want to learn about leadership development, learn about your own development, and get a great, practical,  and biblical perspective on the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul, the read Journeys to Significance

If you want to shape a leadership development track for your ministry or network of churches, check out Raising Leaders for the Harvest

*(Practical Resource- Mentoring Guides for coaching leaders)

 

Churches:

Organic ChurchIf you want to be challenged about your view of the church, and think biblically about how to take the church to people, then you should read Organic Church

Church TransfusionIf you are part of a conventional church and want it to become a seedbed of mission and multiplication as the church was meant to be see Church Transfusion

If you want to gain insights that will pave the way for the emergence of fruitful multiplication of disciples, leaders, churches, etc. with a thick resource including 3-ring binder, 8 audio CDs and the Powerpoint, check out Beyond Church Planting by Neil Cole and Bob Logan.

 

* Practical Training- Organic Church Planter’s Greenhouse Story 1 & Story 2

 

Movements:

If you want to read about the top ten questions people ask about organic church, learn from a practitioner inside of a church multiplication movement and get a vision for the future of the church, then check out Church 3.0 

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The Power of Presence by Jay Stiegelmeyer

The Church Has Left the Building

I think the best way I can talk about the “Power of Presence” is to share a story from my own journey. Let me tell you about my Life Transformation Group and how the Power of Presence has allowed us to plant kingdom seeds in people’s lives.

In the summer of 2011, my friend David led my friend Harry (both part of this group) to Christ at a table in a Chipotle restaurant close to our neighborhood. Since that night, a group of guys has been meeting every single week in that same Chipotle. We bring our Bibles and simply talk about what we’ve read that week and what’s going on in our lives. We don’t come with a hard agenda and we aren’t particularly flamboyant. What we are is consistent. We are there every single week.

The Church Has Left the BuildingOver the months, we’ve gotten to know many of the staff and even developed friendships with some of them. It’s been fun to watch the relationships grow. I remember the first time I realized that they had taken note of our consistent presence. It was Christmas Eve, and I strolled in there by myself to get my wife and I some lunch to go. One of the people there asked if our group was meeting early that day because of the holiday. Then, she stopped herself, and said “Oh, wait, it’s not a Thursday.” I knew then that they had come to expect us at that same time on that same night every single week.

Fast forward a few months to early spring time. There is another young staff member that works there named Alona. We’d gotten to know her and she’d started routinely giving us free drinks/chips (another benefit of the Power of Presence!). Anyway, she slowly moved from friendly chit-chat to actually asking us questions and showing interest in what our purpose is for being there every week. I could talk a lot more about Alona, but, suffice to say, she now has a Bible and has agreed to read the gospel of John with us. Please pray with us that God would speak to her heart and she would make a decision to surrender her life to Jesus, the Messiah!

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. There is another middle-aged woman who works there named Shelby. We haven’t been able to get to know her as easily, but she’s definitely come to notice our consistently being there. A couple of weeks ago, she took her break outside at a table close to where Harry and I sat. I didn’t think anything about it really, but I do remember wondering what she must be thinking as we sat there talking about the Bible and things in our lives. Well, that brings us to this week’s meeting. She made a comment to Harry as he was going through the line that she was sorry for eavesdropping but that she couldn’t help but listen in and be encouraged by the incredible conversation that night a couple of weeks ago. Harry told her that she was always welcome to join in the conversation any time.

Well, sure enough, an hour later she came and sat down close by our table for her break and wasted no time in sharing her story with us. I know we’ve only scratched the surface of her story, but she shared about the addictions that she’s been able to overcome, about her father who is dying of cancer, about her criminal background, and about her dreams and aspirations. In her 15 minute break, we got her to title her autobiography for us (literally – it was the word written on her first hit of heroine).

Anyway, I could go on and on about this…and obviously this story is far from over. But, I believe in the Power of Presence. It directly led to Alona being drawn to the Lord and to His Word. It led directly to Shelby feeling comfortable enough to share her story with a couple of guys willing to sit and listen. And I didn’t even tell you about Aaron, the high-schooler who started meeting with us after seeing us in Chipotle one night as he ate with his friends. Who knows what God will be able to do with our group as we continue to show up and be obedient?

—

(c) 2012  Jay Stiegelmeyer

Jay Tweets @buffal0nickel

Used by permission

 

 

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Welcome to the Priesthood by Brad Brisco

Priest

When attempting to transition an existing church in a more missional direction I believe one of the topics of discussion must surround the concept of “the priesthood of all believers.” For me the “priesthood of all believers” is not just a theological perspective on there being no need for an earthly mediator to God, but I also understand it from a missiological standpoint. In other words, if we understand the church as God’s agent sent into the world to participate in what He is already doing, then every member must be developed and deployed as missionaries into their local setting. The church is sent, not just collectively, but individually. Therefore, the church needs to be affirming and “commissioning” every member to engage his or her local mission field.

In their book, Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship Alan and Deb Hirsch tell a story of how they “commissioned” the entire congregation of South Melbourne Restoration Community.

At South we took the “priesthood of all believers” (that every person is a minister and needs to be released as such) seriously. This didn’t mean that our community always lived this out, but it was a value we tried to live by (and at times used humor to reinforce). In order to drive this point home, one Sunday morning, as our community arrived for our gathering, we greeted each person at the door and handed them a two-inch-wide strip of white flexible card and a fastener. Many looked puzzled but decided to play along, wondering just what we were up to.

A short time after the service began, Al asked everybody to stand up and fasten the white strip around their necks. He then proceeded to lead the whole church through an ordination ceremony. It wasn’t quite what people were expecting, but that morning each and every person gathered at South was officially ordained into the ministry of Jesus. Once they were all ordained, they could dispose of the symbolic (and very unnecessary) dog collars and just live out their commission.

How else can we encourage people in the church to live out a “priesthood of all believers” understanding? What things have you done to “commission” people to mission?

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You’re Going Too Fast! by General William Booth

General William BoothFrom 1886 by Salvation Army founder William Booth
—

They say we go too fast! This accusation comes from all directions. Our enemies do not like our speed and our friends are afraid of it. What do they mean? If they had complained that we did not go fast enough, I could understand them. If our enemies had argued that after all we say about the evils of sin, the terrors of the Judgment Day, and the damnation of hell, we do not believe in these things ourselves, I could understand that, and feel humbled under their indictment.Blazing Speed

If our friends came together and said, “Why don’t you increase the speed? Look at the dying millions at home and abroad. You have evidently got a wonderful way of reaching the masses. You have accomplished what no other organization has. You can adapt yourselves to all peoples and countries and climates. Why don’t you push on faster? Why don’t you train more cadets-send out more officers-hunt up more criminals, drunkards and fallen women? Go faster; get up more steam!” Now, this seems to me would be the natural way of talking for both foes and friends. But no! The cry is not “Go faster” but “You go too fast!” What do they mean?

Speed is a good thing…   Read the rest here