“You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits”
– Michael Phelps
“The Christian church with all its faults is the greatest serving institution on earth. It has many critics, but no rivals in the work of human redemption… No other institution has done anything like it—none whatever. The fact that the church has been able to survive the dead weight of a large proportion of its membership unconverted is a proof of its essential soundness and vitality. A minority of converted people keep its soul alive.”
E. Stanley Jones, Conversion
“The Gospel came to you because it was heading to someone else. God never intended for your salvation to be an end, but a beginning. God saved you to be a conduit through whom His glorious, life changing gospel would flow to others. You are a link in a chain….”
Robby Gallaty, in Growing Up: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes Disciples
How close is my church to being a multiplying church? What markers to I need to aim for if I desire for my church or network to multiply? Jimmy Scroggins and Steve Wright share a great list of 10 markers or characteristics of a Multiplying Movement in their great book Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations. Here’s the list in the form of 10 questions to Gauge multiplication:
Challenging list, but some simple starting points for any church.
>> Expand the vision. The authors give the challenge of considering “how many new disciples would you need to turn back the lostness in your immediate area by just 1 percent?” In my community, The Association of Religious Data Archives says there are 116,018 unaffiliated individuals, that are not part of any church or religious body. So to just focus on these would mean, we’d need to reach 1,160 people! Need big vision to accomplish this!
>> Begin to Pray. “Prayer aligns our hearts with God’s heart for the lost.” Great tools like BlessEveryHome.com can be used for strategic prayer across your community. Also, devising a way for people to write down their lost friends pray for regularly.
>> Provide tools and training. “A commitment to frequent, intentional training is the key factor that distinguishes a multiplying movement from one of fast addition.” How are you training people to share the gospel? Lots of tools available like One on One: Evangelism Made Simple through the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the 3 Circles Life Conversation Guide through the North American Mission Board. Books like Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations, Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out by Alvin Reid, and Tell Someone by Greg Laurie. Lot’s of simple ways to provide training.
Turning Everyday Conversations Into Gospel Conversations is also a good How To book for Christians, presenting the 3-Circles method of sharing the Gospel. Check it out and maybe buy a box for your small group or church resource center.
Here’s a few other great quotes from the book:
“I was all the time tugging and carrying water. But now I have a river that carries me.”
D.L. Moody
“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Jesus, John 4:14 NLT – http://bible.com/116/jhn.4.14.nlt
JR Woodward’s and Dan White Jr.’s book The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities is well worth reading for church planters or leaders pursuing missional, incarnational movement. Great info and ideas on starting and sustaining missional communities. Also, goes into great detail on the APEST modes of church leadership – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers. Also, great information on the spiritual maturity as it relates to missional communities and deep relationships around discipleship. Would be great for a core group or launch team utilizing missional communities as a strategy to go through. Would also be good for a church wanting to get back to a missional, community driven focus to go through. Want be shelving this one anytime soon. Good tool to keep handy as we look to make disciples and catalyze a movement. Lots of good resources, worksheets, etc. at churchasmovement.com.
Wore through a highlighter reading this book, but here’s a few of my favorite highlights:
Prayer is co-operation with God. It is the purest exercise of the faculties God has given us—an exercise that links these faculties with the Maker to work out the intentions He had in mind in their creation. Prayer is aligning ourselves with the purposes of God…
Prayer is commitment. We don’t merely co-operate with God with certain things held back within… We, the total person, co-operate. This means that co-operation equals commitment. Prayer means that the total you is praying… Your whole being reaches out to God, and God … reaches down to you…
Prayer is communion. Prayer is a means, but often it is an end in itself… There are times when your own wants and the needs of others drop away and you want just to look on His face and tell Him how much you love Him…
Prayer is commission. Out of the quietness with God, power is generated that turns the spiritual machinery of the world. When you pray, you begin to feel the sense of being sent, that the divine compulsion is upon you.
… E. Stanley Jones in Growing Spiritually. Via CQOTD
Didn’t get to attend the Pipeline Conference last year, but have wore out a highlighter going through the feature book by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck called Designed to Lead: The Church and Leadership Development. The thesis of the book is that the church should be a great catalyst of developing leaders in every sphere of life. Geiger and Peck lay out the theological case for leadership development in the church and also make practical steps to get started very accessible for churches of every size. Exposed is our lack of true leadership development in the church and our dependence on a professional class instead of God’s power through God’s people with clergy being equippers. Must read for church planters who must multiply leaders and set a course for maximum impact for years to come. Here are ten of my favorite quotes from Designed to Lead:
A few more posts coming from this book in coming weeks. More info and some resources on the book at DesignedtoLead.com. Also, check out and follow Eric Geiger’s Blog for other great leadership resources.
Good encouragement here from Tony Evans, for when the Family Devotion just seems like a lot of commotion. Parents, keep showing up!
There were times when our four kids would be acting up around the table while I was trying to lead devotions, and it would irritate me. They would be talking out of turn, or one would be pouting. It just seemed like a lot of commotion rather than devotion! I admit there were even times when I called it quits and told everyone to go to their rooms because they weren’t paying attention or they were being disrespectful. But more times than not, I stuck it out, and then, at a later point, I would be surprised how one child or another would bring up something I thought for sure no one had heard during the devotions at the table simply due to the noise. They were listening— even when it didn’t look like they were listening. Those were the moments God used to remind me to hang in there when I would want to walk away from the table early and call it a night. I would remember that it was my responsibility to train these children to the best of my ability— imperfectly but consistently. I was called to show up and do my part, leaving the hard work of getting the truth into their hearts to God.
Excerpted from Raising Kingdom Kids by Tony Evans
“You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits”
– Michael Phelps
“God has revealed so many glorious contradictions in the lives and conduct of genuine Christian believers…”
Lord, help me be a glorious contradiction to this world.