What is a Disciple?
Getting back to Vince Lombardi’s “This is a football. These are yard markers. I’m the coach. Your the players” mentality about the basics is a good thing to do every now and then. Questions I’m asking: If I wanted to be a disciple what would I do? If I wanted to make a disciple what would I do? If I wanted to reproduce a discipleship movement how would I do it?
In Real Life Discipleship Jim Putman defines a disciple according to Matthew 4:19, where Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” So a disciple is one who knows and follows Christ, is being changed by Christ, and is committed to the mission of Christ. That’s the target in the simplest terms possible.
What does a disciple do? Here’s an acrostic I found and liked:
What is your definition of a disciple? What helpful tools and resources are you using to become and help others become effective disciples?
Courageous Movie Stuff
The movie Courageous opens tomorrow! It will highlight men’s and fathering issues like nothing before. Here’s some great ideas for your church. And some input from the National Fatherhood initiative. Check out the official music video below. The movie trailer is at the end of the clip. Or find it here. Also, check out the Courageous Song lyrics below the video. Also, check out this post by Randy Alcorn about the importance of fathers and the accompanying video with cast members and ministry leaders talking about the importance of fathers.
Courageous Lyrics
We were made to be courageous
We were made to lead the way
We could be the generation
That finally breaks the chain
We were made to be courageous
We were made to be courageous
We were warriors on the front lines
Standing, unafraid
But now we’re watchers on the sidelines
While our families slip away
Where are you, men of courage?
You were made for so much more
Let the pounding of hearts cry
We will serve the Lord
We were made to be courageous
And we’re taking back the fight
We were made to be courageous
And it starts with us tonight
The only way we’ll ever stand
Is on our knees we’re lifting hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous
This is our resolution
Our answer to the call
We will love our wives and children
We refuse to let them fall
We will reignite the passion
That we buried deep inside
May the watchers become warriors
Let the men of God arise
Seek justice
Love mercy
Walk on
Be with your God
In the war of the mind
I will make my stand
In the battle of the heart
And the battle of the hand
Church Growth vs. Kingdom Growth
“what’s good for my church numerically may not be best for the kingdom – but what’s good for the kingdom is always best for my church.”
Challenging post by Bob Roberts. I actually got to hear Bob teach this while I was a Southwestern Seminary. His books Transformation, Glocalization, and The Multiplying Church (I blogged about this book here) have been very influential in my thinking about ministry.
What about the health factors in ministry that might shrink the church numerically. Bob mentions a few:
- church planting can impact the size of your local church. That isn’t bad – it’s good. We’ve helped over 20 churches get going all around us. There are over 10,000 people in those churches combined – but I doubt seriously if we’d ever run 10,000 at our local church.
- loving other people radically can hurt your church attendance. People want lost people to find Jesus – but they want nice, acceptable, like us lost people – I’m so glad Jesus wasn’t that way. We must go after the ostracized, the neglected, the marginalized – these are the ones that Jesus went after.
- being serious about making disciples will actually hurt your “church attendance” at times. We live in a very consumeristic culture…being a disciple isn’t going to church – and it’s not just feeling good about life and all your dreams coming true.
Read the entire post here.
What are other markers of Kingdom Growth?
From and To / Faith in Action Weekend, Oct 8-9
For God’s people RESTORATION means that God saves us FROM something, but also TO something. (check out a great site and tool for sharing God’s story at – http://viewthestory.com/). This past Sunday at Bridge Church we went through a list of all the things God saves us FROM and TO. It was a fun little exercise. Here’s a few of my favs:
- From Defilement to Purity.
- From Conflict to Peace.
- From Overcome to Overcoming.
- From Lost to Found.
- From Works to Grace.
- From Death to Life.
- From Now to Forever.
- From Distracted to Engaged.
- From Enslaved to Free.
- From Alone to Adopted.
- From Weak to Empowered.
- From Me to Others.
- From Selfishness to On Mission.
“From and to” are great Gospel words of transformation. I also like “that was then”, “who I was”, “before and after.” All these phrases that many of us use in our personal testimonies express that there is great power to change with Christ. And I believe God has sent us to bring people and places “from” where they are “to” where He wants them to be, so they can testify to the “that was then” “before and after” power of God and work of God’s people.
That’s why I love Faith in Action Weekend. Once per quarter our church SCATTERS into our community instead of GATHERING behind four walls for worship. Why?
- It’s a statement that worship transcends singing and listening – it’s head, heart, and hands. It’s living out our great salvation – by grace through faith for service (see Ephesians 2:8-9 AND 10).
- It’s sharing the Good News of Christ’s love that drove Him to die in our place and power that overcame death.
- It’s a discipling tool that helps continue my own transformation. Serving, sharing, giving always changes me.
- It’s a way to bring FROM and TO, that was then, before and after change to our community.
This Faith in Action Weekend we’ll be working with the West 30’s Revitalization Committee to bring visible transformation through
painting six homes in a needy part of the city of Covington. You can join us: Saturday, 8:30am at Peter Adkins Park. We’ll be partnering with Homeworks of America. And for Faith in Action Sunday, meet us at 9am at the West St. Tammany YMCA for breakfast and then scattering to paint in the West 30’s. We’ll also be doing a Family Day Block Party at our local jail during Sunday’s visitation hours, bringing some light to a dark season of some of our neighbors lives. Our ladies will be making Fall wreaths for resident doors at a local Nursing Home. There will also be some projects at a local mobile home park. Looking forward to some physical and spiritual from and to, before and after, that was then stories after Faith in Action Sunday.
Basic Bulgarian with Benjamin – Lesson 1
Ben’s Mom and Dad are serving as art consultants in Bulgaria. He’s picking up the language quite well. Looking forward to learning more Bulgarian with Benjamin.
Follow the Randolph’s at http://justinandbethrandolph.blogspot.com/.
Barriers to Reproducing Churches
Are we ensuring the church’s and the gospels reproducibility with our ministry methods? One of the best books on church planting over the past few years is Ben Arment’s Church in the Making: What Makes or Breaks a New Church Before It Starts. Born out of real life experience, and not the kind that usually sells books, his insights are well worth reading. Looking back through this weekend and found this great list of barriers to reproducing churches. Take a look. Great reminders:
- Pride. Reproducing ourselves requires humility. In a world where pastors strive to keep up with one another’s successes, it’s rare to find an example of the kind of humility it takes to multiply leaders.
- Personality. By putting personality ahead of purpose, we make our churches difficult to reproduce, let alone sustain.
- Professionalism. The church can only reproduce itself when the barriers to leadership are sufficiently reduced for ordinary, unprofessional ministers.
- Excellence in Ministry. excellence is often a substitute for authentic and relational ministry. Also, quality at its highest levels is almost impossible to reproduce.
- Personal Legacy. Trying to become a great leader can get in the way of a reproducible church. Trouble comes when we try to create our own personal legacies rather than letting God do it.
Make Disciples? Great Q’s for churches:
I’m hearing this statement more and more: “I don’t know how to disciple someone, I’ve never been discipled myself.” The good things about this statement is that we’re owning the mission of making disciples more than ever before. It’s not just the Pastor’s job. The Great Commission was meant for every believer. The bad thing about the statement is that we think of discipling as very difficult and complicated. For Jesus it meant building relationships, calling people to a new way to live, teaching them the basics, sending them out to try it themselves, debriefing, walking, doing it again. It was a fluid motion, not a curriculum set. I loved the three questions in this article by Mike Breen:
- How am I defining Disciple?
- Am I separating mission from discipleship?
- Am I making this way too complicated?
Great Questions for church leaders and I appreciate Mike’s responses as well.
Christianity is in decline in North America partially because we aim at great churches instead of great disciples. Disciple making will lead to great churches. I think we’re coming to the conclusion that vice versa doesn’t always apply.
I’m walking through a great resource right now dealing with these questions: Real Life Disicipleship by Jim Putman and
Avery T. Willis. Love the tag – “Equipping Disciples Who Make Disciples.” Is your ministry model completing the process? Discipleship should lead to disciple makers. Or as I heard Don Wilton say, “The process of evangelism is not complete until the evangelized becomes the evangelist.” Also, picking up Mike Breen’s book on Kindle, Building a Discipleship Culture.
Also, check out this great list by Jason Dukes of recommended books for Disciple Makers.
Ministry Innovation: Clean Water
- 5 million people die every year of water-related illnesses.
- It is estimated that half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by people with a water related illness.
- Women and children in developing countries invest two hundred million hours a day fetching water.
One of the most crippling problems around the world is a lack of safe, clean water. Water related illness and disease and the
Before and After Water in Chiapas
time it takes to deliver and prepare water for living and cooking and bathing in the majority of homes and villages around the world slows progress, wastes precious resources, and causes tremendous grief and hardship to families. Many missionaries are engaged in projects to bring clean water to people as they share about the living water that quenches eternal thirst.
We are excited to be partnering with Sergio and Beth Matassa, of GLED, to bring clean water to hard to reach villages in southern Mexico through a simple, innovative bio-sand filter that can provide 120 gallons of safe water for a family every day for up to 20 years. Bridge Church has partnered with the Matassa’s to install filters in several village homes. Including an orphanage in Las Margaritas, Chiapas, Mexico, that was paying $8,500 per year for clean drinking water for the kids in
Bio-sand water filter being installed in Chiapas
their care. This filter will save this orphanage over $150,000 dollars over its life span and that money can be put into other resources for orphans in a very poor part of the Americas. What’s it cost us? $150! A small amount that saves lives, resources, and opens doors for the Gospel to be shared. These filters are made from scratch and utilizes natural sand and water flow to kill bacteria and clear up bad water. This week we’re installing a few filters in southeast Louisiana. If you’d like to see one in action or hear more about the water projects in Chiapas, or other innovations in missions, hit me up this week.
Read more about the Matassa’s ministry here. Support their work here. Let me know if you want information about future mission trips to Chiapas to reach out to the ancient Tzotzil Indians.
What other water projects do you know about?
Are you a Church Curmudgeon?
A curmudgeon is basically a grumpy old man. But the spirit of a curmudgeon can come out of any of us whatever our age or
gender. The attitude is not very helpful in church and is actually spoken against in scripture (Philippians 2:14). The Church Curmudgeon is actually on Twitter and if you’re there you should follow him for a good laugh and for a good look at how generations are colliding in 21st century church life. Here’s a few of my favorite Tweets by the Curmudgeon. I promise you I’ve heard a few of these as a Pastor and now around the Director of Missions office.
- Counted many blessings, named them one by one. Listing all my grievances is much more fun.
- Pastor says his sermons are relevant, but they never help me find where I put my glasses.
- The worship leader looks depressed. Maybe I ought to write him a note to tell him how to do his job better.
- Thou shalt not repeat that chorus one more time, for we get it already.
#10Curmudgements - Thou shalt not steal, and that includeth my spot on my pew.
#10Curmudgements - In the war on obesity, I’m fighting for the side that has the gravy.
- I rarely feel so fulfilled as when I get to call the cops on the neighbor kids. What a night!
- Church work day. I just come to see if the pastor knows which end of the hammer to hold.
- I shudder to think about what I would have become if I had grown up with padded pews.
- Ushers seated a new family in my spot; had to sit 36″ closer to drummer. Great is the hour of my trial.
- Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. But better still is Cracker Barrel, period.
- Every couple of weeks, I wish Truett Cathy had been an Adventist.
- Don’t know what a “felt need” is, but I’m pretty sure if you tried to minister to it, I’d knock you down.
- Pastor wants us all in “small groups”. Been in one since ’54. It’s called “Me, Elmer, and Jake”. Don’t mess with it.
- Put me in as a greeter. I’ll keep your service to a manageable size.
- Pastor has his library on his iPad. That way, we can’t tell if he’s doing sermon prep or Angry Birds.
- Understand: If you call me “dude”, I will raise cane. And lower cane on your bumptious head. It’s “sir.”
- The bulletin’s got more junk in it than Tuesday at the mailbox.
- The Children’s Ministry budget is outrageous! How much do flannel-graphs cost these days?
- I don’t mind standing on the promises, but I can’t stand for a half hour while we sing about ’em.
- Youth pastor asked me if I even had a right side of the bed to wake up on. Punk.
- Every once in a while I raise my hand to rededicate. Helps the pastor’s totals and it don’t cost nothing.
- I was a greeter today. Got to stay in the foyer during the sermon to glare at the latecomers.
- Pastor, if you must be on the HD screen, trim the nose hairs. Thanks.
- People were holier when the pews weren’t padded.
- The worship leader was on fire yesterday. Hair gel and candles don’t mix.
- Yes pastor, do teach us about stewardship while you sip on your $5 coffee. We’re all ears.
- The anonymous prayer request cards are very helpful for making veiled criticisms of the worship service. Thanks, pastor.
- Worship leader: If you’re trying to please us, “Shine, Jesus, Shine” does not count as an old hymn.
- God takes care of the Presbyterians, Jesus takes care of the Baptists, the Holy Spirit gets the Pentecostals, is how it was explained to me.
- Pastor, thanks for keeping your sermons short. Any longer than 30 minutes, and it’s hard for me to wake up.
- The way I see it, things started to go south when they put in the heated baptistry.
- Our worship leader spends so much on hair gel that he has to wear old jeans with holes in them. Sad.
- Listened to a sermon on life’s hardships from a man who has to pay a gym to make him break a sweat. Mercy.
- Hey Pastor, I like your missional tattoo. I got mine on a mission to kill Nazis.
- Installed a shot clock in the back of the sanctuary. Pastor has to maintain our interest every 45 seconds.
- There’s a reason that the Lord doesn’t want Baptists to dance. Have you seen a Baptist dance? Right.
- Personally, I’m a cessationist. That is, I believe that church signs should cease.
Incarnational Living: “Am I just attending church, or am I BEING the church?”
Great question from a friend of ours at Bridge Church, reflecting upon her families journey into incarnational living in
suburban St. Tammany Parish. Evan and Angie McGinty have partnered with two other couples (Jeremy and Elizabeth Butler and Josh and Jenna Norris) to throw a monthly block party in their neighborhood designed to be an intentional effort to get to know people, build community, and have fun.
Check out the entire story here at Angie & Evan’s blog.
And ask yourself, how am I BEING the church in my neighborhood, workplace, community, etc.?
Here’s Angie’s challenge:
Are we taking on the flesh of Christ daily, even when it is inconvenient with our time schedule. Are we missing opportunities that could be used to show other’s love? Jesus didn’t always wait for people to come to him, He went to them… He loved on and hung out with the people that no one else would.
The real challenge comes when you are just “on the way” of life. Will I make it a point to go out of my way for others in the little opportunities that come along, or will I let them pass me by? I continue to be challenged in this, but on those occasions when I do rise up to meet that challenge…wow….what a difference it makes!
Here are a few tangible and easy ways to show others love:
- Bring baked goods to a neighbor for no reason or to police and fire departments to say thank you.
- visit an old folks home (most of those people don’t get visitors)
- pay for someone else’s: coffee, meal, etc and do it anonymously (like the car behind you or the table across the room)
- cook a meal for someone who could use a break or help
- use your talents: our church has built lots of wheelchair ramps for elderly people who can’t afford it.
- babysit for someone free of charge and offer to do it
- leave an AMAZING over the top tip for your server
- write a kind note to someone
Those are just a few ideas…there are soooo many opportunities to give of ourselves EVERY day, it’s just a matter of DOING IT!
Thanks to Evan and Angie for showing us the way into incarnational living!
What are other ideas and ways to BE the Church in our communities?
