No Priorities

“We are doing missions as if there are no priorities.”

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(C. Davis, Perspectives Course speaker, Lesson 13 on Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches)

See my post on “The Great Imbalance”.

“The Great Imbalance”

“Only 24,000 missionaries out of the Global Evangelical Missionary-force of 253,000 are working within the estimated  8,000 unreached groups. That means that 9 times as many foreign missionaries work within reached people groups than those doing the more difficult work of establishing breakthroughs within unreached peoples.”

Or, to put it another way, 90% of all evangelical missionaries in the world today work with the 11.9% of the world’s population that are professing Christians, the 20.5% of the world’s population who are nominal Christians, and the 27.3% of the world’s population that are non-Christians within reached groups. Only 10% of the world’s evangelical missionaries work among the 40.3% of the world’s population who are non-Christian within unreached people groups. (Perspectives, A Reader, p.543)

In Matthew 24:14, the Lord Jesus Christ said –

“And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations (“people groups”) and then the end will come.”

If we say that we know Jesus as our Savior …

if we are serious about our faith in and commitment to Him as our Lord, and …

if we are going to be obedient to His will and command to carry the Gospel to all of the people groups of the world so that His Name might be known among them …

we must take a look at the numbers and percentages above, repent of our failure to obey Jesus’ command to disciple all nations (‘people groups”), deny ourselves, and commit ourselves afresh to His use for the fulfilling of the Great Commission, for His glory.

Then, and only then, will the end come.

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Note: I posted this article a couple of days ago, but because of some formatting errors, I have re-written, editted, and re-posted it.

Discipleship Multiplication Training: Day 4

Thursday was the concluding day of the Discipleship Multiplication Training event. The DMT week was a wonderful time of teaching, encouragement, and inspiration … a time of prayer, worship, and connection with people who have a passion and vision for Church Planting Movements in their communities and around the world. Below are several quotes from Day 4.

“In every Mustard Seed Movement there is a movement of prayer.”

“Lord, what will it take to see Your Kingdom come so that no place is left without Your witness?”

“Give new believers two values: Value the Authority of the Word of God and Obey the Word of God.”

“We must move from a church paradigm to a Kingdom paradigm.”

Am I Desperate?

We had a wonderful time of worship and prayer this evening at WoodsEdge Community Church in The Woodlands. WoodsEdge has hosted the Discipleship Multiplication Training event that I have been attending this week.

The Lord has used the teaching, new friendships, and conversations this week to teach me about evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.

He has also used this week to convict me about the lack of prayer in my life.

Am I desperate for God in my life, in my family, in my ministry? 

LORD, I’m desperate for You.

Discipleship Multiplication Training: Day 3

Here are some more quotes from today’s DMT in The Woodlands, Texas.

“We must structure our churches so that we can easily reproduce, expand, and reach our communities for Christ.”

“I was created for more that just inviting people to church. I was created to make disciples.”

“Don’t talk about church, religion, or politics. Talk about Jesus.”

“God’s vision for the local church is the whole world. If it isn’t the church’s, we’re asking the wrong questions about our purpose.”

Discipleship Multiplication Training: Day 2

Today was the second day of the Discipleship Multiplication Training event in The Woodlands, Texas. Below are several quotes from today’s teaching.

“God saved me to lead my family to Christ.” 

“The quicker we baptize new believers, the bolder the witness.”

“Church Planting Movements are launched on the depth of our discipleship.”

“Obstacles are the greatest opportunities for God to work.”

“The minimum requirements of discipleship are to share our story, evangelize and lead people to Christ, and disciple new believers.”

 

T4T Training In Bryan, Texas

T4T – Training for Trainers equips people to evangelize the unsaved and “far away from God,” disciple new believers, develop leadership, and form new CPM-type groups that repeat the process.

I will attend a T4T training event in Houston, August 6-9, and facilitate a T4T group in the fall at the church in Bryan, Texas that my family and I attend. The T4T group will be one of a number of groups that will be offered as a part of the church’s fall semester small group ministry.

I am also praying about the use of T4T for reaching the 50,000+ students enrolled at Texas A&M University, the nation’s 7th seventh largest public university that is located on our community.

If you are a member of First Baptist Church Bryan, let me encourage you to be a part of T4T this fall and spring. And, if you are in the Bryan-College Station area and are interested in reaching Aggies for Christ through T4T, please contact me.

Five HUGE Lessons From CPM

The LORD is using Church Planting Movements – the rapid multiplication of disciples and churches – to reach the “nations” of the world for Christ. These CPMs are occurring in third world and developing nations, countries such as China, India, and those of Southeast Asia. They are happening among peoples such as Muslims in Northern Africa and Central Asia, the Ketchi of Guatemala, and the Gypsies of France and Spain.

This is a fact that is documented by CPM practitioners and researchers, men such as David Garrison, Steve Addison, and Steve Smith, and missions agencies such as the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and Greater Europe Mission. Common elements and characteristics that are shared by Church Planting Movements, wherever they are taking place, among different people groups, have also been identified.

When we in the West look at and study these amazing movements of God, many of us ask the question, “Why are CPM not happening in the West, in the United States?” And, we pray, asking, “What on our side of the ‘God’s sovereignty-our responsibility’ equation can we do to ‘set the sails’ for the movement of God through the multiplication of disciples and reproducing churches?”

In an article, It’s Huge – Five Lessons The American Church Is Learning From Church Planting Movements, Carol Davis, missions strategist and mobilizer, may have some answers to the latter question. In the article, Carol identifies five lessons that American pastors are learning, and can learn, from Church Planting Movements, that when applied to our Western ministries can make a tremendous impact on the reaching and discipling of our homes and communities for Christ.

The lessons are:

1. Come & Go: The shift from inviting unbelievers to come to our programs and building to sending believers into the world.
2. Group Conversions: The shift to multiplying groups of disciples not just individual disciples.
3. Counting Generations: The shift to count and do whatever it takes to regularly and quickly get to the 4th generation and beyond of disciples, groups, and churches (II Timothy 2:2).
4. Reproducibility: The shift from lengthy training, policy-driven structures and more academic materials and the reproducibility of means, methods, tools, and structures.
5. Obedience-Based Learning: The shift from teaching  for knowledge of what the Word says – to teaching and accountability for obedience to what the Word says.

Carol expands on each of the five lessons in her article.

In the concluding paragraph, Carol writes:

“The lessons from CPMs for the U.S. church are huge. The reexamination has taken us back to the Scriptures for both principles and practice. However, the reframing and retooling continues to be a bit messy. Let us persist with the reframing and the retooling until this way of life becomes the new normal.”

There are no formulas that can be applied to our ministries that will guarantee a movement of God called Church Planting Movements. But, there are truths, principles and elements of ministry that we discover in Scripture and CPM that, when applied to our Western context ministries, will go a long way to “setting the sails” for the effective and fruitful multiplication of disciples and churches.

Carol’s article presents five huge lessons from CPM that God is teaching us today. The question is: Are we teachable … are we paying attention … will we apply these lessons to our ministries in My Town, USA?

You can read Carol’s article here.

Basic CPM Plan And T4T

In my last post, Every Picture Tells A Story: CPM Infographic, I shared a graphic that describes the Father’s heart for the “nations” and what are spoken of as “the five parts of a CPM plan to fulfill God’s heart.”

City Church of Woodbine in Nashville, Tennessee had the graphic designed based on information or teaching they received as they have committed themselves to reaching their community and the “nations” through the multiplication of disciples and churches. If you have not read my post and seen the graphic, I would encourage you take a look at it. It is pretty interesting.

Well, the other day I was looking through some website resources that I have and discovered material that I believe is the basis for the CPM Infographic.  The material is entitled The Basic CPM Plan and T4T – The critical elements for a CPM ministry plan, and how T4T helps accomplish them.”  It was written by Steve Smith, an International Mission Board missionary (SBC) and co-author of T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution.

I had read the T4T book and a number of articles written by Steve prior to reading this paper. Each reading has been very informative and encouraging as we seek to be used by the Lord in our context for the multiplication of disciples and small authentic faith communities. This paper was no exception.

If you are interested in missions, involved in church planting, and are committed to making reproducing disciples and the start and multiplication of churches in your context, you will benefit richly from The Basic CPM Plan and T4T.

I believe the CPM elements found in this paper have very real application potential for effective ministry in our Western ministry contexts.

Every Picture Tells A Story: CPM Infographic

In May, I posted an article that contained a graphic that pictured the Parable of the Soils. This parable is one of several Kingdom Parables spoken by Jesus that are referred to and used by Church Planting Movement practitioners when teaching about effective CPM ministry.

Below is a very interesting CPM graphic that pictures and teaches about the four fields and five parts of Church Planting Movements that are occurring around the world.

I found this graphic on the website of City Church Woodbine. City Church Woodbine is, as far as I know, a fairly new church in Nashville, Tennessee that is committed to reaching its city and the world through the multiplication of disciples and churches. The church had posted a “Church Planting Movement Multiplication” chart and then had it into the infographic.

This infographic pictures the CPM elements of entry, evangelism, discipleship, church formation, leadership development, and reproduction and multiplication of disciples and churches that are practical and relevant for ministry in all contexts and among all peoples.

The infographic begins by showing us that the Father’s heart-felt desire is that “all men be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” That  salvation, and that knowledge of the truth, is found in the Father’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to go into all the world, beginning in our homes, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, multiplying disciples and churches, until all have heard the Gospel and have had the opportunity to either receive or reject Christ as their personal Savior. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The End Vision of all that we pray and labor toward, then, individually, as believers, and corporately, as churches, is that the time will come when ” … the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14) It is the time when ” … a great multitude, which no one could (can) number, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, (are) standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were (are) in their hands; and they cry out with one loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'” (Revelation 7:9)

The CPM infographic goes on to outline what one CPM practitioner refers to as the 5 Parts of CPM. Church Planting Movements, while a vision we have for ministry, is bottom-line a God ordained means of achieving glory for Himself, the expansion of His Kingdom on this earth, and, ultimately, the above described End Vision.

The first part is the Entry into any new community or culture. The Entry is much more than a “platform” (i.e., English, medicine, agriculture, etc.) that gains us a Visa and entry into a network or nation. Entry has to do with engaging a people where they live and immersing ourselves in their culture. This involves learning the language, history, culture, tradition, family structure, decision-making processes, and life nuances of those the Lord has commissioned us to serve and share Christ with. It results in identification with and better understanding of the people. Doing this builds relationship bridges across which the Gospel can travel into hearts and lives. Knowing the people and the world in which they live also gives us insight and wisdom for the development of ministry strategies for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, with the understanding that it is the Lord Who directs and open the doors for ministry. A major component of Entry is praying for and finding the Person(s) of Peace (POP).

Evangelism, or the sowing of the Gospel seed, is the second part of CPM. Believers must be equipped for the ministry of evangelism. One aspect of this equipping is to ask three questions of the people : 1) “Why should I share the Gospel?” “I have been forgiven of my sins and I am commissioned by the Lord to share.” 2 ) “What do I say?”  “What my life was like before I became a Christian; how I came to faith; and how my life has been different since I became I a believer”. 3) “With whom do I share?” Have the individual make a list of people who “are far away from God” and commit to share the Gospel with them that week. The telling of “my story” (point #2) is a bridge to the presentation of the Gospel and the call to people to accept Christ as their personal Savior. Evangelism, of course, can be done in many ways, but perhaps the best way is Mouth-to-Ear *M2E). The point is this: share the Gospel often and share it with everyone. A characteristic of CPMs around the world is the abundant sowing of the Gospel seed.

Evangelism is followed-up with Discipleship. As individuals come to faith in Christ they must be discipled in their faith and for ministry. The Great Commission is to make disciples, not just converts. And, it must emphasized that discipleship is not merely a matter of gaining knowledge. Learning and knowing is a part of discipleship but discipleship is not simply knowledge-based. Discipleship is obedience-based. We are commissioned to teach disciples to ” … obey all things I (Jesus) have commanded you …. ” There are any number of ways that we can disciple pre-and-new believers, but the emphasis is that we must disciple people and we must be intentional and purposeful in this ministry. II Timothy 2:2.

As  unbelievers are being discipled for salvation and new believers are being discipled, it is natural that New Churches will be formed. It is in the context of church, the assembly of believers, that community and discipleship are best achieved. Scripture teaches that we need one another and that it is in community that we experience the “one anothers” of the Spirit-filled life. And, it is the church that God uses to carry out His work, extend His Kingdom on this earth, and represent and reflect Him to a watching world.

The fifth part of CPM is Leadership Development. As disciples are being made and churches developed, emerging church leaders are going to be identified. Characteristics of these men and women will be obedience, faithfulness, and sacrifice. Leadership can be developed in a variety of ways, but the CPM “best practice” process can be described by the acronym, “MAWL”.

“M” stands for “Model.” Current leaders will model leadership as he or she include emerging leadership in ministry. Jesus modeled leadership as the Twelve accompanied Him through three years of mnistry on this earth. So we must model ministry for our disciples.

“A” stands for “Assist.” In this phase of leadership development, the current leaders share ministry assignments and responsibilites with emerging leaders. When the emerging leaders are fulfilling their responsibilities, they grow in their ministry competence and gain confidence for their future ministries.

The “W” in “MAWL” stands for “Watch.” This is the time in the development process when the more mature and experienced leader releases the emerging leader to lead in and facilitate all aspects of the new church. The current leader participates, observes, and provides feedback that instructs and encourages the younger leader in his or her development and ministry.

The final letter in the “MAWL” acronym, “L”, stands for “Leave.” Once leadership has been modeled and the emerging leader has assisted and assumed ministry, the mentor leader leaves to continue his or her ministry of evangelism, making disciples, church planting, and leadership development in other places among other peoples. The mentor will not completely sever a mentoring relationship with his disciple, though. He or she will remain in contact through visits, the visits of his representatives, letters, or other means of communication, offering encouragement and ministry counsel.

“MAWL” ministry is the kind of On-The-Job training (OTJ) ministry that the Apostle Paul exercised as he carried the Gospel across the Mediterranean world, making multiplying disciples and starting multiplying churches. MAWL ministry is being implemented and found in Church Planting Movements that are occuring around the world today.

As these “parts” of CPM are lived out, implemented, and reproduced and multiplied in the lives of disciples and churches, the result will be, by God’s grace, a Church Planting Movement.

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I have found the CPM Infographic to be an interesting graphic that presents a number of the primary elements found in Church Planting Movements. The lay-out of the graphic helps us to easily trace and remember these elements.

The elements depicted in this graphic are usually associated with what the Lord is doing overseas in and through Church Planting Movements. I would remind us that Vision and Endvision should characterize the heart, life, and ministry of every believer, every church, every where. I would also suggest that the  Five Parts strategy for ministry (which there is much more to than I have described above) has very real application potential for the ministry of the multiplication of disciples and churches in our Western, anywhere USA, context.

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 You can view the original Infographic document here.

Wilson Geisler has written a very informative article about the Five Parts. It is entitled “Some Practical Aspects of the 5 Parts of Jesus’ Masterplan.” It can be read here.

If  you are prayerfully considering the implementation of a disciple making and church planting multiplication ministry, I would encourage you to check and go through the CPM manual of Nathan and Kari Shank. It is entiled “The Four Fields – Mark 4:26-29. Reproducing Churches Using Simple Tools.” The manual can be found at  Four Fields.