Best Practices for Deepening Discipleship

Family is most important small group in the church, say pastors

by Katherine T Phan, Christian Post

Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008, 6:17 (BST)

LAKE FOREST, California – A panel of pastors speaking at a conference for church leaders in the Purpose Driven network on Wednesday agreed that the process to deepen discipleship should involve some form of small groups but shared unique positions on how to structure disciple-making.

Steve Stroop, pastor of Lake Point Church in Texas, said it is the family that is the most important small group in the church.

"The family should be the primary vehicle for discipleship," the Dallas-based pastor told the international crowd of pastors and Christian leaders convening at Saddleback Church. "God created the family before he created the church ... Parents are responsible for winning their kids to Christ and discipling them."

Stroop was among the 35 influential pastors selected by Rick Warren to speak at the 2008 Purpose Driven Network Summit, which kicked off Tuesday. Panel discussions during the three-day conference put a new spin on the annual Purpose Driven gatherings.

During the "Best Practices for Deepening Discipleship" panel on Wednesday, Stroop said he grew concerned that church members had "outsourced" the discipleship of their children to Sunday School teachers like they would their laundry.

His church has made an attempt to create a culture of family discipleship. The church began to resource the parents by installing a permanent kiosk designed to answer parenting and marriage questions and screening the camp services to parents to make it easier for them to discuss the messages presented.

Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll, who preaches to a robust crowd of singles in their 20s, uses a more digital approach to moving his Seattle congregants through the discipleship process. His church created its own social networking system dubbed "The City" to better connect people.

"You have small group, prayer requests, and that continues digitally," Driscoll explained.

The multi-site church also has a members-only Web site area where people get answers after posting a question.

According to Driscoll, the Web site helps guide people to the church's "front door" or "living room" and eventually to classes and conferences.

Tammy Gill, a small group minister attending the conference, told The Christian Post that she felt the Web site was important but the technological know-how was an issue.

"I wanted to use it as part of our small group ministry as a way to encourage our leaders and as a way for them to interact with their group members," said Gill, who represents The Kirk of the Hills in Tulsa, Okla. "But at this point, I don't have someone that can help me with the technology."

Daniel S Kim of Sa-rang Community Church in Anaheim, California, pointed out that churches should distinguish between small groups for the sake of fellowship and for the sake of disciple-making.

Discipleship-training is a "totally different kind of small group", offered Kim.

Out of the panel, Kim presented the most systematic approach to discipleship-making.

Although members of his church, who include a significant number of “1.5 generation” Koreans, participate in small group fellowships, they also are asked to go through a discipleship-training program that lasts a little over one and a half years. During the first four months, members do Bible study one-on-one or one-on-two. Church pastors then guide members in groups of 12 through an eight-month session. Finally, Kim takes over to lead them in an eight-month leadership training.

Leaders who pass the discipleship training can then go on to lead small groups and be an "inspiration" to their members to be more like Jesus Christ, explained Kim.

We feed them "until they are able to raise their own lamb", he highlighted.

The panel discussion at one point became so heavily centered around small groups that Radiant Church pastor Lee MacFarland said, "I think I'm on the wrong panel."

The Arizona-based pastor admitted that he did not truly understand the meaning of discipleship until a fitness trainer came alongside him to help him maneuver the gym, from weight loss to bench-pressing 100-lb dumbbells. MacFarland said he learned that his trainer was spending more time teaching him to lift weights than the Radiant pastor was spending on the spiritual growth of his members.

From the entire discussion, it was MacFarland's story illustration that resonated the most with Pastor Jim Fleming of Collierville Bible Church in Tennessee.

"The process was far more robust and rigorous than the typical small group meeting," Fleming commented. "I have been thinking the same thing – that discipleship, pouring yourself into another individual, goes way beyond the traditional 'small group ministry.'"

"Is this kind of discipleship on our radar? Most of the discussion made me wonder."

This year’s Purpose Driven Network Summit is expected to be watershed moment for Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan, in which peace ambassadors are sent to countries around the world to carry out the five actions that Jesus modelled, including promoting reconciliation/planting churches, equipping leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educating the next generation.

Bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren was scheduled to go public Thursday with the P.E.A.C.E. coalition – a network of churches, business, and NGOs.

When you're in a microlight if you crash, you usually die

Pilots land on a wing and a prayer

Wed May 21, 2008 2:12pm EDT

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Two New Zealand pilots whose plane ran out of fuel landed on a wing and a prayer, literally, local media reported on Wednesday.

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson from Blenheim, at the top of the South Island about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Wellington, were in a microlight plane when the engine cut out.

"When you're in a microlight if you crash, you usually die. I turned to O B (Wilson) and he said we had no fuel," Stubbs told the Marlborough Express newspaper.

"I asked what we should do. He said: 'You just pray Grant.'"

Stubbs said he prayed to God to get them over a ridge and they finally landed in a small grassy area, and beside a 20 foot high sign saying "Jesus is Lord -- The Bible."

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

It simply does not have the right to erase, then recast, the age-old definition of marriage

Top California court rules gays may marry

Fri May 16, 2008 12:47pm EDT

By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages on Thursday in a major victory for gay rights advocates that will allow homosexual couples to marry in the most populous U.S. state.

The court found that California laws limiting marriage to heterosexual couples are at odds with rights guaranteed by the state's constitution. Opponents of gay marriage vowed to contest the ruling with a statewide ballot measure for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.

The ruling would allow California to be the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow gay marriage. Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont permit same-sex civil unions that grant largely similar rights as those for married couples but lack the full, federal legal protections of marriage.

The California court's 4-3 decision overturns state laws prohibiting same-sex nuptials and is likely to influence other states expected to rule on gay marriage.

The state's constitution "guarantees same-sex couples the same substantive constitutional rights as opposite-sex couples to choose one's life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship," the court said.

Gay marriage has been one of the most divisive issues in recent American politics and has mobilized millions of socially conservative Christian voters to support candidates such as President George W. Bush who oppose it.

In San Francisco, a bastion of gay rights with its large and vocal gay community, people were quick to react to the landmark ruling and started making marriage plans.

Susan Graham, 46, sent a text message to her female partner of 10 years proposing marriage. She responded: "Are you kidding? Absolutely."

Bruce Ivie, 51, and partner David Bowers, 61, were the first people at the San Francisco court clerk's office to obtain a copy of the decision.

"Sweet," Ivie said on finding the decision's bottom line on the state's ban on gay marriage. "The second paragraph says it all to me: It's unconstitutional."

SAN FRANCISCO READIES LICENSES

Californians in 2000 voted to reaffirm a 1977 state law defining marriage as union of a man and woman. But four years later, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged that law by issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, which led to the court battle decided on Thursday by the state Supreme Court.

Newsom said his controversial policy had been vindicated and that he plans to resume issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples in coming weeks.

"It's an exhilarating feeling. That's the best I can describe it," Newsom said. "At the end of the day, this is about real people and their lives and their families, and it doesn't get much more personal than that."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had opposed San Francisco's marriage licenses for gays, said he would uphold the state supreme court's decision.

"Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state supreme court ruling," he said.

A dissenting opinion by Judge Marvin Baxter and joined by Judge Ming Chin said a narrow majority of the court had carved a constitutional right out of existing equal-protection laws, overstepping legislative powers in what amounted to "legal jujitsu." A third justice dissented on different grounds.

"It simply does not have the right to erase, then recast, the age-old definition of marriage, as virtually all societies have understood it, in order to satisfy its own contemporary notions of equality and justice," Baxter wrote.

But the Judicial Council of California, which oversees state courts, said the ruling is final in 30 days and municipalities must prepare to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Opponents of gay marriage said they will ask voters in the November election to endorse a constitutional amendment on the state ballot that would supersede the court's ruling by defining marriage exclusively as between a man and woman.

"These out-of-touch California judges will not have the last word on marriage," said Brian Brown, head of the National Organization for Marriage California.

Both sides of the debate agreed the California court's decision raised the stakes in the national debate over gay marriage. Newsom predicted it would resonate across the United States: "As California goes, so goes the nation," he said.

Randy Thomasson of Campaign for Children and Families said that scenario would further energize opponents of gay marriage.

"If these judges get away with it, other state supreme courts may get the same idea they can make up the law," Thomasson said.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Beck and Eric Auchard in San Francisco, Suzanne Hurt in Sacramento and Mark Egan in New York; Editing by Mary Milliken and Philip Barbara)

© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

If the church ceases to do evangelism, is it the true church?

Franklin Graham under fire for Olympic evangelism comment

by Michelle A Vu, Christian Post

Posted: Saturday, May 17, 2008, 5:48 (BST)

American evangelist Franklin Graham came under fire for saying he opposed evangelism during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Graham had made the comment to Chinese reporters during his recent trip to mainland China, where he visited government officials, church leaders, and preached to 12,000 people at a Chinese megachurch.

The eldest son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham said he opposed missionary work during the Games because it is prohibited under Chinese law, and he does not encourage anything illegal.

In response, a respected religious freedom activist defended Chinese house church Christians as “law-abiding, patriotic citizens” who are not doing anything wrong by following their faith which teaches them to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“[Christians] cannot and will not [concede] to a ‘faith moratorium’ in order to please an atheistic government during the Olympic Games, even if that means enduring imprisonment and torture,” said Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, in a statement on Wednesday.

Fu, who was recently honoured by President Bush for his religious freedom advocacy in China, denounced the Chinese law as unjust because it asked Christians to go against the teachings of Jesus Christ.

He called Graham’s comment about submitting to the ban on Olympic evangelism “a deep offense” to the hundreds of house church prisoners and their family members.

In China, the Christian population is divided into two groups – those worshipping in the state-sanctioned churches under the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and those attending unregistered house churches.

TSPM leaders have publicly stated that foreign evangelistic efforts during the Beijing Olympics are not welcome or tolerated, Fu said. But house churches feel differently.

“To the house church leaders, it’s an issue of the lordship of Christ to the church,” Fu explained to OneNewsNow. “And if the church ceases to do evangelism, is it the true church? It’s a big question.”

Religious freedom has improved in communist China in recent years, but the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) this year still recommended the State Department to keep China on its religious freedom blacklist because of its treatment of house churches and religious minorities not recognised by the Chinese Government.

Recent persecution of unregistered churches include the arrest of 270 Protestant house church pastors in December, and the expulsion of more than 100 foreign missionaries last summer – the largest event of its kind since 1954 after the communist government took power in 1949.

God's Recruitment Strategy for Leaders

Source: Crosswalk: Today God Is First

Acts 9:8
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.

When God calls one of His servants into service, there is often much travail. There are many examples where God makes His presence known through circumstances that tax the individual to his very soul.

Consider Paul, who was stricken blind on the Damascus road.

Consider Peter; when he denied Jesus after the crucifixion, he was in total despair.

Consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace.

Consider Daniel, who was thrown into the lion's den.

Consider David, who was forced to flee his former employer for many years and lived as a fugitive.

It may seem strange to us that God uses such incredible adversity to prepare His servants for greater service, but this is God's way. God knows that the human heart is incapable of voluntarily stepping into situations that take us beyond our comfort zone. He intentionally brings us into hard places to prove us and to drive us deeper into the soil of His grace.

In arid regions of the world, trees cannot survive unless their roots grow deeper to where the water table can be found. Once they reach the water, these trees become stronger than any tree that can be found in tropical climates. Their root systems ensure that they can withstand any storm. In the same way, God brings us into extremely difficult situations in order to prove His power and drive our spiritual roots deeper.

Friend, God may take you through times when you will question His love for you. In such times, you must cling to His coattail so that you see His purposes in it. Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him" (Hebrews 10:36-38).

Revival?

20 May 2008

Dear Prayer Partners,

1. Thank you for keeping me in prayers during the camp in Kuching. The Lord marvelously touched many of the Bidayuh students during the camp.

2. Some of them were from the previous camp last year and wanted to come again. They had shared with their friends how real and great the Lord is. Its always a great joy to see the tribal people worshipping Jesus, the Lamb of God.

3. It is most unfortunate that strong denominational pride keep many from being Christ-centered and kingdom minded. May we all respond to Jesus’ prayer, that we be brought to complete unity to let the world know that God has sent Jesus! (John 17:23)

4. After the camp, I took the opportunity to visit and pray with ex-students and preach in various churches. The Lord opened many doors to minister His word. I had the privilege to preach in a Hagar’s descendant church and see the work of the Lord among them. He is always working – and we need to align our lives to His divine movements and seasons.

5. I flew to Miri and saw and hear of God’s mighty revival work among the Ibans. For the past few years, they have been responding to the gospel in the thousands. But as usual the church is two or three generations behind time and wondering how to reach out to them.

6. The revival and salvations that we had prayed and fasted for decades ago is happening right now. We need more trained pastors, committed spiritual lay leaders, translated/written literature in Iban, finances, and much more to capitalize on the current revival.

7. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send more laborers! It could be you! J Pray for me too as I consider what is the best way I can contribute in building up the kingdom of God among the Ibans in the midst of their revival.

God is moving and advancing! Time for us to get out of our complacent zone!

8. Then I flew to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to visit some of the ex-students there. I am saddened and heart-broken to hear that a number of them had converted to other religion, especially due to marriage reasons.

9. This is a major stronghold in the lives of the people there that needs to be broken by the power of God. They need to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their lives. Pray for me to have wisdom as I seek to reach out to them.

10. Pray also for me to receive greater anointings as the ministry continues to grow rapidly. Pray for Jessie and Ana as well so that the enemy will not be able to attack them, but that they will walk victoriously under the favor of the Lord.

As history shows, the church can only expect true Revival when a remnant of God's people get DESPERATE - desperate about the backslidden state of the church, desperate about the lukewarmness within them and all around them, desperate about sin and compromise, desperate about the fact that God is not GLORIFIED, that He is not truly LORD of His church, that His words are mocked and largely seen as irrelevant by a dying world. Revival will come when God's people truly humble themselves … Andrew Strom

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit?

Whatever Happened to the Fear of God?

If we want the same level of supernatural anointing that was evident in the New Testament church, we should also pray for a higher level of holiness.

We charismatics yearn for a return to the raw intensity of the early church—the angelic visitations, power encounters, prophecies, mass conversions and missionary adventures. I want all of that! The book of Acts is the gold standard for normative Christianity, and we shouldn’t rest until we see it manifested in our generation.

But those first-century miracles didn’t happen in a vacuum. They flowed from a praying church that was bathed in humility and holiness. The early disciples had not only been baptized in the Holy Spirit; they had also been baptized with fire (see Matt. 3:11). And the fire of God is a cleansing flame that burns up sin and produces the fear of the Lord.

We tend to forget that the same people who experienced tongues on the day of Pentecost, and then witnessed the healing of a lame beggar in Jerusalem, also watched in horror as Ananias and Sapphira—two influential but compromising church members—dropped dead because God’s presence was so strong. When their bodies were carried away, the Bible says, “great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Do we want that level of God’s presence? The fear that came on the early church is also called a “sense of awe” in Acts 2:43. We often downplay the fear of God by saying that it really means “reverence.” But the Greek word used in Acts 5:11 and Acts 2:43 is phobos, which can be translated “exceeding dread, alarm or terror.”

We love the ecstatic joy and the goose bumps that accompany revival meetings. But revival is not fun and games. Are we ready for the terror?

As I pray for revival in my own life and in my nation, I have started praying regularly for the fear of the Lord. And I think it will manifest in some key areas:

1. Truthfulness. When we walk in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit we will feel an immediate sense of conviction if we say anything false or misleading. That conviction will hound us until we repent and repair the damage we have done with our mouths. We will hear the word of the Lord echoing in our conscience: “Do not lie to one another” (Col. 3:9).

I realized a few years ago that I sometimes lied when someone asked me if I had read a certain book or knew of a certain celebrity or sports figure. Even if I did not know anything about the subject of the conversation, I would nod and pretend that I was informed. I recognized later that I did this out of insecurity, hoping to appear knowledgeable. I had to repent of pride and ask God to help me be honest.

This may seem minor, but little white lies breed serious deceit. If we have no fear of God, we will exaggerate and think nothing of it. This can become a crisis when church leaders, in their zeal for revival, are careless when reporting miracles, healings or numbers of conversions. Exaggeration is lying. If we build a ministry by stretching the truth, we stand on shaky ground. Christ’s kingdom cannot be built on hype.

We often assume that the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was greed. But the Bible actually says they were struck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 5:3). They sold a piece of property and pretended to give all the money to the apostles when in fact they had kept some of the proceeds for themselves. They were trying to look good in the eyes of church leaders. They were attempting to buy favor and influence—and God caught them in the act.

2. Sexual purity. All of us know that the American church is facing a sexual crisis. Some denominations, such as the Episcopal Church, have bowed to the spirit of Baal to embrace homosexual practice as acceptable behavior. Recently, Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully the charismatic world hasn’t slipped to that level of depravity. But we have never witnessed so much moral failure in our ranks. Many ministers are living double lives and hiding their girlfriends and out-of-wedlock babies. In my city, one prominent minister had an affair with a stripper and went right on preaching from the same pulpit without skipping a beat.

If I am walking in the fear of God, I will not peek at pornography, entertain fantasy or cross a sexual boundary. And if I am in church leadership, I will never allow ministers with questionable sexual reputations to defile the congregation by allowing him to lay hands on them or impart his defilement. I don’t care how “anointed” a man of God is or how accurate his prophecies are. If he has been engaging in immorality and has not been restored properly, he will infect people with his sin if we give him a platform.

3. Financial integrity. We should learn from the example of Eli’s reprobate sons, Hophni and Phinehas, that God does not wink at extortion — especially when it involves money that has been given to God. These “worthless” men were judged severely because they had their hands in the offering plate (see 1 Sam. 2:12-17).

The eighth commandment forbids stealing. Yet in the “Spirit-filled” church today, ministers think nothing of robbing the saints. Too often the collection of the offering turns into a circus involving manipulation, theatrics and the twisting of Scripture—as well as arms—to meet a budget goal. Why should we be surprised when God’s presence lifts at that point in the service?

If we truly fear the Lord we will be conscious of the fact that He watches how we handle money in His house. He sees every dollar that is given. Heaven keeps accurate accounting. God knows how we word our financial appeals and if we use the money for one thing when it was pledged for another.

4. Reverence for God. In some charismatic churches today, leaders have introduced a trendy new teaching that compares God to drugs. They proclaim that “Jesus is my D.O.C.”—my “Drug of Choice.” In a bizarre attempt to be relevant with our culture, they compare a spiritual encounter with God to a heroin overdose. In one instance, a group of people pretended to shoot invisible needles into their arms as they prayed for one another and asked God for His anointing. And this was in a so-called “revival service”!

One minister in Oregon refers to God as “Jehovahjuana” — implying that the Lord can give you a marijuana high. Another conference speaker in California put a plastic Jesus from a nativity scene into his mouth and encouraged a group of teens to “smoke baby Jesus.” The kids all laughed and everyone thought this was a hoot.

Actually, mishandling the name of the Lord in such a flippant manner, and comparing God to an illegal drug, is what the Bible calls blasphemy. We do not have permission to dishonor His character by changing His name to something sinful and degrading.

How desperately we need the dreadful fire of His holy presence! I hope we will all cry out together the prayer of David in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.”

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. You can join him next week for a live conference call with Mark Hall, lead singer of the band Casting Crowns, when Lee interviews Mark about how we can reach the younger generation for Christ. Sign up for the call at connect2leaders.com.