Month: April 2008

Categories
He Will Build His Church

The Practical Discipleship Plan of Attack

Making disciples is job #1 for every Christian. So far we’ve identified the three target levels of discipleship: we evangelize unbelievers, we edify all believers, and then we aim to equip believers to make disciples themselves. Those are the goals of discipleship, or where we’re going, but how do we get there? How do we make a disciple? What is the process?

Many Christians simply don’t know. Even if making disciples is on the radar they have no instruction or training for it. No doubt there are other believers doing a lot of the right things but who couldn’t define their approach or pass it on to someone else. That’s why we need to outline a practical discipleship plan of attack.

There are (at least) five stages for developing a disciple. The stages overlap; they are not entirely exclusive, but isolating each phase in our discussion should be helpful in the equipping process. Just as everyone fits somewhere on the bulls-eye, so everyone is found at some stage of development.

It is also important to say (again) that this is not new or original. I’m simply trying not to drop the baton that’s been handed to me. In particular, the seed of these stages grew in the soil of The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman.* It is the classic study on discipleship and a must read. I believe every Christian should own a copy and it continues to be one of the most influential books on me. It traces the Master Himself, Jesus, as He modeled the most effective method for making disciples.

* I had the privilege to hear Dr. Coleman in person when I was in high school along with my youth pastor who, not coincidentally, was my first real discipler.

Categories
Lies Teens Believe

A Vision for Young People

Here’s a great start to a new series on a gospel vision for the rising generation of young people. From someone who’s in the thick of parenting and pastoring youth:

living for the glory of Christ is not on hold until you are eighteen or twenty-one. There is a way for six-year-olds to make much of Christ and a way for ten-year-olds to make much of Christ and a way for sixteen-year-olds to make much of Christ. And there is a way for parents and church leaders and all of us to create a matrix of relationships and teachings and expectations and blessings that awaken young people from the emptiness and aimlessness of our popular youth culture and give them a vision for Christ-exalting significance throughout their pre-teen and teen years.

Categories
Enjoying the Process

What’s Like the Sun

This afternoon at Starbucks the barista compared my outfit to the sun in a bright blue sky. I responded that no one would ever make that comparison with my personality, so I’d take what I could get.

Categories
Enjoying the Process

What I Did over Spring Break

My post on Monday hinted at some travel; boy was there traveling. Sunday afternoon I left Marysville around 2:00 pm, picked up Tim Lugg in in Woodburn, OR, and drove through the night to Santa Clarita. Our mission was to attend Monday morning chapel at The Master’s College where Micah was on tap to kick-off Spurgeon Fest. We conquered the Grapevine in time for a breakfast of champions at Noah’s Bagel’s (cracked potato peppercorn, toasted with spread) and Starbucks (quadruple shot grande Americano with light cream) and slipped into a back row in chapel right after it started.

We enjoyed and were edified by Micah’s message and I think he was surprised and encouraged by our presence. I decided to Twitter the message for the sake of the time stamp and because it’s easier to post line by line on the iPhone. You can read my notes here, and for those unfamiliar with the Twitter format, start at the status for 09:16 AM March 31 and read up the page. After chapel we took the preacher to In-N-Out for double-doubles then headed north a little after noon.

We took a slight detour to Seaside to drop Tim off with the rest of his vacationing family and I finished the course around 9 am. When it was all said and done the Passat covered almost 2400 miles over 38 hours with the four hour layover for chapel and lunch.

UPDATE [10:26PM April 8]: Micah posted his own account of chapel with a link to the video. [11:54PM April 10]: Even better, now you can download the mp3.

proof of parenting?

The rest of the week has been no less tiresome as I’m fulfilling the role of Mr. Mom while Mo endures the throes of the first trimester. I’m doing the kind of things I’m least good at and least naturally patient about. So like any dad in my situation would, on Wednesday we went to breakfast at McDonald’s. Otherwise we’ve played in the yard and on the swing set, watched Mary Poppins and Cars, repeatedly wiped the boy’s head and tail, and generally tried to enjoy the process.

Categories
A Shot of Encouragement

One to One Ministry

Here’s a BRIEFING on one-to-one ministry that compliments much of the Biblical Shepherding Bull’s-eye and prepares the way for a Practical Plan of Discipleship. For a taste:

Effective one-to-one Christian ministry is not limited to counseling, nor is it essentially about solving personal or emotional problems. What is it then? It is forming a relationship with another individual for the purpose of mutual growth in Christian understanding, obedience and service of others.

I don’t love the recommended resources near the end but the rest of the article is worth the time to read and implement.