As a young pastor, I read several books that impacted my life and gave focus to my ministry. One particular book that impacted me the most was The Disciple-Making Pastor by Bill Hull. In his book, Hull challenges and encourages the pastor to adopt disciple making as his primary assignment…
I cannot overemphasize the importance of starting a good membership class. A membership class can be a place where relationships are developed, doctrine is taught, vision is shared, expectations are expounded, and the Gospel is presented. A membership class can play a key role in both assimilation and discipleship. On his…
On May 22, 2008, we will host Dr. Gary L. McIntosh at the Kentucky Baptist Convention building for a one-day conference that will focus on assimilation. The event will be the final stop of the 2008 Assimilation Tour that we will conduct across the state. In his book, Beyond the First Visit, Gary…
How can we know when a person is properly assimilated into a church? How does an assimilated person look? How does he act? What does he do? Charles and Win Arn provide the following helpful list called, Nine Marks of an Assimilated Person: Identifies with the goals of the church.…
The importance of helping members develop friendships within a church cannot be overemphasized. Relationships are the glue that keep people connected to a church. Naturally, friendships are important in obtaining new members, but they are the key to retaining them. One pastor took a survey in his church. When he…
Through the years, LifeWay Christian Resources has been on the leading edge in producing great discipleship materials. In addition to helpful materials, LifeWay developed several planning and assessment tools that provide help to discipleship programs of any size. I have copies of each of these tools and will provide them…
In my post, Top 5 Reasons to Disciple 1-2-1, I talked about several merits of 1-2-1 Discipleship. Here are 5 things to consider as you get started: Pray that God will lead you to the person He wants you to disciple. I cannot overemphasize the importance of prayer in this whole process,…
Many effective discipleship approaches exist, but one of the simplest, most rewarding methods is 1-2-1 Discipleship. This method is also called life-on-life or mentoring. Since my college days, I have personally utilized this method as one of the ways I have sought to obey Matthew 28:19. Here are five reasons everyone…
There is a lot of talk about assimilation in the church world today, but what exactly does assimilation mean? Ron Jenson and Jim Stevens describe assimilation as “absorption.” They define absorption as “the process by which people are taken into the life of the church and by which a strong…
Jesus commissioned His followers to concentrate on making disciples, but what is a disciple? What does a disciple look like? Gary Tangeman defined a disciple as “one who has come to Jesus for eternal life, has claimed Jesus as Savior and God, and has embarked upon the life of following…
Two encounters are critical. First, the leader encounters God in His Word and is changed. Second, the leader guides the group to have a life-changing encounter.