It has been a joy to post a few blogs over the last four years about discipleship, assimilation, church growth and a few random thoughts. Serving Kentucky Baptists has been a privilege and a great learning experience. I am very grateful for the opportunity. Here are ten significant thoughts I…
Lots of bloggers including yours truly have written thousands of blogs on the issue of assimilation, which is how we keep the people we reach. How do we create a climate of hospitality that causes people to desire to come back after they visit? How do we get people really…
Youth specialist Joe Ball shares with Mike James how we as leaders and parents can be more effective in impacting our students to become disciples. We must reach this generation for Christ!
Here are a few thoughts on how discipleship is changing in the way churches approach it. Then Church Training (Discipleship Training) now “Disciple Making.” Then Sunday Night 6PM now Anytime. Then At Church now Anywhere. Then Curriculum Driven now Highly Relational. Then Large Group (over 10) now Small Group…
The way churches view and conduct discipleship is changing. In the past we have seen discipleship primarily as offering a series of un-connected courses or doctrinal training. We assumed that a mature Christian was someone who really had Bible facts nailed down. Our mistake was assuming that a cognitive experience…
Jim Putman is pastor of Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. His books, Church is a Team Sport and Real-Life Discipleship are excellent resources for those who lead discipleship in their churches. His church is serious about making disciples who make disciples who make disciples. It is in their…
You may have read this study by Barna, but I think it is worth examining again as we try to reverse the tide of the declining effectiveness of our churches on the culture. Here’s the mega shift Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous…
In a new survey by George Barna, he suggests that a vast majority of believers experience little transformation in their lives and what changes they make tend to be based on generic influences rather any deeper intellectual or spiritual struggle. Despite technological advances that have increased communication, Barna suggests Christian…
We’ve looked at five layers of disciple making. Here they are: “Platform Discipleship”…the preaching and teaching by your pastor and staff. Utilizing your Sunday School. To keep the P’s going (hey I’m a preacher get over it) let’s call this layer “Public Discipleship” because it has the most people already…
We’ve looked at “platform discipleship” or the process of preaching and teaching by the pastor and the Sunday School making disciples. Let’s now look at probably the most popular layer of discipleship in a local church. Discipleship Classes/ Small Groups This is also called “program discipleship” and is where most…
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.