John 12:42-43 says, “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” I am…
This is part three of implementing a Discipleship Design in your church. I would love to hear some of your thoughts and ideas! Here are some challenges we face as we seek to grow our discipleship ministry. I faced these as a pastor and believe they are germane to most…
In our last blog, we talked about three reasons to develop a discipleship strategy in your church. Reason one was…Jesus said so. Reason two…It Works. Reason three…It stops fall out by maturing your people. Now let’s look at some practical helps to jump-start your discipleship ministry. First, know that every…
“We desperately need more leaders working in our church today,” the minister of education complained at the Monday morning staff meeting at First Baptist Everywhere Church. “You are right on target; we’re burning out the 20% that are doing 80% of the church’s work,” chimed in the youth pastor. “My…
This past Saturday at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, the Kentucky Baptist Convention offered a variety of great training opportunities. If you missed the event, similar training is being offered at five other locations across the state. One of the discipleship faculty was Tim Holcomb, Director of Discipleship…
August 16 Immanuel Baptist Church, Lexington map August 23 St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville map September 6 First Baptist Church, Somerset map September 6 Lone Oak First Baptist Church, Paducah map September 13 First Baptist Church, Pikeville map September 13 First Baptist Church, Bowling Green map Practical Training for Kentucky…
This week I am teaching at Ridgecrest National Conference Center as a part of LifeWay’s Discipleship Week. Pictured here is Dennis Rogers, Discipleship & Family Ministries’ Specialist from the Georgia Baptist Convention. This week, in the main discipleship session, we are taking a close look at a newly published LifeWay tool,…
This week I am meeting with the Southeast Discipleship Leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta. Jay Johnston, LifeWay’s Director of Evangelism and Discipleship, is meeting with us today. We are discussing how to help our churches become more effective in making disciples and producing spiritually mature followers of Christ.…
In his book, Concentric Circles of Concern, Dr. Oscar Thompson says that the most important word in the English language, apart from proper nouns, is the word “RELATIONSHIP”! I believe his statement is true in a number of areas related to the church. Evangelism. Although I am not opposed to…
I recently hosted Dr. Gary McIntosh at the Kentucky Baptist Convention building for a conference that discussed assimilation principles taken from his book, Beyond the First Visit. Fortunately, while he was here, Dr. McIntosh unveiled the findings of a recent national survey he conducted. I’m going to discuss some of the findings…
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.