Would you like to receive regular training and encouragement to live a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ? Then give me your email address and I will sign up to receive The Ordinary Christians Newsletter and you'll begin to receive great content 2 to 3 times per week.
This blog is about encouraging, empowering and equipping Ordinary Christians live an intentionally missional life that shine the Light of Christ brightly back into this dark world. We will provide training on on developing the basic skills necessary for living a life of a missionary; Biblical insights that will empower Ordinary Christians to share their faith; and inspirational stories of other Ordinary Christians who are living a life on mission with Christ.
Showing posts with label discipleship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discipleship. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Counting On Christ's Power And Presence For Missional Living
Would you like to receive regular training and encouragement to live a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ? Then give me your email address and I will sign up to receive The Ordinary Christians Newsletter and you'll begin to receive great content 2 to 3 times per week.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Monday, June 30, 2014
Amazon Reviews On: THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE: A Journey Into Missioinal Living
This Little Light Of Mine: A Journey Into Missional Living is one of the newest and most powerful books on missional living! This simple to read book will inspire and lead the reader to create their own personal strategy for shining the Light of Christ into their part of this dark world.
Read what others are saying, through Amazon Review, about THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE! These reviews are from ordinary christians, not professional clergy, who share their real impressions after reading the book.
"I just finished reading "This Little Light of Mine" by Jay Moore. I enjoyed this well written book that will be a wonderful instructional tool for the everyday believer on how to shine the light of Jesus with their circle of friends and family. He has taken a simple and engaging story about two little lights who found the courage to leave their comfort zone and go out into the dark world to share their light. Then he has offered some well thought out plans on how we as believers can do the same. I would recommend this book for those who want to do this this but just aren't sure how." Nancy Miller http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"A few weeks ago, I pulled a man from jumping off a 600 foot high bridge; he wanted to die. I may have bought him a few more days to live, but what is life in comparison to the destiny of his eternal soul? As he ranted and raved, crying out that no-one cared about him, I assured him I did care. What I didn’t do in this moment of crisis was to lead him into a relationship with Christ. What I didn’t do was provide the message to save his soul instead of just his body. This event settled heavily on my heart over the next weeks as I realized that all my years of church going didn’t prepare me for this moment. I determined I would never miss another divine appointment to share Jesus with those I come across every day. Jay’s book was a timely answer to this desire and there is not enough room to describe the impact it has had on my life. It is exactly the tool I needed. This Little Light of Mine provides the missing link between Christianity and the real world, and in applying its message, I now live prepared to share Christ with others. Jay’s writings reveal a pastor’s heart to teach the truth, convert hearts, and disciple the remnant of hurting men and women living outside the sanctity of a church building. The book is a long overdue guide for those who want to take their faith out of the buildings and into natural flow of life. Randy Shepherd http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"Loved this book it's simple basic principles explained so you know what God wants from you. The mirror unveiled so to speak. Jay lets you see how the love God has given to each of us is to be shared daily as we go out and do our normal activities how Gods plan fits into the life we live. Thanks Jay it inspired and motivated me to open my eyes at those who around me and be aware of what they need to be able to see God's love for them." Terri Barry http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"This is a book that needs to be shared by the pastors and leaders of all churches with their congregations. This Little Light of Mine clearly defines the purpose of our lives, to tell others the Good News! Pastor Jay paints an accurate picture of the state of the world as well as the mind set of the North American Church and then clearly and simply outlines a strategy to bring about light into darkness and revival among the followers! This movement will be brought forward not by the trained and ordained but by the everyday ordinary believer that has a heart for the lost and feels the burden of the Great Commission. With this book, those everyday ordinary believers will be equipped and ready to be unleashed to go out and make disciples of all the nations!" Debbie Harvey http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"This little book is practical, easy to read and understand, and applicable in it's approach for today's believer. It gives clear and plain direction to keep one's life in Christ alive and flourishing, and to share with others. I recommend this book to anyone new to the faith or older in faith to inspire anyone and everyone to move forward with the gospel of Christ." Mary Moore http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"Straight-forward street talk! The heart of this book is a compelling call for Christ followers to get back to the basics in daily demonstrations of God's love. It's a call to merge your faith with your daily living, no matter where you are. The author emphasizes the significance of every believer's unique mission field outside of the church. Perhaps the best part is that Jay doesn't leave the reader dangling after stirring their hearts. Instead, he provides practical tools for carrying out the call: Living a Christ centered life that remains in view of others and touches the people we encounter every single day. You won't put this book down without having experienced an inspirational perspective change." Barbette Shepherd http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"Jay Moore has written a book addressing the common problem in churches today of people going to church but never going out into the Mission Field of their own lives. He addresses the problem of never leaving your comfort zone of the pew and being a light to the world around you especially in our nation today.I felt it was well written for the common Christian man and women, with practical steps to gain comfort in sharing your faith through your own experiences in your walk with Christ. I found myself these last two weeks praying that God would make me bold and shine the light that he has put in me to the people I meet every day. Before I read the book I had a couple of experiences where I was able to share a small version of my testimony with two people in distress and how God worked in my life. I've asked that they keep the door open for me to stay in touch. Highly recommend this book." Johnnie Moore Robinson http://goo.gl/NVps7m
"Brother Jay Moore has authored this challenging, insightful and illustrative tool that can be used by Christian individuals and church leaders to study and train other congregational members, why and how to bring light and life to people who are living in the darkness of unbelief. This is a book that is Kingdom minded. The first message is a story that illustrates a problem that has been plaguing the Church for years. In many cases some church attendees seem to come to church, but they walk out the doors and don't pass the message on to those outside who haven't heard it. In some cases many people who come to church do everything they can to make themselves look good to the other members of the church, instead of glorifying God, Who blessed them with this gift. The book also gives instruction on how to gain a missional mindset and how to effectively bring that mindset to the mission fields. The step-by-step instructions are clear to understand and easy to implement. I highly recommend every Christian to read this book and serve to the glory of the King and His Kingdom." Ric Worshill http://goo.gl/NVps7m
Again, this book is written for the ordinary Christian who has a sincere desire to share Jesus and shine His Light brightly in this dark world but just don't know where to start! If you have always desired to be a more powerful witness for Christ and a brighter Light shining for Jesus' glory then you need to get and read this book!
You can order your copy today at: http://goo.gl/NVps7m
Thursday, January 30, 2014
FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO MISSIONAL DEVOTIONALS
DON'T ALLOW:- FEAR
- DISCOURAGEMENT
- INTIMIDATION
KEEP YOU FROM LIVING A POWERFUL
MISSIONAL LIFE!
As A Follower Of Christ We've Been Called To Shine The Light Of Christ Into Our Part Of This Dark World By Doing Good Deeds & Telling The Good News!
BUT IN ORDER TO DO IT EFFECTIVELY
WE NEED TO RECEIVE REGULAR ENCOURAGEMENT!
Now you can receive that encouragement by subscribing to MISSIONAL DEVOTIONALS! Missional Devotionals are weekly devotionals in a video format that are emailed out to empower, encourage and equip Ordinary Christians to live powerful missional lives where the Light of Christ shines through them and into their part of this dark world. They are 4 to 6 minutes in length and are designed to help people to focus their week to join Christ on His mission.
Take A Few Minutes To Watch This Video To See Why I'm So Passionate About Encouraging Christians To Be On Mission With Christ:
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A NEW TESTAMENT STRATEGY FOR IGNITING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT: Part 2: John Wesley's Version
In my last post, A New Testament Strategy For Igniting A Church Planting Move, I shared 3 invitations that Jesus and His disciples offered to people that continually moved them into an ever increasing deeper commitment to Christ and the missional movement that He was establishing. While these three invitations may not be able to explain in totality the strategy that Jesus used to ignite a movement I do believe they offer three important components to it and if we are going to experience church a planting movement in North America we will need to find a way to adapt them into our context. Those three invitations were: COME AND SEE; COME AND FOLLOW; and COME AND BE WITH ME. The Come And See was an invitation to experience the power, presence and message of Christ personally (many times in a large group setting but not always); the Come And Follow was a commitment to learn to of Christ, His way of life and His world view (this often happened in smaller groups. If they had not earlier and the come and see event they would come to personal faith in Christ. These were called his disciples); and finally the The Come And Be With Me was an invitation to a very few of those disciples whom Christ would train to do what He did and thereby multiply the movement (this was a very small band 12 leaders in training whom he called Apostles as opposed to just disciples).
But was this missional movement (Church Planting Movement) reproducible? Could it be transferred from culture to culture and from one point in history to a different time in history? Were these principles (3 invitations) at play in different movements of God in history? Now please understand it is not my intent to do an exhaustive historical or cultural research to answer these questions! This will only be a very general and surface observation to see if there are indications that this strategy has been at work in different movement of God. I will leave the more exhaustive research of this subject to those who are both more qualified and enjoy that kind of intellectual rigor. So in this post we are going to look at the missional movement of the Methodist and see if these 3 INVITATIONS were at play with what God did through John Wesley.
When I look at the early Methodist's and the strategy that John Wesley implemented three important activities stand out that enabled a strong ministry to be turned it into a powerful movement that swept England and America. These three activities were:
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF GOD'S ACTIVITY IN BRING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT TO NORTH AMERICA? Then I invite to join in with the discussion and preparation by become a fan of the Facebook Page A North American Church Planting Movement Initiative. We need to pray, seek God's wisdom and experiment. Join the fun.
But was this missional movement (Church Planting Movement) reproducible? Could it be transferred from culture to culture and from one point in history to a different time in history? Were these principles (3 invitations) at play in different movements of God in history? Now please understand it is not my intent to do an exhaustive historical or cultural research to answer these questions! This will only be a very general and surface observation to see if there are indications that this strategy has been at work in different movement of God. I will leave the more exhaustive research of this subject to those who are both more qualified and enjoy that kind of intellectual rigor. So in this post we are going to look at the missional movement of the Methodist and see if these 3 INVITATIONS were at play with what God did through John Wesley.
When I look at the early Methodist's and the strategy that John Wesley implemented three important activities stand out that enabled a strong ministry to be turned it into a powerful movement that swept England and America. These three activities were:
- OPEN AIR PREACHING: At first John Wesley didn't like the idea open air preaching where one shared the gospel outside of a church building where ordinary people gathered. But it was his friend George Whitfield that helped him not only overcome this conception but also help see the value in it so that he could wholeheartedly embrace it. It is said that John had rode over 250,000 miles on horseback to preach at these open air meetings, preached over 40,000 sermons and it is estimated that tens of thousands of people would show up to a single meeting. His primary style of preaching at these open air meetings was evangelistic where he would introduce the ordinary person to the power and presence of Christ that could save their soul. But these, many times, large evangelistic meetings was only the starting point of his strategy. Wesley felt that leaving a newly converted person to their own devices without training them in righteous living was an ungodly thing to do. This conviction was what led him to the second activity that characterized his strategy.
- CLASS MEETINGS: When people made a decision at the open air preaching he would then quickly gather them into small groups called CLASS MEETINGS. These groups were to help people grow in their spiritual faith through discipleship and accountability. They met at least weekly; started the meeting with singing and praying; a time of confession of sin to one another would follow; then they would examine each other through probing questions of their spiritual condition. They would also, as part of their regular meetins, review study material that John Wesley had written to help them grow in their knowledge and understanding of God, scripture and spiritual growth. As vital and important that these first two activities were it wasn't until Wesley initiated the third activity that his powerful ministry became an explosive movement of God that would spread through England and North America.
- ITINERANT HORSEBACK PREACHERS: Because of the vastness of the needed work yet to be done and because of the reluctance of the theologically trained pastors and preachers John began to develop and train scores of lay preachers to go preach the gospel to those who would never enter a church building. They would follow his example of preaching at open air meetings and riding on horseback. John Wesley became the standard and model for all of the new open air preachers to follow. Most of the men selected to be the preachers were ordinary men with no special theological training, much like the description of the Apostle Peter and John when standing before the Jewish Rulers in the book of Acts. The selection of the preachers was based more on grace than education. Grace being that they had a powerful story (testimony) to share with the crowd of people who would gather. These itinerant preachers were sent all over England and especially into the expanding westward America. Like Wesley these lay preachers would form the new converts into CLASS MEETINGS that would allow for their spiritual formation to develop. They would continue the practice passing out religious material that was produced by the Wesley's to help them grow during the weeks that the circuit rider was in other area's. And it was out of these Class Meetings that new potential lay pastors/circuit riders were identified, trained and mentored by a more experienced circuit rider and eventually unleashed to go into his own new and expanding territory. And thus the movement continued to expand and explode.
These 3 activities that John Wesley created were his version of the New Testament Strategy For Igniting a Church Planting Movement. The Open Air Preaching was his adaptation of a
COME AND SEE EVENT; the Class Meetings was his style of the
COME AND FOLLOW GROUPS; and his Circuit Riders were his version of
COME AND BE WITH ME LEADERSHIP.
Just like Jesus in his New Testament Strategy John Wesley used the same approached of sifting through the masses of people and inviting them into a deeper commitment to Christ and spiritual growth culminating with the raising up, training up and unleashing of new apostolic itinerant preachers who would take the message and the strategy to new area's that still needed to be reached or revived and thus exploding it into a movement
So again I ask: What would a 21st Century North American Adaptation of the New Testament strategy for igniting a church planting movement look like? What would the Come And See Events look like where the gospel can be presented to a group (large or small) to interested seekers? What would a Come and Follow Group look like where accountability and spiritual disciplines are being instilled in the lives of the new believers? And what would the training of new apostolic leadership of ordinary Christians that form the Come and Be With Me look like in a North American context?
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF GOD'S ACTIVITY IN BRING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT TO NORTH AMERICA? Then I invite to join in with the discussion and preparation by become a fan of the Facebook Page A North American Church Planting Movement Initiative. We need to pray, seek God's wisdom and experiment. Join the fun.
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that shine the Light of Christ)
MISSIONAL DEVOTIONALS!
(Thes are weekly devotionals to encourage you to live a missional life
that shine the Light of Christ)
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
FAITH! WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? Part 2
Here in the New International Version it uses the phrase, "holy fear" but in the New American Standard Version it uses the word, "reverence". Here we see Noah receiving a warning from God that he was going to destroy the world by a flood but will save Noah and his family if he builds an ark. So what does Noah do? Motivated by Holy Fear or Reverence for God Noah builds the ark! So from this we learn that:
Faith Is Being Obedient To God Out Of Holy Reverential Fear!
Noah's motivation for building this ark was not because he wanted to do something that no one else had done! It was not because he wanted to show God that he was worthy of being saved! It was not because he had been sitting around and had nothing better to do! No! Noah built that ark because he knew that God was Holy and Righteous, that God was tired of this sinful world and that God would do exactly what he said he would do and that God wasn't playing around. And that understanding brought
Holy Fear Into Noah's Life That Caused Him To Obey!
You see faith is believing that God will do exactly what he said he would do. Do we really believe that Christ is coming back one day to judge the living and the dead? Do we really believe that Christ when he returns will destroy the world by fire? Do we really believe that those who don't repent from their sinful life and turn to Christ as Lord and master will spend an eternity in hell? If we truly do believe those things doesn't that belief cause you to take pause and fell you with a Holy Reverence for God?
And if we truly do believe those things shouldn't that Holy Fear cause us to act in obedience to fulfill the mission that Christ has given us of making disciples of all peoples. I mean if we truly believe that Christ is going to do these things and in the mean time has given us this important task to accomplish should we have the same kind of faith that Noah had that fills us with Holy Fear and grips us with Reverence? I think it should!
In Galatians 6:9 it says,
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (NIV)
So out of Holy Fear let's not grow tired,
let's not grow weary, let's not give up!
In Holy Fear let's press on with the mission of making
disciples for Christ of all people.
To Encourage You In Living A Missional Life I Offer To You A
To Encourage You In Living A Missional Life I Offer To You A
FREE GIFT Of Weekly Missional Devotionals.
I invite you to become a Facebook fan of THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN:
Friday, October 26, 2012
EMPOWERED TO DO CHRIST'S MISSION: Part 2: Representing The One Who Has Authority
In giving us the mission to go make disciples Jesus wanted us to know that he has the authority to issue it. Notice how The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 starts off. Jesus speaking says,
"All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth ... "
How much authority does Jesus say he has? Does he have only some authority or does he have most of the authority?
No, Jesus said he had
"ALL AUTHORITY"
And where exactly does he have this authority? Is it just in heaven? Is it just on earth?
Again, it's a
"No"
But notice the Great Commission does say that Jesus' authority does extend to both heaven and earth. All things are under his authority and his control. I love the way the Apostle Paul states it in Colossians 1:16-18,
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (NIV)All thing were created by Jesus, for Jesus, and are held together by Jesus. And why? So that Jesus would have supremacy over all things. In other words what Jesus is saying is that we should listen up because what he is about to command us to do he has the right and authority to command it. It is as if he is saying to all of us who follow him that what he's about to say is not an option, it's not a suggestion but it's a command that most be obeyed!
It Is Jesus' Authority
That Empowers Us!
Because Jesus who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords has given us this mission we are thereby empowered to do that mission. No one has the authority to tell us to stop doing it because the one with all authority has already commanded us to do it.
- We need not ask person permission from any person if we can share Christ because the one who has all the authority has already commanded us to do it.
- We need not pray and ask God if we should witness or make him disciples for he has already, with his last recorded words, said to go make him more disciples.
- Because Christ has all authority and commanded us to go make him more disciples we can pray with confidence that he would lead us to those whom the Father has been preparing to believe.
So when people begin to question you on who gives you the right to share your faith about Jesus you can take confidence and say boldly that your right comes from the one who has all authority and he commanded you to do it!
SO BE EMPOWERED AND GO MAKE JESUS MORE DISCIPLES
YOU GO WITH THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST BACKING YOU!
Friday, October 19, 2012
THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN'S FACEBOOK PAGE
Hi, I'm Pastor Jay Moore and the founder of The Ordinary Christian. I am absolutely convinced that God loves to use ordinary people to do his extraordinary work! The Bible is filled with such examples. Two of Jesus' own disciples are described exactly that way. Peter and John were referred to as ORDINARY MEN WITH NO SPECIAL RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
WHY?
Why would God chose to use ordinary people to accomplish his greatest work? Why wouldn't he choose to use the more talented and extraordinary people? Wouldn't he accomplish more if he did? The reason why God loves to use ordinary people is found in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:
"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
THAT'S WHY!
God wants to humble the proud and show the whole world that He can do anything, through anybody, including ordinary Christians. That way God receives all the glory.
The Mission of THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN is to:
Empower Encourage and Equip
ordinary Christians to intentionally live the missional life for Christ. I invite you to be a part of what God is doing by "Liking" The Ordinary Christian Facebook Page!
Monday, October 15, 2012
ESSENTIALS FOR LIVING AN EFFECTIVE MISSIONAL LIFE: Part 1 - Eliminating The 3 Causes For Why Christian Don't Live A Missional Life
THE 3 CAUSES
These are not only the causes that keep people from living a missional life for Christ but also the basic causes that keep people from doing anything that need or want to do. They can be applied to just about any area of your life. Whether it be going back to school to increase your education or starting a new business or even just learning how to dance the reason why people won't do them will fall usually into one of three categories. Find a cure for these basic causes and a person has a better than average chance to succeed and learn those new skills or accomplish that new goal. So what exactly are those 3 basic causes that keep people from doing new things? They are a:
LACK COMPETENCE: This means that people just don't know what to do. They are told that they are to be the Light of the world but then they ask, "But how do you do that?" They have heard sermons, Bible Studies, devotionals and even Christian friends tell them over and over again all the things they should being doing in order to live a missional life for Christ but very little if any training has been provided to teach them how to do it. So much of the preaching and teaching in the N. American church is what I call "The Ought To Sermon". The "Ought To" sermon says, "You ought to do this or you ought to do that." More specifically it could say, "You ought to tithe" or "you ought pray" or even "you ought to witness or make disciples" and then the Christian is left scratching his head wondering, "But how do I do that?" We have given a lot of "To Do's" with very little, "How Do's! This has left the Christians in N. America frustrated and feeling incompetent to live a pleasing life on mission for Christ. They know what they should be doing but they just don't know how to do it. The disciple of Christ got to that place of frustration in their life when they asked Jesus if he would teach them "HOW" to pray just like the John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. There comes a teachable moment in every Christians life when they have heard all they can handle of "What To Do" and have come to realization that they now need instruction on how to do what they've been told to do!
I believe the Christians in N. America are at that teachable moment where they heard over and over again that they need to be the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, that they need to be a WITNESS FOR CHRIST, that they need to be MAKING DISCIPLES FOR JESUS but now in frustration they are crying out, '"BUT HOW?" The lack of N. American Christians living a life on mission with Christ is not because they don't know what to be do, it's because they don't know how to do it.
LACK CONFIDENCE: Now there are some Christians that don't lack competence. Many Christians have been trained on how to witness, how to let their light shine and how to make disciples. It's not that they don't know how to do it, its just that they don't feel confident in doing it. Living a missional life feel awkward and unnatural. Bringing up a spiritual conversation with people feels forced and if they do bring it up there is a sense of worry in the Christian that maybe they will do or say something that is wrong.
This is not only true for just living a missional life but its also true for any new skill that a person is attempting to learn. Whether it be learning to type, to ride a bike or swim in a pool there is a period of time where the new skill that has been learned is done by force and not done naturally. I remember when I was learning to play the guitar and had just been taught my first three chords. I knew those chords, I knew where my fingers were to be placed on the fret of the neck and I could put them there but I had to think about it and it didn't feel natural and it took time. But now 40 years later I can play those same chords and others but mind doesn't have to concentrate on doing it, it just seems to do it almost without thinking. The goal of training people in living a missional life is to get them to a point where these knew missional skills are done with confidence and done naturally without feeling forced.
THEY LACK ACCOUNTABILITY: Now there are a few Christians who know what to do and also have the confidence to do it but they still don't do it! Why? The answer is because they are not held accountable to anyone on whether they doing it or not. The reality is that most people do things when they know someone is going to check up on them about it and ask them if they actually did do it. That's one of the reasons why teachers give tests to their students. Yes, I know that one of the major reasons for testing is to measure how much the student has learned! I get that but I also know it's to help ensure that the student will actually do the work. When students know that they are going to be tested on certain material they are more likely to make sure they have studied it. At work if you know that your boss is going to come to you to check up on your work you are more apt to make sure the work is done.
Accountability is a very Biblical concept. The parable Jesus told of the master who went away on a very long trip and gave 3 of his servants different amonts of talents. To one he gave 5, to another he gave 2 and to the last he gave 1 each according their own ability. They were to use these talents while the master was away and in a way that the master wanted. The servants each knew that there was coming a day of accountability when the master would come back and see what they had done with his talents. I just think it would be a whole lot better for all of us if we didn't wait until the Lords return for ultimate accountability but between now and then we lovingly hold each other accountable so that when the Lord Jesus does return we will hear him say, "Well done good and faithful servant."
THE 3 CURES
PROVIDE TRAINING EVENTS: The best way to correct the lack of competence is for the church to provide training in the essential skills needed for living a missional life. If people don't know what to do its the leadership of the churches job to provide training in those areas. This training should not be complicated but easy to follow, understand and most of all it should be reproducible! That means that whatever training a church provides the member who finishes that training should be able to use it to train someone else without any difficulty. Can that training be passed on, can it be duplicated and taught by an ordinary Christian who completed the training or is it difficult teach that the average Christian couldn't use it?
If a training course is to complicated for one of its participants to use to train another Christian it SHOULD NOT BE USED! We are not here to only train people to do certain missional skills but we are here to train people who can then train people, who then can train people. Our goal should always be to see the rapid reproduction of disciple makers. That means we not only train Christians to live a missional life but we train Christians train others to live a missional life, who will be able to train others.
The only real test of any program, training course or process to decide if its reproducible is whether or not it actually reproduces. CAN THE PEOPLE WHO'VE GONE THROUGH THE TRAINING TAKE WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AND TEACH OTHERS TO DO THE SAME? Now that the real question. Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 said,
"And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses these intrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."Here we see reproducibility at its very best and all the way to a fourth generation. Paul was confident that Timothy could take the information that Paul used to train people all over the world in the Christian faith and use it himself to train others because Paul made sure it was taught in a reproducible manner.
The way the training curriculum is designed and organized, the method of presenting the material, the process of how the training class is conducted all need to lend itself to being reproducible. The training material needs to be designed so that it's quickly remembered and the process to teach that material needs to be done in a way that anyone can do it even if they're not skilled in classical teaching.
PROVIDE PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES: The goal of our training should never be just for information! The training objectives for missional living should always be for daily application! It should be the goal of every church, pastor, missionary, evangelist to train the people of God to have a missional lifestyle that is naturally lived out daily. People need to know not only how do live out a missional lifestyle skill but they need to actually do it. That means they need to become confident in performing the new skill.
Confidence only comes with:
PRACTICE
How many of us when we first learn how to ride a bike was actually confident in riding that bike? Not many of us! After I received some basic instructions on how to ride a bike my father put me on the seat of the bike, placed my feet on the peddles and then took my hands and told me to firmly gripped on the handlebars and then with one firm push he sent me sailing down the sidewalk. I was scared and nervous. My hands were shaking making the bike wabble back and forth. My feet kept slipping off the peddles and I just knew I was going to crash. But then I noticed something! The whole time I was riding my bike my father was running right alongside of me, holding the back of my seat so it wouldn't fall and staying with me until I gained the confidence to ride without him.
WHAT MY FATHER WAS DOING WAS GIVING ME A SAFE PLACE TO PRACTICE UNTIL I GAINED THE CONFIDENCE TO RIDE ALONE!
Now that's the kind of training we need for living the missional living. As part of the process of training we need to give opportunities for people to practice what they've learned and we need to allow them to practice it week after week after week.
But that's not what happens in most church training events. Today most trainings are usually a day or two in length and the people are sitting around tables with a work book to fill in the blanks as the instructor tells them how they should do a particular missional skill. There may be some video's that are shown as an example of how the skill could possibly be put int practice. There might be some time given for participants to pair off to give a half hearted attempt to do what they've just been told to do. Then as the training is ending the participants are given a pep talk about how they can now go out and do it. But the reality is that most of the participants, while knowing what to do and how it might look, still don't feel confident in doing it. Why?
Not enough time to practice in a safe place.
Confidence comes with lots of practice over time. That's why I really appreciated James Kennedy's Evangelism Explosion Witnessing Training. Or at least I should say the practicing element that was incorporated into the training. I do feel that for the most part the training material was very difficult to reproduce but I do like the way they give a trainee weekly opportunities to go out with a skilled person in witnessing and then allowed them an opportunity to practice the different parts to a gospel presentation.
PAIR CHRISTIANS INTO TEAMS: The third cause for failing to live a missional lifestyle is that there is no accountability. If a person knows that no one is going to check up on them to see if they are doing what they should be doing there is a much greater chance the person will never make it a lifestyle and possibly stop doing it all together. So the cure is to design accountability into the training process that is not legalistic and none judgmental. I think that we really do need to make sure that we have those two qualifiers: Not Legalistic and None Judgmental. The reason is because our purpose is to encourage and not condemn. We are not hear to look down a long and judgmental nose and tell people, "YOU'VE FAILED". No our goal is to loving engage people in living a life on mission with Christ.
We're Here To Encourage - Not Condemn
So how do you do that? How do you have accountability that doesn't measure if a person is PASSING or FAILING? I suggest pairing participants into teams of at least two people. These teams are to do the mission activity together and thereby hold each other accountable. These teams are to think of themselves as soldiers who are in battle together, who are watching each others back and trusting one another. They are Comrads in Arms. They have a profound sense of responsibility to perform at their highest level because their partner depends on them and they depend on their partner. I think this is one of the reason why Jesus sent out the 72 in teams of two to very town and village he was about to go. Jesus knew that along the way their would be discouragements and if they weren't in a team they could very easily quit and go home but because he had them in a team they would be there for one another to encourage each other.
TEAMS ARE A GREAT ACCOUNTABILITY PRACTICE
But even after the teams were done Jesus had them come back and share what had happen. This was both a praise report time and an accountability time. Churches would do well to have a time where missional teams come back together to have a debriefing and praise sharing on what God was able to do.
In the next three blogs we're going to cover three of the essential skills needed for living a missional life and ways for you and your team member to practice these skills. By doing this we will effectively deal with the lack of competence, the lack of confidence and the lack of accountability and allow you the ordinary christian to live productive missional life.
I'M PRAYING THAT GOD WILL RAISE UP, TRAIN UP & UNLEASHING ORDINARY CHRISTIANS TO LIVE A LIFE ON MISSION WITH CHRIST WHERE PEOPLE ARE MADE INTO RAPIDLY REPRODUCING DISCIPLE MAKERS. GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU GO AND LIVE FOR HIM!
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