Family-Based Discipleship

Here’s a teaching I gave on August 2, 2009 on Family-based discipleship training.

Audio – Family-Based Discipleship Audio

Slides – Family-Based Discipleship Slides

By the way I’m working on a completely new blog based more on 30 page articles, videos and mp3s with blog posts being simply one of the mediums but I need a custom platform in order to design and organize the content correctly so it’s taking some time to launch.  Stay tuned.

Designing a Weekly Rhythm with God’s People

I believe God intends us to design our lifestyle in a rhythm of seven days.  God demonstrated this through creation as a model for a healthy way to live (Exodus 20:11).  The day of rest is the culmination of a seven day rhythm.  Jesus reaffirms this gift by saying, “God created the sabbath for man not man for the Sabbath.”  We’re not bound to live life in a seven day rhythm but it is a gift from God to bring balance to our lives.

So what are the things you do EVERY week?  What does a weekly rhythm look like as a church (a body of interdependent disciples).  I wanted to share the four things I’m committed to doing with the body of Christ on a weekly basis.  I also have a weekly rhythm designed in my relationship with God, with my family, my business life etc. but this post is limited to the minimum I’m committed to do every week with Christ’s body.

My weekly church rhythm mirrors the following verse from Acts 2:42 – “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.”

I know many of you probably would like to ideally see these four things happen in your life by accident as you value them more but I’ve found, for myself, if I commit four time periods to these elements every week, they actually happen pretty much every week.  In the past, when I committed myself to these things but refused to design them into my rhythm (hoping they would “just happen”) I would look back at months where they just didn’t happen.

OK, so here is how I do these four -

1. Devoted to the apostle’s teaching.  I do this through repeatedly teaching and training through the 10 areas of the Story.  I always have a group I’m either taking through the 10 weeks of the Story-Formed Life or I’ll train through a 4-5 week intensive on one of the 10 topics (right now I’m developing a 4 week intensive training on Sonship). (Currently Monday mornings and Tuesday nights)

2. Devoted to the Fellowship.  One way I do this weekly is by gathering with a body of believers and engaging in a 1 Corinthians 14:26 style open participatory meeting.  I currently to this with about 30-40 disciples in Bellevue, KY and it is extremely encouraging every week.  There is no agenda we just all bring things the Spirit has given each to build up the body. (Currently Sunday nights)

3. Sharing in Meals including the Lord’s Supper.  Every Saturday night our family hosts a Shabbat dinner where we host different families and groups into our home (usually members of the body).  We have a family liturgy we go through every time where I go over the Gospel by asking the kids various questions, we sing hymns and take the Lord’s supper together.  We then eat the most amazing meal we can make and usually are up until midnight enjoying, talking, drinking, sharing, eating, smoking, laughing etc.

4. Praying Together.  The development of a rhythmic prayer gathering is my most recent obsession.  I’ve taken several stabs at this that haven’t lasted but here’s what I’m working on currently.  I’ve been interested in the way Jesus often took Peter, James and John away with him to pray together.  I feel led to find 3 other men that will commit to being totally vulnerable and then deeply intercede for one another and together for the Kingdom.  I’m organizing this group right now as I feel I’ve neglected this part of my rhythm for too long.

What you might find missing are leadership meetings, worship services etc. which are a part of my monthly rhythm but not weekly.

What elements are a part of your weekly rhythm with other disciples?  How do you engage in these areas?  How have you determined what elements are essential to do every week?  I love comparing rhythms instead of mission statements because what we do in a week better demonstrates what we are actually committed to.

A Thousand Splendid Sons

I’m fascilitating a training on Sonship tonight and I’m consistently amazed at how hard it is for me to receive this identity.  But this is what makes sense of everything.  It explains why Christ came for us and why we must train disciples.  Watchman Nee said it best in the Normal Christian Life when he wrote -

God is seeking full-grown sons; but He does not stop even there. For He does not want His sons to live in a barn or a garage or a field; He wants them in His home; He wants them to share His glory. That is the explanation of Romans 8:30: “Whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Sonship—the full expression of His Son—is God’s goal in the many sons. How could He bring that about? By justifying them and then by glorifying them. In His dealings with them God will never stop short of that goal. He set Himself to have sons, and to have those sons, mature and responsible, with Him in glory. He made provision for the whole of Heaven to be peopled with glorified sons. That was His purpose in redemption.

So what is the purpose of my life – it is the same Christ’s purpose – to “bring many sons to glory.”  The greatest thing that could be said about the fruitfulness of one of God’s children is that his life resulted in a thousand splendid sons.

The Meaning of Missional when only 9% of Americans have a Biblical Wordview

Barna recently released a survey demonstrating that less than 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview.

This is why I canNOT agree with statements like -

“The last thing Christians need is more training.” or

“Being missional means mainly reaching those far outside the church”

When the question was narrowed to people who considered themselves “born again” (evangelicals) the number with a biblical worldview was only 19%.

A biblical worldview was defined as -

believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.

I can’t help but feel that those who go outside the churches in their community to make disciples are like a doctor who has a thousands patients dying of preventible diseases in a hospital yet, instead of curing them, he chooses to spend 90% of his time going door to door to look for more sick people.  This is what my missional friends are missing.  We must put our own house in order.

What if we are already one?

I’m often asked questions like -

• Why do you think church planting is often divisive?
• Why do you work with many churches instead of sticking with one?
• Why do you refuse to recognize denominational walls?
• Why do you identify yourself with this unseen “city church”?

Because I believe we ARE one.  I’m not trying to unify the church, I’m simply trying to work with a church that is already one.  Just because many of God’s children act like we’re not members of the same family it doesn’t change these realities.  Two kids in a family may squabble and wish they were not siblings but its the father who holds his family together.  Their momentary strife isn’t going to change the fact that the father sees them as members of the same family and neither should it change the prospective of the Father’s servants – you and me.

Roland Allen nailed this in the below paragraph in “Missionary Methods” -

St. Paul began with unity.  In his view the unity of the Church was not something to be created, but something which already existed and was to be maintained.  Churches were not independent unities: they were extensions of an already existing unity.  There could be no such thing as two churches in the same place both holding the Head, yet not in communion one with another…If a member was united to the Head he was united to all the other members.

What would happen if we all adopted this as the one true reality concerning our relationship to one another?

5-fold Ministry Appreciation Sorter

If you feel a special call by God you may have realized you’ve received one of the 5-fold gifts from Ephesians 4 – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teacher but which one?  In my never-ending attempt to find ridiculous generalizations for these 5 here’s another.

• Apostles have an unusual appreciation for white boards
• Prophets have an unusual appreciation for off color humor
• Evangelists have an unusual appreciation for unique pubs and exotic coffee shops
• Pastors have an unusual appreciation for comfy homes
• Teachers have an unusual appreciation for cash back credit cards

Putting this Election into a Historical Perspective

Something all Americans can all be proud of – (HT to 22-words)

Awesomeness Aggregator Part 1

Where I find all the awesomeness out there so you don’t have to.

Top 5 for this week

#5 – Galcon Lite: My favorite game on the Iphone so far.  I’ve never seen a game that so quickly tests your ability to intuitively strategize.  Get yours at the App store for FREE!

#4 – Cheap Audio of “The Shack”:  Whether you love it or hate it $6 is a great price and the narration is very well done.  When you finish listen to the author interviewed here and read this review before you freak out about his theology.

#3 – Understanding the Real America – Wassila:  Pee my pants funny.  Loved the guy showing his morality on his sleeve.  Who wants to launch a discipleship training center in Wassila just so we can Midrash with that dude?

#2 – Stossel’s Guide to Politics: Watch all 5 parts!  Why do we look to the government to solve all of our problems?  Brilliant explanation of why we need to keep government small.

#1 – HomeExchange.com: Just put our house on this site looking forward to our first exchange.  Who wants to vacation in Burlington KY first???

What awesomeness have you found?  It’s time to share the love!

A New Approach to Conferences

In this new age of online video, endless podcasts and a super-active blogosphere I’ve been pondering the purpose of traveling to conferences.  I know a lot of people get a charge out of “just being there” (I’m not one of them) and others are amazing networkers who can develop deep relationships over the course of a weekend (this is very difficult for introverts like me in large venues) but what about the rest of us?

There are new types of conferences that are worth traveling to but they are few and far between.

So I want to layout three types of conferences and describe the direction technology should be shifting us toward.

Type 1 – Blessing Conferences. About 95% of conferences attendance seems to be represented by this type.  You get 2-5 famous speakers/authors (and assorted workshop leaders) to discuss certain topics and share the expense across a large number of people.

• Effectiveness Scale 3 – Because there is no real continuity between what many are saying and most of the content is available in books and mp3s it doesn’t tend to change people deeply.
• Technology Scale 1 – Almost all of these talks are available for free or low cost afterward meaning technology actually makes is more convenient not to go.
• Networking Scale 2 – The crowd and venues make networking a very tough thing and the schedule is usually fairly full.  But because these draw large numbers there’s a decent chance someone will be there you’ve wanted to connect with.
• Hype Scale 9 – This is the real secret to these conferences.  The large amount of money allows for high scale marketing and high profile speakers creating an air of “I just can’t miss it” that many fall into.

Type 2 – Brainstorming Conferences (sometimes called summits or mastermind sessions).  About 2% of all conference attendance is this type.  This is where you get a group of 5-20 innovators to develop solutions for a common problem.  These tend to be invitation only.

• Effectiveness Scale 4 – There is a chance you will leave more confused than when you came but creating mastermind sessions can also lead to unexpected breakthroughs.
• Technology Scale 8 – Technology can not substitute for the kind of synergy created by a group of practitioners in a war-room for hours with whiteboards.
• Networking Scale 9 – After these sessions you know each other quite well and learn to rely on each other’s strengths.  Life-long relationships are likely to form.
• Hype Scale 6 – It’s quite exciting to be invited to these but since no real money is being made it takes a person a lot of foresight to organize these.

Type 3 – Building Conferences (sometimes called bootcamps).  About 3% of conference attendance is this type.  This is where a group of highly motivated people have decided to do something very narrow and specific (start a business, plant a church, learn a new skill etc.) and they are being trained by one person or team to immediately put into practice what they are learning.

• Effectiveness Scale 9 – These tend to have a huge impact on people since the training is very focused on a specific outcome and the kind of questions and interaction is extremely practical
• Technology Scale 6 – You can reproduce some of this technologically but because these tend to be small conferences and you will be implementing what you are learning its great to be able to ask your specific questions and interact directly with people who have been there and have done what you’re about to do.  Also, these sessions are often not made available online.
• Networking Scale 8 – Since the group is small and everyone in the room has either done what you are about to do (the trainers) or is about to do it (the trainees) the relationships you will easily create will be extremely valuable.
• Hype Scale 4 – The marketing is usually fairly lax because the target audience is so small and it requires them to be already bought in (so marketing isn’t as important).

Isn’t the conclusion obvious?  If you only have the time or money to go to 1-3 conferences per year go to Brainstorming and especially Building conferences and download 6+ Blessing conferences to supplement.

But this shift has not been made yet and I’m hoping by pointing this out I might do a tiny bit to move this change along

Mission D.C. Debrief

A team of us from Storyhill spent the past 5 days in the Northern Virginia / Washington D.C. area discussing the restoration of our mission through discipleship training, the restoration of our church through body life and the restoration of our families through visionary headship.  It was an amazing 5 days and here are some of my observations -

I think everyone alive should make a pilgrimage to experience the Long family’s hospitality at least once during their life because it is truly a taste (both literally and figuratively) of the Kingdom’s presence on the Earth.  Many thanks to all in your household!  May your Sabbath table always overflow in abundance and may your daughters always dance with joy before the Lord.

Lifelong friendships were forged.  All the men I met on this trip excude a passion for Christ that deeply encouraged and connected with me.  Our journey together on this road to Zion is just beginning my brothers.

The Gospel was beautifully reenacted.  Being served communion by Sammy and observing the daily offices in readings, worship and prayer through Gavin’s leadership has deepened my faith and connection to Christ and the Gospel.

Major steps of faith are being taken.  I saw people courageously embrace change in a commitment to reclaim our lost practices.  I can already see the hundreds of disciples that will be made and the Body of Christ that will grow from the faith being demonstrated.  Let us run the race with perseverance.

Roomies Rock!  Luke and Lindsey were such a help to me and made the whole trip run seamless and smooth.

God willing it appears I’ll be back very soon to begin Story-Formed Life training.  Can’t wait to see you all again!