Category: Discipleship
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Bringing Change to Church Life: Starting with the Ready
I was asked recently about bringing change to church life. Of course, we would love the idea of bringing all the church into change at the same time but, while this is desirable, my experience has shown me that this is unlikely and takes time. This is more time than we have now. My sense…
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Crossing the Threshold: Embracing a New Season of Discipleship
For a couple of years this has been on my heart and I added it to the conclusion of my book. “As soon as I came into ministry life over 45 years ago, I became aware that all through the Body of Christ great navigators were helping us as God’s people to find our way.…
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Discipleship as the True Measure: A Paradigm Shift in Church Effectiveness
In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom” I try to communicate a sense of what I believe the LORD will be doing among us in the years to come as we walk obediently with Him. In one section I write: “Discipleship will be the only measure of effectiveness, and this will be adopted almost…
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Ecclesia Reimagined: A Church Planting Movement Rooted in Discipleship
In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom” I share some of what I believe will come from a Church Planting Movement based around Discipleship. Over the next few posts I will share some of these prompts from the Lord. “Our collective understanding of ‘ecclesia’ is going to change and the whole Body will begin…
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God’s Methodology: Growing Into the Fullness of Christ
If the Father’s goal ultimately is that all His people would grow up in every way into Christ His Son, then He must have had a methodology for achieving this reality. He does have a methodology. He ensures all His people carry on their lives a gift given to them by Him for their ministering…
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Discipleship Over Leadership: Lessons from Ephesians for Church Planting in Australia
Somewhat controversially I have said that leadership is not the deal-breaker for Jesus mission in Australia. That status goes to discipleship that can multiply. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “At the Exponential Conference, in October 2023, I attended a workshop by Alan Hirsch speaking on…
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Hard-Wired vs. Soft-Wired: Discipleship Must Stay Central in Church Planting
A popular methodology for planting is the campus model. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting I write: “I have observed that when churches plant churches these days, they choose to either hard–wire them or soft–wire them as a way of bringing sustained support and maintaining culture: (a) …
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Building Teams for Multiplication: Aligning Diversity and Discipleship in Church Planting
Creating teams that can produce multiplying churches is the great challenge. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: A calculated giftedness diversity in the team and in the relationships between the planting leader and team will have several important effects. First, it will keep the posture of…
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Bridging the Emotional Gap: Discipleship-Based Church Planting for Thriving Teams
The planting eco-system is a high emotional environment. In my view we often miss the significance of this reality. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church Planting” I write: “In my view, the coach and support personnel need to develop eyes for the real emotional and cultural distance between the…
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The First Five Years: Building a Strong Foundation for Multiplication in Church Planting
From personal experience and observation, keeping the leadership and team in place for the first five years of a church’s life is a key to it’s ongoing health. In my book “The Genius in the Kingdom: How Discipleship Impacts Church planting” I write: “….the longer the planting leader and team are in synergy and partnership…