 This week I'll be co-teaching a workshop on refugee outreach at Crescent Project's National Conference. My colleague James will begin that workshop with a short devotional from Luke chapter 7 where Jesus is asked to heal a centurion's servant. It's a story that has caused me a fare amount of conviction the past few weeks as I've meditated on it. I'll hope it does the same for you. Jesus has just finished teaching the masses when a group of elders from the Jewish synagogue show up to ask him to come and heal a Roman centurion's servant who has fallen ill. Roman centurion's were the senior officers of a legion of Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers who are occupying Israel. Roman soldiers who have brutalized and oppressed the Jewish people. Already this story is a bit crazy. But when these elders get to Jesus they don't just ask, they plead with Jesus saying, "He is worthy for You to do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue." Jesus goes with these elders and the story ends with the centurion telling Jesus he doesn't need to come, he just needs to say the word. The centurion understands authority and Jesus famously praises the man saying, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." This is the part that is most often the focus of the story but let's go back to the request of the Jewish elders. In every respect, the Roman occupation has been a terrible blight on the Jews in Israel. And yet here are the oppressed pleading the case of a man who is supposed to be their enemy. Why? Because he loves them. He has poured out his love in generosity. He has lived a life among them that has demonstrated extraordinary love. And the question James challenges us with is this: Is your church living in such a way with the refugee and immigrant communities in your context that if the government came to shut your church down, would refugees and immigrants be the first ones to come and plead your case? Would refugees in your community come out saying, "No, you can't shut this church down! They've loved us. They've helped us with extravagant generosity." Do our churches have a centurion's reputation? Crescent Project is LIVE STREAMING all main sessions! FREE!
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 How did you learn to ride a bike? Did your dad sit you on the couch in front of the TV and say, "Here, watch four hours of the Tour de France. That will do the trick." Probably not. You most likely did watch older brothers or sisters ride bike however. It looked fun and if you were like most kids, you wanted to ride too. Learning to ride bike probably looked more like your dad - or in my case, older brother - running along beside you, one hand holding firmly to the back of your seat to help you balance as you started pedaling and getting the feel of things. That firm grip was released and those first rides certainly included a crash or two followed by comfort and the encouragement to get back in the saddle. In short order, you mastered the art and skill of bike riding. You may not be ready to race in the Tour de France but you are more than capable of a ride across town. You have achieved unconscious competence in the bike riding department. Our journey toward bike riding stardom highlights the basic training principles that are required to make disciples who make disciples. We call these the MAWL principle. Model, Assist, Watch and Launch. This is the basic process through which we all learned to ride bike and it is the model of training that we see Jesus using and later Paul. This basic principle is applied in all good training that leads to actual competence and reproduction, to disciples having the confidence and competence to obey Jesus and make disciples. MODEL Modeling requires us to set the example by actually doing what we want others to do. We see Jesus doing this in his ministry - he is preaching, healing, casting out demons, abiding with the Father, praying, setting strategy. He has taken the disciples with him and they are watching his example, asking questions and asking for deeper teaching. Nathan Shank in Four Fields of Kingdom Growth comments that "What a disciple does in the first three months of faith, he or she will reproduce throughout their walk. If the disciple is asked to passively observe the work of the church, passivity will likely be the "DNA". If the disciple is expected to aggressively pursue friends and loved ones, reproducing what has been trained [modeled], multiplication is set in motion." What we model is important. ASSIST Assisting requires to release our disciples to actually do what it is we want them to do by themselves. We have to put them on the bike. We assist them but they are doing the work. Again we see Jesus doing this with the disciples. Who is going to feed the 4,000? They are. Jesus is going to assist, but they are going to go out and serve the food. Who is doing all the baptizing? They are. Jesus is there and even gets blamed for the baptizing, but the Bible is clear that it is actually his disciples who are doing the work. WATCH Assisting can quickly shift into watching. For some things, assistance might take longer than others and there is rarely a clear line of when we shift from assisting to watching, but shift we must. Our disciples must recognize our release of control so that they are empowered to do the work themselves. In Paul's second letter to Timothy he says, "And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will be qualified to teach others". Paul is watching from afar, hearing reports and coaching Timothy to continue to do what he is doing. And of course your disciples will occasionally crash. Like the first time your dad released your seat and you scrapped your knee as you skidded sideways to the ground, those you are training will make mistakes. They will make messes. They will FAIL. And you will have the grace to pick them up, reassure them that they'll be fine and get them back in the saddle. Don't worry, the kingdom won't fall apart with one mistake. Mistakes are the catalyst for maturity when treated with grace and love and Biblical application. LAUNCH There then comes a time when we must launch our disciples out to run the race on their own. Jesus launches his disciples despite some of them doubting, to go and make disciples of all nations! We see Paul charging the Ephesian elders to stand up and continue the work without him as he heads back to Jerusalem for one final visit. MAWL principles are as old as the Bible but our modern teaching techniques which sequester training in classrooms and pews make it difficult to apply them. Knowledge acquisition has in many ways trumped actual application and competence. And so too often I've simply told people what they ought to do.
I've given hour long seminars. I've preached sermons. I've shared good ideas. But in the end, I've been discouraged by the results. The people I've taught walked away with a head full of knowledge but no real idea how to actually apply that knowledge come Monday morning or no confidence that they actually could. The MAWL principle is what we see in the Bible. And it just makes sense. Everywhere in life where we want to master a skill, these ideas are the way to master them. If you wanted to become an electrician or a mechanic or a carpenter in the past you apprenticed yourself to a master. Modeling, Assisting, Watching and Launching were just what naturally happened every day that you showed up at the shop and worked alongside your boss. If we want to see disciples become disciples who can and are making disciples who in turn can and are making disciples, then we must spend more time training with MAWL principles. Who can you MAWL today?  Crescent Project’s National Conference is an annual gathering of leaders from all over the United States, coming to be inspired, encouraged and equipped by Crescent Project. National Conference presents a unique opportunity for equipping Christ-followers from around the country to connect with some of the most spiritually curious people on our planet: Muslims. National Conference gives an inspiring snapshot of our changing times, demographics, and handles on understanding Islamic basics and identifying ways any church in any community can help lead the charge for cutting-edge outreach in their region, rallying other churches in the process. The conference offers a wide assortment of workshops along with general sessions led by experienced leaders and former Muslims. National Conference is designed to equip Christians who are new to Muslim outreach as well as those who have years of experience. Event dates: October 22-24 Location: Church of the City, Spring Hill, TN (Just 25 minutes south of the airport, Nashville, TN.) Multiply: The Vision Summit  The Vision Summit is a discipleship event designed to cast vision and equip disciples for local, national, and global mission. Through it, the Multiply team seeks to build upon the dreams, spiritual gifts, and passions God has placed in His people. The weekend will be surrounding God's Kingdom coming, and how we are to take part in the advancement of His Kingdom. If you are in the Midwest, don't miss this opportunity for training and equipping. Event Dates: Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 5:00 PM – Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 3:00 PM CDT Location: Cross Point at Oasis Church - 23813 West Trail West Road - Plevna, KS 67568 Gospel Conversation Training  Have you ever wanted to have a gospel conversation with someone but didn't know where to begin? Gospel Conversations training explains not only why but also how to have these conversations across various contexts and we'll give you plenty of practice. During this one day training, you will learn what to do and say to share the good news of the gospel with competence and confidence. This training includes a time for practice and follow-up processes for strategy and accountability. Event Date: Saturday October 19, 9 am - 4 pm Location: Mitchell Christian School, Mitchell, South Dakota Heart For Muslims  Heart for Muslims’ mission is to equip Christ-followers and connect them for service, ministering to our Muslim neighbors in the Name and Love of Jesus Christ. The vision is to eliminate the fear of Islam and free believers to boldly minister to our Muslim neighbors. Date: Saturday November 23, 9 am - 4:30 pm Location: Calvary Baptist Church - 123 W 57th St, - New York City, NY Do you know someone who could benefit from one of these conferences? Be sure and take a moment and pass this article on to them.  One of the really cool tools on your smartphone is the You Version Bible App. It's a great resource for reading the Bible but also offers some really helpful reading plans and devotional plans which you can use to grow. One really helpful aspect of many plans is the ability to read through them with others and to interact with one another and the content of the plan. Come, Let's Go! Discipleship and Evangelism is a new plan that was recently created by the folks at Zume. This is a seven day reading plan. Each day has a short devotional reading which includes a short teaching video from Zume. Then there are a number of Bible passages to read. Finally, there is an opportunity to talk it over, answering the question, "Based on today's reading, what is one thing God is saying to you?" (If you do not have the You Version Bible app you can get it at your app store on your phone or learn more here: www.youversion.com/the-bible-app) Starting tomorrow, anyone who would like to join from the E2E community will begin reading through and interacting with this study. You can sign up now, but we'll start reading tomorrow, October 2nd. Here's How It Will Work
   At every E2E and gospel conversation training that we do, we always start with the Father's heart. If we can help the church dive into scripture to discover God's heart and desires for our world, we have a great place to begin training disciples who will make disciples. We've turned that beginning session into a worksheet so that groups of Christ followers can discover together the Father's Heart and we want to share that today. Gather a group of friends. Set aside an hour and work through this discovery study. And then begin to pray and dream into the final question. You can work through the study below or download the worksheet HERE. Assignment: Together with a group of friends, read each passage below and write a simple summary of what the passage reveals about God’s heart and desire for our world. Passages
Finally, work through these two questions together.
 I've been investing some time this summer working my way through the #NOPLACELEFT Strategy Coordinator Training that Steve Smith lead in 2016. Trainers include Steve Smith, Stan Parks, Chuck and Deb Wood, Fred Campbell, and Ray and Sara Vaughn. It was held in Houston over seven very full days. There are four sections of teaching with forty three sessions. This is a training that I wish I could attend in person, but for now I am blessed to learn from movement practitioners and to watch them model how to effectively train groups of people through videos. I've learned so much and if you are asking the question, "What is it going to take to reach my entire city, region or people group?" then this training will be super beneficial. You can begin going through the training videos for FREE HERE. You can find future trainings that are similar HERE. And you can watch Steve Smith's introductory session to the training below.  Persecution is a reality that most Christians around the world face on a daily basis. It was part of the experience of the first followers of Jesus. He regularly warned his followers that they would face persecution. The apostles, save John, all died martyrs death and the first century expansion of Jesus' kingdom vision was built in the cauldron of persecution. The New Testament is a collection of stories, letters and revelations written by persecuted men to persecuted fellowships of believers spread across the Roman world. And so how do I as a believer who has been raised in the safety of the North American Christian experience - an experience that is the anomaly of church history when it comes to persecution - help prepare my brothers and sisters in Christ (and myself) for the realities of persecution. Open Doors CEO David Curray recently said that American church leaders are not teaching a theology of persecution. If this is the case, then from what place can we teach and train our brothers and sisters coming to faith out of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or Atheistic Communism to persevere through persecution. The reality is that we can’t. But Jesus can and he has given us His Spirit and the word of God. I was trained with a simple study of God’s word over ten years ago and I recently came across that study and so want to share it today. I hope it will be helpful. Look through the study below, but I have also put it into the form of a bookmark so you can print it off, cut it up and give several to those you are training. It was created to be used by sitting down with your friend and discovering in God’s word how we can persevere through persecution. Help your brother or sister apply these truths to their own life and then encourage them to train others! Persevere Through Persecution Study
Four Strong Legs
God’s Word: God’s word is our final authority. (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; Psalms 119:105) Prayer: There is power in prayer - our prayers and the prayers of the saints. (Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:14-15; Romans 8:27-28; Acts 12:1-16) Evangelism: We share our faith regardless of persecution. (Acts 14:19-22; Acts 16:25-33; Acts 18:1-11) Worship: Worship sustains us in persecution; use songs, memory verses and prayer. (Acts 16:19-25; Psalms 115:2-3)  In John 4, Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman at well outside of her town. During this interaction, the woman begins to suspect and even believe that Jesus might be the prophesied messiah. Leaving her water jugs, she rushes back to her community where she proclaims, “Come see a man who told me everything I did. Could he be the messiah?” We don’t know a lot about this woman, but the result of this simple statement is that the people of her villiage come out to see Jesus for themselves and many believed. Jesus spends two unplanned days with the townsfolk who end by saying, “We no longer believe just because of what you [the woman] said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” [read the story here] We have learned to use this story as a teaching tool at our E2E training events. It answers a few questions to help us share the gospel:
The woman goes back to her community; her friends and family and acquaintances. This is her relational network. And our own relation networks are who we can begin to share with and for whom we should be praying regularly [Read: Personal Prayer Strategy]. The woman shares two things. The first is a one sentence summary of her story. The second is a question pointing to the gospel. Those are two ways we see the good news shared in the New Testament: personal testimony and gospel presentation. These are what we can share. And when does the woman begin to share? After her seminary training? After her confirmation class or new members class? No. The woman begins sharing immediately! She has discovered good news and she will not be stopped. With today’s article we want to look at that middle question: What do we share? We’ve previously written about a helpful tool for sharing the gospel called The Three Circles. There are a lot of great gospel sharing tools, but this is one we train people to use at E2E events. We also train everyone how to share their story in 15 seconds. This is just a smidge longer than the Samaritan woman’s testimony but the purpose is the same: to invite people to learn more about Jesus. This is something we’ve learned from the No Place Left coalition. We use the diagram below as a teaching tool to help shape our 15 second testimonies. There is also a great training video that I’d encourage you to watch both to craft your own 15 second testimony but also to have as a tool to train others. We aren't using the 15 second testimony to explain the fullness of the gospel. We use it to open up spiritual conversations that give us a chance to hear someone’s story and to invite them to come and discover Jesus for themselves. [Read an example of how this was shared]  Crafting Your 15 Second Testimony
Watch the video below and allow Troy Cooper to train you to share your 15 Second Testimony. Your Assignment
 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Throughout the gospels, Jesus presents principles for ministry through parables. These principles are then modeled by Jesus and applied in his assignments for the disciples. This particular parable includes a number of important principles for discipleship and has been an influential part of shaping the Everywhere to Everywhere training weekend event. Nathan and Kari Shank, long term workers and movement catalysts in India, have unpacked the parable of the growing seed in their training manual Four Fields of Kingdom Growth. [Download the manual for free HERE] The Five Parts of the Four Fields In Four Fields of Kingdom Growth, Shank points out that in the parable of the growing seed there are four contexts or fields. There is also a fifth element that is important in every movement of God. He offers a key question for each that focus both our kingdom work strategy and our training of new believers.
Field #4 - The Harvested Field - Eventually a season of harvest comes and the farmer is there to cut and bundle the harvest. Key Question: How do I form a new believers into groups or churches? Leader Multiplication - Generational Multiplication Potential - Out of the harvest comes both fruit for this year and seed for the coming growing season. Key Question: How do I develop and multiply a movement leaders who are raising up leaders? Jesus says that this is what the kingdom of God is like. It seems then that the parable of the growing seed could be a helpful framework around which to build a life of discipleship and ministry. It is the framework that has shaped much of the training we do at Everywhere to Everywhere events across the Midwest. And within it are principles that have been observed in every movement of kingdom expansion throughout history. Every disciple of Jesus should be trained and able to identify and understand how to enter the fields of lostness in their context, whether that be a Muslim village in Central Asia or their suburban neighborhood in Denver or Wichita. Every disciple of Jesus should be trained and able to proclaim the good news of the gospel with anyone, anywhere and anytime. Every disciple of Jesus should be trained and able to disciple new believers into a mature, healthy and growing relationship with Jesus and into the lifestyle of disciple making. And every disciple of Jesus should be trained and able to gather believers together as the body of Christ. The final element, leadership multiplication, is an important part of healthy discipleship and kingdom growth. The Apostle Paul always had two to three disciples with him who he was training up and releasing into ministry. Without the multiplication of leadership, the making of disciples will always come to a bottleneck. But as young disciples take what they have learned and pass it on to other disciples who will pass it on to others (2 Timothy 2:2), the kingdom will expand, our churches will grow and great commission discipleship will be a reality. This is exactly what we see in this parable, in the workings of Jesus and in the unfolding story of the the growth of the early church in the book of Acts. This is what we see in the the great movements of kingdom expansion throughout history. And this is what we see happening in the kingdom movements spreading across countries all around the world today. The Kingdom parables serve as a framework for understanding Jesus’ kingdom agenda across the gospel accounts. Jesus’ kingdom agenda serves as a working job description for both his disciples and our lives and ministries.” The four fields framework also creates a helpful rubric against which we can assess our own discipleship journey. It is a bit of a diagnostic tool which can help us see the places where we need more discipleship and training so that we can become the kind of kingdom agents that Jesus has called us to be. Just as he was sent, he is sending us into a lost and broken world to be his ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) and witnesses (Acts 1:8). Your Assignment Work through the following questions to help you understand where you might need additional training in order to step into your role as an ambassador and witness.
If you answered “no” to any of these questions or just felt unsure of whether you understand what or how to step into these kingdom assignments, find your pastor or a trusted mentor and ask them to help you get equipped. Check out the great training opportunities at the No Place Left website. However you respond, do something! Amidst this need to learn to do the work of the kingdom, we must remember that applying the principles of this parable to the ministry of making disciples and planting churches demands dependency on the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit - the unknown doer in the parable - that causes the seed to sprout and to grow. As Christ’s disciples, there is a path laid out in the parable for how we can join in the work of the Spirit, but it is the Spirit that brings the growth. This was the understanding of Paul, who in 1 Corinthians 3:6 says, “I planted, Apollos watered but it was God who made it grow.” There are things that Paul and Apollos need to do and to train others to do, but spiritual fruit is always because of the power of God. My hope is that this parable will help you discover some of the places where you need more training or encouragement to become those who go and make disciples. Did you find this article helpful? Share it with a friend.  We are excited to announce that we have three Everywhere to Everywhere (E2E) training events scheduled for this spring! This three day training event will prepare you to make disciples who make disciples among the unreached. You can learn more about the event by reading the program description and looking at a sample schedule a the Program Page. You can find all your registration, training dates and pricing information at the Trainings Page. I've been a Christian all of my life and this is the most practical training about sharing my faith that I have ever received! E2E Training Location and Dates: Wichita, Kansas - March 9 - 11 (register here) Sioux Falls, South Dakota - April 26-28 (register here) Sioux Falls, South Dakota [E2E Family Training] - May 31 - June 2 (learn more) Help Spread the Word
Will you help us spread the word about these great training opportunities. Please take a moment to share this post on your favorite social media platform. Feel free to print off a few of these flyers to hang up at your local church. [E2E Flyer] Thanks so much! |
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