the road trip::tales of ambassadizing the nation: September 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

on the road again. Pennsylvania here we come.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

goals of discipleship :: biblical understanding

biblical (adj) : of, relating to, or contained in the Bible (Oxford American Dictionary)

understanding (n) : mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation (dictionary.com)

The second goal of discipleship is to see your disciple's biblical understanding develop. Your disciple should understand the origin and reliability of the Bible, know how to study the Bible, and be able to trace salvation through the story of the Bible.

Here's the reality. The assumption is being made that because students have spent some amount of time in church, or youth group, or whatever, that they know their Bibles. That somewhere along the line, they've picked up the skill of Bible reading.

Wrong.

The more time we spend with students, the more we recognize that they don't know how to read their Bibles. They don't know where to start, what exactly they are supposed to do, even what they're supposed to get out of it. They have no plan and no skills, and we just keep telling them 'Read your Bible'. Not too helpful...

We need to help our disciples see the need for reading their Bibles. What's the point? Well here's a few:

nourishment (1 Peter 2.2)
mental transformation (Romans 12.2)
victory over sin (John 8.31-32)
discernment and wisdom (Hebrews 5.13-14)
ministry (2 Timothy 3.16-17)
appreciating grace (Romans 2.4)
understanding self
motivation (this was mentioned in the character portion -- we want our disciples to make right choices because their hearts desire to follow Christ. Conviction, motivation, instruction-these all should come first from Scripture.)

(List taken from Organic Disciplemaking, by Dennis McCallum & Jessica Lowery)

As your disciple understands the need for reading Scripture, he or she will need to know how to study. This summer, we taught our students' a simple 4 step hermeneutic (Bible interpretation) method:

Grasp the text in their town: who is the original audience? where did they live? what are important aspects of their culture? what is the meaning of the text to this audience?
Measure the width of the river to cross: what are the differences in time, culture, language, situation, covenant, etc? (this is where we focus on differences between 'them' and 'us')
Cross the principlizing bridge: what is the theological principle in this text? (this is where we focus on similarities between 'them' and 'us')
Grasp the text in our town: what is the application for a believer today?

(steps originally taken from Grasping God's Word, by Duvall)

We need to teach our disciples that they cannot just apply every verse that they read immediately to their lives. They need to go through the process of interpreting the passage and understanding how they fit into the story of Scripture, instead of how the Scripture fits into their story.

To aid in this process of studying Scripture, our disciples should be equipped with good tools. At the very least, a good study Bible. (We highly recommend the ESV study Bible -- it is a reliable translation, has great notes, and excellent articles (such as an God's Plan of Salvation, Biblical Ethics, Interpreting the Bible, Reading the Bible, the Reliability of the Bible, the Bible and World Religions, Salvation in the Old Testament... just to name a few).) There are also tons of commentaries, Bible dictionaries, sermons (free online!), and Bible studies. We live in an age with a plethora of Biblical materials available to us. Let's help our disciples learn to make use of them.

Lastly, your disciple needs a plan. Without a reading plan, it is so easy to skip one day, two days, three, five, ten, a month ... When there is a plan in place, it is much easier to stay on track day to day. The plan may be to read through Matthew this month, and study the sayings of Jesus. Or it may be to read the Bible cover to cover and keep track of principles of God, however long it takes. Or it may be to read Ephesians once a day for a month. It doesn't matter what the plan is, just as long as there is one.

You may need to show your disciple why we study Scripture.
You may need to teach your disciple the basics of hermeneutics.
You may need to provide your disciple with some study tools.
You may need to help your disciple develop a reading plan.
You may need to ask your disciple every.single.day. if he or she is reading.
You may need to actually read with your disciple when you get together.

Do whatever you need to do to stress the importance of Scripture. The reality is, you don't want your disciple to rely on you. You want him or her to rely on the Lord, on His Word. You will only truly communicate that if you model that, and if you empower & enable them to rely on Him.

Labels: biblical understanding, discipleship, ESV study Bible, Grasping God's Word, hermeneutics, Organic Disciplemaking, principlizing bridge

Buffalo Bowl

Finally, I (Stacie) am writing a blog entry!

Community Grace of Warsaw is in the midst of planning their 2^nd annual Jr. and Sr. high Buffalo Bowl. The Buffalo Bowl is a 5 on 5 flag football tournament for students in the area. The Buffalo Bowl is on Oct. 17^th. Registration opens at 9am at Community Grace in Warsaw. If you are in the area then make a team of five and come on out to the Buffalo Bowl!

One of the goals is to get as many kids to come out as possible, so we can present the Gospel and pray that God moves in the hearts of these teens! The second goal is to have the student leaders at Community Grace to take on new leadership roles, plan and run this event. These are the two key components of why we are doing this outreach event!

I am excited to be part of this process. Our church has OB alum from this summer who are planning, leading, praying, and inviting friends to this event in the hopes of God doing something big. It is such huge blessings to watch students desire to not only come to this event, but desire to lead it. We have asked each student to go where they feel God has gifted them in. We have one girl who has the gift of administration and she is making sure everything is happening and keeping us organized.

It is awesome when students get it but it is even more exciting to me when adults get it. The adults at Community Grace know it’s not about us. We can plan and lead an event, but it is about equipping and empowering the students to do it. Tim Clothier, youth pastor at Community Grace, is very much aware of this. It was his desire to have students serve in the areas that God has gifted them in. The adults are coming alongside these students to love and encourage them, but it is the students who are leading the charge!

I am excited to see what God is going to do through the Buffalo Bowl on Oct. 17^th. I hope that I can blog that many people came to a saving faith in Jesus that day. However God uses this church and these people that day I know I will be able to say that students understood ministry and leadership!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

goals of discipleship :: character

character (n) : the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. (Oxford American Dictionary)

The first goal of discipleship is to see your disciple's character develop. This includes the way that your disciple loves others & loves God.

Character change involves identifying and overcoming sins and bad habits, and replacing those things with attitudes and behaviors that honoring to the Lord. Of course, that's often easier said than done.

I think we have seen churches attack this goal through accountability groups (your church may call them something different, but you know what I mean). We get involved with one other person, or even a small group of people, we let them know what we struggle with, and then we check up on each other once a week or so. Of course, if we're honest, we have continued to struggle with our sin or bad habit, and admit that to the group. Most accountability groups I have been a part of end up being a time where we lament how badly things are going, or where we (silently, of course) compare ourselves to each other and breathe a sigh of relief that at least we're not as bad as that person.

(Now I'm sure that some of you have been involved in groups that have been nothing like that, and you have seen good encouragement and growth. Praise God for that. I certainly believe groups like that exist out there.)

I've learned something important through this though. Accountability, or character development, can't just be about identifying the sin/bad habit and fighting against it with all your might. It has to start with a love for Jesus. I mean, a real, deep love for Jesus. Because when you love someone, you want to please them. If your disciple loves Jesus, he or she will want to please Jesus. And pleasing Jesus includes living in freedom -- freedom from habitual sin, and freedom to love Jesus & love others.

That said, I believe character development must begin with a focus on Jesus Christ. Your disciple needs to have a vital walk with Jesus, including:

daily Bible reading
consistent time in prayer
confession of sin

As your disciple spends time in the Word and in prayer (and you, as the discipler, will likely need to instruct your disciple on these things. Read with them, pray with them, set goals for their time in the Word and in prayer, and hold them to it), he or she will have to come face to face with the kind of life that Jesus requires of HIS disciples. So now it is not just you, the discipler, 'nagging' over 'unacceptable behavior', but the Holy Spirit of God is involved in the process of identifying and convicting the sin.

Certainly there will be times (particularly, I think, when your disciple has a young or immature faith) when you will need to point out the area(s) of sin that exist. Sin (and the Enemy) have a way of blinding us, and as the discipler you have the privilege and responsibility of bringing those areas to light.

Pray for your disciple. Pray that the Lord gives you insight and discernment, that you would know the strongholds of sin that exist in your disciple's life, and even that you would know what specific areas the Spirit is working on so that you can be on the same page. And then set goals for addressing and overcoming that sin or bad habit. Remember, goals are measurable and attainable. Give your disciple a project, a set of verses, anything that will help to make progress.

Loving Jesus deeply doesn't just eradicate us of all sin instantaneously. Obviously. We know that in our own lives. So we shouldn't expect that of our disciples. We need to recognize, and help our disciples understand, that character development is a process. It's not an overnight quick fix. And, praise God, we are not in this process alone - we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us and working with us.

A quick summary:

character development starts with an intimate walk with Jesus (including Bible reading, prayer, & confession of sin)
pray for insight and discernment into the stronghold of sin in your disciple's life
work alongside the Spirit: deal first with the sins that the Spirit is convicting your disciple of
set goals for your disciple to assist in overcoming a sin or habit
remind your disciple (and yourself) that this is not a quick fix, but a growth process
you have the power of the Holy Spirit. use it.

Lastly, I'll leave you with some 'marks' of character development:

understands security in Christ, & how actions should be empowered by God, not self-effort
knows how to worship God in all ways, and with enthusiasm
understands the process of spiritual growth vs. quick fixes
knows and practices the means of growth as a lifestyle
able to withstand suffering with an attitude of faith
obeys God much of the time
victory over discrediting sin
loyal to God over materialistic goals
possesses an eternal value system
convinced that self-giving love is the key to fulfillment

(This list, and some of our ideas taken from Organic Disciplemaking, by Dennis McCallum & Jessica Lowery)

Labels: character, discipleship, Organic Disciplemaking

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

goals of discipleship

Almost anytime we talk about discipleship, we highlight the practical aspects of it: what should discipleship DO? We believe it should affect 3 different areas:

1. character: how is your student's character becoming more like Christ as a result of your relationship?

2. biblical understanding: what is your student studying in Scripture? what are they learning?

3. ministry skills: how is your student being equipped to live missionally for Christ?

Over the next few days we'll talk through these things: a deeper explanation of each one, biblical support, and resources and ideas. Just wanted to whet your whistle (what does that even mean?)

(Note: posts on Crusade & Youth for Christ are still in the works. I realized it's going to take a little more research than I anticipated. Just didn't want you to think we were making empty promises.)

Labels: biblical understanding, character, discipleship, ministry skills

Sunday, September 20, 2009

ohio has officially been ambassadized

We're back in Winona. Ohio has officially been ambassadized.

That's all for now...

Just wanted to point out what a good updater I've been lately. Expect even more this week.

You're welcome.

Friday, September 18, 2009

hanging with the homeless in cleveland

Just a quick update. Tonight Daniel (one of our 09 Barnabas alum) planned an outreach to the homeless in Cleveland. 9 of us gave out about 18 meals, a bunch of water, some clothes, and loved on people. Had the chance to share the gospel a few times. And praise the Lord Jesus, we have a new brother in Christ. Please pray for David, that the Lord will continue to grow him and bring believers into his life to support him.

Gosh I love this stuff...

Labels: cleveland, gospel, homeless

discipleship at western reserve

In January we sat around with Marty Dent and a bunch of his students who had been on Barnabas in the last couple years (o7 & 08). We discussed the need for discipleship and what it should accomplish. And we saw Marty affirm the value of discipleship as he publicly apologized to a couple of girls for setting them up with a discipler who hadn't come through in the way he had anticipated.

We walked away that night having learned a few things:

1. Marty Dent is the man.

2. He seriously believes in and invests in discipleship.

3. (students at Western Reserve are HILARIOUS)

Wednesday night we found ourselves back at Western Reserve, this time with mostly 2009 Barnabas alumni. We heard from each one of them about their transition home - about what has been good & what's been difficult, and about how they're currently involved in ministry. Here's what we learned

1. All 5 of our students are being personally discipled by an older adult.

2. All 5 also are involved in leadership for the middle school group. They help with their small groups, they go to their large group gatherings, they go to their outreach events. These high school students are all about loving on these younger kids and investing in them. Discipleship? Totally.

3. Most of them are spending consistent time in the Word and are excited about what they are learning. They're asking for new resources and ideas to further deepen their understanding of God's Word.

4. They recognize that they have an awesome church. They are surrounded by people who value, train, and use them. And they are so thankful for that. That shows some maturity.

This church is full of people that we just genuinely enjoy being around. In large part, I think it's because they understand and implement biblical discipleship.

Titus 2:

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers s or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned.

Thanks, Marty & the rest of the Western Reserve-ers, for showing us a practical example of what this passage looks like.

Labels: discipleship, marty dent, small groups, western reserve

discipleship at rittman

Installment 1 of the promised updates:

Discipleship at Rittman

We met with Brian (a 2009 alum) and his pastor, Bud, & discipler, Rob, yesterday. Brian had a great summer learning and developing as a leader. He's a senior in high school now, and continues to attend Rittman Grace Brethren Church.

Brian came home excited to be involved and make a difference. He plays both soccer and football, and has really stepped up in leadership on his soccer team especially. After being home for a few days and struggling to really connect well with his team, he publicly apologized for his behavior and his attitude that were not honoring to Christ. Since then, his team has responded in an entirely different way to him, giving them their respect and followship. (I know that's not a word, but it should be.) He's also started a weekly Bible study with his youth group, and is discipling a guy that attends their church.

It was sweet to hear from both Bud and Rob about his growth and progress since he's been home. They both recognize that God has given Brian the skills and opportunities to lead, and so they're pushing him hard. They will not be content to let him be an unfaithful steward of what God has given him. That's exciting.

And that's discipleship. Pushing, challenging, encouraging your student to use the gifts, talents, abilities, relationships to honor the Lord as much as possible. Don't let them squander it.

Because the truth is, your student is your stewardship. You want them make the most of their opportunities? Then you have to make the most of yours.

'Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.' --Paul. (1 Corinthians 11.1)

Can you say that?

Labels: discipleship, rittman, stewardship

coming soon...

Coming to the blog this afternoon: discipleship @ rittman & western reserve, discipleship @ home, discipleship via campus crusade & young life. Check us later

Thursday, September 17, 2009

mark batterson strikes again.

Sometimes people just speak right to your heart. Or communicate your heart for you without even realizing they're doing that. Read another blog by Mark Batterson that is SO important -- to discipleship, to leadership, to believers in general.

Spiritual Hunger
How hungry are you?

Spiritual hunger is the key to spiritual maturity. When you lose that spiritual hunger you stop seeking, asking, and knocking. You stop growing.

As leaders, this isn't something we can "give" to people. But we need to salt the oats so to speak. And we need to set the example. You know what you owe God and owe your congregation as a pastor? A deep spiritual hunger to know God more!

I remember when I first starting seeking the Lord. It was between my freshman and sophomore year of college. I would stay up late reading my Bible. I'd get up early to pray. I went to sleep and woke up thinking about God. I was hungry. And I'm still hungry. I know it waxes and wanes, but how hungry are you?

If I could pray for one thing for you it'd be this: an insatiable hunger to know God more. There is no substitute for spiritual hunger.

Deuteronomy 4:29: "Seek the Lord and you will find him, if you search for Him with all of your heart and all of your soul."

God reveals Himself the most to those who want to know Him the most.

Labels: discipleship, leadership, mark batterson

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

love it

Talked with one of the girls I disciple on the phone this morning. She told me about how God is answering her prayer for direction and guidance. It is SO sweet to have the chance to be involved in intercessory prayer for someone.

Labels: discipleship, intercessory prayer

We're on our way to middlebranch OH, and then on to western reserve... We just passed a truck with a snow plow on the front... winter in northern OH already?!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

discipleship in action

This morning Stacie & I went with 6 students (5 Barnabas alum and one of their disciples) to downtown Columbus to pass out food to homeless people.

Actually, the story starts yesterday -- a bunch of us were hanging out last night and went over to Starbucks to grab some coffee (Carolyn had gift cards and wanted to pay for everyone. So obviously we went.) After we all order, the guy behind the counter starts pulling out food -- muffins, bread, scones -- and asks if we want anything. Apparently once they've had food for a certain amount of time they can't sell it anymore. He said that they usually donate the food but right now they 'don't currently have a donation site' so they were just going to toss it if we didn't want it. So a few of us grab some things, and then it hits Stacie and I literally at the exact same moment and we jumped out of our chairs, "WE'RE GOING TO FEED HOMELESS PEOPLE TOMORROW MORNING! Can we take this stuff!?!' The guy got pretty excited and said sure, and that he'd wrap it up for us. At that point there were like 6 things left on these plates. Sweet. We'd add it to the stuff we bought the next day. Then he comes out from the back a few minutes later with 2 HUGE bags full of all kinds of stuff wrapped up. I mean, at least 60 different things. It was an incredible blessing. We were all so pumped.

So this morning we meet up and head downtown to a soup kitchen/homeless shelter that one of the guys with us volunteers at (and that Barnabas team had been to this summer). We saw some volunteers outside, but that was about it. A couple of us talked to the guy who seemed to be in charge and he said that Monday-Friday there are over a hundred homeless people just all over the street. Too bad for us it's Saturday.

We talked it over, made a couple calls, and headed to another area of downtown where we parked & walked the streets with our Starbucks goodies. The Lord brought us across 4 different homeless people -- we had the chance to have spiritual conversations with 3 of them, really get into sharing the gospel with one. None were super responsive (to be honest, a couple were pretty wasted), but we walked away feeling excited. Excited that we had been obedient to feed 'the least of these' (Matt 25.40) and to share the good news of the gospel (Romans 10.13-15)

This is discipleship in action. Giving students the chance to stretch outside of their comfort zone and be involved in ACTIVE MINISTRY.

Discipleship should develop character, biblical understanding, and ministry skills.

What are you doing with your students? How are you developing their ministry skills?

Labels: columbus, discipleship, homeless, ministry skills, starbucks

Friday, September 11, 2009

calling out their gifts

On Operation Barnabas, our high school students get to experience a wide variety of ministries. Children, youth, adult, senior citizen, homeless, local church, manual labor, dramatic arts, music, preaching/teaching... the list goes on.

One of my favorite things is to see a student come alive in one of those ministries. You know what I mean? Like, they are in a situation where they are using their gifts ad their strengths and they are flourishing. And, they are probably loving it.

What's shocking to me is that so many of these kids don't even recognize their strengths, their gifts. They have no idea they are leaders, encouragers, administrators, servants, teachers, preachers....

Why? Because no one has ever affirmed them. No one has pointed out their gift, and then helped them find ways to use it and to continue refine it.

Mark Batterson wrote about that this morning:

We need to speak prophetically into each other's lives. We need tocall things out--gifts, passions, goals, dreams, desires. Isn't that what Jesus was so good at? He saw the martyr in a denier named Peter. He called it out by calling him "the Rock."

Prophets call things out of the people. It's also called leadership. I'm thinking of this today because I read a manuscript an aspiring author sent to me and he definitely has the gift. I emailed him back and called it out. I want to call the best out of others the way Jesus did. That's leadership. That's discipleship.

Who do you have the opportunity to call out? Do it. Today.

Labels: discipleship, gifts, leadership, mark batterson

Thursday, September 10, 2009

HSM Powell

I've known Mark Artrip (the youth pastor at Powell) since I was in junior high. (We called him Elton John then... he was hilarious even back then.) Mark is a graduate of the National Institute (CE's youth ministry program through Grace College), an Operation Barnabas alum, has been an Operation Barnabas leader, and continues to be more and more involved with Momentum. In other words, he's had tons of training and experiences through CE National.

Last night we had the chance to speak at HSM (High School Ministry) at Powell. It's only their 2nd week back, so they are in their 4 part "Vision" series: worship, grow, serve, outreach. We spoke on, you guessed it, grow. It was a blast. We tied in 2 Peter 3.18, Ephesians 4.11-14, and Acts 2.42 to the concept of discipleship within the body of Christ. We challenged the students to quit being babies in Jesus and take the necessary steps to grow up.

The sweetest part of the night was what happened AFTER the "planned" part of the evening was over:

1- Students had the opportunity to join Grace Groups (small groups that meet in homes once a week). I bet we saw at least 20 students make their way to adults to get connected to a Grace Group. (there are already 62 kids involved)

2- Student leaders are seriously ministry minded. I was chatting with a few of them and after a few minutes they said 'Well we need to go connect with some new people.' and off they went. Those kids have ownership of their group.

3- A couple of people shared the gospel with a girl. She's getting together with Kristin, Mark's wife, later this week. Love it.

There is some incredible stuff going on at that church. And in a big way I believe it's because adults are passionate about the discipleship that goes on during Grace groups. Scripture is studied, accountability happens, relationships are built, leaders are developed, evangelism happens, all within these groups. Students are taking ownership of their faith and of their youth group.

Discipleship is not one size fits all. But maybe small groups would be a great catalyst at your church. They certainly have been in Powell.

Labels: discipleship, Mark Artrip, Powell, small groups

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Borrowed....

check out this quick thought from Ben Arment.

The Best Ideas Don't Win

There is no such thing as "best idea wins."

There is only "best idea plus most influence wins."

Great ideas have enemies.

Enemies like naysayers, laggers, tradition, chain-of-command, poor taste, money, critical mass...

For a great idea to succeed, it must have a platform.

Innovators have to be multitude makers.

I love it. Innovators have to be multitude makers.

Just sit on that for a while.

Labels: ben arment, leadership

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

proud to know teenagers who are sensitive to the prompting of the Spirit. They are a challenge and encouragement to me.

our home away from home ... columbus

Stacie & I are officially back on the road. First stop... OHIO!

We've been on the road since Saturday. Already met with 4 of our Operation Barnabas alumni from this past year. Loving it.

As an example:

Went to lunch with Kristen, one of our alum, and Brandy, her discipler. She shared with us how things have been going since she's been home-that it was tricky to balance out her time and get her priorities straight when she first got home. But she's currently working on improving her relationship with her parents, on spending time in the Word, and on meeting with her disciple (a younger girl in the youth group). The sweetest part about the meeting was to see Brandy, her discipler. Just by watching her it is evident how much she loves Kristen. She has spent good, quality time with her. She's talked through hard things with her. She has challenged her to make goals (an idea that we echoed during our meeting). She holds her accountable in the areas she struggles with. She prays for her. She knows how to be gentle but firm.

Brandy is a great discipler. It is obvious that Kristen loves and respects her. And, whether Brandy 'feels' it all the time or not, she has a HUGE influence in Kristen's life this year.

This is discipleship in action. We're seeing it firsthand.

Thank you, Brandy & Kristen, for your good example.

We're currently in Columbus. Here for the next week. Lots of meetings already scheduled... but if you're around and want to get together, let us know.

the road trip::tales of ambassadizing the nation