Discipleship

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The Essential Role of Fruit in the Church!

Does your church have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control pouring from its leaders and most of its people, on your campus and into the streets where its people are? If not, something is terribly wrong!

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Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenburg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In this book Luther was looking back to that period of Old Testament history when Jerusalem was destroyed by the invading armies of Babylon and the elite of the people were carried off into captivity.

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One of the foundational qualities of the Bible is its clarity (sometimes called perspicuity). That means Scripture's main teachings are plain enough to be understood without the need of special expertise or church-sanctioned interpretations.

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God calls us to seek His presence, as a body of believers with one mind and voice, so why don't we?

"Prayer can do anything that God can do, as God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent." R.A. Torrey, "The Power of Prayer"

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The key to a successful ministry and church is prayer. There is no way around it. John tells us,

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

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Do you desire to fire your pastor? Perhaps you should fire them up instead!

Praying for your church is like filling a balloon with helium, the more it is filled, the more it will soar and not sore! For us to grow not just numerically, but in what is much more important, spiritually and in community to one another, requires our discipline and passion to pursue Christ more and ourselves less. We have to grow in Christ in a cherished, intimate growing relationship with Him as LORD over all and LORD over us. We are called to become purpose driven with His purpose at our helm of leadership and lives so that our trust and intimacy is rooted in Him and not in our...

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Prayer Part II Matthew 6: 5-15; 7: 7-12

How can I pray? What if I have never been taught how to personally pray or to talk to God? What if I grew up in a church that never had conversational or personal prayer? What if I only know liturgy? What if I offend God? If you think that you do not know how to pray, you need to ask yourself, do I know how to talk and listen? If you know how to talk to another person, then you know how to pray! Prayer is basically our communication with the Great Sovereign God of the Universe who wants the best for us and to hear from us!

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Witnessing can be scary. We are here to help you.

This article is a collection of insights I have learned and collected from over 20 years of evangelism in church and Para church ministry. I hope you can find these insights useful to encourage you to serve Him more powerfully and effectively! We all need encouragement. Billy Graham told me a few years ago that he needs it, and he said I need it, and I believe you may need it, too. So, here are some encouragements for you!

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Catching and producing a 20/20 vision for your church!

How do I recruit people? Have each group always be open to new people if possible. Some groups want to be closed; that is OK for them, but for most, having a small group of no more than 8 to 10 participants makes enough room for two more then you can split them up in two. Thus, the small group itself is the primary recruitment vehicle and...

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We have to realize that the Fruit of the Spirit is a "must" endeavor--not a convenience or a mere attitude, nor is it just for children or something to be ignored. Rather, it is a principle hallmark that points to God's Holiness and effectual Christian living. It is not something we are to regulate to the youth departments of the church, thinking we have grown beyond it as adults. Rather, it is the most important thing a Christian and, especially a minister of the Word and church leader, is to be doing. It is who we are to be, growing and maturing as a lifelong journey of our spiritual formation our faith development and deployment.