• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

Can’t stop being intentional

Posted on October 28, 2014 by wtdavid

The Gospel frees us to intentionally move towards others.

Another thought came to mind as I read a blog post by Aaron (http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2010/08/03/book-review-rescuing-ambition-by-dave-harvey/):

“As God rescues and redirects our ambitions, we have to understand that there’s a cost. We might fail. We might never see our ambitions fulfilled. But our ambitions are to have one goal in mind: serving our Savior. This is where we’re to find our contentment: not in the accomplishment, but in Him who has redeemed us and created us for these works.

In other words, godly ambitions are humble ambitions. To pursue godly ambitions means that we can forsake our comfort and well-being because Christ is sufficient. So it doesn’t matter if we fail. It doesn’t matter if we don’t’ see our plans play out. Jesus is enough.intentional-300x228

“Finishing well” actually means preparing the next generation to finish the work we begin. “True success means we will turn things over to the younger generation in such a way that enables them to run stronger and faster, with us cheering them all the way.””

Intentionality includes a multiplicational dynamic. If I choose to be intentional and invest in the lives of others, it will mean that at a given moment I will turn things over to them.  I will be intentionally investing in them for their development, intentionally preparing them to take the ministry and intentionally coming alongside them to platform and support them.

Such a multiplicational dynamic should impact the way I intentionally invest in others. A number of questions might come to mind that could help as one assesses his or her work with others:

  • How am I preparing another (or others) to take the current ministry even further?
  • How am I am impediment to that intentional desired growth of another? How am I a ‘multiplier’ of that intentional desired growth of another?
  • What needs to be part of my intentional investment that will ‘multiply’ its fruitfulness?

The Gospel frees us to intentionally move towards others. The Gospel frees us to honestly assess and grow in our intentional investment and ministry to others.

 

Filed under: Gospel, Intentionality, Multiplication | Leave a comment »

Generosity from within

Posted on June 26, 2014 by wtdavid

It is often said that “the resources are in the harvest”.  By that we mean that the resources to promote and further the work and ministry of disciples and communities of believers in a given people group are present in that very people group.  Funding and resources from the outside should not be the first recourse.

The video below is one example of how this very principle worked itself out in a given situation in one African nation.

 

Filed under: Generosity, Multiplication | 5 Comments »

Fostering a reproducible process

Posted on June 24, 2014 by wtdavid

reproducible processI recently finished reading, Paul’s Missionary Methods, edited by Plummer & Terry.  It’s a centennial celebration of Roland Allen’s work and its ongoing impact to missional thinking today.

Let me quote a lengthy section from a chapter on the apostle Paul and leadership development:

“The missionary wrongly believes that the time to turn over the church to indigenous leaders – that is, after they have been sufficiently trained – will be obvious to all, but “those who are seeking to gain authority never agree to wait until those who hold it think they are sufficiently prepared.”  Filled with the Holy Spirit, the new believers are thus “not so incapable as we [missionaries] suppose.”

Toward this end, Allen argues that the apostle Paul generally “preached in a place for five or six months and then left behind him a church, not indeed free from the need of guidance, but capable of growth and expansion.”  Paul accomplished this task by “teaching the simplest elements in the simplest form to the many,” thereby fostering a reproducible process that facilitated rather than hindered planting new churches.  The apostle planted and taught the young church, moved on quickly to his next ministry destination and made himself available to minister as needed to the planted church via his writings or his emissaries.  The leaders he left behind were not necessarily highly educated; they were simply Holy Spirit-filled men.”

Two things immediately stood out to me in this section, and which called for further reflection.  First, Allen contends that Paul’s focus was not on efforts to ‘highly train’ others, but to ‘train so that others could train others who could train others’.  The apostle was looking to foster a reproducible process; training in such a way that it was more easily transferable.  Second, I recognized how often I can underestimate the capabilities of others because I forget that they, like me, have the Spirit living and working in them.

To apply both of those insights would mean working to ‘release’ people more quickly into ministry and leadership, entrusting their ongoing growth to the Father.

 

Filed under: Leadership, Multiplication | 8 Comments »

community: part 3 of 3

Posted on March 25, 2014 by wtdavid

Community_titleBill (WT Canada) has been writing some exceptionally good stuff on community and I couldn’t resist sharing his final installment:

“I want to end this three part series by talking about fruit. I like fruit; apples, oranges, grapes, I like them all. Fruit is the result of a larger process. Planting, cultivating, pruning, pollination, flowering and finally the fruit, the enjoyment, the end result. But fruit is not a guarantee. Some trees look good, look healthy, but they fail to produce.

Our Christian community should be that of fruit producing. The sweetness of the fruit, the way the vine and the branches are interconnected and together produce the fruit. Jesus himself says in John 15:4-5; “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches”.  There is an interconnectedness of the vine (Jesus), the branches (you and I) and the fruit that results from this relationship.

However, the real secret of the fruit are the seeds. The ability to reproduce “in like kind” and thus continue to bear fruit each season is something that we also need to have within our Christian community. We must become reproducers of good fruit. We must allow, even look for at times, the necessary pruning in our lives that make “abundant fruit” possible.

It’s easy to just look good, to have the appearance of community, maybe even some perception of fruit. But the real test is in the seeds, the ability to reproduce. Our Christian community needs to be multiplicative by nature, inviting, discipling, training, nurturing and sending out that the seeds of our community self-propagate, grow and produce new fruit wherever they fall.

Are we willing to allow ourselves to be pruned by the master vine-dresser so that our fruit extends beyond our community and reproduces itself in other areas?”

Bill’s last question is a challenge for each of us to consider. Join us as well on ‘the Hub’ at the Global Conversation Café for an ongoing discussion of community.

Filed under: Community, Multiplication | Leave a comment »

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