Articles for tag: Disciple Making

Restoration Movement History

The Pandemic’s Leadership Lessons

By Michael C. Mack Great leaders have a blend of humility—they know that they don’t know everything—and a curiosity to discover answers. They are constantly learning from a variety of sources, beginning with God’s Word, but also through books, mentors, failures, crises, and personal struggles, to name just a few. Perhaps John F. Kennedy summarized it best: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” The pandemic and all of its interconnected effects have provided a wellspring of important learning opportunities for us. In this issue, our writers highlight many of these. Here are four I believe are especially worth

May 17, 2020

Nate Ross

UNITY: When Our ‘It’ Is Misplaced

By Nate Ross In the quarter mile before I arrive at our church’s campus, I pass a Nazarene church, a United Methodist church, a church of Christ (noninstrumental), and then turn into our campus about 500 yards later. Competition, co-laborers in Christ, or critic are the three most common thoughts that come from my heart when I see another church. (I know, that’s really mature for a pastor.) The lens in which I see another church leads to how I love another church. It’s quite easy to quickly judge and criticize neighboring churches that have different biblical interpretations from ours

May 1, 2020

Local Churches Organizations & Events

SPOTLIGHT: Mount Carmel Christian Church, Batavia, Ohio

Spiritual Growth Emphasis Spurs Numerical Growth By Rick Lowry Mount Carmel Christian Church in Batavia, Ohio (about 20 miles east of Cincinnati), has experienced significant growth in recent years. Didi Bacon became senior minister 21 years ago when the church averaged about 400 in worship. In 2015, Mount Carmel moved into a beautiful new facility and now consistently averages more than 1,000. Bacon and the rest of the staff are convinced a major reason for the numerical growth has been their emphasis on spiritual growth. Teaching minister Tim Peace, who works with groups, said a significant dialogue started when the

May 1, 2020

Local Churches Organizations & Events

SPOTLIGHT: Galilee Christian Church, Jefferson, Georgia

We Wanted to Make More Disciples, So We Planned on It By Nick Vipperman In late 2018, Galilee Christian Church in Jefferson, Georgia, decided we would focus on making disciples in 2019. Those of us who have served in ministry for any amount of time know this can be a challenge; it’s easy to have our focus pulled in a hundred directions. So we took some very specific steps to see our goal come to fruition. We communicated and prayed. As we were heading into 2019, we spent many hours talking about what we wanted to do in 2019. We

January 3, 2020

Recapturing a 'Phenomenal' Vision for Our Churches

By Michael C. Mack January 2020 seems like an excellent time to think about vision. The articles in this issue focus on significant church strategiesfundraising, assessing, training, neighboring, church planting, and reaching men, for examplethat can help churches fulfill Jesus’ vision and carry out his mission. But I want to make sure we don’t confuse strategiesthough they may be biblical and beneficialwith the church’s vision and mission. Strategies must never supplant our mission. I did a quick topical search of the bookshelves in my office: The Five-Star Church, The Seven-Day-a-Week Church, The Emotionally Healthy Church, Becoming a Healthy Church, Building

November 1, 2019

Mission & Evangelism

How to Stoke a Passion for Living Out Christ’s Mission in Your Church

By Michael C. Mack We planned this issue to tell the stories of mission works located on six of the seven continents around the world. (We know of no mission to the 4,000 people who live in Antarctica during the summer months!) The idea is to demonstrate the ongoing fulfilling of Jesus’ mission to “go and make disciples of all nations” and to be Christ’s “witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.” We hope these stories help kindle a passion for preaching the gospel message to the whole world . . . but let’s not get ahead

June 22, 2019

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Spending Time with the Teacher: A Christian Standard Interview with Robert Coleman

By Michael C. Mack As he talks about Heaven, he reminds me of a young bride on her wedding day. He is a mixture of excitement, confidence, reverence, and awe. He is wide-eyed with anticipation for the doors to open and the music to begin. This 91-year-old man has studied and taught about Heaven for years, yet he humbly acknowledges his finite understanding. His wife, Marietta; his older sister, Joy; his friend Billy Graham; and many others he has known and served with over the years are already there. I had saved my question about Heaven for last—I knew it

June 22, 2019

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Clarifying—and Simplifying—Our Disciple-Making Efforts

By Michael C. Mack I read Robert Coleman’s book The Master Plan of Evangelism as a seminary student in 1989, when it was in only its 45th printing, with more than 925,000 copies sold. It has now sold more than 3.5 million copies and been translated into 105 languages. I’ve read the book many times over the years. It’s hard to find a page that doesn’t contain highlighting, underlining, asterisks, exclamation points, and notes in the margins. I’ve read his follow-up, The Master Plan of Discipleship, based on the book of Acts, many times as well. These books formed my

May 20, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Changing the Scorecards

What statistics really count in the church? Baptisms? Attendance? Or something much more vital? By Jim Putman I have been in many meetings over the years with so-called âbig dogsâ in the American Christian world . . . and I have left these gatherings feeling very dissatisfied. These meetings often sound spiritual and may even come from good hearts, but they often leave me feeling like something big was missed. The purpose of meeting usually is good: How do we win people to Jesus? Most everyone acknowledges our culture is falling apart, that many Americans are leaving the faith and

January 3, 2019

Culture & Public Square Technology

Cloud Church: Space for Diversity, Relationship, and the Kingdom

By Mel McGowan Imagine you’re rearranging your office. You move your desk to one corner, your bookshelf to another. You move the lamps around to get the light just right. You adjust the couch so you can see your guests better. At the end of the day, you look around with satisfaction that all your office furniture, equipment, and supplies are in the right places. Why is this so important to us? Because the furnishings of our offices are tools that facilitate things like ideas, hard work, and skills. It should come as no surprise, then, that your sacred space

October 1, 2018

Mission & Evangelism

Mission-Driven Success

By TR Robertson Rocky Fork Fellowship in tiny Hallsville, Missouri—population 1,500—grew from 40 to more than 400 in its first 10 years while meeting in the local middle school cafeteria. On March 4, 2018—11 years after the church’s founding—Rocky Fork gathered for their first Sunday together in a new building just south of town. A combined 841 worshippers attended two services. The following week, three Easter services brought in a total attendance of 977. Not surprisingly, the founders and leaders of the congregation have grown used to fielding questions about the secret to their success. “We try to pinpoint

May 27, 2018

Church Leadership

From Hero to Hero Maker: A Game Changer for the Church

By David Dummitt In February I attended the Exponential conference in Orlando. It was a great week of connecting with other church leaders and church planters from all over the world. This year’s conference theme was “Hero Maker,” based on Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird’s new book by the same name. I had the opportunity to facilitate workshops alongside of Dave, Warren, and others as we talked about a shift in practices that we as leaders must make in order to carry out the Great Commission: moving from being heroes to being hero makers. This message is a game changer

December 26, 2017

Giving & Fundraising Stewardship & Generosity

Don”t Drop the Ball!

By Michael C. Mack A 2015 research study revealed that small group participants gave an average of $1,886 more per year to their churches than those not in groups. As a small groups guy, that statistic makes me smile. You”re probably not shocked by this finding. It makes sense that the more connected and involved people are in the life of the church, the more buy in they will have to the church”s vision and the more they will tend to give. But I think there”s more to it. LD Campbell, who was senior minister of First Church, Burlington, Kentucky,

November 3, 2017

Mission & Evangelism

Three Shifts to Increase Global EngagementÂ

By David DummittÂ The church is the hope of the world. The global church is connected like no other generation before us. This should impact the way churches engage internationally. We live in an exciting time in church history, and we have the privilege and responsibility to grow the kingdom of God well.Â Global engagement isn”t a new idea to American churches. Mission programs, global outreach projects, generosity campaigns, and more have been a part of churches in the United States for centuries. Many methods, strategies, and best practices have come and gone, but like everything else, we need to

September 12, 2017

Church Leadership

Don’t Let the Sheep Lead the Flock

By Michael C. Mack God often leads us as his leaders, and thus those we lead, on roads we never planned on traveling. Several months ago, I was leading a training event at a church in Central Illinois. As I left my home near Louisville, Kentucky, I set the route in the maps app on my phone and headed out. About two hours in, the app told me to exit the highway at least 30 miles before my next designated turn. I took the exit and then looked at my phone to see where it was taking me. It looked

August 26, 2017

Lead a Church Worth Imitating!

By Gary L. Johnson I remember the moment as if it happened yesterday. It was December 1966 and I was in the fifth grade. My teacher announced to the class that Walt Disney had died. Little did we know that a dream of Disney had died with him. Disney dreamed of building an “experimental prototype community of tomorrow” in the swampland of central Florida. It would be an ideal urban center””with businesses, schools, city parks, factories, shopping centers, athletic venues, beautiful homes, and even churches. Disney believed urban areas could be purposefully built and developed to serve as models for

August 6, 2017

Hitting the Target: Measuring Success Through Outputs

A comprehensive strategy for realigning your church”s ministries, activities, and programs for fall By Tom Harper For many, August marks the beginning of a new school year and, with it, a new church year as well. Most of us now face a plethora of programs, classes, small groups, events, and holidays that stand looming like a line of horses ready to burst out of the starting gate. No matter that the pastor and his staff were supposed to enjoy a summer of rest. Dutifully, you”ll jump back in the saddle, like you always do. But before you put your feet

June 19, 2017

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Large Church . . . Small Town?

By Jim Estep It”s easy to understand why small towns have small churches. We can visit a town of 3,500 and find several congregations with fewer than 100 people in each. In fact, some would say that small towns like small churches. Bristow, Iowa, for example (population 160), boasts of having “The Smallest Church in Iowa.” One can readily explain a large church being in a large city. Finding a church of 1,000 in a city of 200,000 people””that”s reasonable. Most megachurches are in “mega” cities. But, what happens when we encounter a church of 1,200 in a town with

March 23, 2017