Seven Vital Signs of a Healthy Small Group

I just watched an excellent video by small groups champion Mike Mack on the Seven Vital Signs of a Small Group (thanks to Randall Neighbour's blog). It's not a short video but an in depth discussion of some very important elements for small groups which Mike uses to help groups assess their health. These come from his book "Small Group Vital Signs".
 
Seven Vital Signs of a Healthy Small Group
1. Christ-centered Community
2. Overflowing Leadership
3. Shared Leadership
4. Proactive Leadership
5. Authentic Community
6. Ministry to Others
7. Discipling Environment

Here are some key notes or takeaways from this video for each vital sign above...
1. Christ-centered community - consistently focused on the presence, power and purposes of Christ in our midst. We recognize that He is our real leader; His mission is our mission. We don't place primary focus on leader, curriculum, people's problems, or issues like raising children. We seek first Kingdom of God... This vital sign is foundational for others.

2. A healthy group has a healthy overflowing leader - one with a vibrant growing relationship with God including consistent time spent with Him using disciplines such as Bible study, prayer, fasting, solitude, etc. He/she is a shepherd, leading out of the overflow of what God is pouring into their heart. Your main job as a leader is to stay very close to Jesus.

3. A healthy group shares leadership with a core team (2-3 typically, sharing in prayer, roles, using individual gifts and abilities).

4. A healthy group is proactive - it has developed and written God sized goals and plans for the next year or more. We know who are are, what God has called us to be and to do, and we know where we are going.

5. A healthy group lives in healthy authentic community - a group that is not only committed to meeting together regularly and consistently but in doing life together between meetings. We are friends who care about each other and want to grow together. Ask these questions of your group: Are you carrying each other's burdens? Building one another up? Admonishing? Taking off masks? Accepted for who you are?

6. A healthy group ministers to others - a group that is intentionally open and inviting new people, serving others outside the group on a consistent basis, praying for our friends and looking for opportunities to serve.

7. A healthy group is a discipling environment. (In a sense, this is the cumulative effect of all the above) Such a group is intentional about creating an environment where people are maturing in their faith, committed to growing spiritually through discussion and application of scripture. One-on-one accountability or Mentoring may be a part of this; there is spiritual edification. Your group has to commit to this. It should be a part of your goals. Discipleship happens when individuals are spending time with God on a daily basis. As groups we need to wrestle with the Scriptures together - it's where truth meets life.


How is your group doing?

Review - Disciple

Bill Clem's book "Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus" is a little hard to describe. The foreword poses questions like "What is a disciple? What is their identify? Where is their community? What is their mission?" It then says the author does a "masterful job of answering these and other questions about what Jesus intended when he told us to make disciples. Then for the next 90 pages we read about the story of God, the nature of the Trinity (and the community found therein), the basis of redemption, the nature of Christ, missional living, the image of God common to all humans, mystery and wonder, our broken world, and identify distortions. Only then does he unpack the disciple as worshiper, the disciple in community, the disciple on mission. This is both the strength and weakness of the book. If you're looking for a clear and concise definition of a disciple and a detailed plan for making disciples, that's just not the goal of this book. On the other hand, if you're looking for a deeper treatment of what it really means to be a disciple, the biblical basis for who are we as a disciple, and how we live in the image of Christ when we worship, when we live in community, and when we join God in His mission, this is the book for you.

The main section of the book looks at those three key aspects of being a disciple: worship, community and mission. For each there is a chapter describing God's intention for the disciple, and another chapter looking at common distortions of each. The book concludes with a chapter on the plan for living as disciples and the plan for making disciples (multiplication). Even here Clem takes a strongly different approach from most how-to books on discipleship. The plan starts not with common basics of becoming a disciple, but rather with overcoming hurdles such as habitual sin, debilitating mindsets, and priority management. Overall I found it very interesting, though at times hard to follow. Disciple will be a very challenging and possibly difficult read for many, but a breath of fresh air on the subject for others.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from Amazon for this review as part of their Vine Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Made For a Purpose

Do you ever wonder... what am I here for? what should I be doing? what will make me happy? I have, and I at times I still do. I've heard these questions from several friends recently and so it was natural to close out my recent sermon mini-series on stewardship (of opportunities and of finances) with stewardship of talents. But the driving force behind it are these two questions:

What am I here for?
What will make me happy?

The following is not a statement everyone will agreement, but as I see it the Bible teaches that it is impossible to know your true purpose in this life apart from knowing Jesus Christ. It is impossible to find real happiness by pursuing happiness as your main goal. And it is impossible to find the deepest fulfillment in your life apart from serving others. A key reason is that one of our main purposes, something common to all of us, is to have a loving relationship with God. And because He is the one who made us, He gets to decide our specific or unique purpose. We will over time discover it, but not create it. And that purpose involves serving and loving others and modeling Christ's love. That's not in a cookie-cutter way, but in a way that is completely unique to us - at the intersection of our passion, our skills, and someone else's need. In the message we look at passages such as Ephesians 2:8-10, John 15, II Corinthians 8, and Ephesians 4. The bottom line...

We come to discover and life out our unique purpose in life, and find true fulfillment in the process, by serving others according to the unique way God has designed us, our SHAPE. Get to know the One who made you, take steps to understand your SHAPE, and set your heart and hands to serving others as a loving response to what God has done for you. If you have any comments or questions on the sermon, let me know!

Financial Joy

At Calvary we are big on Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program. It's a nice word picture - the ability to have a less stressed view of your finances, by applying solid (and biblical) principles for handling the money He has entrusted to our care. For most people, financial peace is a result of external circumstances - your monetary ducks all being in a row. But how do you find Financial Joy?

You might think that Financial Joy is an upgrade to Financial Peace. You're not just peace with the state of your finances, but you're thrilled about it. If so, the pathway is more money, right?

That's not what the Bible has to say about the pathway to Financial Joy. Almost the opposite. In the Bible, Financial Joy comes from excelling in the grace of giving, and is completely independent of the state of your checkbook. Check out this passage from Colossians as Paul describes some amazing brothers and sisters..

"And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving." (II Cor 8:1-7, NIV)

Did you catch that? Severe trial -> overflowing joy. Extreme poverty -> rich generosity. It gets better. These very poor and very persecuted Christians were literally begging Paul for the privilege of being allowed to donate money towards some people in Jerusalem going through a terrible famine. It couldn't be any different from those who think joy comes from having more stuff.

Financial Joy comes when you Excel in the Grace of Giving. 

To learn a lot more on this, please listen to my sermon delivered on Jan 8th, 2012 at Calvary Baptist Church. 

How Do Churches Successfully Encourage Growing Disciples?

Greg Hawkins (Executive Pastor of Willow Creek) shares some things via the small group show which they have found in researching how a church can be effective at growing fully devoted followers of Christ.

Five Factors Seen in Churches Doing a Great Job Growing Disciples 

1. They get people moving (on a discipleship journey)
   - Clear first steps, strong intentionality and vision
2. They embed the Bible in everything
3. They create 'owners' in the congregation (volunteerism on steroids)
   - They give away ownership in ministry, with accountability is high on the backside
4. They pastor the local community - ministry is not just within walls of church
   - That includes partnering with other churches, with local government, and
     highly encourage their people to be deployed outside the church in ministry
5. Senior leader and senior leadership team consumed with making disciples

These factors and others are described in more detail in "Move" - a new book from the Reveal study. You can watch this trailer about the book.

Review - Not a Fan

Are you a fan or a follower?

That's the key question being Kyle Idleman asks in his new book "Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus." Pastor Craig Groeschel comments "Jesus never asked us to sit on the sidelines and cheer for his cause. Not a Fan will challenge you to grow from a fair weather fan to a full-time follower of Christ." In a way that is casual in tone but challenging in content, Idleman calls for us to consider what it really means to be such a follower. He opens up with the following observation in the first chapter on "Define the Relationship".

"The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren't actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them."

The chapter titles give a good idea of what he discusses:
Part one: fan or follower? an honest diagnosis
1. DTR
2. a decision or a commitment?
3. knowledge about him or intimacy with him?
4. one of many ways or your one and only?
5. following Jesus or following the rules?
6. self-improved or spirit-empowered?
7. the relationship details
Part two: an invitation to follow (the unedited version)
8. anyone - an open invitation
9. come after me - a passionate pursuit
10. deny - a total surrender
11. take up your cross daily - an everyday death
Part three: following Jesus. wherever. whenever. whatever.
12. wherever. what about there?
13. whenever. what about now?
14. whatever. what about that?

The book is aimed primarily at the individual, but has some important words for the church as well. In a section on "Snuggie Theology" Kyle reminds us "What you win them with is what you win them too." If we look for conversions based on a watered down gospel, it should be no surprise when we find a church that is not making disciples. One of the things I liked best about this book are the stories at the end of each chapter.

There have been a number of books recently stressing the Lordship of Christ, the need to be a true follower / disciple of Christ and not just a person who says he believes but has doesn't back up his talk with deeds. These include Crazy Love, Radical, and The Christian Atheist. Of these, I think I like "Not a Fan" the best (though all are good, Crazy Love and Radical are a bit dogmatic).

Not a Fan is available from Amazon and other book retailers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Amazon.com as part of their Amazon Vine™ review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Real-Life Discipleship

No, I'm not talking about the book "Real-Life Discipleship" (which I enjoyed and reviewed recently) - I'm talking about how the pressures of every day living can be a powerful environment for growing as a disciple.

A friend emailed me asking for prayer as things have gotten very hectic and stressful at work, right at the exact time there is another huge pressure hanging over his head outside of work. We've had other talks and been mentoring each other and wanting to be more faithful in Bible reading in prayer. Given that context, here's what I shared with him...

"The onslaught of stress from multiple sources can be a very conducive environment for growth. It may highlight what is important, what is not, or what should be; it displays or builds character in how we respond under stress; it makes it challenging to see and act on the needs of others when our own needs are so pressing and time is so short. Discipleship (following Christ more closely and loving Him and others) can happen in this real-life environment even more than while doing traditional 'spiritual' exercises. Two things will determine for you whether this hectic season of stress will be such a time of growth in Christ, or simply a growth in stress and anxiety - time in the word to gain God's perspective and let Him speak to you; and time in prayer asking to gain wisdom and strength before facing the day, and reflecting on the choices we made that day to gain perspective."

When I'm faced with more stress than it seems I can handle, I find myself moving in one of two directions. I either escape or embrace. I escape when I turn to video games or sports or a less productive (procrastinating) activities which provides very temporary relief from thinking about reality. That is so tempting, but never turns out well. On other occasions, I embrace what I'm facing as an opportunity to grow, and I embrace what God is doing in my life. I let go of distractions (instead of running to them), and ask God "what are you trying to teach me here?" I wish I could tell you I take the second choice all the time, but I don't. When I do though, it dramatically changes my perception of the situation, my ability to handle the stress, and it builds my character more in the likeness of Christ.

How do you handle an onslaught of stress and work? Do you find yourself turning away from God (and towards things of little value), or do you give thanks for an opportunity to grow in the likeness of His Son? Discipleship doesn't just happen in the church - it happens as we live out real-life.

Review - The Chase

There's a classic title from NavPress (1978) called The Pursuit of Holiness. There was subsequently an edition aimed at the next generation called "The Chase: Pursuing Holiness in Your Everyday Life" by Jerry Bridges. The Chase is compact, easy to read, yet both deep and practical. It's about being a disciple that follows hard after Christ. Each chapter is brief, and these cover topics like 'Holiness isn't an Option', 'Obedience, not Victory', 'Help in the Daily Battle', 'Holiness in an Unholy World', and 'The Joy of Holiness.'

While The Chase is aimed at teens, it's highly suitable for older adults as well. The material is well written and engaging. I'll have to go back sometime and read The Pursuit of Holiness. It felt at times like the quest for brevity worked against the fact that this is not something easy to describe (much less do). The relationship between the work of the Holy Spirit and our wills, His strength and ours, is complex. I like the description on the back cover: "You won't read this and 'voila'-you're holy. But you'll read it and be challenged to start the process. Holiness is about following Christ - chasing after Him - and letting Him transform every segment of your life." Amen to that.

You can read a sample chapter, or buy The Chase at the NavPress site, at Amazon, or other retailers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Review - One Thousand Gifts

"One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Life Fully Right Where You Are" is a new book by Ann Voskamp, published by Zondervan in January 2011. Ann is a gifted and inspiring writer who hungers to live and share a live filled with grace - even amidst the pain, drama, and duties of life. One Thousand Gifts is a guide to living a life of joy. Ann discovered the tremendous benefit of living a life strongly characterized by thanksgiving. One Thousands gifts tells in part the story of putting together her list of 1000 blessings after confronting some very painful episodes of life. It's a challenging and inspirational book that may haunt, grip, or bless you. I feel somewhat bad that in the end I didn't enjoy the book that much.

Ann's style and perspective on life is unique. The book is as much poetry as it is story, mystical as much as educational. Ann portrays several difficult events and turns in her life with powerful authenticity. Her answer for all this... eucharisteo. No, I'm not trying to get academic on you; Ann describes this word early on and uses it constantly throughout the rest of the book. It's from Luke 22:19 "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them..." (NIV). Thanksgiving = eucharisteo in the original greek, related to charis (grace) and chara (joy). Ann learned how to forsake her discontent and ungrateful life for a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in all things, an all times. The remainder of the book chronicles and explains this simple yet profound concept.

One Thousand Gifts has captivated many readers, becoming a NYT bestseller and top ten at Amazon. If you are feeling a lack of joy and recognize a lack of thankfulness in your own life, if you lean towards poetry and the mystical, chances are very good you will be touched by this book. On the other hand, if poetry leaves you scratching your head, or if you prefer reading something more expository, you may (like me) find it a struggle to make it through the book, skimming through the latter chapters after a few powerful opening chapters. With no disrespect for the skill of the author, I found the book rather hard to follow. (My bad; this engineering brain can be a curse.) For example, here is how Chapter Four begins...

"April sun pools into a dishwasher sink, liquid daylight on hands. The water is hot. I wash dishes. On my arms, just below the hiked sleeves, suds leave delicate water marks. Suds glisten. And over the soaking pots, the soap bubbles stack. This fragile tension arched in spheres of slick elastic sheets. Light impinges on slippery film." This moment leads to gift #362 which she records. A few pages later she relates this as 'my answer to time. Time is a relentless river. It rages on, a respecter of no one."

One Thousand Gifts is available from Amazon and other book retailers. There is an excerpt available online that you might want to check out. Zondervan has also made available a free 19-pg reader's guide.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Review - Radical Together

I received an advanced reading copy of a new book to be released next month (April 19th) -- "Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God" by David Platt, published by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Radical Together is in some ways a sequel to Platt's best-selling book, "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream." Radical was an extremely challenging book, asking Christians to turn their backs on lukewarm consumeristic faith and embrace a more radical form of discipleship as Jesus expected from His followers (see my earlier review). Radical Together looks at this challenge to live as Jesus calls us to from a different perspective -- it's about an understanding of the church that embraces true disciples, how churches can help Christ followers live a more radical life. That doesn't mean it's just for pastors; Platt's audience is any Christian who desires to make a Kingdom impact. Whereas Radical looks at radical followers of Christ, Radical Together looks at radical communities of faith.

The Introduction lists the six main ideas around which the book is organized:

1. One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church.
2. The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work.
3. The Word does the work.
4. Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people.
5. We are living—and longing—for the end of the world.
6. We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.

Overall I enjoyed reading Radical Together (actually, more than the original Radical). It strongly challenges the church and asks a number of thought provoking questions ("What if the Bible is intended not only to dictate our theology but also to determine our methodology?") Chapter 4, The Genius of Wrong, was particularly interesting. It takes the premise that building the right church depends on using all the wrong people. Rather than use an attractional 'invite your friends' approach to evangelism, Brook Hills trains their people to share the gospel. "The reality is that the church will never make disciples according to God's full design until every person in the church sees this command as central for each of us, because his full design is that we all make disciples." No believer is to be on the sidelines of the Kingdom.

A discussion guide will be found in the end of the book (though not present in my pre-release copy). That's a great addition, as I can think of no better way to take in 'Radical Together' than by discussing it within a small group. A quote from the conclusion sums up the purpose of the book nicely: "How can we in the church best unleash the people of God in the Spirit of God with the Word of God for the glory of God in the world?"

You can find an excerpt and introduction at the WaterBrook Multnomah website, or you can download chapter one as a PDF. Radical Together will be released on April 19, 2011, on sale at Amazon, Christian Book Distributers and other retailers.

 
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their Blogging For Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Core Values for Spiritual Formation

Taking a peek inside "Fully Devoted" by Ortberg, Pederson and Poling, I found their excellent list of...

Ten Core Values for Spiritual Formation

Spiritual transformation...

... is essential, not optional, for Christ-followers.
... is a process, not an event.
... is God’s work, but requires my participation.
... involves those practices, experiences, and relationships that help me live intimately with Christ and walk as if He were in my place.
... is not a compartmentalized pursuit. God is not interested in my spiritual life; he’s interested in my life - all of it.
... can happen in every moment. It is not restricted to certain times or practices.
... is not individualistic, but takes place in community and finds expression in serving others.
... is not impeded by a person’s background, temperament, life situation, or season of life. It is available right now to all who desire it.
... and the means of pursuing it, will vary from one individual to another. Fully devoted followers are handcrafted, not mass produced.
... is ultimately gauged by an increased capacity to love God and people. Superficial or external checklists cannot measure it.

As I like to put it, discipleship that is biblical and effective must be transformational, relational, intentional, and missional.

(Fully Devoted, part of the Pursuing Spiritual Transformation series, is available at Amazon, including an inexpensive Kindle edition.)

Cut the Chit Chat

Yesterday I got to talk about developing spiritual friendships - relationships where you not only talk about the everyday things you enjoy together, but regularly and intentionally share and ask what God is doing in your lives. In his blog a few weeks ago Mac Lake had a great post on the value of this, along with some excellent questions for getting the ball rolling. (Thanks for the reminder on this post from the Stirred Up Leadership blog)

Mac writes...

Spiritual leadership isn’t just about accomplishing God given results, it’s also about caring for the souls of those we lead along the way. As leaders we are accustomed to meeting with our direct reports and talking to them about action plans, priorities and results, but we often neglect talking to them about the condition of their soul. While we don’t have to be their spiritual accountability partner or best friend it’s wise to stay in touch with the condition of the soul of those we lead. Aubrey Malphurs, one of my professors at Dallas Seminary, used to have a plaque on his desk that read, “Let’s cut through the chit chat, what’s God doing in your life?” Okay that may be a little to direct if you’re not that close to someone but you get the idea. For some leaders inquiring into the condition of their followers soul can be awkward or uncomfortable. So having a few good questions can help make this more natural and more effective. Here are a few…

• What’s the freshest thing God has been doing in your life lately?
• How full is your emotional, physical and spiritual tanks?   Empty, quarter filled, half, three quarters or full.
• What theme does God seem to be emphasizing in this season of your life?
• What are you looking for God to do in your life in the next couple of months?
• What’s God been saying to you through His Word recently?
• What passion is God stirring in your soul recently?
• What season best describes your spiritual life right now: Winter, spring summer or fall?  Why?
• What’s exciting you the most in your spiritual journey these days?

How can you ask such a question this week?

Spiritual Friendships

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)

I recently described to a friend a desire for an organic process for encouraging our development as fully-devoted followers of Christ that is relational, authentic, seeks transformation, and occurs during the everyday life of people rather than in some church program. He smiled and said, "You know, there is a simple term for this. It's called friendship." Hmmm... he's got a point. But I know that many of us have friendships in which there is no discussion of spiritual matters, much less intentional effort on growing as disciples. What's missing? In a nutshell - what we need more of are Christ-Centered friendships in which the Holy Spirit is acknowledged and active. In other words, a spiritual friendship.

Douglas Rumford in the book 'Soul Shaping' defines Spiritual Friendship as “a Christ-centered, intentional relationship between at least two people, where these individuals focus on the nurture of each others spiritual life. This sort of friendship does not require one to be an expert, but simply to be spiritual peers who regularly come together and commit themselves to growing in Christ.”

In Acts 18 we see the story of Priscilla and Aquila, how Paul connected with these fellow tentmakers, built a friendship, shared the gospel and discipled these Jewish Christians to the point where they could effectively share the gospel and disciple others. In fact, they did just this with a scholar named Apollos, who himself had a great impact for the Kingdom. Rewind the story, and we see that Paul himself found an amazing spiritual friend in Barnabas, who stood up for him and worked alongside Paul for a year in Antioch (Acts 9 and 11). Thus we see spiritual friendship providing tremendous benefit for these individuals and for the church - among seekers, new believers, growing Christians, and for leadership development.

Developing spiritual friendships isn't rocket science, but since it involves people it can be messy. It is first of all a friendship, in which the two (or more) decide together to nurture one another towards Christ-likeness, becoming more intentional about what they talk about and do together. Here are some factors that enhance the effectiveness of developing fruitful spiritual friendships:

• Openness (transparency and honesty)
• Trust
• Regular time spent together
• Desire to grow
• Intentionality
• Listening
• Prayer

The benefits of becoming more intentional in your relationships in encouraging one another to grow in Christ are real, and are available to all believers. What is your next step in developing a spiritual friendship?


Spiritual Friendships was a message I shared at Calvary Baptist Church on Feb. 6, 2011.
Download the Audio MP3 of the sermon.
View or download a PDF of the notes.

Review - Radical

"Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream" by David Platt is a powerful and exceedingly challenging book that provokes Christians to examine what it really means to abandon all for the sake of the Gospel, and invites us to choose radical obedience to Christ and His mission. The book is not aimed (just) at pastors, but at all Christians. Platt himself is the Pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, a thriving church of 4000 whose members are making an impact on their community and across the globe.

The book is not easy to read. While the style is clear and the message not hard to understand, throughout the book Platt goes over the top slamming his perception of those in American churches today: "I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe." From the very start he examines the type of radical commitment and obedience Christ expected from His disciples. The lifestyle of American Christians and the vitality and depth of obedience of Christians in other countries are put in stark contrast. The next two chapters talk more about the gospel, and the need to rely on God's power.

In Chapter Four Platt presses strongly that every single Christian needs to be involved in overseas missions, and that almost all of us use the excuse that we 'are not called' to turn our backs on this need. The style here is typical of the rest of the book. He makes some very strong points, shares some appropriate biblical principles, but then makes the case so aggressively and unbalanced, it's hard to stomach and usually more guilt inducing than inspiring. I don't think he intends this - Platt is genuinely passionate about the Gospel and those in need. So much so that Chapter Seven again hammers away at the idea that 'going is urgent, not optional.' I find it amazing that yet another author makes a huge deal of the word 'Go' in the Great Commission: 'Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey...' when in fact the verb and command is to 'make disciples', with the other phrases as helpers. "Go" is not the command, it's literally "While going" or "As you go".

Chapter Five, 'The Multiplying Community', is a powerful discussion highlighting the tremendous need for making disciples and how all of us join together to fulfill God's purpose. "Jesus reminds me that disciples are not mass-produced. Disciples of Jesus - genuine, committed, self-sacrificing followers of Christ - are not made overnight." In too many churches there is no intentional process for developing disciples. People are effectively trained to be receivers of knowledge and blessing, instead of being reproducers. The goal is too often to disinfect the people in the congregation rather than truly disciple them.

Chapter Six addresses an extremely important and practical question, especially for American Christians who live in great wealth compared to the rest of the world. "How much is enough?" Just how do we reconcile the commands of Christ with the lifestyle choices we face in such a country? He challenges the readers to consider what it might look like to abandon all for the sake of Christ, and to better meet the needs of those who have far less. A key idea here is to consider a lifestyle 'cap' - to decide how much is enough, and to give away any income beyond this amount.

Chapter Eight was another tough chapter. The author continually stresses to go to the need, to seek out the dangerous and dive in. He praises a faithful follower of Christ for taking their family overseas to Bangladesh "where they could better glorify God". Excuse me?? Our ability to glorify God depends on where we choose to go? That's unbiblical and unfounded. Stephen would not have glorified God more had he left for more exotic lands. Faithful Sunday School teachers who invest their lives in children and share and model Christ's love in such a way that they bring many to Christ and make disciples who make disciples are in no way bringing less glory to God than if they moved overseas. Another story shared in this chapter was even more disturbing. He talked about the travesty and tremendous waste of the SS United States, which he said was designed to be the best troop carrier the world had ever seen, yet sadly was never used for its purpose. It instead ended up being used somehow as a luxury liner to ferry around rich VIP's. He then made an analogy to the church and losing its purpose. Amazing story - until I looked up the ship. From what I read, it was initially designed to be just that - a luxury liner! In order to subsidize the cost and as a backup plan, the navy paid a fair bit for it to be possible that the ship be able to be converted into a troop carrier in times of war, should the need arise. (Thankfully it did not.) That's quite a different story, and demonstrates the lack of balance that is possible when one strives too hard to make a point. (Which is awkward, because the author's key points are so true, that God is sovereign and that following Jesus Christ is worth far more than whatever we risk.)

Chapter Nine, "The Radical Experiment," was completely unexpected. At this point in the book I was ready for the big challenge to sell all that I had and catch the next plane to the most dangerous country imaginable. Instead what Platt recommended was equal part radical and rationale, including some seemingly easy steps that could profoundly impact our lives. Rather than recommend spiritual bungee jumping, the author dares us to undertake a one year experiment with five components: i) pray for the entire world; ii) read through the entire Word, iii) sacrifice your money for a specific purpose; iv) spend your time in another context, v) commit your life to a multiplying community. Rather than a call to abandon organized religion and institutions that contributed to the problem, Platt makes a passionate case for the importance of being committed and actively involved in a local church. That was quite welcome news. In hindsight, this chapter makes perfect sense. The typical reader is probably someone who is disillusioned with the church, may not be involved in community, doesn't read the Bible as much as they think they should, nor have any involvement in global missions. Several of the things we are challenged to do here have the potential for radical life change. My wife and I spent a year abroad which was completely life-changing. Reading through the entire Bible was the most powerful growth experience in my faith, and praying for the nations does much to keep your eyes and mind Kingdom focused. I will definitely be taking up this challenge in several areas, and prayerfully considering the others.

So... is Radical worth reading? The book reminded me of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan in many ways. Both hammer home a message of radical obedience to Christ and are challenging in the extreme. If you've read Crazy Love, chances are good you will have a similar reaction to Radical. As you can tell above I had extremely mixed reactions to Radical. It will take much longer to process than to read this book, as I'll need to reconsider the message prayerfully. One beef I have is that God gives all of us different gifts, different passions, and has placed us strategically in a unique setting - there is no "one true pathway" that all must follow to be a 'real' disciple. There really is much of value in the book - my hope is that those who choose to read it will not feel bombarded or guilted out by the author's style, and that they will persevere to the end and accept the challenge of the radical experiment. I especially hope that readers will strive to become reproducing disciple-makers who model obedience to the Gospel in community within their local church. I would caution those who are newer to the faith, or those prone to guilt, to pass on Radical.The best way to read Radical is probably to discuss it within a small group.

Radical was actually a New York Times bestseller, and is available at Amazon and many other retailers. (It's actually quite inexpensive, currently just over $5. A shorter 50-pg companion book, The Radical Question, is also available.) You can also read the first chapter online or check out a few videos on the book. A great resource for praying for the world is Operation World with daily featured countries and prayer requests. See also the book's companion websites - http://www.radicalthebook.com and http://www.radicalexperiment.org.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their Blogging For Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Review - Chazown

Cha-what?!

Chazown is the Hebrew word for vision or dream found in Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (KJV) It's also the basis for a recent book by Craig Groeschel called "Chazown: Define Your Vision. Pursue Your Passion. Live Your Life on Purpose," published by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

I enjoy books that inspire the reader to dream bigger, to consider the fulfillment and fruit of their calling, and about the importance of a clear vision. Invariably when I finish such books I'm left with no further clarity for my own dream, vision, or purpose. The Chazown Experience was distinctly different!

Chazown is definitely not just a ray-rah call to dreaming bigger. It does call us to that, and covers the critical need for vision quite well. But the goal of the book is to help the reader discover what their purpose (or Chazown) might be. The book has five sections:

Part 1: Seeing Clear to the End (the desperate need for vision)
Part 2: Circling the Truth (the circles that help us find Chazown: core values, spiritual gifts, and past experiences)
Part 3: A Dream in Deed (discerning your Chazown and moving from vision to action)
Part 4: The Five Spokes of Chazown (relationship with God and with people, finances, health, work)
Part 5: From Here to Eternity (Chazown in community)
In addition there are several helpful appendices including how to create a personal time line, discerning core values, assessing spiritual gifts.

Basically, because God is a master designer who cares about you deeply, you are wired such that your purpose/Chazown is at the intersection of your values and passions, your spiritual gifts, and the life experiences that have led you to where you are today. The book has many chapters, but each is very short and filled with graphics and call-out boxes for key points. From that format you might think it's meant for easy dipping for a casual reading experience. That's not going to work very well for you! This is one of those books where you will get out what you put into it. There are a number of very thought-provoking and introspective exercises. Without doing these the chance is remote that you'll get the most out of this book.

For those who are serious about discerning their calling / purpose / Chazown, Groeschel has provided an absolutely amazing free resource to complement the book. It's called "The Chazown Experience" and it provides video teaching from Craig and extremely helpful online tools for doing the most important exercises. These include an interactive personal timeline, tools for discerning core values and spiritual gifts, and tools to convert vision to action in the five spoke areas. Anyone interested in Chazown should check out Chazown.com. The book covers a lot more, but you'll do better with the exercises by using the website.

Waterbrook Multnomah has provided several resources for those interested.
You can download the first chapter of Chazown and read it for yourself.
There's also a short video by Craig Groeschel on this thing called Chazown...



Chazown is available at Amazon and other book retailers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their Blogging For Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Ministry Design

I've had some interesting conversations with ministry leaders and small group leaders at Calvary about how we do ministry and what we expect of our people. Do we strongly challenge people to become fully devoted followers of Christ? Do we have events with no agenda (or challenge) other than to hope people make a new friend? Do we have high expectations of our volunteer leaders and help them to be more effective in our mission? Do we accept people no matter where they are? The answer to all these is 'Yes!' How we can say yes when these seem to contradict each other is a practical challenge. To explain this I want to unpack a little bit about ministry philosophy and ministry design.

Ministry Philosophy - How we do and think about things

"You are loved. You are are accepted." - God loves everyone, withholding love from no one. And so must we.
"Encouraging the development of fully-devoted followers of Christ." - God accepts us where we are, but loves us enough not to leave us there. The Spirit lovingly and patiently ever calls us to deeper devotion and commitment to God. And so must we.
"Loving relationships" - community is not just a biblical value or a key purpose; Christ-centered relationships are essential to growth and ministry.
"Progressive sanctification." While conversion and justification happen at a point in time, sanctification is a process that takes a lifetime. Jesus' call to his disciples was also progressive. "Come and see", "Come and Follow Me", "Come and Be with Me", "Remain in Me."
"Next step" - we don't expect seekers to behave like believers, nor do we expect new believers to have everything figured out one month after coming to Christ. Our goal is simple - help each person discern and take the next step in (or towards) Christ which the Holy Spirit is leading them to take.
"Authentic Leadership" - we want our leaders to model, not just teach.

Ministry Design - Cultivating Environments for Growth

Because personal growth is an organic and relational process, we can't force things to happen. What we can do is to provide excellent environments which allow for such growth to occur naturally. Crafting such environments is not easy, but intentional thought about the design of ministry activities is important. The key to this is:

Know your Target - Know your Purpose - Know your Desired Outcome

Here is how we look at 'targets' at Calvary: concentric circles of commitment. Community - those outside the church Crowd - those who attend Calvary Congregation - have committed to membership Committed - have committed to growth Core - have committed to serve and share It's important that ministry activities are friendly and appropriate for your primary target.

The goal is for people to take further steps of commitment as they grow in Christ. Is it bad to be part of the crowd? No!! We're delighted to have people coming even occasional as they are exploring the claims of Christ. Is it ok to stay hidden in the crowd for 20 years? Not so much. We want the community to 'come and see' without other expectations. We want occasional attenders in the crowd to come to call Calvary their church family and commit to deeper fellowship. Our hope is that those who are close to Christ will join in His mission and start to build up the body and make disciples themselves. Here's the thing - an activity or environment that is well-designed for one target (or one transition) is likely ill-suited to people at other stages in their walk with Christ.

Let's look at some practical examples:

• Community BBQ

The Community BBQ is what we call a bridge event. Its sole purpose to be a bridge to the community. It shows that Calvary cares about them, cares about being a good neighbor, and likes to have fun. If a person attends a bridge event and leaves thinking "Maybe not all churches are bad." and decides to come check it out sometime, that's a step forward, and a win.

• Small Groups - Fellowship or Discipleship?
  

We have many small groups at Calvary. These are places where people can 'do life together', and encourage each other to grow closer to Christ. Some place a very high value on fellowship, doing things together, and trying to reach out to people on the fringe of the crowd. Others are fairly intense in the devotion to Bible Study. Is it ok for a small group to just be social - get together for lunch and shoot the breeze? No. But the "no" is not because it breaks a small group rule, it's because that doesn't help anyone take a next step in Christ. If the group spends most of the time chatting, but asks questions applying the sermon to their lives for 15 minutes, that might well be an appropriate next step for a group of guys in the "crowd", who have few friends who are strong followers of Christ, and who have never wanted to be in a small group before. A patient small group leader here will focus on "Come and See" and will have to be intentional to keep Christ as central in their time together (both inside and outside the group).

• Men or Women's Ministries
  

The goal of a men's ministry or women's ministry is the same mission as the church - to encourage the development of fully-devoted followers of Christ.  But people are all over the map in terms of their current commitment to Christ and the life of the church. No one event or activity will adequate reach all people. No one event or activity will be 'the next step' for all the women, or all the men. How then do we apply principles of ministry design to pursue our mission and serve our people? By cultivating several environments, each designed to help a target audience to take a next step in Christ. For example:

- Bridge events (fishing trip, ornament exchange) to reach out relationally to friends in the community
- Fellowship-centric activities (casual breakfast, luncheon with a brief message) to allow people already part of the crowd to connect with each other, and develop an interest in joining a group or serving on a team
- Men's small groups or Women's small groups - where people are intentionally encouraged to great understanding of God's word commitment to spiritual growth
- Men's Fraternity or Beth Moore Bible study - more intense groups, though still relationally based, that challenge the committed to greater devotion and their next step
- Service Projects - both as a means to pull-in "hands-on" people to connect relationally with others, as well as to encourage those who love to study the Bible to get outside the church and let their deeds match their words.

That's a lot of activity. Trying to do all of these things is a recipe for burnout! Besides, chances are good that someone excited about in-depth Bible study might be frustrated by a meeting where spiritual growth is lightly referred to for five minutes. Team-based ministry is the answer here. Have a variety of people on your team, with a variety of interests, and work in those areas where you have both passion and skill. It is completely OK to start small, in an area you're excited about. Do the very best you can with that activity, but make sure that you are crystal clear in who you are trying to reach, designing your activity to best meet the needs of that audience, with a clear 'next step' that defines a win for those participating. If there's no one passionate about the activity or event, don't do it! But with everything you do choose to do... Cultivate an environment for growth for the people you seek to serve.


So, ministry leaders... does this make sense? What comments or questions do you have? Is there anything you want to push-back against?

Wii Fitness and Spiritual Formation

To counteract a men's breakfast and a special dinner today I thought I better get in some exercise, and chose to do the Wii EA Active workout. Overall I like the exercises, feel they provide a benefit, and like the illusion of interactivity with a 'personal trainer.' Today for some reason it didn't go as well as hoped. On some exercises where I was giving my all, it just wasn't good enough the for program and the virtual trainer was nagging me to try harder. On other ones where I was gasping for air and barely moving, they chimed 'That's it! Now you've got it!'  (huh??)  Half-way through the routine I started completely ignoring the instructor, and just did whatever I wanted. Why? Because something the way I was holding the remote was not registering, and even though I was doing them right, the screen kept saying "No, watch closely and do it like me!" By the end I was ready to throttle the instructor, sell the disk, and never work out again. I'm thinking a Kinect system where it's actually paying attention to me instead of the other way around? Why did I even finish the workout? Because I get together weekly with another guy and I know we will ask me next week if I did what I promised I would do.

I wonder sometimes if our approach to spiritual formation in the church leaves people feeling the same way. Sermons that boil down to "You suck. Do better." Formulaic approaches to a quiet time, specifying the 'right' way to do it. Nagging way more about what we're not doing right than applauding that we're even trying, and encouraging what we are doing well. (I'm not saying our church is much like that, but it's easy for any church, any minister, to get too focused on the wrong thing.)

So after getting frustrated with this workout, I came up with...

10 Things that Wii Fitness can Remind us about Spiritual Formation:

1. If we lose sight of what we're trying to achieve, we'll never put in the effort it takes to get there.
2. Having a supposed 'instructor' that doesn't care about us or screams "Do it just like me!' pushes us further away from growth
3. Focus on taking your next step, however small. Don't look at someone way ahead of you and sigh.
4. Conversely there is great benefit to a personal trainer who can work with you to achieve your goals
5. Exercise and spiritual formation are often best done with a friend or a group
6. Finding the right exercises - ones that you actually enjoy doing and which build you up - is golden.
7. Going through the motions just to please your instructor is virtually useless.
8. Exercise/disciplines are half of the equation. It really has to go together with learning to feed yourself in a healthy way.
9. An accountability partner who asks questions but doesn't nag helps you get it done.
10. The goal is life transformation. Don't settle for anything less.

Review - As Iron Sharpens Iron

If you're not a big reader, you may be tired of all these darn book reviews this month :)  I wasn't keeping up with reading (and reviews) earlier this fall, but have been catching up on my reading pile over the past few weeks. A growing interest of mine is mentoring, and I finally got to read a classic on the subject this week - "As Iron Sharpens Iron: Building Character In a Mentoring Relationship" by Howard and William Hendricks. It's a book I skimmed many years ago that didn't make much of an impression at the time, so I really wasn't expecting much more than an outdated men's ministry tool. I was wrong.

As Iron Sharpens Iron is an extremely practical and insightful book covering all aspects of mentoring relationships. Part One takes a close look at these from the perspective of a man (really, of anyone) seeking a mentoring relationship. Part Two flips things around to look from the mentor's perspective - why mentor, what to look for in a protoge, how to help the your mentoring partner set a learning agenda, and more. There is also a helpful appendix on how to establish a mentoring program in your church.

The principles within apply well both in formal mentoring contexts as well as informal. Both have advantages, but the authors make a strong case for informal mentoring relationships and taking things slow (especially for men). Here are some of the highlights I found within the book:

• Established the benefits of mentoring relationships for all, including peer mentoring
• Very practical and realistic advice on initiating mentoring relationships (one of the most common stumbling blocks) - including a nice list of 20 ideas for starting such a relationship
• Clear focus that mentoring is about relationships, with intentionality for growth
• The ten marks of a mentor - as well as the profile of a protege
• A very useful guide in the appendix for personal or group use, to walk a person or pair through the book and apply it
• Overall, an approach that seems like it would work well with modern (and postmodern) audiences of all ages

One of my favorite tips in the book was that when talking to someone about initiating a mentoring relationship, don't use the word mentor or mentoring!?! It tends to scare many people off unnecessarily. In talking to several men, both younger and older, I've found this to be quite true.  Likewise, if you're looking to start a mentoring program, they suggested that you don't actually make it a "program", and that you don't have to refer to it as "mentoring" :)

I've read over a dozen books and scores of articles on mentoring in the past few months. I now wish I started with this book - it pulls together many best practices and great ideas that I've seen scattered across many other sources. The intended audience for the book is definitely men, and leaders of men's ministry. Yet the principles and practices taught are definitely applicable to any audience. You can find "As Iron Sharpens Iron" at Amazon and other book retailers.

Review - Intentional Church

I dislike buying a book that has no reviews on Amazon, especially when it lacks the 'Search Inside' feature. Invariable when I get one of these, I end up wishing I didn't. Recently I took a chance on a book called "The Intentional Church: Moving From Church Success to Community Transformation" by Randy Pope. It was the first in a long time where I'm glad I did (even though the main content wasn't really what I thought it would be!)

The Intentional Church is a practical and well-written guide for church leaders desired to be more effective in developing mature disciples of Christ and impacting their community. The focus is on intentionality - thinking carefully about the elements of effective discipleship and ministry, and creating a reproducible process to help your people grow as followers of Christ. The Intentional Church was originally published as The Prevailing Church. It's been revised and updated, now including a number of examples and insights learned from Randy's experience as senior pastor of Perimeter Church in Duluth, GA. He does a great job of sharing real-world experiences and practical tips without ever making it sound like we should become copies of Perimeter. His goal is to provide a framework for thinking about church leadership without providing a specific model to emulate. Since reviews on this fine book are scarce, I'm going into a little extra detail here than normal...

Table of Contents Introduction: What Will it Take to Be Truly Successful?
1. What Jesus Wants from His Church
2. What Makes a Church Grow? Six Widely Recognized Causes... and a Neglected Seventh Factor
3. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. i) A God-Honoring Purpose
3. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. ii) A Faith-Oriented Commitment
5. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. iii) A God-Given Vision
6. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. iv) Well-Prioritized Values
7. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. v) Well-Defined Mission
8. Inside the Mission: Accomplishing Vision
9. Inside the Mission: Making the Mature and Equipped Followers: The TEAMS-based Church
10. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. vi) Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Roles of Deacons and Elders
11. Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Role of the Pastor
12. Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Role of the Laity
13. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. vii) Strategically Designed Infrastructure
14. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. viii) Culturally Relevant Strategy
15. Inside Culturally Relevant Strategies- Four Questions that must not be Overlooked
16. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. ix) Well-Developed Goals and Plans
17. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. x) Ongoing Measurement
18. Making the Tough Choices
19. Evangelism: Reaching the Lost in This Generation
20. Life-on-Life Discipleship: God's Model for Life Transformation
Conclusion: For His Gospel, for His Glory

There were a number of great insights throughout the book - I found myself highlighting quite a bit. The presentation is very logical, without being rigid, and not neglecting the pivotal role the Holy Spirit and power of God play in building His church. I saw four themes that came across very strongly in the book: a well thought out framework for strategic planning; a life-on-life approach to disciple-making centered on Truth, Equipping, Accountability, Mission and Supplication (prayer); leadership development; and the importance of the church being both gathered and scattered, reaching in and reaching out. Pope does a great job in providing the 'why' behind the tips he shares for effective ministry. For example, while discussing infrastructure he goes beyond the suggestion of providing large-size, medium-size and small-group structures to talk about the function behind each of these: to allow for celebration, community, education, and pursuit of the great commission. The only thing I felt was missing (given the title of the book) was more discussion on how to become more of an Externally Focused church transforming the community.

There are other excellent books providing frameworks for thinking about church, from a wide variety of perspectives, including The Purpose-Driven Church, Church Unique, and AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. The Intentional Church is an excellent resource that should appeal to many church leaders - especially those with a desire for more intentional strategic planning, a more relational and focused discipleship process, and/or a desire to be both the church gathered and the church scattered.

Review - Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual

I recently reviewed "Real-Life Discipleship" and here take a look at the companion "Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual" by Putnam, Willis, Guindon and Krause through NavPress. The subtitle, 'Equipping Disciples Who Make Disciples' sums up the purpose of the book. Their approach is to reform the small group ministry within a church. It seeks to help small group leaders develop as a discipler with their head, heart and hands - learning what a disciple is and how they grow, becoming an intentional leader in the process.

The term 'training manual' is an apt description - this is no casual small group study. The manual lays out twelve key topics spanning twelve weeks, and each member will need to spend 20-30 minutes a day for five days a week in preparation outside of small group time. There is a leader's guide in the back which helps the group leader to plan and work out a 90 minute study that includes shepherding, vision casting, discussion, coaching, application and practice.

Topics include: the heart of a discipler, what is a disciple, how disciples grow, three keys to making a disciple, how to be an intentional leader, a closer look at a relational environment, a closer look at the reproducible process, being intentional with the spiritually dead and spiritual infants (Share), helping spiritual children grow (Connect), helping young adults help others (Minister), being intentional with spiritual parents (Disciple), and a tool for study called storying.

The Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual is a practical workbook that would be ideal to first apply as a pastor with small group leaders. I don't get the sense it's intended for direct use within a typical small group with a mix of spiritual infants, children and spiritual young adults or parents. If your team can make the commitment to study and discuss the discipleship process laid out here, it would likely be of great benefit to your church. The question that remains in my mind even after reading the manual - how do you actually pull this off with a mixed bag of small group members who feel their lives are already out-of-control busy?

If discipleship is important to you, do check out the Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual and companion hardcover Real-Life Discipleship.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".