Eight Laws of Spiritual Growth

  I wish I could take credit for this one, but the ultimate praise goes to God with a huge “thank you” to Rick Warren for discoverying these laws through prayer and study of the Scripture.  After a study of how Jesus made disciples, Rick came to the following 8 Laws of Spiritual Growth:

 

1.  Spiritual Growth is incarnational–The Christian life is not imitation, but inhabitation.  Galatians 2:20 tells us that “Christ lives in me”.  Spiritual Growth is both mystical and practical.  All of the best practices make no difference without the Holy Spirit, because He is the one who transforms.  I have a part and God has a part.

2.  Spiritual Growth is intentional–Maturity is not inevitable.  You can grow old without growing up.  Maturity is not automatic.  We grow by making commitments.  Maturity is a choice since you are only as close to God as you choose to be.

Jesus had a method that was systematic and graduated in nature.  1)  Come and See  2)Eat my flesh and drink my blood  3)  Take up your cross, deny yourself.  It’s a long process to move people from “come and see” to “come and die”.

3.  Spiritual Growth is incremental–We grow through a step-by-step process.  A baby must learn to breath before it learns to eat, etc.  KNOW, LOVE, GROW, SERVE, SHARE Christ…in sequence

4.  Spiritual Growth is personal–You can’t mass produce disciples.  There is no “one size fits all” approach to turn out strong disciples.

5.  Spiritual Growth is habitual–We grow by developing good habits (a.k.a. spiritual disciplines).  1)  Assign homework like “go and make disciples” 2)Journal and write down your prayers  3)Drive Time Devotions are used to download to your ipods  4) Daily email devotionals 5)Offer a guide to fasting

6.  Spiritual Growth is Communal/Relational–We only grow in community.  You cannot grow without love.  Tools to use here are 1)Small Groups  2)Spiritual Coaches  3)Retreats.

7.  Spiritual Growth is multi-dimensional–Real maturity is far more than knowing; it is about “being” and “doing”.  Maturity is behavior and belief.  You only believe the part of the Bible you do!

8.  Spiritual Growth is Seasonal–We grow in spurts

Evangelism Panel

Let’s be honest.  Effective evangelism is just one of those areas that most churches REALLY believe they are doing well.  But when you look at the numbers of first time visitors or take a good hard look at what they’ve done for the community in the past year, most churches just suck at it.  There is a lot to be learned from these guys who, through trial and error, are finding ways to reach out to those in their areas of influence.

   BOB ROBERTS

• “The responsibility for evangelism is given to everybody; I think some of the teaching on spiritual gifts has undermined our understanding of that.”

MARK BATTERSON

• “Church is a tag-team sport.  When you walk in you tage me, and you trust I’ve prayed and prepared and studied.  When you leave, I tag you and trust you’re committed to building into the relationship and encouraging the newcomer.”
• “If we could stop fighting with each other long enough, it’d be amazing how much we could get done.  this weekend I confessed the lack of urgency in my life.  IF we really believed what we say we believe we’d never lose our sense of urgency.  I’m the first person to say, ‘I need more of that in my own heart.’”
• “One of the mistakes we made was spending a lot of money on marketing.  We spent a lot of money to get people to come, to see how poorly we do church.”

  JAMES MEEKS

• “I say, ‘Go home and try something.  Start something.  Be found trying something for the Body of Christ!’”
• “I’m an Illinois State Senator so I have lots of relationships with unbelievers.”  (That’s funny right there!)

Fellowship Panel at Saddleback

There was an all-star lineup at the Fellowship Panel at this year’s Purpose Driven Summit ‘08.  Here are some of the things these guys had to say about fellowship:

 

  PERRY NOBLE

• “We started a church with eight people in our living room.”
• “My best definition of Small Groups is, ‘Connecting dysfunctional people with dysfunctional people.’”
• “I don’t think we can force Christian community.  I think the church that tries to force Christian community is going to face failure, after failure, after failure.”
• A text message conversation is just as real to teenagers as this conversation–sitting in this room–is to us.”
• “Teaching people to be honest, honest with God and honest with each other, is one of our greatest challenges.”
• “One lady in our church said, “I know you’ll probably never know me, but through your blog I feel like I know you.”

  RON SYLVIA

• “Most pastors have fewer friends now than when they first started in ministry.”

  RAY JOHNSTON

• “The average Christian attends church once every three weeks.”

  RICK WARREN

• “People don’t always know what they need.  People need community.  Small Groups will never take off in your chruch unless you become the Small Group pastor.”
• “People will be in a Small Group when you tell stories about how it has helped you.”
• “People join a small group for the wrong reason.  They need it for relationships but they join it for content.”
• “Give testimonies constantly of people in groups.”

In my opinion, small groups are a vital part of doing church God’s way.  Yet in America, it is one of the hardest things to implement.  We have such a “Lone Ranger” mentality here, where individualism is regarded and rewarded.  Many other countries around the world have such a communal culture that small groups comes about as a natural part of every day living.  I have a few ideas I would like to implement to help these solo-flying Americans merge into small group living.

Purpose Driven Summit ‘08

 

I have really been soaking up what some of my favorite pastors and authors have been saying about the topics discussed at the Purpose Driven Summit ‘08 held at Saddleback Church in California.  I’ve been doing some HEAVY praying and scripture reading lately, trying to seek God about some things I see coming down the pike.  Even pastors need someone to speak into their life.  Over the next few days, I’m going to share with you the notes I have gathered from those that attended this conference.  I know they’ll encourage and help you just as much as they have me. 

 

If you want to check out the list of speakers, just CLICK HERE….Enjoy!

Catching Up On My Blog Reading

To everyone who has been reading my blog, I’m sorry for a few down days.  I took a day off just to spend with my family yesterday.  The R&R were much needed.  There are a few blogs I follow on a daily basis.  I found some pretty awesome articles today that I thought I’d share with you. 

•   While Church should never be reduced to simple marketing, there are several things we can learn from top secular companies.  They are in touch with the latest ways to reach people and have a great understanding of how to get their attention…something churches could do much better at.  TONY MORGAN posted a list of these top companies.  He also has a cool quote from Nintendo’s VP HERE.

 

 

• Gary Lamb posted his PREACHING CALENDAR for the next six months.  He pastors a church with an edge, Revolution in Georgia.

 

•   Steven Furtick allowed his Assimilation Pastor, Larry Brey, to write up a great article about the relationship between Senior Pastor and church volunteers/staff on his blog.  Elevation Church is WELL KNOWN for greeting people like they have never been greeted before.

 

•   Craig Groeschel wrote up a great blog entry about strategic disruption.  If any part of your life has gotten into a rut, especially your spiritual life, then you need to take five minutes to read this.  It is such a great insight…and it will help shake things up a bit in a good way!

There have been a lot of others, but this should give you a good start and introduce you to some men that are doing some awesome things for the Kingdom.  I hope your week is going well.  It won’t be long before the kids will be running through their parents’ house all day…HAVE FUN PARENTS!

Spiritual Glasses

Vision is so important, even for those who are not involved in leadership.  Whether or not you know it, you have dreamt of the vision of your life before.  Without a vision, the Bible says you will perish.  God has been speaking to me about vision in a particular area of my life.  It gets me so pumped up when I begin  to hear what plans God has for me.  His plans are ALWAYS much greater than anything I can plan for myself.  The same is true for you too!

 

Now, I understand that life and other people who don’t believe in your vision have a way of kicking the vision right out of you.  Maybe, because of your circumstances, some of your dreams may be out of reach.  But here’s the thing you need to remember.  GOD HAS PLANS FOR YOU!  Plans to prosper you, to give you a hope, AND A FUTURE!  The best really is right ahead. 

 

The enemy would LOVE for you to give up, quit fighting, accept the status quo.  But God has made to for the battle.  He’s got your head covered with the helmet of salvation.  He’s given you the breastplate fo righteousness…you didn’t earn it, it was a gift!  He’s equipped you with the belt of truth.  He’s got your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  He’s given you the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith (WHEREWITH YOU SHALL QUINCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED ONE!).  YOU WERE MADE FOR THE BATTLE!!!!

 

Every man or woman needs to know what they’re fighting for.  If you don’t have a vision today, begin to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you.  Your life is STILL worth something…and the value of it is more than you have ever dreamed.

God’s Army–Part 3

Endurance, Focus, Action, and Communication are all vital parts to being a part of this army.  They don’t come easy, and people aren’t born with it.  It takes work.  And so do the final two characteristics of a soldier in God’s Kingdom. 

 

#5 Education–2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  People have REALLY ridden this horse into the ground when they make comments like, “I ain’t had no book learnin’ and don’t need none fer God to speak to me.”  No, you don’t need education for God to speak to you, but you need education if you plan on speaking to others about God’s Word.  Sometimes this can come through schooling, but the best education you can get is when you spend daily time in God’s Word and in books written by Godly men and women that have also been spending time with Him. 

 

Also, in the realm of education, stick to the stuff that really matters.  I’ve spent countless hours sitting in religious classes where people argued over the most pointless questions or issues.  Knowledge is not the end of a pursuit, but a tool used to draw more to the foot of the cross of Christ.

 

#6 Mentor–Mentoring is part of God’s design for the body of Christ.  Jesus showed us this through his relationships with his disciples. 

• FIND A MENTOR–It’s important to find someone that is where you want to be.  Watch them carefully from a distance first as you can measure things such as faithfulness.  A mentor is someone that will be pouring into you.  You want to make sure they’re full of the right stuff before you let them begin pouring into you.
• BE A MENTOR–It’s also important to be a mentor.  This means 1)  You need to live life worthy of such a position.  Being a pastor, or a mentor, for so many people have kept me from getting involved in sin that I would have otherwise given in to.  But because I knew that my fall would not just effect me, but all those who looked to me as a spiritual example, I chose righteousness.  2)  It helps give you purpose.  Everyone needs to feel that they have a place, a purpose, a reason for being.  Teach what you know.  Others are not on the level you are on yet, and they need someone to show them the way!

These qualities would all fall under the category of “discipline”.  That means it doesn’t come naturally.  But if you want to live in the SUPER-NATRUAL power of Christ, you must learn to work at each of these.  They will help you become the warrior Christ needs and designed you to be.

God’s Army–Part 2

#2 Action–A good soldier in God’s army realizes that talk is cheap.  The battle doesn’t belong to the guy that stays in the foxhole begging the enemy to cease fire.  Battles are won by the men that clench their weapon tightly (the Bible), swallow hard (put all fear behind), and go screaming like a banshee towards the enemy and take some ground (no embelleshment needed here)!

 

2 Timothy 2:5-6 says “if a man also competes in athletics, yet is he not crowned, except he competes.  The farmer that laboureth must be first partaker of the crops.”  Translation:  If you don’t fight, you don’t win.

#3  Communication–This characteristic of a good soldier in God’s army works two ways.

• Vertical Communication–You have to be on speaking terms daily with your commanding officer.  The Holy Spirit will warn you of the enemy’s movement.  He will tell you your strategy, speak to your heart to stir up your courage, and even get onto you when you’re not lining up or living up to be all you can be.
• Horizontal Communication–Here’s where the best directions from the commander can fall through the cracks.  Communicating the orders to those on your team is VITALLY IMPORTANT!  Sometimes, the hardest thing to do, is to share God’s Word with others with the same love, passion, zeal, and urgency that God revealed to you.  If God revealed a truth in his word to you, then He trusts that you will teach this to others using the personality he’s given you.  Communicate with others the best that you can.  Share it in a way that others will receive it and be encouraged to action!

God has an army and he wants YOU to be a part of it.  Endurance, focus, action, and communication are all important parts of being a good soldier in this army.  Next week, I’ll share the final two vital characteristics of a good soldier.  Have a great weekend, and may God visit your services in a powerful way!

God’s Army–Part 1

  There are several places in God’s Word where we are encouraged to be like soldier, to fight a good fight, etc.  This warrior-like metaphor raises some key points that we need to grasp so that we can be who God designed us to be.  Over the next few posts, I’m going to talk about 6 characteristics of a good soldier in God’s Army.

 

#1.  Endurance–Our life will be filled with various battles to fight.  Just because we win one battle, doesn’t mean that there isn’t another ambush by the enemy waiting just over the other side of this mountain top.  You may not win every battle, but our goal is to win the war. 

 

2 Timothy 2:3 tells us to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”.  We know the attack is coming.  The question is, will you quickly surrender to the accusations, the gossip, the temptation?  Or will you endure this hardship with the heart that screams, “IT IS A JOY TO PARTAKE IN THE SUFFERINGS OF MY LORD!” 

 

To truly endure, you must be willing to answer this question:  “Is what I’m fighting for worth it?”  This takes us to our next quality of a soldier in God’s Army…

 

#2 Focus–In this war, it is easy to lose sight of what it is that we are fighting for.  Nothing other than fighting for the King of Kings is worth all of the opposition you will face as a Christian.  We’re fighting for a King that notices every time you do something in his name for another person.  He keeps record of every time you could have sinned and chose not to sin.  He is a God that rewards greatly in the end!

 

However, if we lose sight of the ends, our means will soon begin to deteriorate.  Soon, we will begin to cower under the strong fire of the enemy.  We’ll begin living life less like warriors and more like wimps.  If we lose our focus, it won’t be long before going AWOL appears very enticing. 

 

2 Timothy 2:4 says “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

 

It is every man’s desire to fight for a cause that is greater than himself.  God is literally trying to save the world and He has invited you to be a part of it!  It’s the greatest adventure of all time!!!  If you can endure the hardships and stay focused on the vision of winning the world for Christ, you will be well on your way to being a valuable solider in God’s Army.

 

Keep watching for more posts on this topic.

Learning To Serve A Smaller Crowd For Bigger Impact

  When I try to summarize the main thing God has been trying to teach me lately, the title of this blog entry says it all.  When you know that you’re called to do big things for God with your life, it becomes easier to focus solely on what lies ahead.  This tends to build frustration, disappointment, and sometimes flat out anger when you take a look at your current situation and realize it’s nothing close to what you want.

 

Satan loves to trap us into an abyss of hopelessness.  He wants you to believe that you’ll never get to see what God has promised you.  But if Satan’s talking, YOU CAN KNOW HE’S LYING! 

 

Be reminded of Peter…Christ had called him out to where no man had ever walked before–the water.  Peter was making history until he began to get his eyes on his current situation and off of Christ.  Have you allowed yourself to stop looking at the Son of God? 

 

God has been teaching me to serve a smaller crowd for a bigger impact.  The crowd is much smaller than you may think…I serve an audience of ONE.  I am where I am, I do what I do, because God has seen fit to use me in such a manner.  When He changes the plan, He’ll let me know.  HE will open the door.  Until then, and forever more, I will be honored AND JOYFUL to serve my AUDIENCE OF ONE!