Our Summer Mission Trip: We Need Your Help...

As you read this, we're on the road. 

We're out and about being missionaries of encouragement to our disciplemaking friends in MO, OK, AZ, CA, NV, and MN. Plus, we'll be introducing Cadre's disciplemaking ministry to pastors and volunteer ministry leaders as we travel west and then back home.

Like the Apostle Paul said about his disciplemaking friends, "When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours." (Romans 1:12, emphasis mine)

So make no mistake about it:

We need encouragement from you.

Would you prayerfully consider giving a $ gift to send us out as your missionaries of encouragement?

We need at least $1,000 for travel, expenses, and disciplemaking materials.

Summer can be a financially challenging time for missionaries like us, so a gift of any size at this time would be a huge encouragement to us.

If you are willing and able to help us, go here. 

(Please attach note: "Allisons")

If you can't help, we still love you and we're trusting God to provide in some other way.

From our hearts to yours, THANK YOU for every prayer you pray and every penny you give!

Your prayers and financial support really are God's wind in our missionary sails—and we thank God for you.

Bill, Stacy, and Ivy
p.s. Please take a moment to see how God is using you via Cadre for His glory!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just in case you're wondering...
This post raises a good question: Is "encouragement" really enough of a reason to hit the road and get time with disciplemaking friends? 

Fair question. Read below and decide for yourself...
· He [Paul] traveled through that area speaking many words of encouragement…. (Acts 20:2)

· Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. (Acts 15:32)

· After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them…. (Acts 16:40)

· Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by.…(Acts 20:1)

· I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. (Ephesians 6:22)

· My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart…. (Colossians 2:2)

· We sent Timothy… to strengthen and encourage you in your faith…. (I Thessalonians 3:2)

· Therefore encourage each other with these words. (I Thessalonians 4:18)

· Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:11)

· Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. (II Timothy 4:2)

· Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. (Philemon 1:7)

· But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

· Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)

We really are your missionaries of encouragement.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. You must be a hardcore disciplemaking friend!

“Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers…. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.” —3 John 5-8

Fathering IS Disciplemaking...

Warning. You're about to encounter satire. If you don't like to think or have fun while making a salient point, turn back now. You have been warned.

LOUISVILLE, KY—Stating that he had been feeling a sense of purposelessness and melancholy for some months now, local father of three Andrew Harbaugh recently began wondering when he would ever get a chance to impact anyone for the sake of Christ, sources close to him confirmed Thursday.

Harbaugh reportedly spends his days working ten hours at a desk job and his nights talking and playing with his three children.

“I just wish God would place a few people in my life for whom I could make an eternal difference,” Harbaugh told reporters, his head in his hands. “I just don’t have time to do anything for the Kingdom of God while I provide for my family and spend time with my three boys.”

“Surely the Lord will have something important for me to do someday,” he added sadly.

He further stated that every second of his day is taken up with “mundane” tasks like instructing and caring for his children, leaving him little to no time to evangelize or influence others for the gospel.

“I’ve just got my hands full with these kids. When will I ever get to do some important Kingdom work for God?” he lamented.

* This came from the Babylon Bee.

Happy Father's Day to fathers everywhere because fathering IS "important kingdom work for God."

On a serious note...
* Babysitting or Fathering?
* Disciplemaking Dads?
* Dads Who Pray?
* Google or Dad?

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

In a world full of overwhelmingly negative news, here's some good news...

Look at What God Is Doing! 

Click images below to enlarge for viewing and reading.

Or go here.

Why Cadre Missionaries and Why Disciplemaking?

We need YOU to join our 2x-a-month email prayer team!

Send an email to us.

Just a reminder: You're God's favorite.

Special Note: 

Summer can be a financially challenging time for missionaries like us. Can you help us $ this summer? A gift of any size would be a HUGE encouragement to our souls. If you are willing and able, go here. 

THANK YOU!

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Are you only organizing volunteers for ministry?

A Baptist, a Nazarene, and a Methodist all walk into a Starbucks. (Insert your own ending to the joke here.)

My disciplemaking friend, Crazy Pastor Steve (on the left), took this picture and sent it to me. (From left to right is Benny the Baptist, Josh the Nazarene, and Trent the Methodist.)

It turns out that these three disciplemaking youth pastors in Central IL were gathered together to prepare for a collaborative time of equipping students and volunteers to live and share disciplemaking friendships that multiply to others.

Pause and re-read the italics and bold lettering above one more time.

I know and love all three of these youth pastors. We've study Jesus together in our Disciplemaking Learning Community. I've preached in each of their churches. I've enjoyed numerous lunches and lots of coffee with these guys.

But there is more to this picture than meets the eye.

I think this picture is remarkable on a several levels.  

Ponder the following with me...

First, many ministry leaders organize volunteers for their programs. Way fewer ministry leaders actually encourage AND equip volunteers to live and share disciplemaking as a way of life with others.

Second, their friendship with each other is big enough that it doesn't matter that they are from different denominations. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is enough reason to partner together for making disciplemakers with the next generations.

Last, they totally left me out of this meeting. I wasn't even invited. And I couldn't more filled with joy about it (see Luke 10:21).

So what does this have to do with you?

Possibly nothing... and maybe everything. That all depends on you.

The big question is this: Are YOU only organizing volunteers for ministry?

Answer that question. Be honest. I dare you.

If you only focus on organizing volunteers for ministry, you're using volunteers to build your ministry —when you should be using your ministry to build volunteers.

If you REALLY want to train volunteers but don't know where to start, then THIS IS FOR YOU. (It's a FREE downloadable book I wrote that will help you help others. Feel free to share it with others who are only organizing volunteers for ministry.)

Here are some more germane questions for you to explore and reflect upon...
1. Need help finding, developing, and retaining volunteers?
2. What training are they doing?
3. How can YOU bring this training to your church/ministry?
4. What is a Disciplemaking Learning Community?
5. Who else do you know that is making disciplemakers?
6. Who is Crazy Pastor Steve?

"We haven't made disciples like Jesus until those we disciple make more disciples."

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone about Jesus' Disciplemaking Secret Sauce...

To decode this, go here.

What God Did in Utah via Your Prayers...

Why were you in Utah?

Here's why.

What were you doing in Utah?

We encouraged and equipped those who encourage and equip others—a.k.a, we sought to make disciplemakers who make more disciplemakers. (We stole that from Jesus.) We partnered with God and our dear disciplemaking friends, Derrick Smothers and Steve Waggoner. And here's the beautiful thing: Derrick will continue his disciplemaking ministry and do what he has always done: engage, encourage, and equip the very same pastors and volunteer ministry leaders.

Where did all this happen?
All over in and around Utah for eight days straight in the following places...
* Colorado City, Arizona
* Hildale, Utah
* La Verkin, Utah
* Ivins, Utah
* Las Vegas, Nevada
* Garden City, Utah
* Fish Haven, Idaho
* Ephraim, Utah
* Ogden, Utah
* Lehi, Utah
* Tremonton, Utah

What disciplemaking training did you do?
This and this.

What did God do?

He answered your prayers for us. Check it out...
Hey Bill! Thanks for coming down. It is still exciting to see the effects of the training in our church. People are buzzing! I'd love to stay in contact. Thanks to all three of you guys investing into our field! 

—Pastor Matt Moore

Friends of Cadre,
I just returned from a powerful mission trip to Utah. Your generous support allowed me to partner with Bill and Derrick in equipping dozens of pastors and ministry leaders. I was overwhelmed by our time of mutual encouragement. Having been blessed personally by Cadre's disciplemaking ministry over the years, it was a joy to pass on what I have received to others. The brothers and sisters we served have followed God's call to make disciples in a very difficult environment. Thank you for sending us to come alongside and spur on these faithful servants. God is on the move to replace the lies of religion with the truth of the gospel! All for King Jesus,
—Pastor Steve Waggoner

Bill, you, Derrick and Steve rock! You are a blessing to our church family and to my family! Thanks for serving Jesus and us in disciplemaking as a way of life! 

—Pastor Rodney Z

Why are we so thankful to God and YOU?

We couldn't have done this disciplemaking adventure in Utah without folks like YOU who prayed and gave $ to make it happen! Not joking. We really are your disciplemaking missionaries serving King Jesus with Cadre. We thank God for you.

What about you? 

Yep, I'm talking to you... the person reading this right now. If you're an aspiring follower of Jesus—you ARE a disciplemaker! Not sure where to start? Start here. Then go here. And then let us know if we can help you in any way. 

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

No wonder people hate meetings...

Are you sick of wasting your time in useless meetings?

Would you like to learn how to conduct meetings so that people will actually attend?

Here are ten rules-of-thumb for conducting meetings people will actually attend.

BTW: People who enjoy meetings shouldn't be in charge of anything.

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

More on meetings here.

On Simpletons, Mockers, and Fools

Lady Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

20 Wisdom shouts in the streets.
    She cries out in the public square.
21 She calls to the crowds along the main street,
    to those gathered in front of the city gate:
22 “How long, you simpletons,
    will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
    How long will you fools hate knowledge?
23 Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
    and make you wise.

24 “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
    I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
25 You ignored my advice
    and rejected the correction I offered.
26 So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
    I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
    and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

28 “When they cry for help, I will not answer.
    Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
29 For they hated knowledge
    and chose not to fear the Lord.
30 They rejected my advice
    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
32 For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
33 But all who listen to me will live in peace,
    untroubled by fear of harm.”

—Proverbs 1:20-33, (bold mine)

From verse 22 above...

* Simpletons: 

Those who are "easily influenced, enticed, and misled. They tend to believe everything they hear (good or bad), and lack moral prudence" as defined in the Bible.

* Mockers: 

These people are "cynical and defiant freethinkers who ridicule the righteous and all for which they stand."

* Fools: 

This term "refers to the morally insensitive dullard."

"Each of these three types of people is satisfied with the life being led and will not listen to reason."

[Notes taken from the translator's notes in the NET Bible.] 

p.s. I took the above picture many years ago when I was in Jerusalem—outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre.

Will you please pray for us this week?

This week, we'll be on a disciplemaking mission in Utah—and we need your prayers every day for the next eight days. When I say we need your prayers, I'm not kidding. The spiritual warfare has already begun. So...

Seriously, would you please pray for us this week?

Why are we doing this?
The real mission of Cadre is to make disciplemakers who make more disciplemakers. (For more on this, go here.) So this next week is NOT just eight days of busy ministry activities, and then we come home and forget about it. No. This is way more ongoing and strategic than a "one-and-done" type of thing. My friendship with Derrick Smothers and Steve Waggoner has been and always will be about living and sharing Jesus-like disciplemaking friendships that multiply to others. This time, Steve and I have the honor of coming alongside Derrick's ongoing disciplemaking ministry in Utah—and we'll continue to encourage and equip each other long after this particular disciplemaking adventure is over.

Who should you pray for?
* Derrick Smothers, Executive Director of The E3 Connection.
   (More about Derrick here, here, and here.)
* Steve Waggoner, Senior Pastor of CrossWalk Fellowship Church.
   (More about Steve here, here, and here.)
* Me

What should you pray for?
We're on Jesus' mission of making disciplemakers—like this. If you'd PRAY THIS every day for us, we'd be so thankful!

How can you pray for us?
Here's our tentative schedule...
* Today: We travel west. Pray for safety in travel today and everyday.

* Tuesday: Hildale, UT, and La Verkin, UT. We're doing this disciplemaking training.

* Wednesday: Ivins, UT, and Las Vegas, NV. We're doing this disciplemaking training.

* Thursday: Ephraim, UT. We're doing this disciplemaking training.

* Friday: Ogden, UT. We're doing this disciplemaking training.

* Saturday: Lehi, UT. We're doing this disciplemaking training.

* Sunday: Tremonton, UT. We'll speak in a morning church service and do this disciplemaking training lab after the service.

* Monday: We come back home. Pray for safety in travel.

From our hearts to yours: THANK YOU for praying for us right now—and throughout the rest of this week. I can't wait to see what God is going to do as a result of your prayers for us!

FYI: It's not too late to be God's $ wind in our disciplemaking sails. All you have to do is go here. Every gift of any size is a huge blessing and encouragement to us! THANK YOU! We really are your disciplemaking missionaries.

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Why I STILL Love Being a Dad...

Here are some real texts from my six-year old (using an iPad) to my wife...

I'm pretty sure she get's that crass junior high craziness from her mom. (*wink)

More reasons why I still love being a dad here!

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

True Stories of Disciplemakers Making More Disciplemakers...

Meet Curt Vanderstelt. He's in the middle wearing green. I think you can see he's a lot of fun. I've known and loved Curt since he was a teenager. Let's just say he's older now. I know. I ain't no spring chicken myself. However, all this longevity in working with the next generations has put me in a front row seat for some pretty amazing and true stories of disciplemaking life change.  Let me explain.

My good friend, Chip Hackney, was Curt's youth pastor in Michigan. That's how I got to know Curt. This picture with Curt above was taken on January 5, 2019 in Green Bay, WI, where Dave Garda (left) and I were busy being disciplemaking missionaries of encouragement and equipping with many of the 4,000 students and youth leaders in Green Bay that weekend.

A mere 36 days later, on February 10, 2019, I was speaking to 400+ students and youth leaders at Camp Timber-Lee in East Troy, WI. There I met Taylor (above). Taylor serves Jesus on staff at Timber-lee. We got to talking and I found out Curt was Taylor's youth pastor. With great joy in in his eyes, Taylor told me how much God used Curt in his life and how that disciplemaking friendship shaped his life.

It all got me thinking. 

This true disciplemaking story is too good NOT to celebrate!

So I posted on Curt's Facebook when I got home from Timber-lee—and I tagged Chip too so he'd see it.  Here's what I wrote...

Hey Curt! Last weekend I was speaking to students and youth leaders at Camp Timber-lee​. I ran into someone who is so thankful for your influence in his life—Taylor. He is now serving Jesus at Timber-lee—helping students find and follow Jesus. It made me think of Chip Hackney​'s disciplemaking friendship with you when you were a very young man. All that to say, I love that I have been around the next generations so long now that I've watched Chip disciple you, and you disciple others like Taylor, and now Taylor is passing it all on to the next generations. We call that discipleMAKING my friend. I'm giving all glory to God—and cheering you on as you continue to make disciplemkers as a way of life!

Can you count the three generations of disciplemaking friendship with me?
* Generation 1: From Chip to Curt
* Generation 2: From Curt to Taylor
* Generation 3 From Taylor to only God knows who at Timber-lee—and wherever Taylor goes the rest of his life!

Cool story, right?

But don't miss the point: Can you count at least three generations of disciplemakers flowing out of your life for God's glory?

Wondering what this way of life might look like for you? Need some help? Not sure where to start?

Start here.

p.s. We'd love to hear you three-generation disciplemaking friendship story!

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 
Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sad, true, and poignantly funny...

If you didn't enjoy the humor or the point of the image above, then please do NOT click any of the links below. You have been warned.
* I'm so saved I never smile
* Millenial suntans
* Laughing at myself
* Everyone's a heretic except me 
* If you're a Packer fan 

You, Me, and Coffee Monday... 

Let me encourage you and make you think ONE time a week (usually Monday morning) with a virtual Cup O' Joe with Bill in your email inbox. Two Simple Steps...

1. Go here and submit your email.
2. Check your email to confirm.
You can unsubscribe at any time.