CupOJoewithBill.com

by Bill Allison and Dave Garda A young man I discipled since he was a teenager was asked in his college years to spend a summer leading the youth ministry at his church. At the end of that summer, I asked him, “So what did God do in your life this summer?” He said, “He made it clear to me that I’m not cut out for youth ministry.” I said, “Fair enough. When did you realize it?” He said, “Well, I loved being with students, but the church seemed to feel like I wasn’t doing my job if I wasn’t in the office 40 hours a week. I thought youth ministry would be ministry to youth—getting time building relationships with students... not primarily office work.” That is a sad and true story. The church invited him to be the youth pastor for the summer, but they didn’t really understand what a good youth pastor should do. That raises the question: What should a good Disciplemaking Learning Community (DLC) do? I hope you know by now that the answer to that question is found in th...

Crank up the volume baby!  That's right… it's 1 minute and 10 seconds of heaven… that is… me singing my first hit song.  Yes… that's me crooning… I'm actually singing this.  Who knew… right?  Keep your ears open when you're in the car… you will probably be hearing this little ditty on those cool radio stations the kids listen to these days. Lady Gaga eat your heart out. I know. You'd like this little ditty for your iPod... wouldn't you? From my heart to yours, here you go . Hey, who loves you? I do. Can you guess the name of the song? You, Me, and Coffee Monday...   Let me encourage you and and make you think 1 stinking 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.  Go to your email and click the Feedburner confirmation link . You can unsubscribe at any time with no questions asked simply by clicking the u...

Click any image below to enlarge for viewing… and have fun! Train up a child in the way she should go and when she is old, she will not depart from it. I'm guessing Ivy's first words will be, "Da Bears." That's Da Sciplemaking. Training some high school and college students to Love God, Love People, and Make Disciplemakers at Timber-Lee Camp in East Troy earlier this month. Aubrey, a senior in high school this year, was inducted into the National Honor Society.  When I was in high school, I never got an invitation to be a part of the NHS. That's the benefit of having a wife who was valedictorian. (I've always said it took a smart woman to recognize what a gem I was.) Chalk this picture up to my wife's disciplemaking :  ) Earlier this month, we loaded 11 guys from the Peoria area into our slowly dying 15 passenger van to spend the day with those in the Chicago Area Disciplemaking Learning Community that meets at Dave and Rennie Garda's home.  ...

As a certified teacher for the state of Illinois, I sat through hours upon hours of college classroom lectures in a university that had the reputation for being one of the best teacher training colleges in the United States. Ironically, I was often lectured to by people who had not taught in a public school classroom in years—and in some cases my professors had never taught in a public school classroom. I was being trained to “swim” by dry people. While I valued the classroom instruction of my professors, I knew deep in my heart that it could be quite possible to pass all the classroom tests, become a certified teacher, and yet still not really be able to teach effectively in a real school situation. (Getting certified by the state doesn’t really mean one can actually teach. It could simply mean you are an OK test taker.) To become a REAL teacher, I needed some wet swimming instructors to come alongside of me and show me how to "swim" in a real “school” (extended metapho...