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Showing posts from July, 2011

The Disciplemaking Genius of Jesus—Part 3

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By  Bill Allison  and  Dave Garda When I went back to college later in life, I was told that I had a “math deficiency.” I ended up having to buy an elementary mathematics book and re-teaching myself some basics. Everyday I worked through a portion of that pitifully boring math book—alone. However, once a week I met with a tutor who monitored my progress (or lack thereof) and tried to answer my many questions. (“Why would anyone plant a garden in the form of a triangle and then use the Pythagorean Theorem to measure the hypotenuse?”) One day I asked my tutor, “Help me understand integers”—and I pronounced it exactly like it’s spelled: “in-TE-gers.” My tutor smiled and said, “You mean, integers”—and she pronounced it “IN-ti-jers.” Sensing my embarrassment, she said, “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known this simply by working through the book by yourself.” Right then and there I realized this: solo book learning is a good start, but a fuller, deeper learning happens in community .

This is Discipling

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(If video does not appear, go here .) What's next in your disciplemaking adventure? Consider starting with The Disciplemaking Genius of Jesus .

What makes this speech so compelling?

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Purely from a communicator's point of view, this speech is masterful. The speaker even gets heckled early in the speech... and then spontaneously redeems it to make the point.  Masterful.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on WHY this speech is so cogent . If video doesn't appear above, go here . So what do you think?  What makes this speech so compelling?

Hint: It's the Holy Spirit

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Very interesting post from Steve Addision : Pull down off your shelves every book you have on evangelism, church planting or mission. Flip through them. What premise are they based on? Who is the main character in their story or view of the world? Who makes things happen? Who’s in charge? Now skim through the book of Acts and ask the same questions. Who’s in charge? Who calls the shots? Who leads the way? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not Peter, or any of the Twelve, it’s not even Paul. If we don’t get this right, we’re not even in the game.

Best. Camp. Ever. Pics. Video.

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Just back from speaking to 8th-10th graders at Timber-lee Camp in East Troy, WI.  As usual we had a blast and God did His wonderful thing in all of us.   This picture above was taken on the way to Timber-lee.  Look at Libby and Sadey's faces.  Do I need to say that Timber-lee is our family's favorite camp? Can you say "PUMPED UP"? I spoke every morning and night at this outdoor amphitheater.  The worship times were high energy and high participation... and that spells F-U-N.  The camp worship band was FAB-U-LOUS. Here's a very short video that I took during the worship time on the first night (above).  Can you tell we're having fun?  I love the counselors at Timber-lee!  Turns out that real men CAN dance. (If video doesn't appear,  go here .) This is what I affectionately refer to as "My Camp Survival Kit."  By controlling all the variables (water, coffee, coffee maker, coffee cups, half-and-half, and sugar), I was able to make the best coffe

The Rebranding of Jesus...

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Soren Kierkegaard said, “My mission is to introduce Christ into Christendom.” That would be funny if it weren’t so true. This quote reminds me of the time I was brought into to work with a handful of youth leaders. The purpose of our gathering was to explore what it would take for them to shift away from the ever popular Rock Star Approach to youth ministry (i.e., building their ministries on their personalities, gifts, oratory skills, coolness, and fantastic programming) to a more Jesus-like/disciplemaking way of youth ministry. This was my opening statement at our very first session: “If you as the leader don’t make the mental, emotional, and spiritual shift from Rock Star for volunteers and students to Equipper and Mobilizer of volunteers and students, you will not be able to build a Jesus-like disciplemaking ministry.” Immediately, one young man shot back: “I don’t think youth ministry is about equipping and mobilizing people. I think it’s all about following Jesus.” In