what I learned today

Mind Blown: Amazing Disciplemaking Story

/ merri ellen g :) / 1 Comment

A new missionary friend I met at a coffee shop birthday party the other day, sent me this disciplemaking story that made me weep with delight! She sent…

Hey, check this out!

A guy who was orphaned, drug addict, met Jesus, and grew in being discipled and started a discipleship making MOVEMENT. thousands of groups are all over the world… reaching to 8 generations of disciples!

Reminded me of our conversation the other day about, “What is church?”

(Listen to the full audio interview of Lee Wood and enjoy PDF outline…)
http://moredisciples.com/2016/12/24-wwdjd/

 

Listen to it yourself for the full impact of this incredible story…!
but here are some of my notes…
I’m going to listen to it over and over myself!

Poor deeply into the few!! (Don’t go for the numbers.)
We can suck at it.
But, God redeems and multiplies!!

Coach and train others!

You take care of the depth.
God takes care of the width!

Pray one hour or more before stepping out! (YES!!!)
The disciples asked Jesus…
“Teach us to pray!” They didn’t ask him to teach them to preach.

John 14:21

“Anyone who has my commands and obeys them, loves me. My Father will love the one who loves me. I too will love them. And I will show myself to them.”

He manifests in us.
If you want to see the magic, you just got to do the stuff…
Obey Him. Abide in Him!

It’s His pleasure to give us His kingdom.
We’re praying for His kingdom.
He’s our King.

There is joy in suffering and hardship together.
It’s not processing systems. It’s organic.
People are drawn to Him in us as we suffer together.

In the West, it’s a bad church model.
When we talk about this fast growing movement, people look at you like you’re crazy. Most of us in the West are products of a bad model.

What is the difference between a rockstar and a DJ?
A Rockstar wants the fame, the DJ wants everybody to dance.

He wants us to be faithful, and He takes care of the fruit.

Don’t measure yourselves among yourselves.
Don’t compare yourself to each other.

Abide in Him.
Do not seek to produce fruit.
He is the One who gives the increase.

We don’t see much fruit in the traditional Western church because we have short relational ties. We’re too busy. We have consumeristic and materialistic mindsets. If we die to ourselves daily, we will bear much fruit.

Go.
Tell.
Train trainers.

Do not become weary.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
You’ll get better at it.

We are the family of God…
He redeems!
He uses us.

God is faithful!

Lee’s mentor trained him how to multiply and Lee has trained others.

Here’s access to the training at:

Zumeproject.com

How Well Do You Listen?

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Child-Listening

Listening.

Are you a good listener?

I was just drafting up this post when my husband and I went through an experience of listening. So, hubby if you read this… I’m not posting this in spite of our wonderful conversation this morning. 😉 But, just the opposite… now I’m even more excited about this post! Love you sweetie! Thanks for listening to me this morning!

Friends, I have 2 quotes or sources I’d love to share with you on listening…

Here’s the first…

Listening is the greatest gift a life coach can give to a leader. The leader talks and the coach listens 80% of the time. Bottom line: If you are talking, you are not listening.

5 ways to listen: with your mind, with your body, with your words, with your intuition, with the Holy Spirit. (If you have no idea, what you are going to say, you are in the best place. Do not rush to share your insights.)

Ways to listen better: To their situation, their behaviours, their emotions…

Encourage, Restate, Summarize, Clarify, Acknowledge.

Three Levels of Listening:

Level One – Internal

Level Two – Focused

Level Three – You and Them Together… You and them together… Looking together at their world.

“You cannot teach a man anything. You can help him discover it within himself.” – Galileo

(Source: Keith E Webb, The COACH Model)

Here’s my second source on the topic of listening…

Listening as Spiritual Hospitality

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

(Source: Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey)

How well do you listen to others around you? Let you and I be intentional about listening. Our lives will be enriched as our relationships grow and become richer because we seek first to understand, giving others a chance to be heard, and validated. Then, and only then, may a door be opened to lovingly coach them. (More on coaching for another post…)

Ready? Seek to listen today…

From Anxious Planning to Peaceful Trust

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I was awake today at 5am anxious about the Fall planning and my long list of things to do and people to care for. I prayed and fell back asleep. When I awoke to read the Word at 6:30am, I read this…

Psalm 37:5-7 NIRV
“Commit your life to the Lord. Here is what he will do if you trust in him. He will make your godly ways shine like the dawn. He will make your honest life shine like the sun at noon. Be still. Be patient. Wait for the Lord to act. …Don’t be upset when other people succeed. Don’t be upset when they carry out their evil plans.”

http://bible.us/Ps37.5.NIRV-ENG

Perfect timing. I wasn’t trusting in Him!

Merri Ellen 🙂

Your Future Is Determined By One Thing

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“People who have a seeking heart still makes mistakes. But their reaction to rebuke and correction shows the condition of that heart. It determines what God is able to do with them in the future.”

King Asa once led a whole nation in seeking God but became a coldhearted oppressor of his nation. A prophet rebuked him and the king threw him in prison and oppressed some of the people. King Asa’s story reveals how people who stop seeking God tend to get crusty and arrogant. They think they know everything. A prophetic rebuke only irritates them.

“Anything and everything is possible with God if we approach him with a broken spirit. We must humble ourselves, get rid of the debris in our lives, and keep leaning on him instead of our own understanding. Your future and mine are determined by this one thing: seeking after the Lord.”

“The less we look for God, the more he has to go looking for us. Why not run in his direction?”

Readings from Jim Cymbala, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire“

Is Your Church Stuck Or Moving Forward?

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I’m researching how churches get stuck and I’m learning… nothing really new. As I suspected, it starts with each of us as individuals.

Are we each transformed? Has God gotten a hold of our life and transformed us with the gospel? Have we let Him transform us? Do people notice there’s something different about us? Or do we blend right into our culture? Are we quite content to live our lives relying on our own strength and seeking fulfillment in things other than God? Do we come to church expecting to be entertained and to feel good, rather than worshiping God and thanking Him for what He has done through us the past week? Once we take our focus off of God and onto ourselves, we slowly die and dwindle. But if we allow God to transform us, every thought and action begins to change, our values and attitudes change. We start to change from living for ourselves to dying to ourselves. Soon, our life focuses solely on the mission of Christ and not on us. Amazing things happen… and not because of us, but because we rely on the Holy Spirit and let Him use us to fill in the cracks.

After we are individually transformed, the church becomes the gathering of transformed people to hear the gospel, worship, and then… scatter… to participate (key word) in God’s mission. We don’t live the rest of the week in selfish survival mode but in seeking how we can scatter and minister to those in our communities. We, the church, are God’s chosen instrument to spread the gospel. We are called to be His people engaged in His mission to carry His message into our culture and every culture.

We must individually be transformed – our thoughts, actions, attitudes, and values. This of course requires us to be open to being transformed. Then we gather together and worship… and then we go and scatter… spreading the Gospel! That’s when a church is moving forward.

(I’m reading “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer)

For Money or For Love?

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Chasing after money brings destruction but pursuing righteousness, godliness, love, endurance, and gentleness brings life.

Today I read…

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

– 1 Tim 6:6-12, 17-19