Is there a Biblical perspective on refugees?  What would Jesus say about them?  What should you and I do as followers of Jesus in regard to refugees?

On the podcast, I didn’t mention Matthew 25:31-46, but it is the next logical passage to consider after Matthew 2:13-18.  Other passages we should consider as we weigh our response and perspectives on refugees are:

Meditate on Luke 6:27 if you think refugees are our enemies.

Meditate of Luke 10:26-37 if you think they are not our enemies, but they are from different countries so that changes our duty as followers of Jesus.

What other passages do you think are important?  Let us know in the comments below.

 

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Here are 7 questions I (James) like to ask when I am discipling someone.  On the show, I talk a little more about the components of a meeting with people you are discipling, as well as fleshing out the importance of each of these questions. –

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What do you do when you, or the person you are discipling needs healing?  We all know that only God can bring real healing, but what can we do to water the seeds of healing that God has planted there? – In this episode,

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In this episode, we wanted to share some other disciple making resources. As John Kelsey mentioned a few weeks ago it really does take a village to make a disciple. I (James) wanted to share with you some of the other resources I use. Also,

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Today we’re speaking with Kevin Braddock about being teachable and about finding people to disciple in his church. Kevin has been discipled and has been discipling people for 20 years. He also has one mentor who has been discipling him for 10 years. Kevin shares some very practical things he does in order to remain teachable.  He also shares some of the ways he goes about finding people to disciple in his church and the ways he uses his time in church intentionally. Listen up, and you can do the same.

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Today we are continuing our talk with John Kelsey on the things necessary to develope multiple generations of intentional disciple makers.  You can see his entire post below. Today, we will be focusing on the last 3 points. And, by the way, you need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than you do right now.

JOHN’S POST
I really thought that I had a robust understanding of intentional disciplemaking. You can’t spend 26 years around Max and Sandra Barnett as a student and staff member without growing exponentially! I could not be more thankful for being a part of their legacy!

At the same time, I am just beginning to realize the vast depth of developing generations of intentional disciplemakers. Two environments over the last few years are shaping my thinking:

1. Developing generations of disciplemakers in the local church, particularly one focused on serving the poor and disenfranchised.

2. Developing generations of disciplemakers in a diverse professional demographic that includes the technical trades, military, law, engineers, and graduate students.

These two environments have led me to several conclusions:

1. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul is much more difficult, and takes longer, than I understood it to be. There are no shortcuts to developing lifetime laborers for the Kingdom. You need to know what you’re doing and not give up. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than you do right now.

2. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a greater degree of varied community input than I understood it to be. Tribalism and the inability to connect disciples to a larger movement are enemies to developing lifetime laborers for the Kingdom. You need to help people contextualize the Great Commission in a much broader community. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than you do right now.

There’s a lot more that I’m chewing on, but I don’t have enough coffee to keep writing.

***UPDATED***
4.23.18

Well, I’ve made another pot of Ethiopian Jimma. Time to keep going!

3. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a regular re-examination of ministry tools. We are in ministry information overload in this country right now. For those of us in full-time ministry, there is a combination of boredom with doing the same thing over and over and pressure to create something new to offer the Kingdom. The vast majority of lifetime laborers do not make their living from the Gospel. They need simple, consistent ministry tools that they have had time to master in multiple contexts. Those of us leading disciplemaking ministries must offer ongoing ‘technical support’ for these ministry tools instead of focusing on the latest book or illustration. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than your favorite ministry tools.

4. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a much greater commitment on my part than I understood it to be. The temptation is to focus on creating communities with powerful disciplemaking momentum. However, as much as we need these communities to reinforce biblical principles, we cannot effectively develop lifetime laborers for the Kingdom apart from one-on-one training. Those of us leading disciplemaking ministries must model the process and outcomes we want to see in the individual. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than your ability to do one-on-one.

No kidding, I drank all of my coffee. I’ll write more later.

***UPDATED***
5.3.18

My next shipment from MistoBox has arrived. Thanks Jen for the Christmas present! This El Salvador Talmanica is fantastic!

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When I interviewed Todd earlier this summer, we found ourselves discussing what it was like to disciple his daughters. It didn’t fit in the discussion we were having for that episode, so I saved it as a bonus episode for now.

Other episodes with Todd:
Episode 16 Todd Tillman – Disciple making with a full time job – Part 1

Episode 17 Todd Tillman – Disciple making with a full time job – Part 2

 

 

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A while back, I was on Facebook and saw a really well thought out post from John Kelsey on the struggles and challenges of developing multiple generations of intentional disciple makers. It was so good, I invited John on the podcast to flesh out his points a little more.  You can see his entire post below. 

JOHN’S POST
I really thought that I had a robust understanding of intentional disciplemaking. You can’t spend 26 years around Max and Sandra Barnett as a student and staff member without growing exponentially! I could not be more thankful for being a part of their legacy!

At the same time, I am just beginning to realize the vast depth of developing generations of intentional disciplemakers. Two environments over the last few years are shaping my thinking:

1. Developing generations of disciplemakers in the local church, particularly one focused on serving the poor and disenfranchised.

2. Developing generations of disciplemakers in a diverse professional demographic that includes the technical trades, military, law, engineers, and graduate students.

These two environments have led me to several conclusions:

1. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul is much more difficult, and takes longer, than I understood it to be. There are no shortcuts to developing lifetime laborers for the Kingdom. You need to know what you’re doing and not give up. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than you do right now.

2. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a greater degree of varied community input than I understood it to be. Tribalism and the inability to connect disciples to a larger movement are enemies to developing lifetime laborers for the Kingdom. You need to help people contextualize the Great Commission in a much broader community. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than you do right now.

There’s a lot more that I’m chewing on, but I don’t have enough coffee to keep writing.

***UPDATED***
4.23.18

Well, I’ve made another pot of Ethiopian Jimma. Time to keep going!

3. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a regular re-examination of ministry tools. We are in ministry information overload in this country right now. For those of us in full-time ministry, there is a combination of boredom with doing the same thing over and over and pressure to create something new to offer the Kingdom. The vast majority of lifetime laborers do not make their living from the Gospel. They need simple, consistent ministry tools that they have had time to master in multiple contexts. Those of us leading disciplemaking ministries must offer ongoing ‘technical support’ for these ministry tools instead of focusing on the latest book or illustration. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than your favorite ministry tools.

4. Developing generations of disciplemakers to be fruitful over the long haul requires a much greater commitment on my part than I understood it to be. The temptation is to focus on creating communities with powerful disciplemaking momentum. However, as much as we need these communities to reinforce biblical principles, we cannot effectively develop lifetime laborers for the Kingdom apart from one-on-one training. Those of us leading disciplemaking ministries must model the process and outcomes we want to see in the individual. You also need to rely a lot more on the Holy Spirit than your ability to do one-on-one.

No kidding, I drank all of my coffee. I’ll write more later.

***UPDATED***
5.3.18

My next shipment from MistoBox has arrived. Thanks Jen for the Christmas present! This El Salvador Talmanica is fantastic!

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Go and be reconciled with your brother.  It’s not an easy command to obey, but it is an important one. In obedience, we find peace and joy.  In this episode Dave shares about a recent experience where he needed to reconcile with his neighbors.

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Jesus commanded us in the Great Commission to teach them to obey everything he had commanded. Today we are starting a new series about the different commands of Jesus and how we can apply them to our lives. How do we be better disciples? How do we help our people be better disciples through obedience?

This won’t be an ongoing series that happens every week, but it will be something that we come back to from time to time as we examine different commands of Jesus and wrestle with how to obey them in our lives.

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