Tag Archives: discipleship

Dec 6 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 7)

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When I was wrapping up at my former church, I received a Facebook message from a student at my new church. I had never met him, didn’t know anything about him, and even had to make sure he was legit. Drake’s first message to me was an invite into his discipleship group. At that point, I knew that God was leading me to a ministry that was serious about disciple making.

#7 Disciple Your Future Disciple Makers First.

The FAT Kids

I realize this series of articles is to student pastors who want to kick-start disciple making in their student ministry. Its not every day that students invite their student pastor into their own discipleship group. In fact, I’ve never heard of it before. I’m very thankful for the student pastors who lead well before me.

For those who are kick-starting disciple making in their student ministry, one of the most important questions to answer is, “Who do I begin discipling first?” Continue reading →

Dec 5 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 6)

discipleartMy wife, Michelle, and I have been married for right at two years now. In that two year time, we’ve had both the best and the worst vacations of our lives so far. This past spring, we went to Panama City Beach, FL for the one of the best vacations of our lives. Since we’re both from the southeast, we love the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf’s beaches, restaurants, etc. The Gulf is like home to us.

Last fall, we decided to do a cheap vacation to Myrtle Beach. It was the worst vacation of our lives yet. We had never been there before, and we had no plan once we got there. We ended up driving long distances for restaurants and shopping, we didn’t get a room on the beach, and the weather was terrible that week.

All of this to simply say: the WHERE is important. Many Student Pastors wonder, “Where is the best place to do disciple making groups?”

#6 Do Disciple Making Where the Mission is.

Everywhere

Jesus never told us specifically where to make disciples, but He did tell us “As you go, make disciples” Matthew 28:19. Jesus is reminding us that disciple making is not a part or compartment of our life, but disciple making is our lifestyle. We have to remember that disciple making is not ultimately a group, a meeting, or a session. Disciple making is how our lifestyle and conversations are consistently shaping the hearts and lives of others to follow Jesus with their heart and life. Our life itself is a mission, so we must be making disciples all the time on the mission. Take advantage of every conversation, every encounter, and see every appointment as a divine to make disciples “as you go.” Where do we make disciples then? Everywhere!

Where To Do Disciple Making Groups 

This is the question of course that we’re answering with this article. Continue reading →

Dec 4 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 5)

disciplesflWhen I was growing up, basketball wasn’t just a part of my life, it was my lifestyle. What I loved about basketball was that you could practice almost everywhere. All you basically needed was a ball. You didn’t need pads like football or a bat with some room to hit like baseball. Practicing basketball was so simple. What I worked on in my driveway made a huge difference during practices. What I worked on during my practices made a huge difference in my games. Everything was integrated with each other.

#5 Do Your Disciple Making Sessions Around Daily Devotions.

What Disciple Makers Study Wrongly

Many disciple makers don’t watch those they disciple make more disciples because of what they chose to study. It happens all the time. For decades in our churches, discipleship simply meant to come back on Wednesday nights and study an elective course with a fill-in-the-blank workbook.  Continue reading →

Jun 10 2016

Disciple Making Booklet for Student Ministry

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5 years ago, God put a passion on my heart to get students involved deeper in discipleship. Today, God has matured that passion to see students become disciple makers.

If our goal for students after graduate is for them to attend the church or be discipled, those goals are too short-sighted. Jesus’ goal for His disciples (who were probably teenagers) were to be disciple makers. Our goal for our students should be the same.

In the past 5 years I’ve read many books, had countless conversations, discipled many students, and have watched students make more disciples. I have a long way to grow in my understanding of disciple making, but I wanted to pass along this resource to Student Pastors, Leaders, Ministries, Parents, and even students for those longing to see Jesus’ Great Commission come about in and through the lives of our students.

Liberty Students Disciple Making Strategy (Booklet)

You can read the other articles in this series or check out more disciple making resources at https://youthgrouptruth.com/category/disciple-making/ Continue reading →

Apr 26 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 4)

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I’m not sure how it happened, but I’m certain we all almost died. I remember driving one morning with three of my friends in my Extended Cab Chevy Silverado. One minute, we were all singing to the radio, the next minute one of my friends was screaming my name to wake me up. Somehow I had drifted off to sleep which caused the truck to drift off the road. When my friend’s screams woke me up, I jerked my truck back on the road. In the same way, when we are making disciples, we’ve got to keep our eyes on the road (pathway) or we will drift.

#4 Keep Your Eyes on the Pathway of Disciple Making

The Mistake Disciple Makers Make

The major mistake I see disciple makers make is when they put all their eggs into the basket of the D-Group. While Jesus called us to make disciples, His Word also calls us to worship together, meet together in groups, live our life on mission, etc. Student Ministry is never to be disciple making only, but it should be disciple making always!

The Pathway of Disciple Making

There’s no doubt that D-Groups are left out of Student Ministry today, but I believe that the Scriptures give us a very clear disciple making pathway that both puts the D-Group where it should be and keeps us focused so that we do not drift. The way we describe our Disciple Making Pathway is:  Continue reading →

Mar 17 2016

Disciple Making in Student Ministry (Leader Training)

Disciple Making in Student Ministry.001

Here is my latest talk on Disciple Making. This talk came from a Leadership Training session with my own leaders on a Sunday morning. Here are a few thoughts from this training:

Disciple Making should be so simple that any disciple is able to make more disciples.

Jesus gave us a very simple but clear strategy to Make Disciples.

We must start a multiplication movement of Making Disciples because what the church has been doing for years is not working.

The WIN is student ministry should be Disciple Making Multiplication not attendance.

Here are the Free Downloadable Resources:

Disciple Making in Student Ministry (notes)

Disciple Making in Student Ministry (slides)

You can read the other articles in this series or check out more disciple making resources at https://youthgrouptruth.com/category/disciple-making/

Continue reading →

Mar 10 2016

DISCIPLE: Step 3

10 Articles on 10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry: https://youthgrouptruth.com/disciple-making/

A call to the Gospel includes a call for all Christians to make disciples. Jesus clearly commissioned every Christian in Matthew 28:18-20 saying, “Go make disciples of all nations.”

We need to be honest with ourselves, what Student Ministry has been doing has not been working. Researchers and statisticians tell us that 70% of our churched students will leave the church soon after graduating high school and never return to any church faithfully again. The number reason: they never owned their faith (1 John 2:19). Unfortunately the answer isn’t as easy as a better transition plan into college ministry. I firmly believe the answer is that these students never received the Gospel for salvation.

Student Ministries have never been so good at mega-services, conferences, and camps. We  have never been so strong at packing out a room, but we’ve never had weaker Christians. Its almost like there’s something we’re not doing. What we’ve been doing is not working.

If I asked you to sit on a two-legged stool, you would decline or fall over. It doesn’t matter how study the legs are or how well they are attached, two legged stools aren’t designed to stand.

Two part Student Ministries aren’t designed to make disciples. Worship services and small groups alone are two legs to the stool that need a third by the sturdy.

What if Student Ministries were capable of far more than raising up students who were faithful church attenders? What if the WIN in student ministry was to disciple our students so that they could make disciples for the rest of their life? What if God’s design was not for Christians to simply invite friends to church, but to multiply themselves by making disciples?

What if Making Disciples was so easy even a Christian can do it? As Christians, we are notorious for complicating things. What if we’ve complicated disciple making that only pastors, professors, and professionals can do it? What if Jesus meant it to be so simple that our students could be making disciples while in student ministry?

I believe the reason we’ve made discipleship so difficult is because Jesus made it so easy and we thought “Surely, this can’t be it!” I believe Jesus did expand on disciple making. He expounded on how to make disciples in Luke 24.

I believe that Luke 24 is the expansion of Jesus’ Great Commission where He expounded on how to Make Disciples:

Bible (Luke 24:44). Disciple Making starts with the Bible. While it is not a Bible study only, it always involves Bible study. The first step in making disciples is studying the Bible together so that God can speak into the conversation.

Gospel (Luke 24:45-46). Disciple Making points to the Gospel. The Bible has not accurately been studied unless it has been understood through the Person and Work and Jesus. When we study the Bible in light of the Gospel, then we are becoming disciples of Jesus. Jesus opened their minds to understand the Bible, and that revelation was Gospel-centrality.

Personal (Luke 24:47). Disciple Making gets Personal with each other. The biggest difference in making disciples and doing small groups is the ability to get personal with one another. Small Groups are usually larger and open groups while Disciple Making Groups are smaller and closed groups. Jesus said that our study of the Bible and understanding of the Gospel leads us to sharing personal needs of repentance, forgiveness, and witness (24:47). These personal discussions lead Disciple Making into Missional Living. We can’t proclaim these things until we discuss these things.

Like Jesus, I believe we should pour our lives into the 3 that God gives us for 12-18 months using Bible, Gospel, Personal.

The WIN in Disciple Making is when our disciples are making disciples. In fact, we haven’t made disciples unless our disciples are making disciples.

Step 3 in our CENTRIC Student Ministry Strategy is disciple our students to that we can send them out to make disciples for the rest of their lives!

Mar 3 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 3)

warriorswinchampionshipI played high school sports at Tuscaloosa Christian School in Tuscaloosa, AL. We were told that our rival posted their top five goals in their locker room. Their top three goals were all the same: “Beat Tuscaloosa, Beat Tuscaloosa, Beat Tuscaloosa.” Their fourth goal was “Win the State Championship.” Their fifth goal was “Go Undefeated.” Needless to say, they did not win the state championship, go undefeated, or beat us. Their goal was too short-sighted.

#2 Work Toward THE WIN in Disciple Making

Student Ministry Goals. Many student ministries have no goal. Zig Ziglar accurately said, “ If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Its very easy in student ministry to get caught up in the group, the services, the events, and the trips, but have no win that you’re working toward.

Some student ministries have the wrong goal. While there are many good goals in student ministry, only the right goal will make a difference in the students’ lives and throughout their lives. What is your win in student ministry? Is it short-sighted? Have you taken your win away from the championship and only focused it on one aspect?

Only a few student ministries have the right goal. I’ve been convicted lately about my own short-sighted goal in my student ministry. Continue reading →

Mar 1 2016

10 Ways Student Pastors Can Kick-Start Disciple Making in Their Student Ministry (Part 2)

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Many years ago when I was a newbie in disciple making, I did things the hard way. I remember meeting for hours at coffee shops as different students would come in for 45 minutes each. I would disciple every one of them individually. Many times a disciple making session would go overtime, and disciples would need wait in line for their turn.

It was then I figured I needed a new strategy to simplify my disciple making or I would be jittery from spending all day in a coffee shop. I began reading authors like Robby Gallaty who were passionate veterans at making disciples. When I came across a much more simple, effective way to make more disciples, my life got much easier.

#2 Simplify Your Disciple Making Method  Continue reading →

Jan 17 2013

I Love My Church: Because We Fight Like Family (Titus)

Free downloads for youth pastors, small group leaders, parents, and teens:
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (audio).mp3
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (netma).pdf
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (handout).pdf
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (ppt).ppt
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (notes).doc
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (service flow).doc
3 – ILMC – Titus – Family (small groups).doc
Who is not addicted to their phones these days? We’re addicted to texting, Twitter, Instagram, emails, Facebook, Snapchat, etc because we are ultimately addicted to relationships. We love to stay involved in each others lives. We’re addicted to all of that social media because God created humanity for community. The reason we get bored with church is because we tend to look at it as getting knowledge rather than growing in relationships. We tend to get bored with Jesus because we look at Him as a truth rather than a real relationship. Church is more than knowledge, and Jesus is more than a truth! God’s awesome design for us is to grow in truth and knowledge through relationship with others. We need to learn from others who have lived for Jesus. Check out this study in Titus on exactly how God calls us to do this. What are your thoughts?