From the Drawing Board to the Real World

Thursday, November 6 became the day that I began to put into practice some of the stuff that I have been learning about over these last couple of months. Let me explain.

Back in September I was given two books to read: Cultivating a Life for God and Organic Church Growing Faith where Life Happens. These are books written by Neil Cole. Both books encourage multiplying disciples of Christ. The cultivating book advocates the multiplying of disciples through Life Transformation Groups. A Life Transformation group is a group of between 2 and 4 same gender people who meet on a regular basis. The content of those meetings includes going through some accountability questions each week and reading 30 chapters of scripture. If one or more of the members does not finish the scripture reading, then the entire group rereads the same 30 chapters. The idea of the 30 chapters is that God's word has the power to change lives more than any book. Also the idea is that the entire group rereads the 30 chapters if one member does not complete them because perhaps there is something more that God wants to reveal to the group from that scripture.

Joe and I took the first steps to starting one of these kinds of groups yesterday. We had met previously but had not gone over the guidelines very well, and for yesterday's meeting Joe had not finished the reading. I assured him that was alright, and we would stick with the same chapters for next week.

I also had an idea that came out of the Pastor's Retreat I had attended in October. The idea involved doing discipling in the context of married couples. (Thanks, Kaye.) Last evening my wife and I started that process. We are attempting to work with some friends of ours from the Sebewaing area on creating a model that will allow this type of discipling to work. We had talked last week and assigned some scripture reading, and then we sat and talked about them over dinner last night. Our conversations were over 3 hours in length as we focused on 3 scripture verses we had looked at and the implications of those verses in the life of a disciple. We are excited about the possibilities of this ministry.

The other event that I am trying to figure out from yesterday is something that I cannot share in a public manner yet because it was shared in confidence. As I listened to this information from two different people, I had a distinct impression that what seems like a bad situation at the moment, God may well be able to use in a new way. Some of the ideas from the Organic Church book leaped out at me, and I am praying that we can come along side some people in a way that will minister to them and advance the Kingdom.

Praises:
These new ministry opportunities and groups
For fall harvest which are nearing completion
For the opportunity to involve my wife in a much more direct way in this ministry
For the continued support of the church

Concerns:
For hurting people in Sebewaing with the loss of jobs from the closing of a factory
For God's protection on Joe as he steps out into this LTG (life transformation group)
For John, Rhonda, Deb, and I as we try to put into practice the idea of couples discipling
For my appointment next week with a pastor from a church in the area
For new workers for the harvest (Matt. 9:37-38)

Your Servant in Christ,

Brian