We have talked a lot about the importance of changing the “operating system” of the church in building a true discipleship culture versus an institutional model which is built on incremental change. In today’s episode we discuss how this operating system change affects every aspect of church operation and specifically what it looks like in creating teams. The things that matter most in team-building reveal your operating system.

If we are going to reach our world with the gospel, it demands that we become embedded in the key spaces of life: where we live, work, and play. We call this Mobilization…getting US into OUR world for the purpose of building meaningful relationships. But one of the biggest challenges we have encountered is how to take Jesus into those relationships in a way that is natural and genuine. In today’s episode, we discuss a major key we have found in moving from good relationships to God relationships. 

One of the natural tendencies of human nature is to reflex away from what is popular or trendy in the moment, and we typically swing to the other end of the spectrum. We see it in politics, religion, education, and just about every other facet of life including trends within the church. This has never been more apparent than in the last 50 years of the American church with the advent of the “megachurch” and the seeker-friendly movement and then all of the reflexes against that. The issue is this: if we just reflex against something we are still operating on the same plane. Our responsibility is not to reflex against current trends of the church but to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and the direction in the Word of God to be a biblical, apostolic discipleship movement. In today’s episode, we talk about the dangers of the pendulum and how the church must neither chase trends nor reflex against what is popular. 

In episode 83, we discussed how that one of the most critical steps in moving to multiplication is changing the way we think, particularly as it relates to the fulfillment of the mission. In this episode, we take that one step further and address what this looks like practically in our pursuit of discipleship multiplication. The main question for today’s episode is this: what kind of thinking catalyzes the missional impulse in us and our church culture.  

There is no denying that most want to see a multiplication revival but the reality is that in order to get to that, it will definitely require a change in the way we think. So here’s the deal: why is this so difficult? Why do we often resist challenges to conventional thinking? And what are some of those ways of thinking that need to change? Today we talk about one of the most difficult but most important aspects of moving to a multiplication movement: multiplication thinking.

I want to be like Jesus. And the disciples that he taught to be bold and caring and loving.  And yet the very fact that we teach that there is an objective truth, and that we teach that there is only one way to salvation, these things are by nature confrontational.  Yet in the 21st century, so many churches and even highly missional movements have tried to downplay these more “unpopular aspects” of Christianity. Or relegate some of the values/truths of the Kingdom of God to be taught to mature believers, if they are tackled at all.  So the question is this: in presenting the gospel, what role does confrontation play if any?

In the Western world, it is often believed that new behaviors are produced when new information is given. Unfortunately, in a biblical context it’s more insidious because we’re dealign with truth and the gap between our belief and behavior can be seen as hypocrisy from the outside and viewed as the expected norm from the inside. Let’s talk about bridging the gap between what we say we believe and our behavior. 

As we have discussed on multiple occasions, there is a trend where people are increasingly more open to a conversation about faith and the things of God, but resistant to a discussion where they feel like someone is trying to convince them.  In today’s episode we talk about how to shift towards talking with versus at people.

While nearly 75% of people think they will be successful with their New Year’s resolution, in reality 64% will have given up their resolution within a month. What’s funny is that over 50% of people say that at least one of their New Year’s resolutions were ones they had made the previous year.  As we age, we either get less hopeful … or wiser. Still … This is the time of year when people are perhaps the most aware of the effect of time on our lives. And the desire to have something new, to do better, to enact some kind of change motivates us.

Whether it was miracles, signs and wonders or the power of God giving them grace to be like Jesus in a very hostile and oppositional world, you can see clearly that the Book of Acts Church was saturated in the supernatural.  In our world today we have an emphasis on intellectualism and science, and yet our world is strangely preoccupied with the spiritual. Movies include many dark themes. The Marvel movies … it’s all about superhuman strength and superheroes. What if this is the hour where the idea that we have graduated from our need of the supernatural has come full circle?  Is the supernatural just something that we only see when we come together for the corporate gathering of the church?  Let’s explore some ways that we can have and experience the supernatural as we do the mission of the church.