I like the story of Andrew: Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he...
All believers, regardless of giftedness or abilities, are called to engage culture. This journey is for everyone. Even high-level leaders focusing on developing leaders or multiplying movements can never leave this first journey behind. I call it “The Missional...
Yesterday I wrote about praying for more workers in the harvest field as a direct result of the compassion we feel for the harvest field. We can pray that prayer with a great deal of boldness and confidence, because we know we are praying God’s will. However, consider...
The passage below is often cited as an injunction toward evangelism, and rightly so. But we miss something important if we don’t quote the first half of this passage. What do you see as a lead-in to reaching the harvest? “Jesus traveled through all the towns and...
As we reach people from the harvest, we don’t shut them up in a barn. We send them right back into the harvest to glean more. That’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples they would become fishers of men. Disciples are called to make more disciples: we take from...
I’ve done a lot of consulting, coaching, and writing about trying to help churches develop leadership farm systems (developing leaders from the harvest). One observation I’ve made is the churches that are able to raise leaders from the harvest have pastors who are...
As we pray for the development of leaders, our motivation should reflect that of Jesus: the harvest fields themselves. We need to allow our heart to break for the harvest. 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the...
Luke 10:2b: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Excerpt from Neil Cole’s excellent book Organic Leadership: As I mentioned in Organic Church, I have actually set my mobile phone alarm to go off at 10:02 every morning...
Over my years in ministry, I’ve recommended many different structures be put into place to help us grow and multiply healthy churches: coaching systems, church planter training and assessment, networks/cohorts of people in similar ministry roles. Those have yielded...
