1. loves the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love’s their neighbor as they love themselves (Mark 12:30 – 31)
2. understands that life is messy and that the leader will leverage the synergy of the group to help carry the load and remind the struggling group member of the hope that is in them in the messy times
3. is espousing and instilling a biblical world-view
4. is available as a sounding board and willing to give wise counsel when requested
5. will make sure that no known financial, emotional, or spiritual need will be glossed over but that the group leader will coalesce the spiritual gifts, abilities, and resources of the group members to meet those needs

From Rick Howerton

1. is their confidant, co-laborer, and friend
2. is available and honored to answer practical questions about small group leadership
3. is praying for them daily and proves so by connecting with the small group leader periodically via phone or face-to-face so they can hear that prayer
4. understands that the small group leaders they are responsible for one another, can learn from one another, and become better by being together, so they welcome them into their home from time to time to discuss group life, encourage one another, and celebrate what God is doing in each of their groups
5. is willing to come to the group meeting and speak into the conversation when the small group leader has been unable to resolve conflict, a doctrinal discussion has become a foolish and divisive debate, when the group is in rebellion and unwilling to consider multiplication, etc…

From Rick Howerton

That quote is from a recent interview on Joe Thorn’s blog with Jonathan Dodson. The whole interview is fabulous. Here are some highlights

In chapter one of 1 Timothy Paul shows us that sound doctrine is “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” Literally, the good news of the glory of the happy God. Sound doctrine shows us the something about God, namely that he is glorious and blessed! Sound doctrine isn’t merely getting your beliefs right; it is getting your heart happy in a right view of God. …

This deep heart change happens through doctrine, God-centered teaching …

If we’re to make progress in godliness, we must be continually taught and trained in Jesus …

Practically speaking, how would you encourage churches to make disciples?

Recover the centrality of the gospel in producing Jesus-shaped godliness, a godliness that is missional and God-centered. Apply the gospel everyday.

Recover a practice of discipleship that is communal not individualistic. Jesus make disciples in community, sent them by two, make them by threes and a dozen. Be a disciple with other disciples.

Recover a discipleship that is missional not comfort or knowledge based. Sound doctrine sends disciples that imitate Jesus. The incarnation is the paradigm of mission. Be a disciples that makes disciples, not on your turf but on their turf.

Follow the biblical distinctives of discipleship in the Gospels. Ask yourself where you are 1) relying on the Spirit 2) embracing suffering 3) dying to yourself 4) living in the hope of resurrection. If our lives aren’t risky enough to force us to rely on the Spirit, to suffer the reproach of others or loss of comfort, to surrender our rights, and demonstrate hope in a much greater world to come, then we have very little to point to as Christian discipleship. Take these 4 areas, plucked from the Gospels and Acts, and ask a group of disciples to provoke you to live this kind of life, one that puts Jesus at the center of your failures and your successes.

Send an email every Monday morning to both he and his wife and ask them how you can specifically pray for them this week.

Simple.  Doable.  But make no mistake, very meaningful!  How do I know this?  Because 6 months ago (after pastoring my church for 6.5 years) one of our members felt led by God to take this task upon herself to pray for me and my family regularly.  She has been faithful to do so, even while out-of-town.  She sends my wife and I an email every Monday grateful for the previous Lord’s Day, then asks how she can be specifically praying for us both.  Fewer things have made my wife and I feel so cared for and ministered to than this lady’s efforts.

You might be surprised how infrequent the pastor has someone approach him and inquire how they can pray for him.   Though there are many ways you can minister to you pastor, this is one that any church member can do with a little discipline, planning, and consistency.

Therefore, I challenge you to email your pastor this Monday.  Thank him for his labor in the word and the sweet fellowship of the saints the day before he facilitated.  Then ask for specific things from both he and his wife to pray for this next week.  Trust me.   You will bless, encourage, and minister to your pastor and his wife in ways you cannot imagine.

However, when the requests come back to you…make sure you are faithful to pray

From Brian Croft at his Practical Shepherding blog. He has written two books, Visit the Sick: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Illness
and Test, Train, Affirm, and Send Into Ministry: Recovering the Local Church’s Responsibility in the External Call. Both books are in the Ministering the Master’s Way series from Day One Christian Ministries.

During our last week of Re:Train Scott Thomas talked about Thomas Watson and his writings on repentance. I need to read them. In the mean time, here’s six points summarized from Watson that Scott included in a recent blog post on the Acts 29 Blog.

Six Characteristics of True Repentance

• I See My Sin Clearly (Luke 15:17)
• The fruits of repentance show genuine, anguishing sorrow over the offense itself and not just the consequences of it (2 Cor. 7:10)
• Confession of Sin Fully (Deut. 29:18)
• Shame for Sin (Ezra 9:6)
• Hatred of Sin to the Core
• Turning from Sin (Acts 26:20) and Toward Jesus (Acts 20:21)

Every Small Group Pastor needs to know that their Senior Pastor…

1. believes so strongly that small groups are vital to the church’s goal of transformed lives that small groups is included as one of the church’s core values
2. will be her/his advocate to the Finance Team so that there is adequate budget monies for the training and equipping of the small group coaches, leaders, and all other players on the small group team
3. requires every staff member to be in a small group and is encouraging those in the ministry they lead to be in one too
4. is in or leading a small group and talking about it when teaching and preaching
5. will consistently (at least every 30 days) remind those who are attending the worship gathering that it is vital that they join a small group and how to do so

From Rick Howerton

This article from Brian Croft is especially applicable to me as our family will be expanding very soon.

(A friend) shepherded his seven children by taking one morning a week to meet individually with each of his children.  Seven days in a week–each of the seven children got one morning each week with their dad.  They prayed, read scripture, talked, and read a book of that child’s choosing.  Inspired by his amazing example, I came home and established a similar model in our home that I remain faithful to this day.  Here is what I do to individually shepherd my four children regularly in addition to our regular time of family worship, as well as implications attached to it:

1)  Monday through Thursday each child gets a day and on his or her appointed day stays up 30 – 45 minutes later than their siblings to meet with me before bedtime.  I thought they would be excited about it for a few times, but then grow bored with it.  Not so.  Years later, they look forward to that time more than anything, which provides a natural accountability when you are tired from the day and are tempted to skip for that evening.

2)  We read the passage I am preaching for that week, discuss it a bit, then we read a chapter from a book they have chosen to read.  At the end, I take time to ask them how they are doing and how I can pray for them.  This is a great way to see how they are really doing and teach them what are good things to be praying for others.  Then, I pray for them and take them to bed.

3)  One of the greatest joys to my wife is her watching my effort with our children and lead our family in this way.  The last thing she feels is left out (just in case you were thinking that).  Our wives’ desire for us to make regular, deliberate, spiritually meaningful efforts to care for our children will mean more to her than I think we realize or understand.  I find this especially true for our wives who are stay at home moms who labor hard in this task of shepherding their little hearts all day with little break.

4)  My efforts with my children have put me in a position to challenge other men in my church to do something similar.  It has been amazing the way our fathers in our church have embraced this and the way it has empowered many of them to see they can spiritually lead their families with deliberate efforts.  Fellow pastors, the obvious needs to be acknowledged that you cannot challenge the men in your church to do anything you are not making a faithful effort at.  Regularly and individually shepherding your children’s hearts is certainly one of those efforts that we must model for the men in our local church.  Their failure to do it could be a reflection of your failure to model it.

Great thoughts from Josh Dix on developing leaders. I’ve included some highlights

What I see from Jesus

• is that leadership is not about getting more followers. The essence of discipleship is to produce more leaders.
• Jesus has a vision for what someone can become when they know him and discipleship is his leadership development tool.

Who did Jesus disciple?

• People who needed to know the one and true God.
• those who need an up close look at the ministry of Jesus because they are the future leaders of the church

Leadership development at the Journey

The process of growing your character, knowledge, and skills in the fruit of the Spirit for the purpose of leading the church.

What your best leadership development tool?

It’s you

• With God’s word in your heart and mind
• Doing the work of a missional church through discipling others.

Developing a leadership development play with:

• a name written down of someone who you can see God using for his glory and his mission.
• identify areas they can grow in their character,
• identify things they need to know to grow into maturity as a man and a Christian,
• identify ideas for how you can share the work of ministry with them to grow their leadership skills. 

Remember how Jesus thinks about leadership:

• It’s not about gaining followers, it’s about discipling more leaders.
• It’s dreaming of what people can become when they know him.
• It’s being kingdom minded…on a mission.  “Go.”
• It’s sharing the hard work of ministry.
• Helping others grow in your knowledge and heart as they work under the control of the Holy Spirit.

From Brian Croft

• The Unchanging character of God
• The hope of the gospel – “Don’t preach the deceased into heaven, don’t preach them into hell, just preach the gospel for the people who are there.”
• A call to respond to the gospel
• Instruct those present how to grieve

From a sermon on Acts 2 by Bob Thune of Coram Deo in Omana, NE.

1. Gospel dis-inculturation (the gospel confronts the attitudes and beliefs inherited from culture)
2. Biblical and theological depth
3. Rich community
4. Joyful, reverent worship
5. Missional flow