Coaching Christian Leaders

In Matthew 28:19-20 God called the church to make disciples. Other than teaching them to obey all that Christ taught, there is no other information in Matthew 28 on how to make these disciples. So, the church must develop its own approach. Below is my first attempt at developing a discipleship process. I have broken it down into a few steps. Here are steps 2-5. Basics - Learning how to read and study the Bible, pray, and to share their faith. Community - Making church attendance a habit and joining a Bible study group. Service - Finding a place to serve. Spiritual Disciplines - Practicing Bible-based spiritual disciplines. I will cover these in greater detail in follow-on posts. Today, let's focus on the first step, which is Assign a Mentor. Assign a Mentor To help a believer navigate the basics, community, service, and the disciplines, it's important to assign a mentor. What is mentoring? Mentoring is a relationship between an experienced person (mentor) and a less experience...

If there is one thing I constantly change, it's my preaching. The changes are small, and maybe to the listeners, unnoticed. But to me they're important. For instance, over the years I have reduced the length of my sermons by about 10 minutes. What used to last 45 minutes is now 35. I reduced the time because of my congregation. I noticed that their ability to focus dropped dramatically after the 30-minute mark. I have since learned that what you can say in 45 minutes, you can say in 35 minutes or less. Recently, an article by David Prince changed my preaching. The article is A Simple Guide to Reading the Bible with Jesus as the Hero . His ideas have dramatically changed how I preach Old Testament based sermons. Now I am working on how to layer the gospel within the body of the message. Rather than tacking it on the end, I want the person and work of Jesus to be evident throughout. A resource that has helped me with this is Preaching the Truth as it is in Jesus: A Reader on Andr...

I've been putting together a list of books that I feel every Christian should read. My current list is just below. Knowing God by J. I. Packer Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken and Gregg Lewis Heaven by Randy Alcorn The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel Pastors, who are a part of my weekly text group, submitted the titles below. Some I have read, many I have not. They do look like some great choices. Thanks to all of you who participated. The Imperfect Disciple, Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together by Jared C. Wilson Trusting God by Jerry Bridges Conformed to His Image by Ken Boa The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Ma...