Disciple-Making Insider Christward Movements
Disciple-Making Insider Christward Movements conceives and catalyses strategies for sustainable disciple-making among ethnic groups in Asia and Australasia.
We focus on establishing new Disciple-Making Movements [DMM] and strengthening existing ones, rather than Church Planting.
Experience and recent articles indicate that DMM, also sometimes known as Christward Movements [XM], become more attainable when the fellowship gatherings of new believers remain small and easily multipliable. A small group gathering enables each disciple to focus on each other, rather than on the gathering itself. This requires the dialoguing of each member with one another. The disciplines of self-study bible reading, private daily prayer, ongoing repentance, active faith and "to love your neighbour as yourself"(Christ's second great commandment), can all be reflected upon and prayed into together. This can lead to the missional nature of God manifesting in each emerging disciple's life.
An Insider Movement [IM] is where in-country, same cultural disciples of Jesus are spreading the DMM within their people. This is in contrast to 'a messenger' or 'sent one' from another culture who as 'a cultural outsider' may work to initially catalyse the DMM with 'key insiders', but who after his/her participation is no longer needed, 'steps back', withdraws and finds another field to work in.
Current Focus
Our present focus is a district of third world standards within a developing country. We currently seek to network with their local disciple-makers who have a passion and compassion toward children. We focus on the vulnerable. A high percentage of these Southeast Asian children are in poverty and are malnourished.
According to locals, nearly all boys of this country love football.
Currently, discussions are underway for how football can be used as a platform to attract children toward Jesus as an XM. An emerging cross-cultural network of disciples is forming who believe this can be done through creating a fun environment through football, through which children become comfortable enough to enter into small groups of three to six, with a mentor where they learn to pray and read the Bible together.
I was a Player Manager of a football team in China. But this strategy will require local youthful disciples to become Youth Football Coaches for the Children's Ministry, for this currently short term focus to become sustainable and ongoingly operated by locals, 'IM', with medium or long term focus.
From 5th to 26th November 2019 local disciples and village pastors with this passion for children were able to meet with us to discuss. This was mainly achieved through local disciple-makers who made connections for us.
To build momentum toward a DMM, key local Disciple-Making Ministry disciples agree it will require Youth Football Coaches who can also function in the dual role of children's small group disciple-making mentors.
An Essential Foundation for Disciple Making
The two most common designated titles Jesus gave to our Bible translation sources we have today is "the word of God" and "the Scripture" (John 10.35). Jesus said the Scripture is the written word of God (John 10.35). While the Scripture declares that Jesus is the personal living word of God (Revelation 19.13). Therefore in this sense, the Scripture and Jesus are one: The Scripture as the written word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as the personal living Word of God. Furthermore, in this regard, it would be fair to say the more we love God the more we will love the Scripture.
Much controversy has been written about the scripture over the past 1900 years, particularly the last 200, but at the end of the day, five short words from Christ Himself sum up what He had to say, and should put an end to the matter, "the scripture cannot be broken" John 10.35.
What distinguishes a disciple of Jesus from those in the world is that a disciple keeps the Lord Jesus Christ's word. This refers to the written Word and the personal Word living in the life of the believer, through His Spirit. The Lord Himself teaches this when He says in John 14.19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also." During Christ's final week on earth, He makes a distinction here between those who are going to continue to see Him and those who will see Him no more.
John the Apostle further records this conversation between the Lord and His disciples where it is written in John 14.21-23: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."
Therefore it is safe to say the defining characteristic of those who will continue to see Christ, and have Him manifest and make His home in them, is that they "keep God's word." It is not what church you belong to, or what denomination, or a certificate of baptism, what letters a person has after their name, or a position in a church that defines a disciple. Rather it is this "keeping of God's word" which is the central characterising mark, between someone who is a disciple of Christ and someone who is not.
A Balanced Foundation in Disciple Making
The Psalmist writes "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" Psalm 33.6. The word 'breath' in this passage in the original language means 'wind', and is the same word used to describe the Spirit of God throughout the Old Testament. Therefore we can safely say that by a divine act, the cosmos was made by two inseparable twin simultaneous personal entities: the Word of God and the Spirit of God. That it took both the word of God and the Spirit of God to operate inseparably together, for the stars, the planets and the creative life we have on earth today to have become established.
So it is in the life of the believer! We need both the Word of God and the Spirit of God to be present together, operating harmoniously in a symphony. For both of these two personalities of the Triune God are vital sources of life, which the Scripture shows only by operating together, can sustainably bring spiritual growth in the believer's life. It has been said, "with only the Word we dry up; with only the Spirit, we blow up, but with the Word and the Spirit together, we grow up."
These two the Spirit of God and the Word of God operating in the life of a believer never contradict each other. We are encouraged "Do not quench the Spirit" 1 Thessalonians 5.19. On the other hand, we are encouraged to, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" 1 Thessalonians 5.21. Not every act of the Spirit of God that God has ever done has been recorded in Scripture. However, nothing should contradict the Scripture. And so every act, every thought we need to test and for this, we have the scripture. For the Scripture says in Isaiah the prophet chapter 8 verse 20, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Therefore any person or any voice operating by the Spirit of God will always be in harmony with Scripture, the word of God.