By Jen Clark As a mom, a wife, and someone who works in children’s ministry, I often find myself in seasons where time feels scarce, energy runs low, and the demands of life press in from all directions. Maybe you’ve felt that too. In those moments, the word sacrifice...
by Justin Gravitt “See Dad, can you believe how fast I am now?!” It was her sixth birthday. I watch as she exhibits her newfound speed and familiar enthusiasm. She’d start just in front of me, burst forward for twenty feet. Then she'd stop turn around and with a...
By Bill Mowry Imagine kissing someone through a pane of glass. What a funny image! Who would do that? We might blow a kiss to someone as they walk away. We might jokingly imitate a kiss to another through a glass window. But no two people would exchange a purposeful...
by Justin Gravitt Parents, it’s up to you to raise your kids in the Lord. You’re probably familiar with the Great Commission, but did you know that after Acts 21 the word disciple isn’t found in the New Testament? After Acts 21, the disciple making relationship is...
By John Sloan Evangelism takes many forms, each potentially effective or ineffective depending on various factors. Billy Graham, for instance, was remarkably effective during his era, leveraging mass evangelism at large rallies. In those days, most people had some...
By Bill Mowry Television runs on the tracks of trends. One current trend is a variation of the ballroom dance. We love to watch minor celebrities, athletes, or politicians learn the intricacies of ballroom dancing. A fundamental rule of ballroom dancing is that...
By Bill Mowry Forty years is a big gap to bridge. I met Jim when he was nineteen years old and a freshman in college. Jim is now sitting across from me in restaurant as a late middle-aged man with children in college. What a difference forty years make! When I meet...
by Tony Miltenberger Being in vocational ministry has afforded me many opportunities to talk with pastors and church leaders all over the world. Almost always the heart cry of the church leader is the same: they want to see the body of Christ renewed. They...
By Bill Mowry I’m always looking for new pictures to express familiar truths. Here’s a new image to capture disciplemaking: “Disciplemaking is an elevated form of fellowship.” I’ve been pondering this statement from former Navigators U.S. Director Alan Andrews for...
by Dave Holmes As a local pastor seeking to cultivate a robust culture of disciplemaking in my church, I’ve wrestled with describing disciplemaking countless times over the past decade, with varying degrees of success. Most often, I found myself falling short in one...
As summer unfolds, many of us find ourselves with longer days and freer schedules. The relaxed pace creates more time for relationship building, which makes this season a good time to expand our disciplemaking beyond regular meetings. But what could that look like? In...
By Bill Mowry We’ve all seen the headlines: bees are dying! Bees and other pollinators are vital to life. Bees pollinate 80% of flowering plants. They account for $15 billion in agricultural products; bees shape our food chains. The good news is that commercial...
by Bill Mowry Meditation has permeated our culture. Commercials and advertisements feature people in yoga classes practicing meditation. The New York City School System sets aside time at the beginning of the day for students to practice mindfulness and deep...
by Justin Gravitt Why don’t more Christians make disciples? It’s a problem that church leaders have been trying to solve for decades, if not centuries. The problem is straightforward, but the solution is anything but. Despite the efforts of disciple makers a...
by Bill Mowry3 Principles to Age Well This isn’t a promotion for a time-share in Florida; the place where palm trees grow. A palm tree is a biblical picture for successful aging. The Psalmist describes how the godly in old age “will flourish like a palm tree . . ....
by Justin GravittPicture this: You and a friend meet a couple of times a month for lunch, golf, or just to grab coffee. This meeting is a priority for both of you. You both love Jesus and enjoy talking about family, the Bible, and shared interests. Every time you walk...
We Wish You an AWE-full Christmas! The promise of being filled with awe is present every Christmas. This holiday surrounds us with beauty — festive lights, up-lifting music, and the art of the Christmas card. Even in an increasingly faith-less culture, Jesus is...
By Bill Mowry After years of receiving bad haircuts, I decided to entrust my hair to a hair stylist. Nicky was my wife’s stylist so I made an appointment with her. We soon hit it off. It turned out that she was launching a second career as a life coach. While cutting...
by Ron Bennett As we ponder a variety of landscapes that God takes us through in the Christian life, we consider the detour. Can you identify with hitting a detour in your spiritual journey? The dictionary defines a detour this way: to turn aside; a roundabout way, a...
by Bill Mowry Choosing the right playing field for a sport is a no-brainer. We don’t play basketball on a baseball diamond. However, when it comes to the playing field of faith, I think there are two fields we can play on but one field tends to dominate our playing...
by Justin Gravitt “Justin, sit down!” Enraged, I stood for a few beats more. Then I sat down. Sort of. My eyes glared at my supervisor. He was forty years my senior. But it didn’t matter to me. All I could see was his sin (my immaturity blinded me to mine). So, I kept...
By Bill Mowry Have you ever had a picture lodge in your mind that you can’t stop thinking about? No matter where you are or what you’re doing, this picture creeps into your consciousness. Here’s my latest re-occuring picture. In his book The Contemplative Pastor,...
by Bill Mowry A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away . . . I was an art student. In fact, I was once certified to teach art in grades K-12. Why didn’t I pursue this career? A deciding factor was a grade on a watercolor painting. The painting was a collection of...
by Bill Momry I walked into my teacher training class my junior year of college expecting tools for teaching social studies. You know what I received that first day? One question after another. My professor was not interested in content or lecturing but in asking...
by Justin Gravitt What is disciple making, precisely? It’s a question worth slowing down to answer. Because it takes time to be precise, and because the consequence of cloudy thinking is misunderstanding that leads to misnamed, or worse, misaimed ministry. So, what is...
by Bill Mowry Hooray for introverts! Discovering and naming my introverted side was a liberating moment for me. I now know my “sweet spot” preferences and can maximize them for the Great Commission. When I’m asked if introverted people can make disciples, I respond...
By Bill Mowry One question kept coming up in interview after interview when promoting my book Walk with Me. What was the question? “I’m an introvert. Can I be a disciplemaker?” The first time I heard this question I thought to myself, “Is introversion a kind of...
By Bill Mowry Masking tape was an important household expense when our children were growing up. Peggy and I watched in wonder as our boys created space guns and castles from masking tape, plastic liter bottles, and cardboard. Their imaginations had no limits on what...
by Bill Mowry Who wouldn’t want to live a life of leisure these days? Our lives are so frantic that we long for those idle moments to step off the treadmill of life. Leisure is a break from activity to rest or re-charge our lives. Leisure originally meant something...
by Bill Mowry I have a simple rule of thumb for home projects. Every project, no matter how big or small, requires 2.5 visits to a hardware store. I either forget something or the project takes an unexpected turn that requires a new tool, part, or piece of lumber. Big...
by Bill Mowry We stumbled into a traffic jam. Peggy and I had planned a week’s vacation in sunny Savannah, Georgia. On the second day of our vacation, we decided to travel into the city to enjoy the historic downtown and sample the local food. Imagine our surprise...
by Justin Gravitt It probably takes longer than you think, at least if you intend to make them like Jesus did. The details might disturb you. Let’s start by looking at how Jesus made disciples. Jesus spent at least three years (some scholars think it was closer to...
by Vicki Gratchell Melissa shared her story and I sat in silence, listening. I wasn’t shocked by the content she shared; many people have similar stories. I was struck silent because the words were that of a dear friend and thus the characters in her story were also...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) Disciplemaking is like ballroom dancing. There’s an elegance and structure to this beautiful dance of growth. In traditional ballroom dancing, there’s an established leader and a follower. In traditional disciplemaking, the...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) Death can be God’s classroom for learning. When my mother passed away a decade ago, one verse lingered in my mind. It’s a little obscure passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:11: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and to work with your...
By Bill Mowry I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know those missionary letters and updates you receive from people like me? We follow a simple formula describing a dramatic ministry success story that encourages you to keep praying and giving. While it’s...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) Have you heard the story about the boy in the Sunday School kindergarten class? When the teacher held up a picture of a squirrel and asked the class what it was, the boy answered, “I think it’s a squirrel but I’m going to say Jesus!”...
by Cedric Brown A few years ago, elevated blood pressure, decreased kidney function, increased liver enzymes, and other complications following surgery signaled to the medical team that my body was in crisis. I needed special medical care . . . immediately. The...
Disciplemaking is as simple as a walk by Bill Mowry I quickly saw the clutter of books and videos when I walked into Justin’s office. His office was taken over by this stack of resources. What was the subject matter? The piles of books and videos were about...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) I’m a delayed Trekkie fan. I missed all the hype with the original Star Trek series but became a fan of The Next Generation. The captain’s voice-over opening to each show makes me sit up straight in my recliner (my command chair!)....
By Justin Gravitt “Ladies and gentleman, this is Justin, and I’ll be your captain today. On behalf of Jesus, welcome aboard Pandemic Flight COVID-19, offering non-stop service from your sense of normalcy to an undisclosed final destination. Flight time will be three...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) You’ve just been hired for your dream job. You can’t wait until the first day of training. Then the text message arrives: “Report to our desert training outpost. Don’t bring any water or food. You’re going to be totally alone.” What kind...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com)The Monday afternoon conversation went downhill fast. “How’s your week starting out Bill?” asked a friend. “I’m overwhelmed already,” I replied. Some weeks are like this. Every Monday morning, I plan my next two weeks of life. I review my...
by Justin GravittIf someone asked you to compile a list of seven basics of a disciple’s life, what would you include? Now, I’m not talking about beliefs or doctrines, but practices or disciplines. Take a moment and think about what would be on your list. When I was an...
Wisdom cries aloud in the street,in the markets she raises her voice;at the head of the noisy streets she cries out . . .Proverbs 1:20-21 by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) The noise in our streets is deafening. Daily it seems that another stature or monument is toppled....
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com)I know that stomping on a chalk drawing is not going to stop the pandemic. This fun act takes off some of the edge of being “self-isolated.” Nearly three months in the same house is pretty confining. Stomping on the virus helps me “get...
by Bill Mowry (www.alongsider.com) It’s time to ask some questions. Not everyone is comfortable with asking questions or answering questions. Look at how politicians and teachers squirm when asked a question they’re unprepared to answer. Question asking is important....
By Bill Mowry - I feel like I need some soul-therapy as I shelter-in-place. It’s been over three weeks since I’ve been in a store or a restaurant. It’s been over three weeks since I talked with a non-family member closer than six feet away. It’s been four weeks since...
By Bill Mowry - I was bored by the roundtable discussion on disciplemaking . . . until Jeff spoke. “I should be more intentional about disciplemaking” he said, “but I tend to wing it. I guess I’m more organic in my approach.” Carol immediately jumped in on Jeff’s...
by Ron Bennett ( http://www.rbennett.net/ ) All communication is based on shared meanings not shared words. Words are only the container into which meaning is added. For example, the word “agua” is a random arrangement of letters unless you are familiar with...
by Ron Bennett Success in baseball is simple to explain but much harder to achieve. The number of hits, errors, base runners, or any other of the myriad stats that go into making baseball interesting, do not count in the end. All that really matters is the number...
by Tricia McCary Rhodes The ancient Celts used to say that there are only a few feet between heaven and earth and at times, that distance can be even smaller. When this happened, they called it a “thin place.” A thin place is that Kairos moment, that holy instance...
by Bill Mowry (alongsider.com) I marvel at how God mysteriously and paradoxically ties His will to our prayer lives. Our Lord is fully sovereign, able to accomplish His purposes without us, yet our prayers play a role in moving His hand. Consider the example of...
By Bill Mowry (www.alongsider.com) I’ve always assumed that mature disciplemakers needed additional layers of sophistication, technique, and professionalism. I’m now discarding some of these layers and returning to simpler approaches. One simple approach is...
by Bill Mowry (www.alongsiders.com) “My business is circumference” wrote the poet Emily Dickinson. Dickinson’s poetry flowed from her private world, the circumference of her life. Like the poet, advancing the gospel is about the business of circumference. Alongsiders...
by Bill Mowry www.alongsider.com The adventure of the alongsider begins with a good question. Have you ever noticed how God consistently engages His creation through questions? “Where are you Adam?” “Have you considered my servant Job?” “Whom shall I send?” When God...
by Bill Mowry Can you picture Jesus having a water fight with the disciples as they traveled the Sea of Galilee? Do you feel theologically safe imagining the Son of God hanging out with his friends and having fun? Elton Trueblood, in his book The Humor of Christ,...
By Bill Mowry All of us have a favorite Old Testament personality. One of my favorites is the leader and nation-builder, Joshua. Joshua’s impact was so significant that the author of Judges wrote, “The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua.” (Judges...
by Bill Mowry In his presentation on disciple-making, Pastor Paul was challenged by a friend in the audience. “I could never make disciples,” the friend said. “I’m not a good public teacher like you.” Paul turned the question back to the audience, “How many of you are...
Do you want to help guide people to experience a deep, ongoing connection with Jesus? Does the idea of equipping individuals to intentionally pass along their faith to others inspire and engage you? To help you engage those in your natural relational networks, The...
by Margaret Fitzwater Chris, the pastor of a church Roy and I were working with, frequently challenged the congregation to become disciple makers. But only a few people were catching the vision. Even for these precious few it was hard, because they were busy with all...
by Al Engler When we moved into our home, we learned that our next-door neighbor was hosting an “open table” every Thursday evening at her place. We changed our schedule so that we would be free to attend these dinner parties. What did we do there? We engaged in...
When I was a young mom, a friend opened up my dusty bible and showed me that what Jesus had done on the cross two thousand years earlier was for me. Until that time, I hadn’t understood that heaven was a promise from God, guaranteed by His Son’s death. It took me two...
How to Raise Up Disciples Who Will Flourish, With or Without You By Christy Tennant As I’ve prepared for a two month international trip this summer, I’ve been conscious of the potential impact of my absence on the five women I disciple. We’ve been meeting weekly for...
by Jan Johnson I used to have dazzling quiet times. I sat on my bed, holding my four-part prayer notebook as if it were a cherished artifact. Pulling back the tab marked “adoration,” I peered at a list of forty words that described God and picked three to praise God...
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now...
by Ephrem Smith Dying to the things of this world that contaminate our hearts begins with realizing that we don’t have it in our own power to love the way God desires us to love. We must live daily in the reality of God’s steadfast love for us. God showers us daily...
I find myself talking a lot about discipleship these days. It is my passion. A lot of my time revolves around growing in the direction of Jesus and watching others grow. Here are a few threads from my book Guardrails; Six Principles for a Multiplying Church that I explain in more depth here.
by Michael Frost Most church vision and mission statements sound great. They usually include clear biblical values and are crafted to be interesting and memorable. But what difference do they actually make? Recent research suggests that rather than value statements...
What are we doing? How well is it working? With the help of the Barna Group, The Navigators uncovered key insights into questions disciplers must ask on a regular basis. Here some of their findings: The research examined the language and terminology surrounding...
by Chris Matthisen -- When I encourage disciples to take up the challenge to disciple another, I get one of two responses. The first response goes something like this; “But I don’t have the knowledge or maturity to disciple another person!” and the second is “Who am I...
An effective disciple is someone who truly understands that they are loved by God. Without such knowledge we lack courage along with the relational strength to be obedient to the Word of God. In her book The Fear Cure, Lisa Rankin says that we need courage to deal...
by Chris Matthisen "I'm not able to experience God's presence", or "I'm failing to find purpose in my life", are two of the most common statements I hear from disciples as they struggle to make sense of their faith. Although the answers may vary, I have found one...
Disciple! Collingwood was a success! If you missed out, don't despair. go to the link for the recordings and supplemental materials from the day. To not miss out on future Disciple! Conferences, subscribe to our newsletter
by Chris Matthisen In the opening Chapters of Matthew, Jesus gives us a good understanding of the content and process that goes into the formation of a disciple. The Sermon on the Mount for example, communicates foundational truths that Jesus wants every disciple to...
by Chris Matthisen One of the first things I do when starting a new discipling relationship is to sit down with the disciple and go over the Disciple-SHIP illustration. Every ship has a hull or body; it forms the core of what the ship is all about. The hull on some...
by Luciano Del Monte Someone asked me recently, "Luch, do you know where you are broken?" That is what you call an intimidating and revealing question. Fortunately I have identified the broken areas of my life over the years. I recently turned 61 after all, and so am...
by Irv Augustine Look at 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 1 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is...
by JD Sherman This morning as I was praying, I was reflecting on a conversation I had with a group of University students just a day earlier. We were beginning a new study around the theme of purpose, and as the students began to share it became evident that few had...
by Chris Matthisen You have probably heard of setting SMART1 goals, WIG2 goals, HARD3 goals and many other kinds of goal setting acronyms that encourage us in the best ways to accomplish an objective. No matter what acronym you use many of us find that the journey in...
by Chris Matthisen List names of people you believe God may be leading you to invest in. Take time every morning during your devotions to pray that God would reveal those on your list whom He is preparing for a discipling relationship with you. Don't rush the process,...
Did you miss the last conference? Don't despair! Here you can catch up on the workshops presented at the February 9th Disciple conference at North Park Community Church in London Ontario. We hope they encourage you to grow in your Discipleship with others. Disciple!...
by Rosetta Del Monte Henri Nowen in The Way of the Heart says without silence the spirit cannot grow. "Solitude is difficult for many people, because they don't know what to do in the solitude. Most of us are used to being very busy and prductive but in solitude we...
by Luciano Del Monte Years ago I read a book by Christian Swiss Psychiatrist Paul Tournier called To Understand Each Other. The whole book is powerful although only 63 pages in length. It has amazing insights that make us more effective and empathetic people builders....
On February 9, we will be hosting the 2nd Disciple Conference in London, ON. Did you miss the last conference? Don't despair! The following video will get you up to speed on the content of the last Conference. This video is of the first main session from the Disciple!...
Thank you for allowing us to accompany you on your Adventure in Discipling Others journey! Our Navigator team were thrilled that you decided to invest a full day last month to discover and learn together. We hope this monthly blog will be a source of encouragement. We...
