Jeff Sundell just sent me this photo of a front yard baptism of a new believer. It’s driving me nuts because he didn’t tell me the story behind it. On the other hand if you look at the image long enough it will tell its own story.

We spend far too much time talking about abstract concepts of “mission.” Jesus came looking for lost people.

What matters is that we connect with people in their world, share the gospel, make disciples who learn to obey Jesus, and form communities that quickly reproduce, without our direction and control.

Neil Perry (red shirt with the camera) has done a great job of planting a growing church in his community. But that wasn’t enough. So now he and anyone he can corrupt are out in the community meeting people, sharing, discipling and gathering.

Neil doesn’t want to just plant a church, he wants to multiply disciples and communities.

I don’t care about his “model of ministry”. What matters is that people who are far from God are coming to know Jesus, and are learning to follow him and reach their world.

I can’t emphasise this enough—follow the stories. Keep reading the Gospels and Acts and ask “What did Jesus do (Gospels) what did the Risen Lord continue to do (Acts). Start learning from people like Neil who can tell you fresh stories of lives changed.

Andy Evans is one of the experts I consult from time to time. He hasn’t written any books. He isn’t invited to address conferences. He doesn’t lead a mega church or a cool church.

Andy is an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things like connecting with people in his community, sharing the gospel, making disciples and forming simple neighborhood churches. He is an expert because he’s doing something.

When I say “he’s doing something” I mean he’s doing it, and so are the people he’s mobilized.

One of Andy’s guys is a former crack cocaine addict who has formed a church in a trailer park with twenty baptized new believers. I want to give that guy an honorary Doctor of Trailer Park Incarnational Missionality.

We’ve made this mission thing far too complicated, far too abstract, far too distant from the lives of ordinary people.

Andy, and others like him, bring us back to earth, where Jesus is at work.

You can find my interview with Andy here or subscribe to the Movements podcast.

I did my first church planter assessment fifteen years ago under the tutelage of Bob Logan.

I’ve lost count of how many I’ve done since then and of how many assessors I’ve trained.

The impact was immediate—a dramatic decrease in the number of church starts that “failed”. Church planter assessments, done properly, work.

So why do so many movement leaders shun them? There’s a good reason—movements don’t need to do church planter assessments because they’re doing them all the time.

For them, assessment begins even before some comes to faith in Christ. They’re looking for people who are well connected and contagiously share the gospel.

Movement leaders look for the new disciples who are faithful and effective in making disciples. Church planter training, church planter assessment, church planting ministry begins from day one. That’s what movements do.

They don’t say, “Why don’t we give you a salary and startup budget, and you can plant a church, and become it’s first pastor.”

Instead they say, “Who else in your world needs Jesus? How can I help you reach them? How can I help you disciple them and form them into a community?” That’s what Peter did with Cornelius (Acts 10).

Ralph Moore does this. He finds some young adult and teens and challenges them to get out of the church building, and go down to the local skate park and start making disciples. He challenges his “mini church” leaders to reproduce leaders and groups.

When Ralph sees a pattern of faithfulness and fruitfulness, he’s found himself a church planter. No need to do a formal assessment, he already knows the quality of their life and ministry.

Dave Lawton is the same. He assesses his planters on the front line meeting people, sharing the gospel, making disciples, forming groups.

But Ralph and Dave are not my authorities. Look at the way Jesus grew leaders for the harvest. He tested their character, faith and ministry effectiveness on the road, as they travelled from town to town sharing the gospel.

Formal assessments have their place, but not as a substitute for the hard work of growing leaders who have been tested on the frontline.

I’m older and wiser now. If I was running a bootcamp now, we’d spend the first couple of days reading the book of Acts. In Acts, the risen Lord, continues his ministry through his disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit. The unifying theme of the book is the spread of the dynamic Word of the gospel which results in new disciples who form new churches.

So I’d ask this question,

In Acts, what were the obstacles to making disciples and planting churches, and how were they overcome?

The learning that comes from asking this question will help ensure you don’t just plant a church, but spark a movement.

What this clip and learn from the simplicity of how it communicates. The medium is the message.

But if you want to see a disciple making, church multiplication movement, you’re going to have to see beyond the picture it paints of the missional church. What’s missing?

HT: Epoch

Five years ago I sat in on a vision retreat with Tim Scheuer (front left) and the leadership of the Church Army. God showed up. The team bought in. The rest is history.

Tim has stepped down as national leader is now back on the frontline in one of the toughest suburbs in Sydney.

The third in a series of interviews with Tim Scheuer on what God is doing in Airds. You’ll be encouraged and learn about multiplying disciples and churches in the real world.

You can also listen in by subscribing to the Movements podcast.

The resources Tim refers to:

The five questions

Christianity Explained

Share Jesus without fear

Want to learn how to do what Tim does? Download the Movements study guide for groups.

I share Tim’s prayer letter for three reasons.

First, so you can learn about the price that has to be paid for each breakthrough and the battle that has to be won every day.

Second, because some of you need to hear the call to step into the mess of broken people who need Jesus.

Lastly, so you’ll pray for Tim, his team and the work in Airds.

Dear Friends,

I am writing from Newcastle at the start of the 3rd day of a 5 day youth event called Soul in the City. There are 12 of us here from Airds joining about 450 other young Christians from all over NSW and the ACT. Our young people from Airds are having many new experiences of worship, bible teaching and prayer ministry in a big group. So far the kids have soaked up much with only a few hiccups.

Today will be a great test as I am leading about 30 young people in one of the practical 3 day projects. My group will be targeting the housing commission blocks in Cooks Hill with a simple door knocking strategy. My group consists of kids from a couple of churches on the north shore of Sydney along with my group from Airds.

Please pray that the young people will rise to the challenge of taking the peace of Jesus out into the streets; that we might find those that are spiritually receptive, and that we will experience the presence and power of Jesus as we go in His Name…

One of our boys has their 13th birthday today – Rylli. Please pray for him as he has had some struggles yesterday. I am mindful that all of our kids are carrying some pretty big stuff inside with what goes on in their streets and homes. Please pray that they will take this opportunity to draw near to God and receive from Him.

Over recent weeks we have had some good things happen and some very challenging things.

Three new groups have kicked off and we plan to kick off three other groups in the next two weeks. I have been very excited about those willing to host groups in their homes. However, it has been a little disappointing that several who indicated willingness to attend have not yet shown up. Please pray that we might have a breakthrough with this. I feel there is a very real battle out in the streets for the hearts and souls of these ones.

Last week we had one of our guys turn violent fuelled by alcohol. He did some damage to one of our single mothers home, threatened her repeatedly in front of her kids and then assaulted another one of our young guys who was trying to provide support for her. This unfolded over several days and was really ugly. The police were involved repeatedly. Sorry for no names but please pray for the perpetrator, who had started to follow Jesus, and for the victims, that somehow God would bring good from this situation.

Sorry this is short but I have to go and cook pancakes for about 300.

Thanks for prayers.

Blessings

Tim

Here’s what Tim taught me in our last coaching call (I’m supposed to be coaching him!).

Be up front about Jesus. There are many more people out there than we realise who are ready for someone to tell them about Jesus.

Keep moving. Most of the evangelism Jesus did was harvest evangelism. He went into town looking for responsive people who became a beachhead for the gospel. Paul did the same.

Stop planting churches. Start making disciples. Then help those disciples to form churches in their world.

Cast vision early for simple neighbourhood churches.

Stop trying to reach one person at a time. Look for the person of peace and then through them reach networks of relationships.

Don’t focus on “mature” Christians. The newest believers are excited about knowing Jesus. They don’t know that they shouldn’t be sharing their joy with everyone they meet.

Begin with the end in mind. What is it going to take to give every person in Airds the opportunity to respond to Jesus and follow him together?

If you’ve got this far and now you’re saying to yourself, “That nice but door-knocking won’t work in my context.” I have a question:

What will you do in your context to find the .1% or 5% or 55% of people who ready now to respond to Jesus and follow him?

They are out there. Like the woman at the well (John 4), and Cornelius (Acts 10), they will become the first of many.

I’ve just finished a coaching call with Tim Scheuer.

For the last six weeks, Tim and his team have been out knocking on doors in Airds, one of Sydney’s most disadvantaged suburbs.

Tim asks five simple questions to discover people who are ready to find out more about following Jesus.

For most of us that would be hard work, but Tim loves every minute and every encounter with someone who doesn’t know Jesus.

Of 45 homes, 42 people wanted to talk more, 11 wanted to join a Christianity Explained group in their neighbourhood, 2 wanted to host a group and invite others.

Soon there will be 10 groups meeting in homes around Airds. Tim explains tells people the purpose of the groups is to get to know Jesus and follow him together in a simple neighbourhood church.

At one house, Tim suggest the name of a woman who might be interested in joining a group. The lady of the house told him, “The group in our home wouldn’t work for her. Yesterday we had a fist fight!”

Tim is finding that the more visits they do, the more people they meet who know people they know. Trust is building in the community. Locals are advising Tim on who he should visit next. They’re also recruiting friends and family to join a group.

Tim and his team have a plan. They want to meet everyone in Airds and give them a chance to hear about Jesus and respond to him. They’ve divided Airds up into 30 areas with about 35 homes in each area.

The pattern so far is that over 90% of people want to talk. About 25% of people want to join a group. Of that 25%, about one in five are happy to host a group in their home and invite others.

Here’s the scary thing, until Tim went visiting everyone would have said, “Airds is unresponsive to the gospel.” That’s why you shouldn’t listen to “experts” like me who write books — unless they’ve been listening to people like Tim.