Joshua One Ministries

While doing some research yesterday, I came across a remarkable essay: “The Vital Role of Tentmaking in Paul’s Mission Strategy.”

This 1997 article was written by Ruth E. Siemens, a former missionary to Latin America and Europe and the founder of Global Opportunities (GO), which promotes tentmaking as a missions strategy.

Many Christians know that the Apostle Paul knew the trade of tentmaking, and that while traveling through Asia Minor and Europe as a missionary, he supplemented his ministry income by plying his trade. But Siemens offers a fascinating and provocative analysis in which she says that tentmaking was a crucial element of Paul’s missions strategy.

Siemens argues that tentmaking was not just a “fall back” source of income for Paul, but rather, that Paul earned almost all of his income from his secular trade. She points to evidence of tentmaking during all three of Paul’s missionary tours. She proposes that Paul refused to request or accept donations when they might have been available to him, preferring to be a tentmaker. She argues that tentmaking was Paul’s strategic way to infiltrate a community, and that it also was a method of evangelism that Paul could reproduce in his converts.

In short, and quite remarkably, I think, Siemens attributes Paul’s phenomenal success in spreading the gospel to several nations in a relatively short period of time largely to Paul’s tentmaking strategy.

Siemens correctly points out that Paul also endorsed and encouraged paid ministers. She says that Paul encouraged established churches to generously support their own pastors. But for missionaries seeking to save lost souls and start new churches in a foreign culture, tentmaking should be the norm, or at least a norm, Siemens contends.

The modern Church does not appreciate the significance of Paul’s tentmaking strategy, she says. Rather, we look down our noses at tentmaking. Because of this, we are failing to effectively utilize what could be a powerful strategy for world missions in the 21st century.

Siemens’ article has stretched my thinking. Here are several excerpts from her 9-page article:

• “I will use the term tentmaker to mean missions-committed Christians who support themselves abroad, and make Jesus Christ known on the job and in their free time. They are in full-time ministry even when they have full-time jobs, because they integrate work and witness. They follow Paul’s model of tentmaking, for the same reasons he did it.”

• “Because we cannot finish evangelizing the world without a massive force of such tentmakers, I am amazed at the lack of attention that is given to Paul’s model.”

• “The collapse of the U.S.S.R. not only freed the Soviet satellite nations, and produced 15 new Soviet republics, but it turned almost all non-unaligned governments to the West. Most of them struggle to implement free market economics, multi-party politics and improved human rights, in order to qualify for scarce international aid. All need tentmakers.”

• “By far the largest demand today is for educators, as it was in the early 1950s when I began my teaching and administration in private, secular schools in Latin America. But in addition to education at all levels, professionals and certified technicians are needed especially in health care, engineering, science and technology, business and finance, agriculture and related fields, and computer science.”

• “It [tentmaking] can reduce the attrition rate of missionaries who do not finish their first term or return for a second one– about 30%. Tentmakers who have learned the language and culture at their own expense are tried and proven candidates for mission agencies.”

• “Paul’s example gives a biblical basis [for tentmaking]. This is desperately needed! The mission community is not even sure whether to accept tentmakers as valid workers. Almost all the magazine articles and book chapters on tentmaking in my considerable collection have one common characteristic. They give a few advantages of tentmaking and end up with a long list of disadvantages. Always the same ones, most of which are not defects of lay ministry, but are based on an inadequate definition, and the restrictions of a hostile society. Regular missionaries cannot do a better job in those countires since they cannot enter at all.”

• “Tentmakers are often made out to be second class. They receive little help or encouragement from their churches or the mission community because these do not understand the tentmaker approach to which the tentmakers are called by the Lord. No wonder so relatively few young people are going as tentmakers …”

I am a member of a Facebook group for ministers of independent Christian churches. Occasionally someone will raise a provocative discussion question and solicit responses. Brad Pembleton, a pastor of Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, has raised an excellent question:

From your perspective what is the next battle we are going to have to face as a church?

Brad, I have been giving that question a lot of thought for the last few years. My answer is longer than suits “The Wall” on Facebook, so I will post my answer here.

The next great battle that will beleaguer the modern American church is already well under way, but it will get much worse. I am talking about the battle between the ages. Just as Christian churches split over speaking in tongues in the 1970s and over styles of music in the 1990s, today we are seeing more and more churches splitting down generational lines. During the next decade, that Great Divide will become the norm.

Don’t mistakenly synonymize the age divide with the debate over music. The music squabble is/was largely a dispute between us Baby Boomers, who prefer soft rock choruses, and senior citizens, who prefer the older gospel songs in our hymnals. Being forced to choose between the two, most younger Christians lined up with the Baby Boomers in that debate. But the growing division between the generations in the church goes much deeper than musical taste. This is about power: who is in control of the church and who should be. And as Baby Boomers move to the other side of the age divide and Christians in their teens and twenties mature, the rivalry will escalate greatly.

During the 1970s-1990s, beginning perhaps with Willow Creek in 1975, some churches began explicitly targeting younger people. That was occurring in an era when the older generation still had tight hold of the reins in traditional churches, and younger people were seeking a less stifling worship and fellowship environment. Wanting to share in the success of those younger, hipper and usually larger churches, by the 1990s most traditional churches began mimicking the same strategy.

As a result, senior adult members are increasingly being marginalized in our churches. In many, perhaps most, Christian churches today, senior adults are expected to go along with what the younger members dictate and not make any waves. And if you would rather go worship somewhere else, there’s the door.

In response, we now see churches being started by older members who left (from their perspective, were driven out of) their former churches. Your church in Houston has witnessed this first hand, Brad, and we have seen the same thing here in Oklahoma City. It is happening all across the country. In addition, we now see a new phenomenon: churches that are not only started by older Christians but which are explicitly targeting older people in their marketing.

Everything so far has just been the first act. Senior citizens today are the “silent generation.” They tend to take what is dished out to them. They are uncomfortable making waves. But we Baby Boomers are hardly known for keeping quiet. As Baby Boomers continue to grow older, the power struggle between young and old will intensify. And as Christians in their teens and twenties grow older, they will become much more comfortable in expressing their latent resentment toward the Baby Boomer generation.

As these tensions mount, Baby Boomers will clamp down hard on their control of the church. In most churches, they will have the numbers and the dollars to do it. Younger members will be driven off to start a new bumper crop of youth-oriented churches. In some churches younger members will gain the control and the Baby Boomers will march out — in large numbers and taking their large offerings with them — to start churches to their liking. All of this is already happening. But sadly, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, none of this is pleasing to God. But I do not hear anyone denouncing it. To the contrary, most church leaders continue to champion the strategy of targeting specific age groups, despite its obvious corollary of marginalizing other age groups. Ten to fifteen years from now, most churches will clearly identify themselves in all of their marketing and presenting materials as catering to a specific age group, and church-going Christians will never be forced to endure the distasteful experience of rubbing shoulders with believers of other age groups.

Such categorization and division of churches will be the norm, in the same way that we currently accept and even encourage division by age in Sunday School and small groups. Sunday morning will more than ever be the most segregated hour of the week.

But there will be many more battles and blood-letting in our churches on our way to the Great Divide. It can only get much worse as the demographics continue to shift.

Have you heard the old joke about speaking foreign languages?

Q: What do you call a person who can speak several languages?
A: Multilingual.
Q: What do you call a person who can speak two languages?
A: Bilingual.
Q:What do you call a person who can speak only one language?
A: An American.

I am an American, and proud of it. But I confess with some shame that I am not fluent in any language other than my native English. My wife, Norma, has me beat by a longshot. Growing up in south Texas, her first language was Spanish. She didn’t speak any English until she entered the public school system at age 5. Today she speaks English and Spanish beautifully. Me, I’m still struggling to learn the Spanish language.

In January 2008, Norma and I led our first evangelism trip to Costa Rica. It was a great trip, and I was fortunate to recruit several bilingual people in addition to Norma to join our team. To prepare myself for that journey, I decided to buckle down and work at improving my feeble Spanish skills. I searched the Internet for Spanish language products, and decided on Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

Learning Spanish Like Crazy consists of 30 audio lessons plus transcripts. The lessons are about 30 minutes each, and after the first couple of introductory lessons, they are entirely in Spanish. I really enjoyed working through these lessons. I have about a 20-minute drive to work, so I would listen to the lessons coming and going each day. I listened to each lesson 2 or 3 times, and then moved on.

Did those 30 Learning Spanish Like Crazy lessons transform me from a gringo to a fluent Spanish speaker? Hardly. But they did give me a good start.

Let me put it this way. You know the impression we gringos have that Spanish speakers speak way too fast? You know, that’s really not true — it just sounds fast to us because we can’t understand what they are saying. Learning Spanish Like Crazy has helped me to listen faster!

Joshua One Ministries recommends Learning Spanish Like Crazy. If you purchase the lessons here, the ministry will receive a commission on your purchase. Just click here: Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

Gracias, buena suerte, y Dios le bendice!

When I announced the details of our January 2009 evangelism trip to Costa Rica on this website 12 days ago, I never dreamed that I would so quickly be facing the question: is it too late to sign up? But that is exactly the situation we are facing.

We now have 25 people registered on our team. We have made the airline reservations for those 25 — and the plane on which we will be traveling is booked solid. We have negotiated rooms at a hotel in downtown San José and have reserved a 28-passenger bus to transport our group during the week we are in Costa Rica. All the details of our trip can be found here: CR4C 2009 Trip Prospectus: Version 2.

So is it too late for other people to join our team? Let me put it this way — if you want to be part of this adventure, I need to hear from you very soon. I have started a waiting list. I have one name on the list so far, and I received an inquiry from three more last night. Do you want to go? If so, I need to hear from you in a hurry.

We want to take as many people as would like to go. We could use more handy builders to help with our construction project. Those last three inquiries were from medical personnel; if they come along, it will double our capacity at the health clinics and increase our need for non-medical personnel to assist them. If we can arrange it, I would love to have as many as 10 or 15 more team members.

However, adding more people also presents some challenges. We will have to book seats on another flight and see if we can find a similar good rate, ask the hotel to set aside more rooms for us (Costa Rica is a popular vacation destination in January, which is their summer), and reserve a second van or bus for the week.

Before I begin that process, I want to know how many more people we are talking about. So, if you have been thinking about coming, it’s time to make a decision. If you are on the team and have a friend or family member you want to bring along, it’s time to make a decision about that. Yes, I believe we can include some more people on this evangelism adventure … but it begins by you telling us that you really want to go — as soon as possible.

Here is some information about our trip, our 25 team members, and what is in store for us in Costa Rica:

* We will be traveling Jan. 19-Jan. 26. Flight schedules forced us to move our departure up a day, but the team responded with excitement to get to spend an extra day on the field.

* Our team members live in seven different cities in Oklahoma and Missouri: Broken Arrow, Cashion, Edmond, Guthrie, Lawton, Midwest City and Carl’s Junction, Mo.

* They attend eight different churches, including Canton Christian Church, Christian Church of Carl’s Junction (Mo.), Edmond Christian Church, Harvest Christian Church (Lawton), Jones Christian Church, Life Church (Edmond), and churches in Midwest City and Broken Arrow.

* They range in age from the 20s to the 60s.

* We will build a dormitory for a Bible Institute by creating a second story over the kitchen of Iglesia del Evangelio (Church of the Gospel) in San José. We have about eight talented builders on our construction team. We could use a few more.

* We will conduct three days of health clinics at or near three Costa Rican churches. We have two registered nurses on our team, plus at least one Costa Rican doctor who will be providing health care. We will offer a clinic at Patio de Agua, where Costa Rica For Christ started a new church earlier this year. We will also offer a clinic in a community where CR4C hopes to start a new church soon.

* We will facilitate a three-day convention of Costa Rican churches on Jan. 23-25. Terry Hull, director of Joshua One Ministries, will be speaking at the convention, with Ralph Shead of Literature & Teaching Ministries translating.

It’s going to be a great trip. If you want to come, please let me know right away. And if you can’t join us, how about helping us financially. Our dormitory project will cost $7,000-$10,000. The cost of medicines and supplies for the health clinics will continue to escalate as the size of our team grows.

The money being paid by team members will not cover all of our expenses — we are depending upon donations from generous Christians to cover the rest. We have always undertaken projects such as this not knowing where the money was going to come from, but putting our faith in the Lord and His people. If you are willing to help, please send a check to this address.

Wow! On Thursday we posted the first “official details” about our January 2009 evangelism trip to Costa Rica. The response has been amazing! Thirteen people have confirmed their intention to join our team, and seven more have indicated a strong interest. And that’s just four days after the announcement. Fantastic!

I predicted last week that we would have 20-25 people on our team, but it looks I may have been shooting low. So if you have an interest, I suggest that you think it over and let me hear from you soon.

We are currently set up to handle up to 25 team members on this trip. Beyond 25 will require negotiating for more hotel rooms and a second vehicle in addition to the 28-passenger bus we have already reserved. The bigger the team the better. More workers just means more projects we can take on.

However, as the weeks progress, it will become increasingly difficult to switch from a 25-max group to a more-than-25 group. Bottom line, if you’re coming with us, please let us know as soon as you know. And the way to let us know is to send in your $100 nonrefundable deposit to reserve your spot. Make the check to Joshua One Ministries and send it to this address.

Well, you’ve been asking for it, and here it finally is. Everything there is to know about our January 2009 evangelism trip to San José, Costa Rica.

I am excited to report that Ralph and Cindy Shead will help lead our team again this year. Ralph and Cindy are on the staff of Literature and Teaching Ministries in Joplin, MO, and were missionaries for more than 20 years in Chilé. Without the Sheads’ superb language skills, we would be lost!

Last year, Ralph was the evangelist of our three-day convention of Costa Rican churches. This year I will be doing the preaching, with Ralph translating for me.

I am also excited to reveal that Jodi Elderton, RN, will be leading our health clinic again this year. Jodi has a real vision for this aspect of our evangelistic outreach. We probably would not be attempting a health clinic if it weren’t for Jodi’s drive, hard work and organizational skills. She is great.

For those of you who traveled with us to San José last year, you will notice some big changes in our plans for 2009:

* On this trip we will all be lodging in the same place: a hotel in downtown San José. Last year we had team members scattered in three different locations, which required excessive traveling just to assemble as a group.

* We are renting a 28-passenger bus and Costa Rican driver for the entire week. Last year we relied mostly on public transportation, which was adventurous, but limiting and time-consuming.

* In addition to the medical clinic, we are adding an ambitious construction project to the schedule this year. Rodrigo and I are both very excited about this project: a second-floor dormitory to be added on top of the kitchen at Iglesia del Evangelio (Church of the Gospel). Rodrigo has had a vision for a long time of a Bible Institute to train Costa Rican preachers and church leaders. The dormitory will be a place for those preachers to stay while attending classes at the Institute.

As I have been working on the details of this adventure the last few weeks, my excitement has really been growing. It’s going to be a great trip. Just ask anybody who went with us last year. Here’s one indication: of the 13 who made up our team last year, at least 10 are seriously considering going again this year. I expect a total of 20 or more people on the team this time around.

Want to come with us? Here are all the details: CR4C JANUARY 2009 TRIP PROSPECTUS

We’d love to have you come along. And if you can’t come, we would be very grateful if you would consider helping us go, through your financial gifts as well as your prayers. For more information about sending a donation, see here.

DATES FOR JAN. 09 COSTA RICA TRIP SET
Many of you have been asking. We have now confirmed the dates for our next Costa Rica For Christ evangelism trip to San José, Costa Rica: January 20-26, 2009. That’s a Tuesday through Monday. Just as we did last year, we will be carrying out some projects Wednesday-Friday, including building projects and medical clinics, and we will facilitate and participate in a convention of Costa Rica’s independent Christian Churches on Friday-Sunday.

I know many of you have lots more questions, such as: Who else is going? How much will it cost? What projects will we be doing? How much will it cost? Where will be staying? How much will it cost? We are working out most of the specifics. I expect to be posting many more details on this website within the next 48 hours, so please stay tuned.

[08/21/08 UPDATE: Click here to go to more up-to-date information about our Costa Rica trip.]

GREAT REPORT FROM CR4C EVANGELIST RODRIGO ROJAS
Rodrigo Rojas, senior evangelist of Costa Rica For Christ, has sent a great report. A new church established! Nine men baptized into Christ! Rodrigo says our Christian brethren there are all really looking forward to our visit in January. Rodrigo’s report is short; read it in its entirety here: Report From Rodrigo.

ONLINE DISCIPLESHIP UNIVERSITY BEGUN
The idea of an online training program for Christians has been on our drawing board for a long time. Finally, we have begun unveiling: Discipleship University. It will take us many months to complete this ambitous project, but take a look at what we have posted so far here: Discipleship University.

JOSHUA ONE MINISTRIES GRANTED IRS TAX-EXEMPT STATUS
More information on this big step forward for our ministry is here.

JOSHUA ONE APPOINTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rod Heggy of Yukon, Okla., and Christ’s Church of Yukon, and Roger Mannschreck of Edmond, Okla., and Edmond Christian Church, have agreed to join me in forming the three-person board of directors of Joshua One Ministries. More here.

JOSHUA ONE BLOG UPDATES TOP TEN LIST
Selected from more than 180 articles written during the last two-and-a-half years, Terry Hull and Rod Heggy have selected their Top Ten posts. More information here.

* * * * *
Joshua One Ministries is a non-profit Christian ministry devoted to the goal of “better lives, better churches.” We encourage Christian discipleship through preaching and teaching and through such projects as Discipleship University and the Joshua One blog. We promote the spread of the gospel in Latin America through such projects as Costa Rica For Christ.

For more information about Joshua One Ministries, see our About page. Our detailed mission statement is available here: The Joshua One Manifesto. Donations to Joshua One Ministries are most welcome and are tax-exempt.

Discipleship University is an online discipleship training program consisting of two tiers:
• The Discipleship Track, a series of eight courses on Christian fundamentals.
• The Advanced Track, offering an unlimited number of additional courses on advanced topics.

The Discipleship Track is designed to give a believer or seeker a thorough introduction to the Christian faith. Each of the eight courses covers material equivalent to approximately three hours of oral presentation. Thus, a Discipleship Track graduate will have worked through material similar to what he/she might have learned in a 24-hour seminar, or about nine months of Sunday School classes.

The eight courses are numbered 101, 102, 201, 202, 301, 302, 401, and 402. Here are the names of the eight courses and summary of their contents:

DISCIPLESHIP 101(A)
“No Ifs, Ands or Buts: How Can I Be Absolutely Sure That I Am Saved?”
• Sin, the cross, grace, faith
• Baptism
• Obedience, discipleship

DISCIPLESHIP 101(B)
The Church, Part 1: “What Makes the Church Tick?”
• Meetings: worship, Sunday School, small groups
• Ordinances (”sacraments”): the Lord’s Supper, baptism
• Leadership: elders, ministry staff, deacons, teachers, ministry team leaders
• Fellowship

DISCIPLESHIP 102
Basic Christian Doctrine, Part 1: “Who is God and How Many of Him Are There?”
• God: monotheism, comparison to other religions
• God’s nature
• Trinity
• Christ: Messiah, Son of God, historical person, miracles, Savior, Lord, God, Second Coming

DISCIPLESHIP 201
“The Bible: Where It Came From and What To Do With It”
• Origin, inspiration/infallibility, versions/translations
• Importance of Bible study
• Bible study methods: Sunday School, personal reading, personal study, memorization, meditation
• Bible study tools: cross-reference, concordance, handbooks, encyclopedias, commentaries, software/websites

DISCIPLESHIP 202
Prayer: “How Do I Talk To God?”
• Definition
• Purpose/importance of prayer
• Forms of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition, lament, intercession
• Power of prayer
• Methods of prayer: simple prayers, Lord’s Prayer, praying the Psalms, prayer journal, group prayer

DISCIPLESHIP 301
O.T. Survey: “Introduction to 39 Great Books”

DISCIPLESHIP 302
Basic Christian Doctrine, Part 2: “The Spiritual Realm”
• Holy Spirit: personality, sanctification, guidance
• Spiritual gifts
• Heaven, hell, angels, devil, demons
• Death, afterlife
• God’s sovereignty and man’s free will

DISCIPLESHIP 401
New Testament Survey: “The Teachings of the Apostles”

DISCIPLESHIP 402(A)
The Church, Part 2: “Where Do I Fit In?”
• Denominations, Restoration Movement
• Ministry: every-member ministry, ministry teams
• Giving

DISCIPLESHIP 402(B)
“Evangelism and Outreach”
• A simple outline of the gospel
• Evangelism methods
• Evangelism and prayer: role of the Holy Spirit, evangelism prayer list
• Missions: history of missions, America’s role in missions, modern missions

For more information about Discipleship University and the full table of contents of Discipleship University curriculum, click here.

Christ commanded it. Many church-goers want it. To help meet the desperate need for Christian discipleship – to join the battle against Biblical illiteracy and ignorance of our faith – Joshua One Ministries introduces Discipleship University.

Discipleship University is an online training program consisting of two tiers:
• The Discipleship Track, a series of eight courses on Christian fundamentals.
• The Advanced Track, offering an unlimited number of additional courses on advanced topics.

Unlike some discipleship programs that provide only a surface introduction to Christianity, Discipleship University’s Discipleship Track is designed to give a believer or seeker a thorough introduction to the Christian faith. Each of the eight first-tier courses covers material equivalent to approximately three hours of oral presentation. Thus, a Discipleship Track graduate will have worked through material similar to what he/she might have learned in a 24-hour seminar.

Acts 2:42, which describes the first Christian church in history, provides a good summary of the Discipleship Track: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” The Discipleship Track focuses on those Christian fundamentals: Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and the Church. The eight courses cover salvation, basic Christian doctrine (God, the spiritual realm), The Bible, Old Testament survey, New Testament survey, prayer, the Church, and evangelism and outreach.

All of the courses will be offered online (in-person seminars are another possibility, but are not being contemplated at this time). Each of the courses will consist of a series of short online lessons which a person can work through at his or her own pace. The courses are offered free of charge.

Before starting each course, students are encouraged to take the online self-assessment test that accompanies that course. A person who passes an assessment test may choose to skip that course and move on to the next course. However, it is our expectation that the majority of church members, even those who have attended church for years, will discover from the assessment tests that they will benefit by working through each of these Discipleship University courses. After completing a course, students may take the assessment again, to measure how much they have learned.

The Advanced Track is a never-ending series of classes on advanced topics. The writer of Hebrews exhorts that every Christian should eventually move on from “the elementary principles” to the “solid food for the mature” (Heb 5:12-14). Discipleship University seeks to provide that solid food. There are hundreds of Advanced topics to explore, such as Prophecy, Worship, and Church Leadership.

NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
Discipleship University is NOT a substitute for traditional disciple-making ministries. Most churches offer Sunday School, evening Bible studies and small group meetings. Joshua One Ministries enthusiastically supports such programs; we believe every effort should be made to promote such programs. We wish every pastor and church leader would encourage his members frequently and enthusiastically to enroll in Sunday School, attend Bible studies, and participate in small groups.

However, the disappointing truth is that the majority of adult church-goers are not being reached by such programs. Today a church is lucky if its Sunday School attendance reaches half the size of its worship attendance. Far fewer attend mid-week Bible studies or participate in small groups. Discipleship University aims to provide another way to reach more church-goers with discipleship training.

One of the keys to doing church in the 21st century is flexibility. It is no longer sufficient to offer a program in just one format and then insist that our would-be disciples adapt. Some people are able and willing to attend a weekly class; we are already reaching many of them. We pray that many of the ones we are not reaching that way might be interested in the convenience of online discipleship training.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ATTENDANCE AND DISCIPLESHIP
Many congregations have gravitated toward the church growth model taught by Rick Warren in his popular 1995 book, The Purpose-Driven Church. In that book, Warren describes the world of the church as consisting of five concentric circles: Community, Crowd, Congregation, Committed, Core. In Warren’s model, a church’s worship service is a marketing tool designed to draw people from the “community” to form the “crowd” that attends the church’s weekend worship events. The worship service “crowd” is encouraged to join the “congregation,” and then, through further training, to ultimately join the ranks of the “committed” and the “core.”

It is not my purpose here to discuss the merits of the Purpose-Driven model. Clearly, many modern churches have adopted this model, looking upon their worship service as their primary tool to reach new members. However, surely we can agree that if a church is following the Purpose-Driven model and is using its worship service as a crowd-gathering device, that the real measure of that church’s success is not how big the “crowd” is that it draws, but how many of those “crowd” members are becoming “committed” disciples.

Sadly, many pastors and church leaders seem to be intoxicated by the large crowds they are drawing — and have forgotten how the very model they are following is supposed to work. What good is it to draw large crowds if we fail to entice the crowds to become students of God’s Word and disciples of the Christian faith? The statistics cited in the previous article certainly indicate that most churches are failing – and failing miserably – at making disciples.

To put it in a business person’s terms: You don’t measure your success by how many people read your Yellow Pages ad, or how many people visit your website, or how many people visit your place of business. You measure your success by how many people buy your products. Likewise, for the church, it is only of secondary importance how many people are showing up. All that really matters is: how many people are buying into the faith of Jesus Christ with their head and their heart and their hands, with all their mind and their soul and their strength? That’s the difference between attendance and discipleship.

That’s what Discipleship University is all about. Discipleship University is for the Christian who wants to move on from being a mere convert to becoming a true disciple. Discipleship University is for the church that is taking seriously Christ’s instruction to make disciples of its members. Discipleship University is about making disciples, in obedience to our Christ and His commission.

For more information about Discipleship University and the full table of contents of Discipleship University curriculum, click here.

We invite you to take a look at our Top Ten page. Rod Heggy and I have listed our favorite blog posts, ten for each of us. We had not updated that page in more than a year, but it is updated now.

Rod and I began blogging together in December 2005, and a few of these posts go back almost that far. Here is an excerpt from a Jan. 4, 2006, article which states one of the reasons we began blogging:

Is the Christian church of America in serious decline? Is the modern U.S. church a pitiful representation of the church described in the New Testament … I believe it is. My colleague, Rod Heggy, believes it is. Our concern for the modern church is one reason Rod and I have launched this blog.

That post originally appeared on another blog Mr. Heggy and I write. In February 2007, we launched this Joshua One blog, moving more than 100 posts related to our Christian faith from that other site to this one. Toward the end of 2007 we incorporated Joshua One Ministries, and we have continued writing this blog to promote that non-profit Christian ministry, and to contribute toward the goals of “better lives, better churches.”

We now have more than 180 articles on this site.  Some of the best of them, selected from almost three years of blogging, is on our Top Ten page. We hope you will take a look.