Month: August 2009

by Mario Vega

When a person concentrates in one specific thing he can achieve amazing results. Thomas Aquinas once said: “I fear the one single book man.” The man who knows a single book only, knows it well and is a fearsome adversary.

If the leader focuses on training a new leader, in a certain amount of time (even months), the leader will turn into a fearsome multiplier. In order to do so, it is necessary that leaders define their priorities, their time, their efforts, and their investments.

When a person concentrates on training new leaders, he or she will soon be an expert in this matter. If all of the leaders do the same, a church can become a strong wave of leadership multiplication. The multiplication of leaders precedes the multiplication of cells, and because of this, the outreach will be larger. Lets encourage our leaders to focus on being multipliers.

Comments?

Mario

El poder de enfocarse.

Cuando una persona se concentra en una cosa especfica puede lograr cosas sorprendentes. Tomás de Aquino dijo en una ocasión:

‘Temo al hombre de un solo libro’. El hombre que sólo conoce un único libro, lo conoce bien y es un adversario temible.

Si el lder se enfoca en formar un nuevo lder cada cierta cantidad de meses se convertirá en un multiplicador temible. Para ello, es necesario que los lderes definan sus prioridades, su tiempo, sus esfuerzos y sus inversiones en torno al tema de la formación de un nuevo lder.

Cuando una persona se concentra en formar nuevos lderes muy pronto será un experto en la materia. Si todos los lderes hacen lo mismo, una iglesia puede convertirse en una fuerte ola de multiplicación de lderes. La multiplicación de lderes precede a la multiplicación de células y, de esa manera, los alcances serán mayores. Animemos a nuestros lderes a enfocarse en ser multiplicadores.

Jeff Tunnell

May I speak to Pastors and Cell Leaders for a moment?  Have you ever asked the question “Is it okay for me to have friends inside the church, or should they be from outside my congregation?”  I mean, have you wondered if it is possible to have “community” like the Godhead, or a Peter, James and John circle of confidence and friendship, while being the leader?

H.B. London, Jr., in his Pastor-to-Pastor ministry with Focus on the Family has reported,

“As we talk with thousands of pastors each year, we find that 70% of all pastors have no real close friend in which to confide (whether inside or outside the church). This is a tragedy. Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 describes to us the importance of having friendships in life so we can vent or join together in a project or lift each other up when we fall or enjoy recreation together. The key word we hear from pastors is “isolation”.”

Translation: 7 out of 10 pastoral leaders (and I include Cell leaders here) do not have someone they consider a close friend.  We constantly remind others to build community within the cell and evangelize by making friends outside the church (Jesus was a friend of sinners).  Yet the research from candid conversations with honest leaders concludes that we are not accomplishing the results expected of those we lead.  OUCH!

  There is not a singular answer to the original question, but there are several factors to be considered:

• How vulnerable are you as a pastor, or cell leader?
• How used to having closed friends are you?
• What level of sharing is appropriate?
• What has been your experience concerning friendships thus far?

 Jesus calls us “friends”; has He also given you others?  Who are they, and do they know you want to experience community with them?  If not, when will you express your desire for friendship to them?

by Rob Campbell

If you haven’t read Joel’s blog from yesterday, then please do. Further, check out the comments from others. They are good and insightful.

Joel asks two questions.

1. Is it possible to be a cell leader and at the same time a relational dud? (relationally dysfunctional).

2. How do we assure that future cell leaders (disciple-makers) are relationally well-adjusted and growing in the one-anothers?

I tempted not to touch question #1 with a ten foot pole, but let me provide one thought. One has to be attractive in order to attract others to Christ. I’m not talking “physical attraction,” but the joy, life, hope of Jesus needs to be apparent. I propose the following question that links with this thought: If you could give away your Christianity to a not-yet believer for a 24 hour period, would he/she keep it or give it back to you?

Let me move to question #2. Two thoughts come to mind. First, relational/spiritual growth is plausible when we embrace a heart of brokenness meshed with humility. We simply cannot grow deeper with God and closer to others without this heart attitude. Next, Proverbs 27:17 seems to grant us an answer that is worth investigating. Check it out!

Finally, if you are jazzed by Joel’s inquiries, then please consider reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and the Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero.

Comments?

Rob

by Joel Comiskey

I believe the essence of cell ministry is making disciples who make disciples. The cell atmosphere is an incredible way to prepare future disciple makers. Mario has been blogging about the need for leaders to identify new leaders, and this excites me. Cell churches develop equipping tracks to guide the process.

But are we preparing disciples who know how to practice the one-anothers of Scripture? Is it possible to raise up a cell leader who is relationally dysfunctional? As I’ve been writing my new book, The Relational Disciple, I’ve been meditating on the need for future leaders to grow in their relational skills. The phrase “one another” appears 100 times in the New Testament. The majority of the occurrences of the phrase “one another” have to do with relationships between Christians and how to cultivate those relationships. And the writers of the New Testament exhorted believers to grow deeper and deeper in living out Scriptural truth through accountability with one another.

Here are two questions:

1. Is it possible to be a cell leader and at the same time a relational dud? (relationally dysfunctional).

2. How do we assure that future cell leaders (disciple-makers) are relationally well-adjusted and growing in the one-anothers?

All comments about your experience in this area are welcome. I’m also trying to discern how to help future disciples grow to become relational disciples.

Joel

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL THE VIDEOS OF THE CELL SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT http://www.cellsymposium.com/ AND THEY ARE ALL FREE FOR YOU TO VIEW! CHECK THEM OUT.

by Mario Vega

The leader plays a fundamental role in creating a new leader. The leader’s work should focus on training another person who at the same time becomes a new cell leader.

The first step is to select a person as a candidate. This person must comply with certain conditions: maturity, spirituality, desire to serve the Savior. And of course, each church will also have specific conditions for a new leader.

But what if the leader doesn’t find a person in his cell that complies with these conditions? Well, he should take that person who comes nearer to that ideal and begin to mentor him so that he can reach the requirements he is lacking at the current time.

Even if there is no one in the cell that fulfills the basic requirements, the leader must not give up. On the contrary, he must take one of his cell attendees and begin to work to make him or her a suitable person for leadership. Every leader must be able to mention the name of a person who he is mentoring for leadership. Leaders must be raised up. As Paul says, the leader must experience birth pangs until he sees Christ formed in each Christian (Galatians 4:19).

Comments?

Mario

Version in Spanish:

Seleccionando a un nuevo lder.

El lder juega un papel fundamental en la generación de un nuevo lder. El trabajo del lder se debe enfocar en formar a otra persona para que, a su vez, se convierta en un nuevo lder de célula.

El primer paso para ello es el de seleccionar a una persona como candidata. Ésta persona debe poseer las condiciones de madurez, espiritualidad, deseos de servir a su salvador. Además aquellas otras condiciones que cada iglesia establece como elementos básicos.

¿Pero qué sucede si el lder no encuentra una persona en su célula que cumpla con esas condiciones? Pues debe tomar a aquella persona que se acerca más a ese ideal y comenzar a mentorearlo para que alcance los requisitos que al momento actual le falten.

Si sucediera que nadie en la célula alcanza ni uno sólo de los requisitos, entonces el lder no debe darse por vencido. Por el contrario, debe tomar a uno de los asistentes a su célula y comenzar a trabajar para hacer de él una persona adecuada para el liderazgo. Todo lder debe ser capaz de mencionar el nombre de una persona a quien está mentoreando para llevarle al liderezgo.

Los lderes deben ser engendrados. Como Pablo, el lder debe experimentar dolores de parto hasta ver a Cristo formado en cada cristiano.