Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Perspectives 595, 'The Spontaneous Multiplication of Churces
Please read and respond to the article, "The Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches," by George Patterson, found at http://mmcdaniel.jimdo.com/arlington-baptist-college/cross-cultural-ministry/perspectives-articles/. You will be required to respond to at least one other student's comments to successfully complete this assignment. Please ensure that you put your name in parenthesis if you post anonymously.
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11 comments:
It was really interesting to learn about George Patterson and what he has been doing with the people over in Honduras. He wrote about he had started out by learning from trail and error. It was interesting to read how he went from reaching out to bright young men to the much older family men. I liked how he focused on reaching those who had strong roots in the villages and already had the respect of the people. I never read of anyone like Patterson follow such a Bible centered approach. He had learned to trust more in the Holy Spirit instead of taking maters into his own hands. I really believe that this was the key.
(JJ)
George Patterson found out how to be effective. He followed the biblical pattern to a T. That is why he had the success that he had. He did not push the people. He allowed the Holy Spirit to work in the peoples hearts and lives. He raized and trained up people who already had influence and sway in their local villiages. He trained the people to do the work of the ministry. He did not let them become depended on him.
appoligies for the mistakes in the first responce, (JJ)
Excellent article. It is fitting that a mission minded person would come up with this idea of multiplying churches. I really appreciate the section on number 2 "Mobilize your disciples..." The New Testement talks constantly of how the church should live in unity, or how it is a body. The author really points this out and I think it is probably one of the biggest things missing from our churches today. Unity among the brethren. I also liked how on page 298 he talked about letting the Holy Spirit work through the leaders you train and not taking yourself too seriously.
in response to jjs comment,
I too appreciated how the author focused on the Holy Spirit instead of his own power.
It was refreshing to read about missions work from someone not stuck in a seminary somewhere, but from someone with "boots on the ground." I'm glad that Patterson focuses on and TRUSTS the power of the Holy Spirit. I also appreciate how he breaks out of the "traditional western" mindset of "church," proving that spontaneous discipleship and church growth and development is the way, according to scripture. And while it may read that everything is "roses and sunshine," Patterson is careful to remind us that NONE OF THIS comes without sacrife. He reminds us that in the process, "men were shot, put to death by machete, weakened by disease, and almost drowned..." (603).
I agree with JJ, I like how Patterson kept his teachings simple with his disciples, trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide, and preserve.
I really enjoyed the first step he talked about in this article which was to "Know and love the people you disciple." I really liked how he talked about the fact that some people just go from house to house preaching and trying to win people to christ without building relationships. I think building relationships is one of the most vital parts of leading someone to christ and discipling them. It is sad that in todays world that the message of the cross has turned into a sales pitch rather than actually building relationships with people and truly loving them.
And also as the others have stated already, I really did like how he said that in alot of situations you must learn to trust the holy spirit to work in people and not to dictate them. You must trust God and know that he is sovereign and he knows what he is doing.
I really enjoyed how he went into detail about the four principles he thinks can multiply disciples. All of these principles should be things we try to implement every single say. We should have a genuine love for the people we are trying to disciple. If we are faking out concern or love, they will be able to tell and we will only push them away. We should all have somebody who holds us accountable in our lives. This is the fourth principle he discusses. We should build relationships with people are going to be able to hold us accountable. If we do this, then we will be able to produce more churches and see more people saved. (Stacie)
I really agree with Stacie on the Accountability issue. Accountability is something that we all need. Without it our chances of success in the ministry greatly decrease.
(JJ)
I really enjoyed this article! The section on knowing and loving the people you disciple is so key. Learning to love and really and truly get to know the people group you will be sharing the Gospel to is so important. No one wants you to come in to a group of people with a high holy attitude and tell them they are all sinners going to hell and better repent and then move on. Building lasting, true relationships with people in that community will help you witness to them. They will be more open to listen to you. Learn their culture by spending time with them, this will help you know how to share Christ effectively. Above all else, when you come to really love a people group, the burden for their salvation will be so real and true that you will want to stop at nothing to see their souls saved for eternity.
In response to JJ's comment, like others have said, Patterson focused on the Holy Spirit instead of his own power.
Being a Christian an discipling people in todays culture is so distorted. You have to be loving and care about the people. You have to build lasting relationships. You have to hold them accountable as well as have someone hold you accountable. Somehow though we judge the people and call it accountability. We are the most rude and angry people that society has ever met. We don't care about anyone but ourselves. And you can forget about lasting relationships because all we have become concerned about is numbers not souls and disciples, and then we sit around and ask each other why no one wants to be a child of the most wonderful, all powerful God that I have come to know and love. Where did we go wrong? We started focusing on our wants and needs and not the needs of the people we are trying to reach. We have to get back to the basics of the people and what they need as opposed to what I need or what makes me look good. People want authentic relationships and friendships. People want hope, love and care from others. People want happiness and yet they don't want Christ because we are too pompous. Wow. When you put it like that we aren't so good ourselves, so why are we trying to act like we are better than everyone else? People need Christians to show them what Christ is all about not what people are all about. There is no unity, only division because no one can get along. We need to love and get back to the roots of things. I love this article because it showed me that.
I agree JJ that we need to start trusting the Holy Spirit instead of taking matters into our own hands.
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