In traditional church, we have knowledge based learning. One person is the expert and the others receive knowledge from that expert. Neither need apply what has been learned because it’s head knowledge.
In DMM, the discipleship making method I have been talking about, it’s a different model of doing church. Learning is Holy Spirit based and there is no expert in the room. One person may be more advanced because of time or education, but all people participate in the learning process.
The scripture is read and summarized then people evaluate what the passage says about God and what it says about people. Everyone in the group is given the opportunity to share what they think the passage is saying about God and people.
Here’s the part where the Holy Spirit whispers in the still, small voice to people. We ask what He’s go to say to you personally about this passage and how can you apply it towards your life. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will be telling everyone in the group the same thing, but often it’s very different messages about what each person needs to do.
Sometimes God is calling someone to do something hard or something they don’t want to do. It can be a time of real ministry to a person. Praying for the person is a great way to assist the person to apply God’s word to their life.
Here’s an example: one Sunday, I felt God telling me to do something I didn’t want to do. My lighthouse group prayed for me because I admitted to them I didn’t want to do what I felt God was calling me to do. The prayer accomplished what it was intended to do. The next day I obeyed and this blog was born.
I don’t like sharing personal stuff publicly so it was a real struggle for me to start blogging about personal issues. God called me to ministry and part of ministry is being open with people, which goes against my personal nature. So as long as God keeps giving me these ideas for articles, I’ll keep posting.
And so, the next week you follow up with the people in your group, see if they did what they felt God was telling them to do, because part of being a Jesus follower is applying the word of God to your life. It’s not good enough to just read it. It has to sink into your heart and change your heart.
Following Jesus 