Who Broke My Church?

7 Proven Strategies for Renewal & Revival

Reaching the Unchurched – Dynamics 3 & 4 (Podcast)

By Leave a Comment

This is the third episode of a ten-part series focusing on Reaching the Unchurched. In this episode, Dr. Kent Hunter looks at dynamics thee and four on how you and your church can impact your world for Jesus Christ. In Dynamic #3, He looks at the power of prayer. In Dynamic #4, Kent focuses on God’s way to mobilize yourself and others in your church to do ministry through discovering your spiritual gifts.

Resource references:

  • Spiritual Gift Survey
  • Your Spiritual Gifts: Discover God’s Plan for Your Life
[gravityform id="2"]

How to Become a Missionary: Becoming a Christian Witness on a Mission (Part 33 of 40)

By Leave a Comment

Telling your God stories is the best way of witnessing.

When Jesus teaches about where or when to witness, He calls it the harvest.

You might occasionally share your God stories with strangers. If a stranger shows receptivity to you, go for it!

Normally, however, your harvest field consists of those with whom you already have a relationship.

Your harvest field is your social network: those who connect with you on Facebook or those in your phone directory.

  • Your social network includes friends, relatives, neighbors, those at work, or at school.
  • This is where God has placed you as a witness, where you will most often share your God stories.
  • The Christian movement travels best along relationship lines.
  • When you look at all the relationships of all those in your church, it represents your congregation’s most powerful platform.

When someone in your relationship network is going through stress, a major change in life, or facing a major challenge, it is a signal that the fruit is ripening, the spiritual opportunity is increasing to share your God stories.

  • It is important that you remember, life is an adventure, with many twists and turns, hills and valleys.
  • If someone in your social network at one time made it clear to you they are “not interested in religion,” remember, that attitude is never permanent. Why?
  • Life issues are never permanent.

Ask yourself, “Do I have a life story, similar to what this person in my social network is going through?”

  • Could I share my story with them at the level of their feelings?
  • Remember, life and God are not just stale categories without emotions. Jesus laughed and He cried. People do too. These are signals to share what God has done in your life in somewhat similar circumstances.

This is how Christianity grows.

  • It is how you, and those in your church, move beyond institution to movement.
  • The person of Christ in you moves beyond a historical figure to a real person of impact.
  • It’s all about relationships: you with your friend, yours with Christ, through you, Christ with your friend.

If you would like to know more, you can also subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcast and Google Play. We will expand on this theme further in our series beginning on March 6, 2018.

How to Become a Missionary: Becoming a Christian Witness on a Mission (Part 32 of 40)

By Leave a Comment

A missionary is someone who is on a mission. For Christians, that’s where we live, 24/7.

  • If you have the gift of evangelist, you have the supernatural ability to share your faith, your God stories with anyone, at any time.
  • If you are one of the 90% of Christians who don’t have that gift, then you have the role of being a witness.
  • Your target audience is mostly those in your social network.

As a witness, you have a primary place to tell your God stories. Remember when Jesus said, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He would send workers into His harvest fields”?

  • Notice, Jesus’ teaching is not about going where the crop is green—not ready.
  • We are called into the harvest: those people who are “ripe”—ready!
  • So, you aren’t called to witness to people who are not receptive, not “ripe”. Your calling is to go where the crop is ready.

The challenge is that the crop that is not ripe today, could very well be ripe tomorrow or the next day. In addition, that crop could be rotten by next week. Sometimes the window of opportunity is quite small.

  • This is what Jesus is teaching us.
  • Look to the harvest fields and keep a close watch. People change, every day!
  • Don’t try to harvest crops that aren’t ready.

So where is your harvest field ripe?

  • Normally, not among strangers, where you don’t have a relationship.
  • Although, God could put someone in your path occasionally. Don’t ever rule God out!
  • I came upon a terrible accident the other day. A semitruck had pulled out to cross a paved road, out in the country. A car hit the truck broadside, between the wheels of the semi. It was stuck with the roof caved in, crushed by the underbelly of the truck.
  • The driver was, miraculously, not hurt. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know if he was at fault for the accident.
  • However, this accident just happened a few minutes earlier. I didn’t know this guy, but there was a good possibility that, if he wasn’t already a Christian, he was momentarily “ripe”!
  • In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll share some of the other conditions and occurrences that indicate when most people are receptive.
  • Good “workers” in the harvest, know all the signs when a person is ripe—receptive to hear your God story.

If you would like to know more, you can also subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcast and Google Play. We will expand on this theme further in our series beginning on March 6, 2018.

Turn Your Faith Inside Out: Develop Your “God Stories”

By Leave a Comment

Every believer has God stories. The longer you live, the more you have.

Be ready to pull out your God story whenever someone who is not a Christian raises a “story of significance” of something that has occurred in his or her life.

Example: Fred and I work at the same factory. We usually eat lunch together. I’ve been a Christian a long time. Fred has shown no evidence of faith or interest.

At lunch one day, Fred says, “My wife and I have overspent our income. At the worst possible moment, the roof of our house started to leak. I had to borrow money to get it fixed. Now, we’re trying to pay off a loan. Money is really tight. It’s affecting our marriage. I don’t know what to do.”

Let’s say, at an early time in your marriage, you had a somewhat similar event, and looking back at it, it became a faith builder.

“You know, Fred, about ten years ago I had a wreck with my car. I stopped suddenly when a dog ran out in front of me while chasing a squirrel. The guy behind me plowed into my car—rear-ended me. It bent the frame and my car was totaled. The insurance didn’t cover everything so we borrowed money for a car. That’s when interest rates were high. It affected our marriage, just to have the stress. We went to this Christian counselor. For the first time, Jane and I started praying together. God answered our prayers. Our marriage has never been better. Sometimes God can use difficulties for good.”

The God story is just the beginning. Fred will demonstrate whether he wants to learn more. It may be right away, or a year later. If you don’t plant seeds, there won’t be a harvest.

Turn your faith inside out!

Turn Your Faith Inside Out: Become a Master of Receptivity

By Leave a Comment

Jesus spoke often about seeds, soil, fruit and a ripe harvest.

He told His disciples, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He would send workers into His harvest.”

He didn’t say, “…send workers into the fields to pick a harvest that isn’t ripe.”

He didn’t say, “…send workers into the fields to stand around and waste their time until the harvest is ripe.”

So, when are people ripe? People are receptive to spiritual issues when they:

  • Ask you about your faith.
  • Are facing a challenge.
  • Have a birth/death in the family.
  • Change jobs, retire, get fired, start a new job, marry, divorce.
  • Learn of a severe illness in them or someone close to them.
  • Buy, build, or sell a house.
  • Relocate.
  • Become immigrants in a new nation.
  • Go to jail.
  • Graduate from school.
  • Declare bankruptcy.
  • Experience a traumatic event.

These are windows of opportunity. Don’t miss out!

Turn your faith inside out!