Why are the micro-groups we talk about in GDI so effective for accelerating authentic spiritual growth? For twenty-five years as a pastor, I depended on dictation. I studied hard all week, and then stood on the platform on Sunday to excitedly share what I had learned from God's Word. I provided note-taking outlines in the worship program to assist sincere learner's.  After more than two decades of this, we took a congregational survey to determine how much of fundamental orthodox doctrine the congregants really understood. I was shocked! Not only was there still great confusion, but things they did seem to understand couldn't be intelligibly articulated or shared with someone else. I remember the Sunday I stood before the congregation and told them; if you have to make the choice to come to hear me preach, or go to your discipleship quad...go to your quad. I knew they would learn much more from the ninety minutes of preparation and ninety minutes of interaction with their

  How do micro groups implement Jesus’ relational model? When Jesus instructed us to “go and make disciples”, He did not leave us wondering how. Jesus modeled this principally by growing disciples formed in a relational setting. A strategic moment occurred in His ministry when Jesus formally gathered His inner circle around him. A approximately six months into his public ministry Jesus called the twelve to “be with him.” (Luke 6:12-13; Mark 3:13) How important was this decision? How vital was it to accomplishing Jesus’ mission? Luke signals the importance by telling us that Jesus spent all night in prayer. The next day he brought together a group which included twelve who had been following Him. “And when day came, he called his disciples, and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles…” (Luke 6:13).   What was Jesus trying to accomplish by giving himself to this smaller band? At the time of Jesus’ selection of his leadership team, he was in the thralls of public adulation. But J

  What qualities come together in a micro group to create an ideal transformative environment? At GDI, we like to say that micro groups are “hot houses of the Holy Spirit”. What does that mean? In other words, just like a “greenhouse”, the environmental conditions are just right for accelerated growth into Christlikeness and multiplication of disciples. What are those environmental conditions? 1. Relational Transparency: A major reason the groups are kept to 3 or 4 (triads/quads) is to develop an atmosphere of self-revealing trust. Here is the principle: The extent to which we are willing to reveal to others the areas of our life that need God’s transforming touch is the extent to which we are inviting the Holy Spirit to make us new. The seed of God’s word can only take root in tilled soil. The tilled soil (our openness) creates cracks and crevices in our hearts. It is these cracks and crevices that reveal our areas of needed transformation. As we articulate the awareness of our b

  What are the critical elements for a success disciple making journey?  As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” What does it take to complete a successful journey? As pictured above, the success journey is to grow a movement of “disciples who make disciples?” A movement implies that a culture has formed in your church or ministry where there is momentum and energy because the value of making reproducing disciples has become a way of life. I am not talking theory, I have witnessed it firsthand.  There are three critical elements for a successful journey: 1. Vehicle (Relational Environment): To travel you need a vehicle, which is the relational environment. We keep the groups small (3s &4s) because the most important element in the relational environment is transparency and openness built upon radical trust. Transformation through the power of God’s word occurs when we lay our lives out before God and each other and apply truth to our growing edge. Without ap

  Reflections on Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero  Part 2:  Chapter 9: “Lead Out of Weakness and Vulnerability” In reflecting on the elements of transformation in the environment of the micro group, we (GDI) have stressed that an open, honest transparency is a required. Why? It is only are we apply the truth of God’s word to where we actually live that it can change us. A major reason to keep the groups small (3s and 4s) is so that a non-condemning, grace-filled atmosphere of unshockable trust can form.  Peter Scazzero reinforces this truth in Chapter 9 of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship , “Lead Out of Weakness and Vulnerability”.  What a breath of fresh air! We can actually live out of our brokenness before a God who embraces us as prodigals who admit that we “have sinned against heaven and before you, and are no longer worthy to be called your son (daughter).” As soon we cast ourselves at Jesus’ feet, he showers us with repeated kisses. King David had come to

  Where do micro groups fit in the larger picture of church ministry? This could certainly be listed in the category of the top 5 questions we get at GDI. The question also comes in another form: What role do traditional small groups have in a church that wants to move toward micro groups? The best way to answer this question is to show how different spaces can and should co-exist together. Joseph Myers first popularized the concept of making room or seeing the value of spaces in his book Search to Belong and is expounded on in Bobby Harrington’s Discipleship that Fits . I will describe the spaces in thumbnail fashion in this shorter blog.  The four spaces are public, social, personal and transparent or intimate. Public Space (50+): In the church public space is associated with the gathered community in worship. A person identifies with a group and considers themselves associated at some level. If asked, “Where do you go to church?”, a person would give a specific community, no mat

How Do You Begin a Reproducing Disciple Making Movement? One Group at a Time.  There is an old Chinese saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with  a single step ".  I am often asked, “How can I grow a disciple making movement in my ministry/church?” My answer: start one micro group. Why do I go there? Behind the question is an attitude. How can I grow disciples fast? How can spread the infection of disciple making to get immediate results?  My answer can be initially deflating. The question most likely is coming from someone who is seeing the wisdom of what can happen in a micro group for accelerating transformation and multiplication. How can we get a lot of these groups going simultaneously? One of the common mistakes to growing disciples is that we want to take shortcuts. Let’s announce a new program. You all sign up for this new small group container called micro groups. Adopt this curriculum. Within a year we will have hundreds of participants.  My advice to past

  Reflections on Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero Part 1 Chapter 6: “Discover the Treasures Buried in Grief and Loss”  Peter Scazzero has for some time been pointing out a massive gap in what it means to become whole or mature in Christ. He says that we have been denying our emotions to our detriment.  In some circles this denial has been conscious and intentional. You might recall a train illustration with three cars: fact, faith, feeling.  It was taught that the important thing was to put your cognitive trust in the truths of Scripture and then let feeling be a by-product (the caboose). Yet, this formula often came with an asterisk. The reason feelings are last is that you can’t trust them. They will lead you astray. All kinds of heresies and distortions have been formulated because we let feelings rule. As the critique goes, subjective Christianity creates the seedbed for false teaching and prophets. They rely on impressions and ecstasies.  Now, of course, there i

  Why Scripture Memory Might Be the Most Important Spiritual Discipline Dallas Willard was asked the question, "What do you consider the most important spiritual disicpline?" John Ortberg overheard this question at a conference and was waiting eagerly for his reply. Would it be contemplative prayer, fasting, extended periods of silence, etc? Answer: Bible memorization. Willard says in Renovation of the Heart, "The most obvious thing we can do is to draw certain portions of Scripture into our minds and make them a part of the permanent fixtures of our thought." The apostle Paul locates transformation into Christlikeness in the renewal of our minds. (Romans 12:2). I confess I am a "johnny-come-lately" when it comes to memorizing longer portions of Scripture. I started to apply myself to this task a few years ago. I can confirm from personal experience what Willard affirms. When we occupy our minds with the truths of Scripture we are, of course, driving out

 Love Your Enemies In one micro group that I am in, using The Essential Commandment  by Dr. Greg Ogden as the tool, we focused on Romans 12:20-21.  "Instead, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good."  We meet on Zoom each month across more than 3000 miles. What always continues to amaze me after over 10 years of being in micro groups is the awareness of new concepts. Some of us researched the origin of "heaping burning coals of shame" and others brought up boundaries in Chapter 11. Within 24 hours, two other resources I watched reinforced the principles, commands, and concepts we had reviewed. When God repeats, He gets my attention! Andy Stanley explains how some repay good for evil; others want revenge by repaying evil for evil; and yet others are remarkable by repaying good for evil.

 Who is Greg Ogden? Greg Ogden  is “retired” or better yet “redeployed” (as of March, 2012) from professional church leadership. He now lives out his passion of speaking, teaching, and writing about the disciple-making mission of the church. Most recently Greg served as Executive Pastor of Discipleship at Christ Church of Oak Brook, IL. in the Chicago western suburbs. From 1998-2002, Greg held the position of Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Fuller Theological Seminary and Associate Professor of Lay Equipping and Discipleship. Prior to coming to Fuller, Greg enjoyed 24 years in pastoral ministry. He is the author of six books:  Essential Guide to Becoming a Disciple  (Intervarsity Press, 2016);  Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time  (Intervarsity Press, 2016);  The Essential Commandment: A Guide to Loving God and Others  (InterVarsity Press, 2011);  Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ  (InterVarsity Press, 2007);  Leaders

Core Values Guide Our Decisions Disciplemaking is the church’s mission,  not just one bullet point of the many things a church does. MicroGroups:  Disciples grow best and are empowered to disciple others in gender-specific groups of triads (3) or quads (4). Intentional:  Discipleship requires purposeful, covenantal, relational investment. Transparent Relationships:  God’s Word shapes our hearts in an honest, open, and mutually accountable environment. Biblically-Based Curriculum:   Discipleship Essentials  covers the foundations for a life in Christ and is the empowerment tool we use to disciple others. Indigenous:  Discipleship movements should become self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. Multiplying:  Disciples are made to reproduce.

Our unique emphasis is the focus on groups of 3-4 people for a transformative environment where people grow further into Christlikeness. Our motto is “ Transforming and Multiplying Disciples Through Micro Groups ” for real change to take place. The strategy for empowering disciples who make disciples is a growing—organic—network of reproducing disciples over a period of 3-5 years. That means we equip the culture of the church so that it becomes a disciple-making body of Christ. In the relational environment of a micro group, t he “curriculum map” is Discipleship Essentials . This 25-lesson basic content serves as the GPS. Then, as a transferable tool (for prospective disciple makers to make disciples who make disciples), we intentionally go slow and stay focused. Relationships matter.  The role of the micro group in transforming a church into a disciple-making community is like the first stage of a multi-stage rocket. The first stage of the rocket is the most powerful because it mu

 Start off well!  How? Getting off to the right start will lay the groundwork for a healthy group Follow the steps suggested. It will make your life easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob9q-xGpqtw

  Transform to become the person you were created to be!  If we want to be Christian disciples who mature and multiply, we need to keep it simple. Making disciples of Jesus Christ is not easy. That takes focused investment over time, led by the Spirit of God instead of our own "trying harder" by human effort. Surrender.  There are no microwave disciples What we mean is the context or environment in which disciples are made. That system of intentional reproduction need not be so complex that the multiplication collapses.  A micro group is not a microwave group. Micro means "small" so that there are 3-4 people who gather around a shared covenant of commitments, meet weekly, engage a biblically-based disciple-making curriculum, open hearts transparently to another, and then commit upon completion to go on to prayerfully ask 2-3 others who intentionally want to replicate the process.  Global Discipleship Initiative (GDI) Resources: Find out more at globaldi.org and acc

 Micro Groups are container for transformation and multiplication.