If you are a pastor reading this blog post, you would love to have reproducing, disciple makers in your congregation. Even better, you would love to see a culture where the expectation and practice is that a maturing Christian is one who makes disciples as a lifestyle and you are experiencing the momentum of disciple makers reproducing to the fourth generation. If this were the case the forward movement would be off the charts. I know, I have seen it and felt it. People now leading disciple making groups after being participants move to a new different level of ownership and passion. It takes time and sustained focus to get this place. But most churches never get here because of two fatal errors: You try to move too fast: By far the number one reason disciple making movements don’t even get off the ground is attempting to move too fast. I can’t count how many times I watched pastors catch the transformative power of a micro groups only to shoot themselves in the foot by tryi

  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

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