F12 No Place Left
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F12 No Place Left
Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples, „I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word.“ (John 17:20) Later the apostle Paul writes to Timothy: „The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.“ (2 Timothy 2:2)
This praying for disciples of the disciples and entrusting key things to the next generation of disciples is a principle that the apostle Paul used even in contact with newly formed local churches. Please observe carefully how the Apostle Paul addressed relatively very new believers in Thessalonica: „You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word during great affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us…“ (1 Thessalonians 1:6-9)
In Ephesus, „Paul took the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus.“ (Acts 19:9-10) And the summary of this ministry after two years is, „all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord.“ How did Paul get all the people in the province of Asia to hear the Word? By flying all over the place? By holding super-big meetings? On the contrary! He seems to have stayed more or less in one place for two years! „he separated the disciples – and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus“. All inhabitants of the province heard the Word „by separating the disciples and by talking to them daily“ – training them daily! I estimate that this was several generations of disciples!
This is what Paul taught his Timothy, „entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.“ (2 Timothy 2:2) And so it was in Thessalonica: „The Word of the Lord has gone forth from you…“ (1 Thessalonians 1:8) So not just from Paul himself, but the word of the Lord has gone forth from the newly believing Thessalonians… That’s what I call GENERATIONAL THINKING!
A well-done evangelistic event may attract some people. A quality worship service for some group may be of interest. However, spiritual movement consists of generations of disciples who, in simple biblical way, accept the living Lord Jesus and go with Him to others. Yes, I myself am diligently trying to minister to the unbelieving people around me so that they would come to know Jesus. But the movement is not about how many people I personally win for Him! The movement is that I immediately teach the new disciples to make disciples, and that I teach them to teach others.
It starts with me! I need to know how to do the winning myself; that is, I need to win abundantly and effectively. But real spiritual movement grows through ordinary new people! We need to teach them simple basic skills (not just knowledge!) – practical steps they will easily and enthusiastically apply to those around them and then teach others.
„From Jerusalem and all around to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ… But now, there is no place left for me in these regions!“ (Romans 15:19 and 23) „There is no place for me here,“ Paul says. What does that mean? It’s probably not that everyone there has believed. Does he mean that every one has heard the gospel from him? Rather, it means that the whole area is now covered by new disciples and disciples of disciples. Somewhere in the beginning of those streams Paul reached and trained them to reach others and to form new informal fellowships. In that case, there is really no need there for Paul anymore, there is no place left for him and he can move on…
I look forward to hundreds and thousands of new disciples of Jesus in our country as well. But I will not win them on my own. I need your help! Especially when it comes to the folks who are around you. I look forward to you saying, „There’s no place left for me – in this block of flats.“ „There’s no place left for me in this company.“ How about „There’s no place left for me in this city, district, county…“? All you have to do is reach a few dozen disciples for Jesus and train them to reach and train more.
I’m preparing Bridges to People as a little guide, so that you can do it too! I really want you to teach others to do it right away. In addition to these videos, for the interested ones, we also offer BRIDGES TO PEOPLE LIVE TRAINING. We’ll do a few sessions with your group, youth or even a church. These are not lectures! We start with a practical demonstration and then the main thing is each participant’s own practice. First on the spot and right after that with real people „out there“. Then we tell stories of what the Lord God has been doing around us. And we learn other things…
I’m looking forward, Lord Jesus, to when there’s no room for me here in the Czech Republic…