Just before Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He gave us the following command: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19) When we think of this Great Commission, we usually think of winning the lost. In a world where we casually talk about billions of people on the planet and trillions of dollars in the Federal budget, it’s easy to get caught in a numbers game, and too many of us look at fulfilling that Commission solely in those terms. When people talk about thousands and millions being saved around the world, we get excited, as we should.
But Jesus had more for the church than a long series of mass meetings and television ratings. His command was for us to “make disciples” because He knew that a) a stable church is made up of stable people, well-grounded in His Word and rich in spiritual gifts and b) a stable church is the only platform from which we could hope to launch our efforts to win the lost and make our efforts stick for eternity. The experience of the New Testament church and the two millennia that followed have borne these truths out.
This is particularly true with men. Men are experts at hiding their innermost beings, but beneath the surface of work and sports, men desire a deeper walk with their Creator and with those around them. To reach men in their innermost beings, it takes a discipleship process. LifeBuilders has such a process that proceeds in three steps:
- Walks with Christ:
- LifeBuilders Essentials. This is a twelve-session discipleship course that is best taught one-on-one, but can also be taught in small groups. It takes the disciple through the basics of Christianity, including salvation, the nature of God, sanctification and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, personal holiness and financial integrity, the church, spiritual gifts and Christian service. It does this by taking the disciple step-by-step through the Biblical basis for a real Christian life and world view. It does this by unapologetically integrating Pentecostal theology into its teaching.
- Lives Like Christ
- Kingdom Calling. The eight-session series brings men into a deeper relationship with God. As the title states, it’s all about calling: calling men to walk in His glory and the light of His Word, to restoration and to walk in love. It is designed to transform the social contacts that men struggle with every day—family, workplace, and church—into the relationships that God intended them to be. An essential tool in the formation of meaningful small groups.
- Apologetics for the Rest of Us — Have you ever felt “Scripturally challenged” when it comes to the zingers of questions that unbelievers throw at you? What do you say when people ask, “Where does the Bible come from?” Or, “How do you know that God exists?” Or, “Isn’t Christ just a myth?” It is important not only to know what you believe, but also why you believe it. Peter said, “…be ready always to give an answer to ever man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15). In this book, Leonard Albert and Don Warrington write from their many years of teaching and actual “one-on-one” evangelism to help Christians know why they believe what they believe. A thinking person asks questions and does not believe something without good reason. This book will help the reader to closely examine the claims of their faith in Christ with the ultimate goal of helping them to be more confident as they share their faith with others.
- Works for Christ
- Matthew 25 Men. Once men are discipled, they need to be set forth into ministry. Matthew 25 Men does just that by linking men’s ministry teams with designated ministry centers across the U.S. in both urban and rural centers. Your men’s ministry team will have a life-changing experience as it ministers to the most needful of people in a wide variety of settings and locations.
- Excellence for the Rest of Us is a book–which is designed to be taught as a course–about how the laity can truly be empowered and released for ministry. Think of the energy, vitality and satisfaction that result when the members of the body of Christ get busy and really make an impact in their church and community. Leonard Albert lays out a detailed organizational plan in nine easy steps involving evaluation, recruitment, spiritual gifting, small groups and teams and suggested teaching and training classes. Scores of “inreach” (church) and “outreach” (community) projects are listed with details on implementation.
Important note: Those men in the Leadership Team should take the LifeBuilders Essentials and Kingdom Calling courses at the earliest opportunity.
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