Monday, October 08, 2007

Discipleship Around the World

You gotta read my new blog, Seasoned Believers. On it I will reveal the key points to how we set up growth and healing communities around the world.

Here is a clue: personal relationship training for every single believer.

Second, Believers always seek others to help them before they seek assistance from a Minister, Counselor or Professional. I mean help in prayer, share and care. We all talk to numerous friends, family and even strangers before we will seek advice or assistance from a pro.

So!!!! We need to train the ordinary people in our churches to be able to listen, love, care, encourage and equip one another.

When I set up the Life Way Christian Psychiatric Hospital Unit in 1989 I had no formal training in hospital management. PTL! That meant I was not Leashed to certain outmoded paradigms so I did a lot of very creative and innovative things but did not even know I was doing them.

Because I had decided to make our church into a "Growth and Healing Community" so everyone knew how to pray, listen and minister in the Spirit of God I did the same thing at our Hospital. It was my naivete that allowed me to create one of the most powerful healing communities I ever saw. The most distressed people in our area proved to be wonderful helpers and care givers and as a by product got a lot better themselves.

The Holy Spirit worked in the hospital. Not long ago I met up with Dr. Cooper, our Medical Director. He is a very smart and capable Psychiatrist. He told me that day on the Sharon Woods Golf Course, "My time with you and the people at Life Way Counseling was the most exciting time of my professional life." Mine as well.

God was at work. The churches that adopt the same values can do it as well.

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