Jesus-Centered, Gospel Advancing,
Disciple Multiplying
by Mr Bill
I
have had the privilege of serving Jesus in student ministry for over 32 years,
the last 26+ full-time alongside my wife, Jean. So yes, that means I’m getting
called old now. But there has been no greater joy, no greater struggle and no
greater thrill than to watch God transform a life! So thank You Jesus for this
amazing honor!
As
you can imagine, during this time I’ve watched student ministry “fads” come and
go. It’s been great to be a part of so many wonderful ministries: Youth
Specialties, Youth With A Mission, Student Venture, Young Life, Fellowship of
Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade, Youth for Christ, Navigators, Dare 2 Share,
SonLife, New Tribes, Group, Simply Youth Ministry, Athletes in Action, National
Network of Youth Ministry, Camps, Missions Trips, Service Projects, Local
Networks, Etc… all for the purpose of Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known.
I’ve watched student ministry & trends evolve year after year. In student
ministry, you’ll never make it for the long haul if you aren’t constantly
changing. Now my Theology hasn’t changed, but my methodology is constantly
changing. My mentality has been the same as that of the apostle Paul when he
said, “I have become all things, to all people so that by all possible means I
might save some.”
The
ministries we’ve been privileged to be a part of have always been relational
and focused on Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known. We’ve always discipled
students & seen students come to know Jesus. So why am I saying all this?
Because it wasn’t until about 5 years ago that we started seeing exponential,
explosive growth in our student ministry. What was the difference?
Five years ago I took a small group
of students from Texas to Colorado to participate in a ministry call Lead The
Cause. It was a week like no other. It wasn’t camp, it wasn’t a retreat, it
wasn’t a conference. The best way I can describe it was a week long missional
experience preparing us for a lifelong missions trip where we live. We prayed
(a lot), we lived it, we were inspired & equipped and as we left we were
deployed to our circles of influence.
Ever
read the book of Acts, then go to church and think, “what happened?” Yeah, me
too. We looked at 7 values in the book of Acts that were part of advancing the
Gospel of Jesus and prayed for God to
show us how to develop those values in our own lives & ministries. Then,
using Holy Spirit led stategery, we put together a plan for God to use us to
reach those we are closest to with the Good news of His Son Jesus - and it
worked! Our group of 8 students grew to 50 in 18 months and we saw 12 students
place their trust in Jesus for the first time! In past four years we’ve seen 34
students place their trust in Jesus, just by inspiring & equipping them!
Because this has been so transformational for us, my next seven articles will be on each of the 7 Values of a Gospel Advancing Ministry: Intercessory Prayer, Relational Evangelism, Leaders Role, Discipling Strategy, Bold Vision, Biblical Outcomes and Programs. I hope these articles will help you as much as these values from Acts have transformed us!
Because this has been so transformational for us, my next seven articles will be on each of the 7 Values of a Gospel Advancing Ministry: Intercessory Prayer, Relational Evangelism, Leaders Role, Discipling Strategy, Bold Vision, Biblical Outcomes and Programs. I hope these articles will help you as much as these values from Acts have transformed us!
