Jesus Centered, Gospel Advancing, Disciple Multiplying

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!