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Spontaneous
Multiplication of Disciples through Life Transformation
Groups
In the past, sweat and blood was required to see meager
multiplication occur in discipleship. Today, I see spontaneous
multiplication I always longed for but doubted I would
ever experience.
Reproduction is a natural function of the church and
is part of God’s design and plan. The fact that
so much personal effort is required for even the smallest
of results in the reproduction of disciples is strong
evidence that something is wrong something unnatural
to the process. The power to multiply is inherent in
the body of Christ; we need only to tap that power.
Through parables, Jesus described a kingdom that had
no difficulty expanding or multiplying. Luke documents
a movement that gained such momentum through spontaneous
multiplication of disciples and churches that its opponents
accused Paul of turning the world upside down! Many
of us are aware of such things happening in church history
or on foreign mission fields, but most of us must confess
we have never experienced such unconstrained multiplication
in the western church.
Many are very intentional about multiplying groups
and churches, assuming that disciple making will result.
However, the results are less than effective. And this
is Biblically backward! On the contrary, only when we
become intentional about making and multiplying disciples
can we be assured that groups and churches will multiply.
Through Life Transformation Groups (LTGs), I have witnessed
group multiplication in as little as three months through
conversion growth. In fact, multiplication occurred
faster and easier than I was prepared to handle.
One evening some women in my church challenged me by
saying, "Don’t talk to us about multiplication.
We don’t want to hear it. We like our group and
don’t want to split up." I considered this
a good opportunity to test the natural function of reproduction,
so I told them they didn’t have to multiply. I
intentionally stopped pushing reproduction to test the
truth of natural and spontaneous multiplication. Within
four months, that same group of women became three groups
without any help from me.
LTG’s were first introduced in a leadership development
workbook titled Raising Leaders for the Harvest, which
I co-authored with Bob Logan. Though the workbook exists
only in English, I have heard of LTG’s on almost
every continent of the globe!
On a recent trip to Australia, I met a man who was
using LTG’s after hearing about them from a friend.
He was in touch with a church leader in Sri Lanka who
was frustrated with typical discipleship methodology.
The LTG concept was passed through the phone lines,
and now LTG’s are multiplying in Sri Lanka. Who
knows where they will go from there!
These groups spread like a wild fire because the breath
of God blows on obedient disciples who find fuel in
dry lives longing to burn for the Lord. Because the
system is simple, the flames spread unhindered. Ordinary
Christians are empowered to do the most important work
any of us can do make and multiply disciples.
Neil Cole
Long Beach, CA
neilcole@aol.com
562.961.1962
© 1997-2000 ChurchSmart
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