Jared, who lost a brother to addiction and hard life choices, wanted to be in the lives of people like that brother. So he sought out the shelters and the detention centers. He volunteered to help victims of domestic violence and to ride along with the police. He and Laura, with their neighbors, saw repeated evidence that drugs were being bought and sold right beside their house. Instead of throwing their hands up in despair, they went to work. For months, they documented cars’ makes and models, time of day, license plates, and more. When they’d amassed enough evidence, they turned it over to the police, who were able to break up a drug ring in North Seattle because of the Kings and their neighbors.
 
Earlier this year, North Seattle United met to worship. 16 churches from North Seattle gathered in unity and solidarity. It was exciting, energizing, inspirational.
 
The next morning, Jared went to his office. The sidewalk outside was littered with heroin needles. The temptation was to crash back to earth with the reality of darkness in Seattle. Jared allowed himself that initial pessimism, but then he said, “No. Let’s not be depressed by how little difference we have made. Let’s let the reality propel us to change.”
 
Even when they feel like they’re not making a difference, they are. They continue to address real life head on, convinced that even when they feel like there’s no movement, there is.
 
Jared reminds himself that the 10 months it took to break up the drug ring was about persistence. And if that doesn’t feel like they made a dent, it’s just a reminder that the enemy is strong, but our God is stronger.

​We must be diligent. God will not be defeated.

When Jared and Laura skydived into Seattle in 2014 (not literally, but it was just as scary), they had their plans, their dreams, and their expectations. Piled on top of their own expectations for success, were those of their church partners, supporters, and coaches.
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But moving into Seattle quickly brought a couple of truths to light. Seattleites do not easily fall into relationships with each other. The Kings were moving from Nashville, a highly Christian city where people are open to each other to a place where people are closed and suspicious. The metro area of nearly 4 million people may represent half the state’s population, but many people in Seattle feel completely alone.

Hey everyone,
 
I was praying over you this morning, asking God to open up your church for new people whom God will bring to bless you.
 
I regularly keep my eye open for ideas and resources to help you. One of the resources I’ve been paying attention to lately are the videos from Pro Church Daily. These guys are worth listening to. They’re classic millennials. Working with churches is what they do. They keep things short, direct, and innovative.
 

This morning I watched their video “How to Reach People When You’re a Church of 50 or Less.” Here’s Brady’s phrase that caught my attention:
 
“If you want to get somewhere you’ve never been, you need to be willing to do things you’ve never done.”
 
Here are three statements we talk about within Kairos that help us take those steps that move us forward to growth:

1. I don’t know what to do. 
   This is a knowledge question. If we don’t know something, we can’t do it. The way beyond this is to open up our imagination through exposure to others. Become an explorer of what others are doing.
   
   
2. I don’t know how to do it. 
   This is an experience question. I find myself here a lot. I know about something, but I don’t know how to do it. The way through this is to partner with those who are doing what we want to do so we can learn from them.
   
   
3. I don’t want to do it.
   ​This is the motivation question—and it’s the tough one. Before we can make progress with this question we’ve got to investigate why we don’t want to do it. This takes courage because it often asks us to address our fears. Am I afraid to fail? Am I afraid of what it will require? Am I afraid how others will react? But it’s going to take courage to grow, so we might as well start it now.

 
Brady’s challenge is to make this year a year to try things out.

If you want to do it, but don't think you can go it alone, we're putting together a Spring Surge group to help each other through. Click here to download a Spring Surge Preview Calendar to see if it's something you're interested in.

Let’s do it!

Once formed, a DNA group focuses on the following:

DISCIPLESHIP

1. Reminding each other of new Identity in Jesus Christ (a child of God; an ambassador of the King; a servant of the creator of the universe; a learner who is being made whole).
2. Admonishing and teaching one another to obey Jesus’ commands. (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 3:15-17)
3. Training each other to serve. (Ephesians 4:11-3)
4. Living a disciplined live.

NURTURING

1. Listening to each other’s stories and to the Holy Spirit; carefully and empathetically directing each other to truth. (John 16:7-15)
2. Checking one another’s passions: How are you doing? Who are you loving well? Not so well? Where are you living in fear? What can we celebrate with you? What are you struggling through? (Romans 12:10,15)
3. Praying with and for each other. (Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18; James 5:16)

ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Encouraging each other to live out beliefs through making goals and helping each other fulfill them. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
2. Reviewing the past week.
3. Speaking the truth in love in regard to areas of sin (Ephesians 4:14-16), correcting and rebuking with God’s Word when necessary. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

PATHWAYS INTO A DNA GROUP

• If your church already has groups like this, tell your Area Missional Community leader you’d like to join a group.
• If your church doesn’t offer DNA groups, find two friends who want to form one with you. Tell your Missional Community leader or an elder you are starting one and ask for accountability.

Jared and Laura, in listening for God's call in their life, were pulled toward London, England. They passed Discovery Lab with scores that indicated a high likelihood they could successfully plant a church once they had more experience under their belts.
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Kairos helped them secure an apprenticeship with Ethos Church in Nashville, where they could learn how healthy growing church systems function. During that season, the call shifted from London to the Northwest, the heart of post-Christian culture in the US.

 ​When a planter moves to a new city to start a church, we call it parachuting in. It takes time to settle into a new place, build relationships, learn the culture, and allow the dream and plan for the church to form within the new context.

Jared says, " We were going from Sunday-centric Christianity to Sundays being secondary at best. We were going from thousands of Christian relationships to almost none."

The Kings knew there would be challenges in making such a big move, but Seattle was looming large in the future and they needed a plan.

They attended their first Kairos Strategy Lab before moving to Seattle. And their plans looked great on paper. They were able to dream big, to think through the theories of what they hoped to accomplish, to give shape to their dream and make it a plan. Sure, it was all theory, but it was solid theory.

With all their tools in place and a team enthusiastic about moving with them, they moved their family north.

But there comes a place in every story when boots hit the pavement, when expectations crash up against reality, when a person's strength and faith are put to the test.

​To be continued . . .

Once upon a time, a man decided to plant a new church in a new city. All his plans went better than expected and in no time a booming church had grown up with no problems and little effort.
The End​

 
Recently a group from our church attended the Discipleship.org conference. We engaged with about 1,400 other “Discipleship First” folks to be encouraged by brothers and sisters from around the world and to hear the ways they grow disciples who make disciples.
 
Here are 5 key points that I walked away with from the conference:

1. What’s your end result? Not every discipling process has the same end goal. Some processes focus on becoming an essential learner and doer of the word. Others focus on helping people be firmly rooted in faith. Others help with specific problem areas of life. Still others are aimed at those super disciples who are going to change the world. Know who the people are you will disciple and what you want to see Jesus accomplish in their lives for that specific period of time.

​2. The Word of God is powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12). Make engagement with the Bible a central feature of your discipling process. What scriptures will you memorize together and why? What biblical readings will focus your attention?

3. The discipling leader sets the stage. As a discipler, you are inviting others to learn from your life. You determine the time, place, and the content. If they’re not willing to work with your schedule, they may not yet be ready to engage that level of discipling.

4. Discipling is best done in groups of 3 to 5 people of the same gender. The focus is on obeying scripture and reflecting on the interaction between scripture and doing. Being small in number and gender specific allows a greater flow of interaction, confession and accountability.

5. Any plan is more effective than no plan. There were 18 tracks at the 2018 Discipleship Conference, each led by a group with disciple making as their goal. Here are 3 of the plans presented:​

1. SOAP journaling method:  Scripture to read and write (about 10-minutes worth), Observations (what do people notice?), Application (what will they commit to do?) and Prayer (what do they need to pray to obey?)
2. HEAR journaling method by Robby Gallaty: Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond.
3. DBS (Discovery Bible Study). A simple discussion format that reads the text 3 times, then asks what it says about God, people, and what will we commit to do? 

What struck me is that discipling doesn’t need to be hard; it needs to done! Who will you disciple?

​A friend of mine introduced me to the acronym BHAG: By the Hand of Almighty God. In their book, Built to Last (1994), James Collins and Jerry Porras defined a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) as “a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business’ existence.” These are the type of goals that change history, like when John F. Kennedy said, “that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”

Like a vision drives a country, I believe a BHAG is what ultimately drives a church.

BHAGs are meant to shift “business as normal.” BHAGs are nearly impossible to achieve without consistently working outside of our comfort zone. They require a commitment and confidence that moves us to persistent effort, over decades, even when the odds seem impossibly stacked against us.

The only way a church, or any organization, can pursue a BHAG dream is with a long-term plan that ties together mission, vision, and decisions into action. Without such organized, systematic planning no BHAG will survive.

Since 2009 Kairos has been helping churches think strategically about their future through a strategic planning process called StratOp. StratOp employs a series of insightful tools to help churches gain perspective on their own reality, strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately to immediate and long-term decisions that will move them towards progress on their BHAGs.

It is the persistent application of effort towards a plan that ultimately drives us towards the BHAGs God has set before us. No, we’re not doing this by our own strength or will. God is in charge. But He still asks us to do the hard work that needs to be done as He energizes the results.

If you are interested in the StratOp process, contact me at sgranberg@kairoschurchplanting.org.

Being a spiritual mentor does not equal being a religious leader. Mentors are not necessarily managing the direction of the church itself. The reality is they are leaders, but maybe look different from what you expect. It’s important to know the traits of spiritual mentors, these individuals are valuable in the development of the disciples within your congregation.

Here's a more accurate picture of what a spiritual mentor looks like:

Does your church have a podium or a stage?
 
That may seem like a strange question, but it is important if your church is going to attract and hold 21st century people. One of the major concepts that drive 21st churches is that worship is an experience—not a service. Services are by nature stable events that follow a standard, non-changing script. Experiences, on the other hand, are intended to be adaptive, creative and designed to communicate a story.
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