Disicpleship and Military Orders

Last Friday I had lunch with Colonel Dennis Isleta. Dennis and his wife Meg are members of our congregation at Fort Bonifacio. Dennis is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and is a sharp man.

I asked him about a term the military calls “Commander’s Intent” (CI) a technique that the army has adapted in the 1980’s.

Here was his explanation: CI is a simple concept that the army uses. It shows up at the top of every order. It is the result that the commanding officer wishes. CI’s are usually kept short, simple and straight to the point.

What’s unique about CI is it does not specify a lot of detail as to how an operation is to be undertaken. The army has long since realized that many plans made by officers in an office don’t really work as well in the battlefield.

CI’s allow every enlisted man to be on the same page. At the same time they can be flexible in the field specially when their officers are out of commission. All they need to be sure of is that they accomplish the commander’s intent. The plan may change but the intent must remain the same.

Jesus knew this concept way ahead of the military. He gave us a CI: “Go and make disciples of all nations….” He never told us the details, specifics of how, where or even when. All He gave was the Commander’s Intent – “Go and make disciples”.

He trusted us to be flexible. He kept His CI short so that there was no possible way to misunderstand it. He made it simple so we can all be on the same page. He was straight to the point so there is no dilly-dallying. Christian leaders would do well to follow His example.

He gives us room to be creative for as long as we make sure we accomplish our Commander’s Intent – “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Thank you Dennis for your insight.

Discipleship and Sushi King

While I was in Kuala Lumpur this week we stopped by a mall to have dinner. As we were walking to the car to make our way to the hotel I saw this sign pictured here.

The sign resembles the historical Christian symbol at the height of the Church's persecution. The idea behind this was when believers met each other one would draw an arch on the ground or carve it on a table top the other person then is expected draw the lower arch to form the fish.

This was the way they knew who were believers. This allowed them to fellowship with one another without fear of being betrayed. In those days this sign served the purpose of determining who was a real disciple and who was not. Today this sign does not mean much. Anyone can have a sticker and yet not be a true disciple of Jesus.

The declaration at Sushi King is not "Jesus is Lord!" instead what you will hear is "Irassaimase". There is a better sign to determine who the true disciples are. Jesus told us how to know who the real disciples were:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

According to Jesus the real sign that will make people know that we are Jesus' disciples is when they see how we love each other. Having stickers and symbols is much simpler and easier. However real discipleship is about opening our lives and building lasting relationships with one another.

In the words of theologian Francis Schaeffer: "Our relationship with each other is the critereon the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful- Christian community is the final apologetic."

Doctrine, good theology, a deep appreciation for Christian history and legacy are essentials and must never be taken for granted but the ultimate sign of discipleship is how we love one another. In my own words "discipleship is relatonship".

Discipleship and Deadlines

I am a true believer of the Westminster Catechism's statement that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The chief end of man is to enjoy God not work for Him. While I espouse this I also believe that life cannot be lived nonchalantly without deadlines.

Deadlines are important, without them very few things get accomplished. Without deadlines we will end up sitting around doing nothing. Ever noticed how quickly we accomplish things when we have to travel. All of a sudden the letter you should have written last week gets done in 20 minutes.

What took days to do is suddenly accomplished in a matter of minutes. How did you do it? What changed? Nothing, other than now you have a clear deadline. Our problem with deadlines stems from the idea that life does not have any. Big mistake life has deadlines. The most obvious is our limited time on this earth.

The length of our days is seventy years — or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10

How does this apply to our discussion of discipleship?

Simply this, while it is true that discipleship is relationship we cannot flippantly use it as an excuse to sit around and wait for things to happen. Making disciples by building relationships is not a passive wish “hope it happens” attitude, rather it is an active, deliberate well thought of priority. Disicpleship requires extensive planning and an unrelenting passion to see people reached and trained. Life has deadlines!

Read: Prayer Power in the Gobi

Discipleship and General Electric

In 1981 the legendary Jack Welch took the helm of General Electric. At the time the company had a 90 year history and had a market capitalization of $12 billion. The company had the 11th best stock in the New York Stock Exchange at $4 per share.

Welch assessed the business and found approximately 348 businesses and product lines. It was then that he set out to identify which ones were the real priorities. Which ones had the most potential, highest value and the greatest impact.

By the time Welch was done GE stock was trading at $80 per share and had $250 billion in market capitalization and was regarded as the number 1 most admired company by Fortune Magazine readers.

The key was to identify what the real priorities were. The application of this principle to our subject of discipleship (particularly in church leadership) is this:

1. Discipleship has the most potential because you are investing in people and churches are not buildings but are made up of people.

2. Discipleship has the highest value because it gives the best Return On Investment (ROI) when it comes to time, energy and resources. Disciples will go the distance and produce more disciples.

3. Finally discipleship has the greatest impact in changing society. It starts with individual lives which affects families, churches, institutions and then society.

The bottom line is this: Many church leaders think they can have itall. Fact is you can’t have it all. Focus your time and energies on making disciples. That is what will make the difference.

Discipleship and Priorities

Last night I spoke at the VictoryBiz Seminar. My message was about priorities, its importance and value. I shared three principles in order to have the right priorities.

Principle No. 1: “The Good is the Enemy of the Best.” Got this one from John Maxwell’s book – “Developing the Leader Within You.”

The story I am about to recount is true but will keep the names anonymous. This story captures the importance of discerning the best from what is good. Here is the story:

A man was offered to head a department at the head office. The offer included career advancement and a hundred thousand dollar salary increase (annual).

That meant that he would have to relocate and uproot his family. His wife was native to the city they were in, which was a good situation for his family. The children had great schools. Moving meant losing all of that. More significantly his wife, children and himself were growing spiritually because of the church they went to.

He decided not to go. Some time later the company came back to him and offered the same job. This time they decided they would move the entire department to his city. And they did, complete with the promotion and salary increase. Decisions based on priorities is about recognizing what is best from the many that are good.

How does this apply to discipleship? There are many good things that we can do in church, many activities that we can champion, many ways to serve, but the best thing to do is go and make disciples. Why? Disciples make disciples who make disciples.

In the end when you make disciples you will have more than enough people to do other things in church that need to be done. Pastors and church leaders need to prioritize the task of making disciples.

To Jesus mentoring and instructing disciples was the priority. It came before preaching and teaching. Sadly many leaders think preaching and teaching is discipleship. Hence they end up prioritizing it and not making disciples.

After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. Matthew 11:1

Discipleship and Ballroom Dancing

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Matthew 13:55

Disicpleship cannot be complicated. After all Jesus was a carpenter’s son and His disciples were fishermen. Sometimes we make discipleship more dificult than it really is. We overload people with information when what they really need is a relationship where they can learn to grow and mature. Having small groups is not about having a meeting. It is an excuse to meet so we can have relationships where we can engage, encourage and equip others to become disciples.

It’s the difference between the "twist" and the "boogie". The twist continues to thrive because anyone can do it. With a few twisting motions of your hip and legs and you are good to go. Lift one hand while twisting with one finger pointed up and you have the “pistol twist”. Move both arms from side to side and you have the “windshield twist”. Wave one hand and you have the “beauty queen move”. Both hands up and you have the 'surrender'. Different styles coming out of the same twist.

In short the twist can be done by anyone with added variations. That’s what discipleship is like. It is the simple task of engaging others with your own distinct style and personality in order to build relationships with them. The obvious goal is to one day introduce them to your God. Like Jesus, keep things simple in that way anyone can do it.

Now as far as the boogie is concerned there are only a limited number who can do it. It is not as simple and as such is hard to duplicate. When Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations” He did not mean some nations but all. He said all because He knew it can be done. Why is not being done yet? One of my suspicions is its too complicated its not duplicable.

The idea is to get everyone to do it and not just a handful of people. In order to do this we need to keep it simple.

Disicpleship and Starbucks

A few years ago while visiting Washington DC my host brought me to a Starbucks Coffee shop on a wintry Saturday morning. What I witnessed that day was something I would never forget. There was an initial line of 8 or 10 people when we got there. Then cars started showing up one after the other. In time there were at least 20 people in line.

It got me thinking, why would people inconvenience themselves to get dressed, transport themselves, park, line up, wait and spend more money for something they can conveniently do in the comfort of their own kitchens for less money. What was making them come back for more? The obvious answer is the coffee.

Starbucks' secret was they did not focus on building their brand. From its inception to its growing years Starbucks did not advertise and even today they do so minimally. They busied themselves brewing the best coffee they could make.

Sometimes churches are too busy building their brands rather than building their product. Others have relied on the brand – “The Church”, yet Jesus said - "I will build my church...." Matthew 16:18. Instead He challenges us to go and make disciples.

Churches need to stop focusing on building their brands instead they need to busy themselves with making the best product. Our product is people and their lives - lives that are full of light, joy, love, spirit, kindness, grace and victory. When they taste and see they will come back for more. The word of mouth about the church will be - “their coffee is good and I want more.” This is our product - changed lives.

Making good coffee is achieved through focus. Jesus was right then and now about what our true focus should be - go and make disciples.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

"I love Jesus, it's Christians I can't stand."

These words reflect the sentiments of people who have heard of Jesus and His teaching but cannot reconcile why His followers behave otherwise.

I realize that much of this is due to the hypocrisy found among “church people”. But there are other reasons that may not be quite as bad as hypocrisy but is simply a matter of adjusting the way we do ministry. Here’s one thought you may want to consider:

People are looking for relationship and not religion:

Our goal should not be to convert others rather it is to establish a relationship with them in the hope that one day we can introduce them to our God. Keep in mind that people don’t like being convinced. Neither do they want to be told that what they believe in is wrong and what you’re offering is right.

The truth is without God people will always be in need, they just haven’t realized it yet. In the meantime our job is to build a relationship where people can trust us. When the time comes that the Holy Spirit draws them we will be there to usher them into the ultimate relationship they should have – with God.

We become religious when we want people to believe what we believe. When we want them to join our church. When we want them to behave the way “Christians behave”. Fact is when people enter into a relationship with God they will believe (not in what we believe) but in Him. As their relationship deepens they will begin to behave differently. Eventually their genuine hunger for God and His Kingdom will draw them to a church.

This is the way we can reach people with the truth of Jesus without being disagreeable or obnoxious.

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1Corinthians 9:22

Appreciation Night

Last Saturday we held our first ever “Appreciation Night”. Over the years our church showed its appreciation to the people who served in separate Christmas parties.


For instance the Kid’s Church volunteers, Worship Teams (singers and musicians), Ushers and others held separate parties. This year we decided it was time for a change.

We gathered all the volunteer groups into one “Filipiniana Evening” in January, after all Decembers are busy. The pastors and staff were dressed in aprons wearing chefs
and waiters hats each assigned 3 tables to serve the volunteers who have selflessly been doing this month in month out. Our way of saying:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve... Mark 10:45

At the VCF Fort church there are over 1,000 volunteers, 850 of them showed up for the
party. They were served with “binalot meals” rice and viands wrapped in banana leaves. Family plates of “pancit” the Philippine version of spaghetti and “lechon” the famous roasted pig were also served with “buko juice” bottled coconut juice and “turon” banana wrapped in crispy shells with a swirl of caramel for dessert.

For entertainment each group presented a special number:

The Youth Group – Had a musical multi-media (live/video) of the “Back Space Boys”

The Worship Team – Had an elaborate musical number through time and eras. Complete with Jose Rizal and Maria Clara attires.

The Ushering Team – Did a dance number from the early 80’s, I think.

Kid’s Church – Had a series of skits in multi-versions: same script but set in drama, action, comedy, musical and others (can’t remember it was too many).

Hospitality Team – Did a brief introduction of themselves and then left a lone guy to do some magic tricks and on occasion invited 2 lady members as
assistants.

Technical Team – Brought the house down. From costumes, make up, music, props, script, performers, sound, lights, everything. It was an elaborate array of impersonated Filipino musicians through the years. I think that’s because these guys have been involved in production back stage for years. All the pent up desires of being on stage manifested. The crowd went ballistic.

We ended the evening with a short announcement about 2 new ministries we are starting: Administrative Services and Communications. A time of prayer of thanksgiving and the evening was over.

See pictures: http://joeybonifacio.multiply.com/photos/album/7

Every Nation's World Conference in Manila

Well the buzz has begun - Every Nation's World Conference in Manila will open its doors for registration starting January 22 and that's just 4 days away. Register as soon as you can and here's why: There are now approx. 24,000 people who atend the Metro Manila church and another 9-10K from the provincial churches. Araneta Colesium can only seat 14K. Do your math. Register early. If you want to know more visit the newly uploaded behind the scenes blog on the EN '07 Conference:
http://en07staff.multiply.com/ Now you can't say you were not told.

Singapore Visit

Visiting Singapore is always a treat. It is a beautiful city with wonderful people. But the greatest treat is the Every Nation church here. A thriving multi-ethnic church led by Pastor Larry (and Elaine) Matsuwaki. I can no longer count the number of times I have visited this church. But every visit has been a memorable time of hospitality, generosity, faith and kindness. (see link below)

We were invited to visit primarily for VictoryBiz (our ministry to the business community which I founded) and to help launch the church’s annual 7 days of prayer and fasting which starts on Monday (January 15).

We were met at the airport by brothers Shawn and Kern Lee. The twins as they are fondly referred were mentored by Pastor Larry and his team. These 2 men are very promising as far as reaching the business community is concerned.

Undoubtedly Singapore is a paradise for business people. With the opportunities and infrastructure that are available a lot is possible. As such it is home to many international companies and entrepreneurs. The church wanted to be trained on how to integrate VicotryBiz into its current life.

The leadership also wanted me to speak on fasting based on the book I wrote (The Mystery of the Empty Stomach). I have known Pastor Larry and Elaine for the last 11 years and have found them to be a deeply spiritual people of prayer. His goal is to make sure that this year’s fast was a success. That too is my prayer.

See pictures of the trip: http://joeybonifacio.multiply.com/photos/album/6

Find out more about the church: http://www.everynation.org.sg/

HAPPY "Whew" Year!

Working as a pastor is a joy. Working as a pastor at Victory Christian Fellowship (VCF) is both a joy and a "thrill" that I always thank God for. (see blog: Top 10 Things to Thank God for in 2006 – item number 8: http://joeybonifacio.multiply.com/journal/item/31

January 2nd was my first day at work in 2007. Spent the morning with the local church staff of VCF Fort Bonifacio discussing our plans and goals for the first quarter. Here was the short list of the events and things that needed to be undertaken by the team:

7 days of prayer and fasting, Appreciation Night (for volunteers), Marriage Preparation Seminars (review and edit of new materials), Volunteer Weekend, preparation for 2 new preaching series (Winning in Life and Apostle’s Creed), Volunteers’ Orientation Meeting, Victory Weekend one for Men and one for Women complete with Baptisms, Spiritual Family Class, Making Disciples Class, Foundations for Marriage Seminars, Every Nation Leadership Institute Classes (1st and 2nd years), small group connection meetings every Saturday, weekly prayer meetings, 1st quarter small group leaders’ rally (Leaders’ Circle), VictoryBiz outreach events, Force Ministries outreach events, plans for a new church plant in Taguig, talents inC Summit at the EN building, Every Nation Youth and Campus outreaches.

January 3rd today was my second day at work. This time the meeting was with the administrative side of the ministry. When a church becomes this size where it has 12 locations, 52 services on weekends and literally thousands of volunteers and over one hundred staff, administrative functions take on a different picture. There’s human resource planning (people assignments), corporate planning (offices, equipment, org stuff), IT, finance, communication (videos, web sites, brochures, flyers etc), operations (building maintenance, lease contracts etc.) that are all necessary to ensure that the ministry side of things run smoothly.

When I got to my table I looked at my travel sked for the quarter, they include a 3 day trip to Singapore to train on VictoryBiz, a 3 day trip to Kuala Lumpur to meet with Every Nation’s Asian International Ministry Team and a trip to London to attend the International Policy Council meeting.

All these plus small group meetings, weekly preaching, School of World Missions teaching, occasional funerals, weddings and counseling and all you can say is : HAPPY “Whew” Year!

“Whew” is an exclamation used to express a feeling of relief, being tired or surprised. In this case surprised and tired. Before you get me wrong, I am not complaining but merely recounting the reality of ministry work. Where people get the idea that ministry is “for people who are not busy and don’t like hard work” beats me.

I also want you to notice that my title says HAPPY “Whew” Year! with emphasis on the happy and not the whew. Whew is important to realistically assess what needs to be done happy is more important to make sure things are done excellently and with great joy.

Let me give some reasons why we need to focus on HAPPY:

1. Focusing on whew focuses on our limited abilities which leads to burn out. Focusing on happy focuses on what God can do in and through us. He gives us the strength.

“Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

2. Focusing on whew takes the glory away from God to us. Focusing on happy deeply honors God. When we enjoy God He is glorified. The Westminster Catechism declares "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." It did not say chief ends but end. Which means to glorify God results in enjoying Him and the more we enjoy Him the more He is glorified.

(see: http://joeybonifacio.multiply.com/journal/item/32 comments on book the Dangerous Duty of Delight.

3. Focusing on whew leaves us unsatisfied. Focusing on happy means we find satisfaction daily in working for and with our God. The kind of satisfaction that renews us like the eagles.

“who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalms 103:5

So here’s to all my partners and friends in ministry: HAPPY Whew Year!

VCF Legaspi

This is a picture of Pastors Ed Ty of Victory Christian Fellowship (VCF Lucena) and Raymond De Guzman (VCF Lipa) in what is left of the home of VCF Legaspi's worship Leader Sarah. As previously mentioned many of the members of the church lost homes (see December 25 blog below: Amazing People) and some may not be able to come back because of volcanic mud flow and other reasons. Below is a link to Michael Paderes' site where many pictures and 2 videos on the calamity are contained if you are interested in watching. You will also see pictures of the first tranche of our relief goods.

In the meantime I wanted to update all of you about the distribution of relief goods and money. Some of the money has been trnasmitted to Pastor Al Bantayan our pastor there. I spoke to him earlier this evening and he is very grateful for all the support. He wishes me to convey his gratitude to everyone who gave and prayed. The rest of the funds are with Pastor Raymond who will facilitate buying construction materials in Batangas.

As for prayer: Please pray that power will be restored. Only downtown Lagaspi has power. Pastor Al's house still does not have any. Fortunately he has a small generator (courtesy of Lucena and Lipa) that gives him a little light and is able to run an electric fan. Pray also for the local economy as black marketers are selling construction supplies at double price.

We have also decided to extend deadline for submission of relief goods to January 4, 2007 (previously December 31) as we will have a last delivery on January 5.

http://onetimeevent.multiply.com/photos/album/6