Doulos Training School

Doulos Missions International now offers discipleship training online through the Doulos Training School (DTS).  Please visit the DTS online at Doulos Training School to find out more about how you or someone you know can participate.

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.

The Pros, Cons, and Purpose of Structure

I want to share a very important point with you about structure. In this article, I will cover some of the pros and cons of structure, as well as the purpose of it. Structure is important in a church, but there should only be enough structure to support life. The whole purpose of structure is to support life, but if there is too much structure, it will have the opposite effect, killing whatever life was there to begin with. 

Take for example the human skeleton, which is a type of structure that God created to support human life. A human skeleton is very beneficial, in that it provides support and stability to the body, without which we would be blobs of flesh on the floor unable to stand up, move around, open our mouths, or do anything. We would be helpless and useless. So we can all agree that structure is a good thing. But if we have too much structure, then it becomes detrimental to life. For example, if you were to put an adult human skeleton on a baby, its weight would crush the baby and destroy its little life. That is why the Lord in His wisdom has so designed it that at every stage of human growth from an embryo in the womb, to infancy after birth, to childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, the human skeleton is only big enough to support the life, but not so big as to crush the life. 

It's the same way with the Body of Christ. As we plant churches and build, let us be very careful that in seeking to bring structure that we do not create too much structure. For it is possible to create more structure than is needed to support the life of the Body, thus having the opposite effect than what is intended and destroying the newly planted church. Therefore, the amount of structure should only be in proportion to the life of the Church, and as the life grows, so does the structure grow proportionally.

The types of structures that can be helpful are discipleship structures for example, like Life Transformation Groups (LTGs) and leadership structures like elders to oversee the fellowship. As a church grows, we can also implement leadership and accountability structures, such as boards of directors, boards of deacons, or committees, such as missions committees. We can build organizational structures as the staff grows. We may also find it helpful to create program structures to support various programs like children's ministries, homeless ministries, or other such programs. Some house churches eventually become large enough to need public buildings, which are a type of physical structure. All of these structures are fine in their proper place and at the proper time. But let's keep it healthy and not add any more structure than is necessary. 

That's why we should always remember what the core of the Church is. The core of the Church is the minimum (core) requirements in order for it to still be considered the Church in the sight of God. The core of the Church from a biblical perspective is present whenever two or three people are gathered in Jesus' name (Mt 18:20), who are carrying out the Great Commandment (Mk 12:29-31; Lk 10:27-28) and the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-18). Let's always remember that, so that we don't lose sight of what the minimum is for the Church to exist in any given place, and be sure that any structure we create does not become detrimental to it. 

Let us remember that the Body of Christ, the Lord's Church, is an organism, not a machine or a business. We must never try to run the Church like a business or operate it like a machine, but instead always use the organic principles found in Scripture and in nature. Let us always remember that when our Lord described what the kingdom of God is like, he used a lot of organic things, like seeds and yeast, to do so. Therefore, we should seek to operate as Jesus did, according to the organic principles He laid out for us and that He and His apostles demonstrated by their example. 

I'm afraid that many churches today have too much structure and very little life. They may be running like a finely tuned machine, but they are missing some of the basic elements necessary to be considered the true Church. For example, if they are not loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, then they are no longer the true Church, at least not a healthy one. This is essentially what the Church in Ephesus was rebuked for by the Lord in Revelation 2:1-7. Likewise, if a church is no longer loving their neighbor as themselves, then they are not a healthy church. and the same can be said of a church that is not obeying the Great Commission by helping to complete it. It doesn't matter how much structure they have, including a large staff, a great big, beautiful building, or a board of directors made up of prestigious members of the community, because if the basic life of the church is impeded, suppressed, hindered, missing, or found lacking in any way in the sight of God, then they are no longer healthy and pleasing to Him. In some cases, their structure may have become a burden to the members of the church, like a yoke of slavery (e.g., see Unbiblical Hierarchy of the Church of England).

Let us not forget that Jesus didn't die to save the structure, but rather His people that He created in His own image. Let's be careful that as we plant churches we only create enough structure in each fellowship to support life, and not more than is necessary.

Attribution notice: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image from Organizational Physics may be subject to copyright, used here per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.

Author's Note: If you would like to become a disciple who makes disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. I also recommend reading Unbiblical Hierarchy of the Church of England, Divine Strategies for Multiplication, Life Transformation Groups, How to Start an LTG, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Multiplication. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

How to Start an LTG

In my previous article, I explained Life Transformation Groups (LTG), which are an excellent way to make disciples that multiply, as Jesus did. Anyone in Christ can start an LTG. It's not difficult. That's one reason why it is so effective, because it is easily repeatable by disciples of all ages around the world. However, for those who are not sure how to start an LTG, please allow me to give you some simple steps.

1. Step One: Pray and ask the Lord whom you should invite to join you in an LTG. Wait on the Lord to answer you as you consider the people you know. Find another person who has a hunger for more of God in his or her life. The groups are not mixed-gender, so consider those of your own gender.

2. Step Two: Once you determine whom the Lord is leading you to invite, go to the person and invite them. For those who don't know how to do that, here is how I suggest you do it. Begin saying you believe the Lord is leading you to invite them to a "discipleship relationship." Be sure and smile as you open the topic. Explain that it involves reading lots of Scripture, praying for the lost, and meeting together once per week for an hour. Explain that neither of you will be the leader or teacher, but that you will be coequals. Explain that the group is limited to two or three people of the same gender, so it will always remain small, but new groups can be started as more people want to join. Explain that you would like them to read the article, Life Transformation Groups, and pray for a week or two about whether the Lord wants them to join you in one of these groups. Ask them to get back to you afterward and let you know if this is what the Lord wants them to do. Be sure and ask them to pray first about it, even if they seem sure immediately that this is what they want to do.

3. Step Three: After a couple weeks, if the person has not yet gotten back to you with a response to your invitation, ask them if they have a sense from the Lord yet whether or not this is what He would have them do. If they say they have not, tell them to pray about it for another week, but that you do need a response, so you know whether they will join you, because you would like to start as soon as possible.

If you receive a negative response from the person you invited, then thank them for praying about it, and move on to inviting someone else by following these same three steps. If you receive an affirmative response from the person you invited, then proceed to step four below.

By the way, you can invite a second person, following steps one to three above before you have received a response from this person. But do not invite more than two at a time, because the group is limited to three people. I recommend inviting one person at a time, and keeping it simple, but feel free to invite two at a time, if the Lord leads you that way. Starting off with just you and one other person in the group initially has many advantages to it, and you can always invite another person to join the group once you two get started. If you invite two people at once, you should probably wait for both to decide whether to join before you get started, unless one person is taking longer than three weeks to decide, and the second person has already indicated they would like to join you. The reason is that you need to move forward with starting the group, and if a person really wants to do this, they will not take very long to decide.

4. Step Four: Decide together with the person who has agreed to be your LTG partner which day of the week you will meet for at least an hour, as well as the time and place where you will meet. You do not have to meet at the same place every week. It can be in a home, church, office, or food court in a mall for example. The main thing is that it is conveniently accessible to all members of the group, and it affords enough privacy to speak confidentially to each other. The weekly meetings must be held face-to-face and in-person, not by phone or video conference. Once you have decided when and where to meet, proceed to step five.

5. Step Five: Decide together with your new LTG partner which passage of the Bible to read before your first meeting. Pick a passage of 25 to 30 chapters in the New Testament initially, and I recommend staying in this part of the Bible for the first year. You could choose a book like Matthew, which is 28 chapters. Or you could choose to read Galatians five times for a total of thirty chapters. Each member of the LTG should individually and privately read the same passage of Scripture that you agreed upon together in step five. You do this throughout the week during your own personal devotions with God.

6. Step Six: Print out a copy of the five questions that will be used in your first meeting, as listed in the article Life Transformation Groups, or write them down. You may also order LTG cards from  Church Multiplication Associates (CMA). As you go through your week, you will make notes to yourself, so that you can answer the questions when you meet together for your LTG meeting.

7. Step Seven: Meet together for the first time at the appointed place and time. Begin with a word of prayer, and then decide who will go first in answering the five questions. Remind your partner that any sins you confess to each other in the group must remain confidential between the two of you. One person can then ask the other each of the five questions, while the other person answers them. Afterward, trade places and the other person now gets to answer the questions.

8. Step Eight: During your first meeting, ask your partner(s) to decide on two people they know that they would like you both to be praying for to come to Christ. I suggest you ask them to pick two people who are not in Christ and who would be strategically influential, if they came to Christ. They should be prepared to give you the names of these two people the next time you meet. Once they give you the two names, you should both write down the names. Likewise, you should give them the names of the two people you would like them to join you in praying for.

9. Step Nine: If everyone in the group has finished reading the agreed upon passage of Scripture, then do step five again before you end the meeting with prayer, so you know what to read before your next meeting. If any one person did not finish the reading, then everyone knows they must re-read the entire passage, even if they have already finished it.

These are the basic steps to starting an LTG, and once you have started one, you can invite a third group member, if you don't already have one.

Dealing with Issues
If your LTG partner is consistently not reading the Scripture passage you have agreed upon, or not coming to the meetings, or not submitting to the LTG process in any particular way, then you need to speak to them privately. I suggest you let them know that you would be glad to continue meeting with them for discipleship as long as they are willing to submit to the LTG process. But remind them that there are two criteria for being in an LTG: 1) a hunger for more of God in his or her life, and 2) a willingness to submit to the LTG process. Remind them that when you first asked them to pray about joining you in an LTG, they said they felt led by the Lord to join, but lately they do not seem to be submitting to the process. You might consider asking them to pray for two weeks about whether they still feel led to continue to meet with you for discipleship, and ask them to let you know. If after praying, they decide they no longer want to continue, then let them go, and you will need to find someone else. If they want to continue meeting, just be lovingly firm with them that you will be expecting them to submit to the process.

I hope this has helped you understand better how to get your LTG started and how to deal with issues that may arise.

Attribution: Life Transformation Groups by Neil Cole © 2000. For more information about Life Transformations Groups and other strategic resources visit Church Multiplication Associates (CMA). By the way, CMA has LTG cards containing the explanation of an LTG and the five questions, which you can order from them online. I recommend getting the blue cards with the five questions, rather than the red ones. Butterfly photo by my fifteen year old daughter Hope Lacroix.

Author's Note: If you would like to become a disciple who makes disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. I also recommend reading Life Transformation Groups, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Multiplication. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.

Life Transformation Groups

As I have already explained in my article, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, becoming a disciple of Christ is not simply a matter of claiming to be a believer. Nor is it simply saying you're a Christian or going to Church each week. Neither is it primarily an academic process.  Academics is more intellectual. It's all about getting head knowledge. Head knowledge can be dangerous.  Paul said, "Knowledge puffs up while love builds up." (1 Cor 8:1, NIV).  Becoming a disciple is a matter of the heart that requires loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself -- the two greatest commandments. It doesn't happen in a vacuum while remaining entirely secluded all by yourself all the time, although solitude is also very beneficial. Jesus spent time in solitude and so did His apostles, so we need to make private time alone with God a regular part of our lives. However, in addition to that, we need contact with others.

The Lord said that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in our midst. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Mt 18:20, NIV).  That's why I advise disciples to meet in groups of two or three on a regular basis. The men meet with men and the women with women. There are no mixed-gender groups. They meet face-to-face, in-person once per week together for about an hour for the purpose of discipleship.  This approach has been called a Life Transformation Group (LTG).

This follows the same approach that Jesus used in making disciples. He met with the multitudes and preached to them. He fed the masses, healed them, and delivered those who were bound by satan. But He did not necessarily make disciples of the masses. His work of making disciples was done primarily with the Twelve, and it happened over a period of three and a half years. It did not happen in a classroom, using textbooks and charts. It happened as they walked with the Lord daily, talked with Him, prayed with Him, watched Him operate, and listened to Him teach. At the end of three and a half years, He only had eleven of the original Twelve disciples remaining, but they turned the world upside down with the gospel after His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, once He poured out His Spirit upon them.

There were other disciples besides the Twelve. He had wider circles through which He made disciples, such as the seventy-two.  They may have been part of the one hundred and twenty who gathered in the upper room to obediently wait for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit after His ascension. But He spent most of His time with the Twelve during His earthly ministry, especially with Peter, James, and John, and that is an example for us how to make disciples. It's not going to happen by listening to a pastor preach messages once per week on Sundays, although that may help. It's going to happen on a constant basis, as you daily walk with the Lord.

Criteria for LTG Membership
It's easy to start an LTG. All you have to do is find another person of your gender who 1) has a hunger for more of God in his or her life, and 2) who is willing to submit to the LTG process. Those are the only two requirements to be in an LTG. And to start an LTG, you don't need to have any Bible training or even be a leader. That's because you are not going to lead the group, and you are not going to teach the Bible. So what are you going to do then?

There are two basic things you do in an LTG -- breathing and reproducing -- which are essential to sustaining life of all living, breathing creatures on earth. I am using those natural functions figuratively to illustrate the spiritual process.

Breathing
The two-fold process of breathing involves inhaling and exhaling. Let me explain how these apply to the LTG.

Inhaling
When we inhale, we take in fresh, oxygen-rich air, which we need to live. We could say the same thing happens in the spirit. A disciple must inhale spiritually. We want to inhale the fresh, breath that God has exhaled. And the Scripture says that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17, NIV).

So in an LTG, we inhale or read lots of Scripture. The members of the LTG agree on a Bible passage to read each week that totals between twenty-five and thirty chapters. So for example, you could read the gospel of Matthew one week, which is twenty-eight chapters. Another week, you could read several of Paul's epistles, totaling twenty-five to thirty chapters. Or you could read one of Paul's epistles like Galatians, five times for a total of thirty chapters. But everyone in the LTG must read the same passage each week. Each LTG partner does the reading on their own throughout the week and must be finished before the weekly meeting. No Bible reading or Bible study is done in the LTG meeting itself.

Exhaling
When we exhale, we breath out air that our bodies have used, which contains waste material in the form of carbon dioxide gas. It's been expended, and we can no longer make use of it. Our bodies must exhale or else we would die. It's not enough to simply inhale and hold our breath. So in the spirit, exhaling is equally essential. We need to rid ourselves of those things that would be harmful if we hold onto them. That means we confess our sins to one another. James wrote: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (Jam 5:16, NIV).

So in an LTG, you confess your sins to each other. That's one reason why it is gender specific, because we don't want the men confessing their sins to women, and vice versa, since that is not appropriate.  And the members of the LTG must agree to keep strictly confidential what they say to each other. It is not to be repeated outside the group.

Reproducing
Everything God made on earth with seed within itself reproduces after its own kind. Seed-bearing plants do this, and so do animals, as well as humans. If humans stopped reproducing, they would become extinct. There are some nationalities that are going in that direction, because their death rate exceeds the birth rate. So this is essential.

When we reproduce spiritually, as disciples, we are making other disciples of people. This is in obedience to the Lord's command. He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20, NIV).

Our reproduction as disciples begins by praying for the lost people we know in our circles of influence (family, work, neighbors, etc). So each member of the LTG shares the names of two or three people he or she knows that are not saved. And all the members of the LTG agree to pray throughout the week for those people by name.

The members of the LTG should also actively be a testimony for the glory of Jesus Christ each week by their words and actions. This will include share your faith in Christ with others each week. The best way to do this is to do so as you go through each day.  But it would be even better if you could also set aside a certain amount of time each week especially for personal evangelism.

Once there are three members in an LTG, if a fourth person wishes to join, that would indicate it is time for the group to multiply by becoming two separate groups of two members each. An LTG may not have more than two or three members.

Accountability Questions
When the group meets each week, they open in prayer, and then they each take turns asking five questions of each other. So one person can be the first to answer all the questions, and then the next person can do so, and then the third, if there is a third person.

1. How have you been a testimony this week for the glory of God with your words and actions?

You answer this by telling what you did to testify for Jesus to others in your circle of influence throughout the past week.

2. How have you responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

You answer this by telling how you have followed the leading of the Holy Spirit in things both great and small throughout the past week.

3. How have you experienced God in your life this week?

You answer this by specifically sharing any instance by which you experienced God in your life personally, such as in prayer, worship, an answer to prayer, God speaking to you through the Bible, etc.

4. Do you have any sin that you need to confess?

You may either answer yes or no. If you answer yes, then you should confidentially confess your sin to the other member(s) of the LTG.  It is assumed you have already repented to God, confessed to Him, and received His forgiveness. This is not time to condemn or criticize each other, but to commit to pray for one another in the area confessed, so that healing may occur.

5. How did you do with your Bible reading this week?

You answer by telling whether you finished the agreed upon passage of Scripture. If any member of the LTG has not finished the reading prior to the weekly meeting during their own time, then everyone in the LTG must once again read the same passage the following week, including those who personally finished the reading during the past week. This is not to make anyone feel condemned, but to get the LTG members reading lots of Scripture each week.

Irreducible Core of the Church
As I have already alluded to, the two greatest commandments are loving God with all your being and loving your neighbor as yourself. These Greatest Commandments, along with the Great Commission to go and make disciples, form the irreducible core of the Church. In other words, these are the three core aspects that must be present in every true, living church. You can strip away many other superficial things from the church, such as public buildings and paid staff, and still have these essential core elements. But without the irreducible core, the church is no longer viable, even if it is fully recognized by the public as a valid church. The irreducible core is a way of life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. Wherever two or three disciples are gathered in Jesus' name, fulfilling the irreducible core, an embryonic form of the Church is present.

The Life Transformation Group is not intended to replace involvement in a local expression of the Body of Christ, where one exists. However, it does embody the irreducible core, so it is a biblical, Christ-honoring way of life. It can supplement the services of a local church (e.g. Sunday school, home group meetings, etc.), or it can be used as a key component of any church planting approach.

Effectiveness
I first began using this approach to making disciples in 2006, and over the past decade I have found it to be very effective. It is a repeatable process that can be implemented anywhere in the world in fulfillment of the Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission. The Lord has commanded us to make disciples, and this approach facilitates multiplication of disciples the way Jesus did. May the Lord help you as you adopt this way of life for His glory, so that you may achieve maximum fruitfulness wherever you may be in His vineyard.

DTS Students only: Download LTG Card here.

Continue reading How to Start an LTG.

Attribution: Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted. I want to thank Tom Johnston and Mike Chong Perkinson of the Praxis Center for Church Development, for teaching me about Life Transformation Groups by Neil Cole © 2000. For more information about Life Transformations Groups and other strategic resources visit Church Multiplication Associates (CMA). By the way, CMA has LTG cards containing the explanation of an LTG and the five questions, which you can order from them online. I recommend getting the blue cards with the five questions, rather than the red ones. Photo of butterfly courtesy of Fir0002/Flagstaffotos.

Author's Note: If you would like to become a disciple who makes disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. If you are already a DTS student, please download the LTG Card here. I also recommend reading How to Start an LTG, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Multiplication. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.