I personally believe God is working in everyone even if we can’t see it in everyone. If we really take the time to stop and listen and find out what’s going on in their lives, you often find there are things that could only have happened through God.

Of all the ways for spreading the greatest message in the world, Jesus chose to spread it through a small band of disciples. Shouldn’t we stop and listen with the same commitment with which Jesus and the twelve lived? Every disciple of Jesus should be able to answer two questions: “Who am I discipling?” and “Who is discipling me?” Every church needs to answer two questions as well: “Are we committed to making disciples?” and “Is our disciple-making working?”

Check out the following link for further insights:

Colin Noyes on how history can help us make disciples today

Elton Trueblood, a noted twentieth-century theologian, once commented that the central problem facing the Church is a profound lack of involvement and a lack of serious commitment to the mission of Christ, even if the membership rolls grow in number.

‘Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian Church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all and, what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not.  As soon as we recognize Christ’s intention to make His Church a militant company, we understand at once that the conventional arrangement cannot suffice.  There is no real chance of victory in a campaign if ninety percent of the soldiers are untrained and uninvolved, but that is exactly where we stand now’.

There is a multiplication formula for spreading the gospel and enlarging the church.  Paul taught it to Timothy. Timothy shared what he knew with faithful men.  And the faithful men were supposed to share it with others.  And so the process goes on.  If every believer followed this pattern, the church could reach the entire world in one generation.  No other method will ever accomplish the Great Commission like a one-on-one relationship will.

Check out the following link for further insights:

Colin Noyes on the Holy Spirit

If we engage in multiplication then Richard Foster is right when he said, “Our tendency is to overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years.”

Discipleship takes time, so we need to plan on dedicating that time and waiting on the results, which can be mind-blowing when we understand the power of multiplication. Just remember, you cannot microwave disciples. It takes time for maturity to take root.  The wait is long, but the results are worth it.