Just before Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He gave us the following command: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19) When we think of this Great Commission, we usually think of winning the lost. In a world where we casually talk about billions of people on the planet and trillions of dollars in the Federal budget, it’s easy to get caught in a numbers game, and too many of us look at fulfilling that Commission solely in those terms. When people talk about thousands and millions being saved around the world, we get excited, as we should.
But Jesus had more for the church than a long series of mass meetings and television ratings. His command was for us to “make disciples” because He knew that a) a stable church is made up of stable people, well-grounded in His Word and rich in spiritual gifts and b) a stable church is the only platform from which we could hope to launch our efforts to win the lost and make our efforts stick for eternity. The experience of the New Testament church and the two millennia that followed have borne these truths out.
This is particularly true with men. Men are experts at hiding their innermost beings, but beneath the surface of work and sports, men desire a deeper walk with their Creator and with those around them. To reach men in their innermost beings, it takes a discipleship process. LifeBuilders has such a process that proceeds in three steps:
Walks with Christ:
LifeBuilders Essentials. This is a twelve-session discipleship course that is best taught one-on-one, but can also be taught in small groups. It takes the disciple through the basics of Christianity, including salvation, the nature of God, sanctification and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, personal holiness and financial integrity, the church, spiritual gifts and Christian service. It does this by taking the disciple step-by-step through the Biblical basis for a real Christian life and world view. It does this by unapologetically integrating Pentecostal theology into its teaching.
Lives Like Christ
Kingdom Calling. The eight-session series brings men into a deeper relationship with God. As the title states, it’s all about calling: calling men to walk in His glory and the light of His Word, to restoration and to walk in love. It is designed to transform the social contacts that men struggle with every day—family, workplace, and church—into the relationships that God intended them to be. An essential tool in the formation of meaningful small groups.
Apologetics for the Rest of Us — Have you ever felt “Scripturally challenged” when it comes to the zingers of questions that unbelievers throw at you? What do you say when people ask, “Where does the Bible come from?” Or, “How do you know that God exists?” Or, “Isn’t Christ just a myth?” It is important not only to know what you believe, but also why you believe it. Peter said, “…be ready always to give an answer to ever man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15). In this book, Leonard Albert and Don Warrington write from their many years of teaching and actual “one-on-one” evangelism to help Christians know why they believe what they believe. A thinking person asks questions and does not believe something without good reason. This book will help the reader to closely examine the claims of their faith in Christ with the ultimate goal of helping them to be more confident as they share their faith with others.
Works for Christ
Matthew 25 Men. Once men are discipled, they need to be set forth into ministry. Matthew 25 Men does just that by linking men’s ministry teams with designated ministry centers across the U.S. in both urban and rural centers. Your men’s ministry team will have a life-changing experience as it ministers to the most needful of people in a wide variety of settings and locations.
Excellence for the Rest of Us is a book–which is designed to be taught as a course–about how the laity can truly be empowered and released for ministry. Think of the energy, vitality and satisfaction that result when the members of the body of Christ get busy and really make an impact in their church and community. Leonard Albert lays out a detailed organizational plan in nine easy steps involving evaluation, recruitment, spiritual gifting, small groups and teams and suggested teaching and training classes. Scores of “inreach” (church) and “outreach” (community) projects are listed with details on implementation.
Important note: Those men in the Leadership Team should take the LifeBuilders Essentials and Kingdom Calling courses at the earliest opportunity.
Whatever LifeBuilders Men’s Ministries is able to do in accomplishing its task will, to a great degree, depend on the attitude, support, relationship, and assistance given by the pastor. The pastor is vital to Men’s Ministry work. He stands with the team in giving direction and promotion. The pastor can influence the men to help accomplish the total mission of the church.
Important responsibilities of the pastor are to:
Initiate the selection of team leaders and ministry team. The pastor can use whatever resources are at his or her disposal to choose capable men.
Provide guidance. The pastor should actively assist the ministry team in planning the goals and work of the group.
Encourage participation. The pastor should involve men in the total ministry of the church.
Organize a Prayer Partners Team. This gives men an opportunity to participate in prayer with the pastor.
Sponsor activities for men. Encourage the men to take advantage of district, state and national lay ministry events and conferences.
The Senior Pastor or a personal delegate is always an “ex-officio” member at all LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry meetings.
Everyone needs a coach—whether to help you build a home, improve a golf swing, or lead a small group. The question is: what does coaching look like? How do we inspire, shepherd, and develop leaders of groups and teams so that they grow in wisdom, maturity, and skills? Here’s why every LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry needs a head coach:
Men need relationships. We always speak of people needing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But it’s hard for many men to understand that when they have so few personal relationships on the earth. The church needs to be the place where men find the personal relationships they need, both with God and with other Christians who can bring them to a new level in Jesus Christ.
Men need a Christian role model. We’re always modeling, whether we realize it or not. Men’s leaders should pursue the Jesus way of life for their own benefit and growth and at the same time show the way and live a life worth emulating. We inspire others when we pursue Christ. This is one of the main tasks of a LifeBuilders head coach.
Men need a challenge. Many men go through a “humdrum” life with no challenges. Most find this frustrating, although few will admit it. The church needs to be the place where they find the challenge for greatness that God places within men.
What is coaching?
Coaching is simply helping people take the next step on the journey. In his great book titled Christian Coaching, Gary Collins explains that the word coaching means “to get people from where they were to where they wanted to be.” It is a “togetherness journey” for the men of the local church. A coaching plan in your church provides opportunities to guide a believer toward growth, service, and connection with Jesus. Coaches help the men in the church to take their next step of spiritual growth.
Biblical Example
One of the best examples of a coach in the bible is that of Barnabas. He is mentioned 29 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Book of Acts. In Acts 4:36 he is called the “son of consolation.” In this verse “consolation” means “encouragement.” The ministry of Barnabas was a coaching ministry. Here are some of his attributes:
He was a great encourager. He had the ability to hear and speak into the lives of others. In Acts 9:27 we are told that Barnabas “took” Paul and “brought” him to the other apostles.
He saw potential in others. Acts 12:25 says that he fulfilled his own ministry and took others [John] with him.
He was a resourceful person. He often linked people with needed relationships and resources to promote the Kingdom. Acts 13:1 says he was a “prophet and teacher.”
In essence, Barnabas offered four essential elements that makes one an effective coach: encouragement, support, affirmation and accountability. Barnabas was not a “front” leader. He seemed to be content to coach and mentor other young and emerging leaders.
Concept
The BIG idea of this plan is to build Godly men for leadership and ministry. The goal of LifeBuilders Head Coach Training is to produce a disciple making ministry to men and through men in the local church. The LifeBuilders men’s coach shares wisdom and experiences with the men of the church, points them to the best teaching and training materials and helps them grow in effectiveness.
The Program
A Head Coach is a man in a local Church of God who both establishes those essential one-on-one relationships and, though personal interaction, challenges and assists men to reach a new level in their walk with Jesus Christ, both on a spiritual and on a practical level.
Each local church with a LifeBuilders men’s ministry and a plan to disciple men will be encouraged to appoint a Head Coach. The Head Coach will, in turn, disciple men individually and/or in a small group environment. [Special note: do NOT make the mistake of trying to disciple all the men in one class. Put the men in small groups of three to five men and only begin with one or two groups at a time]. The goal is to take men from the “new convert” or “baby Christian” stage and disciple and train them to become laborers and leaders in the congregation with the ultimate goal in mind of reaching other men.
The Head Coach will work with the men of his local church on a one-on-one basis in the following areas:
Bible knowledge
Spiritual disciplines
Character building
Ministry and evangelism skills
Life management
Requirements
The Head Coach for a local church is to be appointed by the pastor. He must meet the following requirements:
Be a man of good character, saved, sanctified, baptized in the Holy Spirit, a member of the local church and active in the life of the church.
Read the following books (available from Lay Ministries) which were chosen to point men to the basic objectives of the program and of coaching:
Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality by Gary R. Collins
As Iron Sharpens Iron: Building Character in a Mentoring Relationship, by Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks.
Attend a “Building a Sustainable Men’s Ministry” seminar at Man in the Mirror Ministries in Orlando, Florida (http://www.maninthemirror.org)
Be able to teach the following courses (available from Lay Ministries):
LifeBuilders Essentials, the basic discipleship course (one-on-one or very small groups)
Kingdom Calling, the next discipleship course (video course for classroom presentation)
A Head Coach will also be expected to facilitate Matthew 25 Men activities, although training for this can be done after appointment as Head Coach.
Lay Ministries will provide verification and evaluation for all requirements except for the first.
Activities
The Head Coach will be engaged in the following activities:
Be an ex officio member of the LifeBuilders Men’s Ministries Leadership Team (MMLT) in the local church.
Organize the men in teachable small groups. We strongly recommend that the model for the weekly discipleship teaching be centered around small groups. Rather than try to teach all the men at the same time, plan to break the men into small groups of three to five men. They can be empowered to meet when and where they wish. When men are discipled in small groups they become more open and talkative and more accountable to each other.
Teach or facilitate the LifeBuilders Essentials and Kingdom Calling discipleship courses. Visit our web store at to order these materials.
Organize and/or facilitate the Matthew 25 Men activities in cooperation with the LifeBuilders local church team leadership. This includes scheduling and coordinating Matthew 25 Men trips with the onsite coordinator of the Matthew 25 Men center and preparing a budget for these events.
Be eligible for appointment as a District or Regional Head Coach in those states which have this ministry opportunity available.
God is moving in the hearts of men. He is calling men to stand up for what they believe in—to be faithful in their personal walk with Christ, to their families and to their church. In order to begin an effective ministry to men in your church or to revive your existing men’s ministry, you need to assemble a team of dedicated people to organize and lead the effort. Sometimes it is possible to attract men to the local church through exciting events or conferences. We call these “momentum creating events.” Years of experience tell us that the only way to keep these men involved is to provide a well-planned, on-going local church men’s ministry with clear purposes and credible people involved. This section shows how to find the men who will lead other men in the local church.
Campus Crusade for Christ founder, Bill Bright, has often said, “Everything boils down to leadership.” Dr. Pat Morley, founder of Man in the Mirror Ministries says that, “The height of your men’s ministry will be determined by the depth of your leadership.”
The truth is that in order to begin and/or sustain an effective ministry to men and disciple new ones, you will need to put together a small group of dedicated leaders who truly want to see the church minister to men. Someone has to organize and lead the effort. It is essential to choose your leaders wisely. You will need to choose not only a team leader, but a whole team if you want to reach and disciple men. Reaching men through other men using groups and teams is God’s idea. In the Old Testament, King David had his mighty men, Jesus recruited and trained twelve disciples, and the early church had deacons, elders and lay ministers. The same is true today—you need an organized force to reach men—a band of brothers with an arrow through their heart for men’s ministry in the local church. Let’s look at a strategy to find them.
Identify the Men Who Can Lead
There are basically three types of leaders: (1) those who are now involved, (2) those who are in training to become leaders, and (3) those who feel that God is calling them in this area. This brings us to a present truth: your leaders don’t have to start out committed—that can come later. Here are the steps involved:
Prayerfully write out a list of the ten or twelve most spiritually respected men in your church.
At this point it doesn’t matter how busy their schedules are or even if they are interested or not.
Focus on men who have a heart for God and for reaching others. Let them make up their own minds under God’s leadership.
The idea is to identify and equip a men’s ministry leadership team who will in turn produce cutting edge ministry opportunities for the men. Pray for God to give you favor with these perspective candidates.
Look for individual leadership team members who have one or more of these abilities:
Salespeople. These men are the “persuaders” because they know how to get other people excited about an idea. They are forever salespeople because it is just in them to try to persuade others to join in on a plan or idea. They are great to have on your team because, by instinct, they help others feel the excitement of the challenge and they convey the spirit of “we can do this” when it comes to ministry.
Doers. These are the men who can “cut to the chase” and get the job done. They are front-line guys who, as we say, can “deliver the mail.” They have the skills to deliver ministry so tasks are completed properly and on time.
Administrators. These are the men that possess the natural talent to coordinate, plan and troubleshoot. They have the ability to see “what’s coming down the pike” and be proactive in helping solve potential problems. They not only do the work, but because they are leaders, they uphold others who also are working.
Schedule a Preliminary Meeting
Approach each of them and say something like this: “God has put it on my mind to explore the need and desirability of starting (or reorganizing) a LifeBuilders men’s ministry in our church. I believe you are one of a handful of men that the other men in our church would follow. I want to have a meeting to discuss the possibilities. Would you be willing to pray about coming to this one meeting and give your counsel?” It is quite possible that not all will respond positively, but hopefully, five or six of the men will step forward for possible leadership positions.
Pointers for the first meeting:
Keep the first meeting to a maximum of one hour. If everyone knows it’s a one hour meeting, you can be very productive. Besides, a long, tiring meeting may create second thoughts about going further.
In preparation for this initial meeting, you will want to share your vision for the men of the church. It is important to understand that the ultimate purpose of any LifeBuilders men’s ministry is to reach and win men to Christ and to disciple them into an authentic Christ-centered relationship. As you put together a vision statement for your men’s ministry, you want to be specific enough so that others capture a sense of where the ministry is going. Yet you want to be loose enough with details, so that you can easily incorporate creative new ideas as new leaders join the team.
Try to answer these questions before the meeting:
What is the main goal we’ll accomplish through this ministry?
Why do we want a men’s ministry in the church? (Hint: see #2 above.)
What methods will we use—what is our philosophy of ministry?
How will we create, capture and sustain momentum among our men?
Do we have ideas about what activities and programs we might incorporate into our ministry?
How can we demonstrate that a healthy men’s ministry will strengthen the whole church?
Meeting content:
Begin with prayer (about five minutes.)
Review the history of ministry to men in your church (about five minutes).
Be up front and honest about the blessing and the burdens of previous attempts at men’s ministry.
Share the potential of a new or renewed LifeBuilders men’s ministry. Our new LifeBuilders plan with an emphasis on discipleship will renew your men’s ministry because many men will be won to Christ, discipled and by extension, bless the families in our church and community.
Talk a little about the environment for reaching men (about 15 minutes.)
How are men doing?
What are their problems?
How should the church respond?
Review our LifeBuilders discipleship materials (about 15 minutes). Talk about the potential of discipling and training the men of your church.
Closing comments:
“It seems clear that God is calling us to reach the men of our church and help them grow. I would like to suggest that, together, we go through a three week process of designing a men’s ministry for our church using the Church of God LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry material as a guide. Who would like to give it a try?”
Activities for Leadership Team Members
Later on we explain in detail some of the specific duties of the men’s ministry team members. At this point it is important to consider the “big picture” of your ministry to men and look at some general areas that will need leadership from the team. Keep in mind that these individual men can recruit other men to work with them, thus forming a small group or team. Here’s a list:
Strategy and Coordination. This man is responsible for focusing on strategic (overall, long-term) issues of the ministry. He helps define identity, themes, and priorities at the ministry level. He offers advice about the overall direction of the LifeBuilders ministry to men. This person works with the LifeBuilders team leader to plan the conferences, seminars and ministry events for the men of the church.
Community. This member helps develop a sense of “male friendliness” in the church. He finds ways to make male visitors feel at home when they visit the church services. This person will provide various entry points where both newcomers and seasoned attendees feel comfortable, connected, inspired, and transformed. He actively welcomes and greets individuals at men’s functions. He also provides follow-up and coordination for people interested in getting involved in other areas of ministry. This man is responsible for the publishing of a men’s monthly e-mail or printed newsletter.
Prayer and Intercession. This man leads the prayer effort with intercession for people, plans, and activities for the men. He provides a prayer covering and is available to pray with other teams or men’s groups. He will be the point man for the “Pastor’s Prayer Partner” program (see LifeBuilders Resource Action Manual for details).
Head Coach. LifeBuilders men’s ministry has developed a plan to train a key leader in each local church to help coach and mentor other men. This man helps men deepen their spiritual maturity and build genuine friendships. They coordinate the discipleship training process, put together mentoring relationships and explore approaches for discipleship and spiritual formation.
Ministry Projects and Resources. This man leads the effort to find meaningful ministry for the men of the church. This will include the LifeBuilders Matthew 25 Men effort. This man plans and coordinates community outreach and other short-term service-oriented projects. He is constantly looking for the best materials to win and disciple men such as our LifeBuilders Essentials discipleship course. He maintains a list of speakers, books, and other resources for the men, and makes these available at monthly meetings and other conferences.
Schedule a LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry Leadership Team Kickoff Meeting
Now that you’ve got the men’s leaders recruited and in place it’s time to release them to lead. The ways in which these men are released become a model for the way they release others who will work under them. Always remember that the senior pastor or his appointee is always invited to be a part of this and any other gathering. Here are some pointers on the content of this meeting:
Cast the vision. Tell the leadership team exactly what should be accomplished through the LifeBuilders men’s ministry chapter.
State the purpose. Why do we want a disciple making ministry to the men of our church?
Connect LifeBuilders to the church vision. Show how this men’s ministry is vital to the health and growth of the local church.
Show the positive benefits of this effort. Explain that the LifeBuilders men’s ministry will not segregate the men, but instead motivate and empower them for leadership and service church-wide.
Explain the commitment. Tell the men what you expect from them. Clarify the amount of time and money necessary to get the job done right.
Summary
The Chinese have many beautiful sayings. One goes like this: Do not fear going forward slowly. Fear only to stand still. We do not have the luxury of waiting. We are now in a life and death battle for the souls of men. We live in a fallen world, but God is more powerful than that fallen world. With an effective LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry leadership team we can help protect men from Satan’s proven ability to make them come in second. We can help keep men safe from the pain and grief that sin brings. We can help men do excellent ministry in the church.
We believe that it is a winnable battle if we move forward now to reach, train and equip men for ministry. This is an exciting and fruit producing mission! Oh yes, here is another ancient Chinese proverb: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago…the next best time is now.
By Leonard C. Albert