Additional menu

Nathan Creitz

I help disciples make disciples.

Archives for November 2011

Downline Ministries: Making, Maturing, and Multiplying Followers of Jesus

By Leave a Comment

I recently ran across Downline Ministries that exists to “equip Christ followers to make disciples”. It looks like they’ve got training resources, books, and articles to help promote making and multiplying disciples. I haven’t really explored their content very deeply but it looks great.

Check out this video for a look at what Downline is all about:

[tentblogger-youtube CTkxZ7wswuI]

What do you think?

The irony is that I recently wrote a post entitled Disciple Making vs. Downline: Practicing God’s Presence Or Pyramid Scheme. I wrote that post because I had been hearing some negative voices criticizing discipleship as some sort of multi-level marketing pyramid scheme. Those negative critiques spoke disparaging about discipleship as some sort of “downline”. Personally, I don’t care what you call it and if what I do to make disciples (in obedience to God’s will) looks like a pyramid scheme to critics, then so be it.

[Read more…] about Downline Ministries: Making, Maturing, and Multiplying Followers of Jesus

Arrival in Queens + Church Planting Goals for Week One

By Leave a Comment

This is just a quick update to let you know that my family has arrived in Queens and we are settling into a temporary residence while we look for an apartment. God has provided for our immediate financial needs and lots of helpers for the move. Our hope is to find an apartment somewhere in the Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Bayside, or Whitestone neighborhoods.

The goal is to make disciples and plant churches in the heart of Queens, NY. We will eventually be working with the North American Mission Board. For now, we are just getting used to the idea that we are now New Yorkers.

Today is my first opportunity to sit down and get organized.

Here are my goals for the week:

  1. See as many apartments as possible until we find the right one for our family and our ministry;
  2. Send an email update to our prayer partners with more details about our church planting and disciple making activity in Queens and our prayer requests;
  3. Touch base with our ministry contacts in NYC to begin the commissioning process with NAMB;
  4. Get a NYC driver’s license and health insurance;
  5. Eat lots of New York pizza and bagels.

25% Off StudioPress Themes for WordPress

By 2 Comments

StudioPress Genesis Child Theme Marketplace If you aren’t a blogger, then this discount probably doesn’t matter much to you. However, if you blog or if you are looking for an easy solution for a church website, I highly recommend WordPress and StudioPress. WordPress is my blogging platform and I use the Genesis framework by StudioPress for my blog design.

StudioPress is offering 25% off if you buy any of their WordPress products. Use the code THANKS at checkout (don’t forget that), you can save 25% off of anything you’d like at WordPress design shop, StudioPress.

You can get the Genesis Framework for only $45. (normally $59.95)

2. Snag most Genesis / design combos for a song and save close to $20.

3. Wipe the entire shop clean and get the StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package. Get Genesis plus every design they’ve made, plus every design they make in the future, and save more than $74 off the regular price and over $875 off the retail price — and that’s just the existing 43 designs!

All you need to do is use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save 25% on anything and everything at StudioPress.com.

This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and claim your new WordPress theme before the code expires!

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT GENESIS

Darren RowseDarren Rowse – Founder, ProBlogger.net

“Genesis lets me sleep easy. Knowing my blog is well optimized, secure and easy to update lets me get on with developing content, community and building a business from my blogging.”

7 Reasons Why You’ve Never Made A Disciple

By 10 Comments

Jesus tells His disciples to make disciples. That’s our mission. But apparently, only 1 in 20 Christians has even shared the Gospel.

Less than that will ever lead someone to Christ.

Less than that will ever invest time in leading that new disciple toward Christlikeness?

What are we to make of so few disciples actually making disciples? If you’ve never made a disciple (or haven’t in a long time) there are at least 7 factors that might be contributing to your disciple making slump.

You aren’t obeying

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

What you can do: Confess your disobedience and ask God to equip you to become a disciple-making disciple. Remember, it’s in the context of the Great Commission that Jesus says, “I am with you always…” (What else? – Read this post on The Mission of the Church)
[Read more…] about 7 Reasons Why You’ve Never Made A Disciple

Multiethnic Church Planting in Queens

By Leave a Comment

Queens Unisphere

The last month has been a whirlwind of activity for my family.

In addition to launching a disciple making writing project, we decided to move to Queens to start an English speaking multiethnic church plant.

More about that in a minute.

Meanwhile, on the blog, I’ve written several articles that struck a nerve. If you missed The Pastor Driven Church, I’d like to invite you to join the conversation. Also, today churchleaders.com picked up one of my articles called Making Disciple-Making Disciples and republished it on their site for, well, church leaders. Head on over there and check it out and tweet it or share it on facebook.

But the biggest news is obviously our decision to move to Queens. I have several years of church planting experience in the Northeast but I really feel like a novice in many ways. I put together a Queens Fact Sheet that you’re welcome to check out. Or, you can subscribe to my newsletter to stay in the loop especially on the eBook and the church plant journey. In the weeks ahead, I’ll also share bits and pieces of our story here on the blog.

[Read more…] about Multiethnic Church Planting in Queens

YOUR Disciple Making eBook: Tentative Title, Contents, and Feedback

By 3 Comments

I recently launched a collaborative writing project about how to make disciples.

This is the first post in a series of posts that will ultimately be bundled into a free eBook. By publishing content here first, I get the benefit of running it by you, getting your feed-forward, and hopefully avoid heresy 😉

I’d love for you to subscribe to the blog, engage in the conversation, share the content with others, and help make this an extremely helpful resource for you, me, and anyone else who wants to join in making disciples of all nations.

For now, I’d like for you to look through the tentative titles and table of contents below and answer the following questions:

  1. If you were going to read this eBook, is this what you want to learn about making disciples?
  2. In addition to what is included here, what other questions do you have about becoming a bearing more fruit as a disciple maker?
  3. How would you rephrase these titles and subtitles to be more intriguing and creative?

[Read more…] about YOUR Disciple Making eBook: Tentative Title, Contents, and Feedback