1) Quote Matt. 28:18-20
a) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” Amen.
2) Give a brief biographical sketch for Neil Cole (1 paragraph)
a) Neil Cole is the founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates
& CMAResources, which has helped start hundreds of churches in thirty-five states and
thirty nations. He is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the
organic or simple-church movement. One of the key training components of this
expanding movement is the Organic Church Planter’s Greenhouse – Story 1 and Story 2
Trainings. Neil would rather be known for instigating radical discipleship and created a
discipleship tool known as Life Transformation Groups (LTG); which is making and
multiplying disciples all over the globe. He is also the author of multiple books including
recently released Journeys To Significance, Church 3.0, Organic Leadership, Search &
Rescue, Cultivating a Life for God, Organic Church, TruthQuest, Beyond Church
Planting and Raising Leaders for the Harvest.
3) Explain the difference between organic church and institutional church (2 paragraphs)
a) God’s church versus Man’s church.
4) From Dr. Dempsey’s TAHO chart explain the 4 different models (4 paragraphs)
a) T.A.H.O. is an acronym or an acrostic used to describe four categories of Protestant
churches found in the United States. They are traditional, attractional, hybrid, and
organic. The TAHO chart has twenty five attributes to used to define or classify a church.
They are church structure as in type of leadership, Church location such as a designated
building or Community location, complexity, type of evangelism and discipleship, the use
of small groups, attitude towards change, spiritual formation, gifts, preaching style,
growth engine, budget, worship, prayer, leadership philosophy and development, role of
the senior pastor, Church staff, role and attitude of the Saints, training, personal goals,
missions, multiplication, and church planting. This is a comprehensive list for defining
the mission and the means for accomplishing that mission. The category of church most
in-line with the new testament is the organic model. Like the New Testament church,
this model is centered around small groups in the community with the goal of making
disciples who make disciples and multiply the church.
5) From Organic Leadership chapter 1 what are the two lethal problems of being
institutionalized. Explain (2 sentences each)
a) First, the leader who has been institutionalized in the church, often unwittingly, places his
or her faith in the institution rather than in the Lord.
b) The second problem is we elevate the institution to the level of being God’s main, if not
his only, instrument on earth.
6) From chapter 2 what are the 3 pursuits that create an unhealthy leader environment? Explain
2 sentences each.
a) Power,
b) Possessions,
c) Pleasure.
7) Explain Phil. 2:1-10 and explain how Christ’s example relates to leadership development
a) Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of
the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the
same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of
others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of
God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the
point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
8) From “Creating a Discipling Culture” give Dr. Dempsey’s 5 V’s and explain how that relates
to developing Great Commission leaders.
a) Vision – Determine Passages
b) Values – Distill Principles
c) Views – Define Philosophy
d) Vehicles – Decide Practices
e) Verifiers – Describe Proof
9) From “Creating a Discipling Culture” give the 2 options for ministry planning and explain
the major differences (2 paragraphs)
a) Planting a new church -
b) Transitioning to an existing church.
10) From Neil Cole’s website what is a Life Transformation Group and explain how it works.
a) In a Life Transformation Group, for example, two or three people come together in safe
and honest relationships and read Scripture, confess sin, and pray for others. It is a simple
and reproducible system. And it works in any culture. An LTG is a catalyst; it doesn’t
change people but brings together the elements that do change people in a way that
accelerates the process and maintains its own integrity over the course of many
generations.
b) The Life Transformation Group (LTG) system is a grassroots tool for growth. Through this
simple system, the most essential elements of vital spiritual ministry are released to
common Christians without the need for specialized training. It taps the disciple’s
internal motivation and provides the support needed to grow in the essentials of a
spiritual life. The LTG empowers the common Christian to do the uncommon work of
reproductive disciple making. A Life Transformation Group is made up of two to three
people, all of the same gender, who meet weekly for personal accountability in the areas
of their spiritual growth and development. A group should not grow beyond three but
multiply into two groups of two rather than a single group of four. If a fourth person is
added to the group, it is recommended that the group consider itself “pregnant” and
ready to give birth to a second group. After the fourth person has demonstrated
sufficient faithfulness to the group for two to three weeks, the group should multiply
into two groups of two.
11) How is the L.T.G. like Dr. Dempsey’s growth group? Compare and Contrast. (2 paragraphs)
12) What is Neil Cole’s simple formula for finding leaders (chapter 8) and explain how that
could work in your life.
a) Stop recruiting and start reproducing. There is no other solution than that the leaders for
the harvest must come from the harvest itself. We must farm our leaders, not recruit them.
13) From chapter 10 what are the three indicators of success for leaders?
a) Faithfulness (Matt. 25:21; Heb. 11:6). Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will
He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
b) Fruitfulness disciples In John 15:8 he says clearly: “My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
c) Finishing Well (2 Tim. 4:6–8). In the context of being a follower of Christ, Jesus
instructed us to count the cost before we start something so that we will be sure to finish
it (Luke 14:25–35). The reward for life comes at the end, not at the beginning or middle.
14) Give 3 main lessons you learned about servant leadership this semester.
a) Jesus did it
b) The Disciples did it.
c) I should do it.
15) Explain your leadership final paper and how you will develop Great Commission leaders in
the future. (2 paragraphs)
a) I am willing to concede that in terms of church leadership there may not be a one size
fits all solution. There is one goal that all believers should have and that is to share the
gospel with as many people as possible and there are many ways to share the Gospel.
The traditional way we are familiar with is telling the story of Jesus’ life, death and
resurrection while coupling the story with passages from the Bible such as John 3:16
(NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” or the series of passages
from Romans, known as the Romans Road including Romans 10:9–13 (NKJV) “that if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture
says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For
whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”. We also share the Gospel by
being the hands and feet of Jesus by attending to those who are in need as instructed in
Matthew 25:35–36 (NKJV) “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I
was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” The final way we
share the Gospel is through love as seen in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NKJV) “Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does
not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.” Regardless of the church model one chooses to participate in,
these methods of sharing the gospel are not only the reason for church but are the
foundation of church. I am leaning toward a community based organic model of church
such as a house church or neighborhood church, however, I see a valuable role for the
large hybrid church in ministering for the kingdom. I am currently a member and active
participant in what classifies as a mega church. Mega churches have the resources that
make the impossible possible. Most small churches will consume all of the resources for
the operation of that church with little to no money or people left over to impact the
kingdom of God either worldwide or locally. I feel better about tithing and giving when I
see my Church providing life changing ministries not only locally but worldwide, not just
in a small way but in a life changing way. It is such a blessing to see the impact that a
resource rich mega church can have on the world. Having said that, we cannot ignore
the impact that one person can have on the people in his or her own life. To me church
is my neighbors, my family and the people I work with. God already has me doing life
with a small group of people and it’s my responsibility to make them my church. As a
result of this new paradigm shift, my views on church and ministry have changed and are
still evolving around the principles provided in the New Testament for the early church.
A healthy church plan or model will grow and multiply disciples, leaders, new groups or
churches and new works or ministries. The challenge becomes how to organize and
manage a church structure that achieves these goals while remaining faithful to the
organic purpose and mission of the Church as God intended for it to be. I’m going to
suggest a model of elders, education and edification. In order to protect sound doctrine,
there needs to be a network of leaders or elders ensuring the integrity of the gospel by
directing and educating leaders at all levels. A major downfall of Christianity today is the
lack of a unified message. There are denominations that protect a specific version or
interpretation of the Word, but there is no unity or continuity between the different
denominations. There is no one voice. There is a fine line between a system such as
Catholicism where there is a single Pope at the top of a hierarchal leadership structure
and a network of elders or overseers of small neighborhood community church groups.
There lies the importance of the priesthood of all believers.
