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BLUE RIDGE?Can a small church in this small North Texas town change the world? It’s a colossal task, but that’s not stopping the men at First Baptist Church from trying?starting in Blue Ridge.
For this to happen, it would take a miracle akin to the conversions on the Day of Pentecost. It would start with the church spending time in our “upper rooms” becoming more like Christ. And becoming more like Christ can be summed up in one word: discipleship.
Every Sunday morning before Sunday school, Pastor Johnnie R. Jones leads a discipleship group of about 15 men with this goal in mind. They use a program, created by The Amy Foundation, called “Each One Bring One.”
According to the website www.EachOneBringOne.com, “the concept [of the curriculum] is simple: when disciples become disciple-makers, our churches will start growing again.”
Participants in the discipleship program are encouraged to invite a new man to the group approximately every two months. Thirty-two potential new discipleship participants result when one participant practices “each one, bring one, each year” over a five-year period.
Jones said he liked the material because the program’s main goal is to “impact our culture.”
“I’ve never found a [discipleship] curriculum with this approach,” Jones said.
Jones said some of his own congregation initiated the idea of a men’s Bible study.
“This began right after Promise Keepers last fall,” Jones said. “Some of the men came back and approached me and asked: ‘Is there any way we can meet with you for Bible study?'”
And so the study began.
Before the first class met, Jones told his wife he would be encouraged if six men were truly interested in discipleship. The first week about 25 men showed up. Since then attendance has dwindled slightly to about 15 or 16. Ages vary among the participants, but Jones said most are in their 30s and 40s.
Although participation in the group is voluntary, Jones requires a bit of extra effort to be involved. “I told them from the beginning that I was busy enough on Sunday,” Jones said. “But if you’re willing and you’re interested in growing and becoming a disciple, to reach your neighbor or someone else, then you’re welcome here.
“I made them write the names of five people they would pray for and invite to the meetings. And at least three of those had to be within traveling distance to the church,” Jones said. He also asked the men to complete the assignments in the workbooks and participate in the class discussions.
Jones said instead of an entire hour of lecture he asks the group: “What do you have?” He said he believes students will get more out of a lesson if they participate. “The meal tastes better when you cook it yourself,” he said.
The discussion time lasts for about 30 minutes, then the men break into small groups for discussion and prayer. These smaller groups are lead by team captains. Jones said he stays in contact with the team captains each week to find out what the men are thinking.
Jones hopes to take the group through four workbooks with each book broadening the disciple-making ripple. Each workbook contains 10 lessons. Jones said he walks through one lesson about every two weeks.
The four workbooks are:
• “Discipling My Self: Steps to Personally Becoming a Disciple.”
?”Discipling My Family: Ways to Make Disciples in Your Family.”
• “Discipling My Congregation: Actions to Take to Focus the Local Church on Disciple-making.”
• “Discipling My Neighborhood: Ways to Connect with Your Neighbors and Make Disciples.”
Lessons offer students practical ways to use the Bible to impact their culture. For example, Jones said the current lesson encourages the men to read a popular book on today’s culture and discuss the book with a friend. It a
