Category: BiVo Ministry

9 qualities that make a disciple of Jesus attractive!

What made the first disciples of Jesus attractive? What makes you look at a person and say, it is good to serve God?

When we went to Kington to plant a church in 2010 we met a lady called Alita that always reminds me of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus! Alita makes you want to serve God more! She is a senior but she has the joy and passion of a youth! Her love for God is contagious.

It can be tempting to think that you need worldly influence to attract non-believers to Jesus. However, from my reading of the Acts of the apostles and the New Testament, I see that it is not worldly influence that makes a disciple attractive but her power with God!

These are 9 qualities that scriptures teach us that God wants to display in all the disciples of Jesus.

Love for God that is reflected in love for everyone around you.

Joy that comes from being loved by God that is reflected in creating a welcoming and joyful atmosphere around you.

Peace with God, that is reflected in people wanting to make peace with God when they are around you!

Patience with God because you know how great God is, that translates to patience with people because you know that God is in charge of your schedule.

Kindness to people around you because you continue to enjoy the kindness of God which is demonstrated first by consistently forgiving all your sins and His blessings that you enjoy moment by moment.

Goodness – this is a quality of God that compels you to always think of others before you think of yourself.

Faithfulness to God because you know that God cannot fail. This then translates to faithfulness to people around you because you know that God is involved in all your relationships.

Gentleness that God places on you because you know that God is in you and He is the highest authority in the universe.

Self control that comes from being very aware of how empty you are without God. This reflects in how you refuse to do things without sensing God’s guidance.

With these you will have power with God and no human will be able to stand around you and not be moved.

Some would love you because they love God. Others would hate you because they are very far from God!

Who is a person of peace? How do you recognize them?

Jesus told his disciples to look for a person of peace when he sent them out in Luke 10:6.

It is wise to use the same method when going out to make disciples. This is even more relevant when you are trying to reach out to a community that you are not living in.

Here are a few characteristics of the person of peace according to this scripture.

A person of peace;

  • welcomes you or shows interest in communicating with you.
  • is willing to help you in some way or the other.
  • Is hospitable to you – offers you some kind of food, drink or a place to stay or sit. If it’s in the workplace, the person of peace tries to help you to settle into the workplace.
  • Listens to what you have to say.
  • is willing to let you speak to the people around them (family, friends etc).
  • accepts your prayers and is grateful for them.
  • asks genuine questions about spiritual truth

The first test is the welcome test. When you greet them or say peace be unto this house. The one that shows interest and welcomes you is a potential person of peace.

When I go out with a group to knock on doors, usually we would find one or two who would ask us to come in and sit down.

You then proceed to say what you have come to do.

I will share some ideas with you in my next post of things that you can use as an entrance into a community.

3 Reasons why disciple making movements start slow to go fast

I have read in David Watson’s book titled “Contagious disciple making” that it takes about 4 years for a movement to take off. I am sure there is room for a miracle where it takes shorter, but in general, it takes time and there are good reasons for that.

There are reasons why it takes 4 years. Here are 3 reasons. There may be more but I present only three.

1) Finding Disciples takes time (Persons of Peace)

It takes time to find people who love the Lord, and who are willing to commit themselves to a life of disciple making. Most people love the Lord for what He gives to them, they are not thinking of giving up their lives to follow Jesus.

2) Developing a multiplication mindset takes time

When you find people who are saved and are passionate for disciple making, it takes time to train them to think in terms of multiplication instead of addition. What most of us are used to is the disciple maker, making converts and adding up the numbers in hundreds or thousands. We don’t realize that we can also recruit people to recruit and then we have multiplication.

3) Getting out of God’s way takes time (sometimes)

It takes time for the disciple maker to get rid of the desire to be someone. To be an effective disciple maker, you must be ready to simply be an invisible tool in the hands of a mighty God. This is why you will pray a lot more than you have ever prayed.

If you are thinking of starting a discovery group today, then expect a miracle but be ready to spend the next 4-5 years before you get to the 4th generation of your group. By 4th generation I mean some in your initial group starts a group and someone in the group starts another group. You> John> Jane> Joe!

Imagine what happens if another person in your initial group does the same and all the people in John’s group. The numbers begin to multiply. That is why it is wise to take the time to allow the Holy Spirit to do the transformations in your heart and in the heart of the people in your first group.

So don’t get worried if you are doing the right things but you are not seeing much outward results. Spend more time in prayers, in the word, and amongst the lost. Your will see the fruit in due time.

August Books – Packets of Wisdom!

I enjoy reading and I learn a lot from books. I believe that books are packets of wisdom. Every new month, I post a list of the books I read in the previous month and the books I have bought or borrowed to read in the next month or sometime in the future. I hope that I would be able to inspire you to read some of these books and share some good books that you have read with me. At the same time, I hope that this habit would inspire me to read more :).

Completed in August

Here are the books I completed in August. This means that I finished reading the book or listened to it on Audible. It does not mean that I started reading or listening to it in August. I may have started earlier. If I finished the book, it means that I liked it and got a lot from it. I don’t read books just for the sake of it.

Currently Reading

These are books that I am currently reading or listening to on audible. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. When I need to learn more about a subject, I usually pause the book I am reading and I start the new book. There are some books I read on a schedule. Right now I am reading Church History on a schedule.

Hope to start reading

These are books that I have already purchased or borrowed and I look forward to reading.

Have you read any of these books? Do you know some good books that you think I should read? Please suggest them in the comment section below. I got some recommendations last month and I look forward to more. Thanks.

10 Reasons why disciple making should be your priority

Do you know any employee who only works when he feels like it? If you do, they are usually in between jobs 😀!

I have not met a disciple of Jesus (Christian) who thinks that there is no need to make disciples for Jesus!

What I see or observe regularly are believers who take disciple making as something you do when you have the time!

I also meet a lot of believers who say that it should be a priority, and they truly want to do it but they do not know how to do it with ease and with a busy schedule.

If you are in this group then you are the one that this website is designed for!

It is because of you that I was led to start the BiVo Partnership so that we can work together as a community of believers from different professions and I can show you the tips that I have learnt over the years about how to practice the lifestyle of disciple making!

Here are 10 reasons why disciple making should become your priority! This list is in no particular order.

  1. It fills you with joy to see people transformed by Jesus.
  2. You share in the joy of heaven that a lost child is found (Luke 15:7).
  3. You experience a deeper sense of fulfillment because your Heavenly Father is glorified (John 15:8).
  4. Your faith is strengthened because you experience another result of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:18-20).
  5. You sense that you are playing your role as a disciple of Jesus and it gives you confidence in other aspects of your life.
  6. You develop more boldness to pray for people in need because you have more confidence that God is with you.
  7. Your relationships get better because you are always expecting God to move through you to love people around you!
  8. Your relationship with your family and especially your spouse is strengthened because you start working together for a higher purpose.
  9. You pray more and become more attentive to the Holy Spirit and it affects your decision making even in business and finances.
  10. You become a better and stronger leader because you will be working to encourage others to make disciples!

Let’s get to it right now! Seek first the Kingdom of God… (Matt 6:33).

If you want to work with other professionals (Engineers, doctors, profs, business owners, nurses) to strengthen your disciple making then become a BiVo Partner today. Click on the link.

https://adesobanjo.com/partner/

Do you think like a recruiter?

When you approach disciple making with the mindset of a recruiter your results will be very different! And even more importantly you will be happy to recruit all the time and anywhere.

For many years when I went out for “evangelism” I only thought about winning people for Jesus. I wanted as many people as possible to know and experience the love of Jesus. I did not think as if I was recruiting them as disciples (disciple-makers) for Jesus.

So I preached the gospel of the kingdom of God to them. I shared with them that Jesus is the way. I expected them to give their lives to Jesus and begin to enjoy eternal life. Some did and even among those that did, some drew back.

What I did not do was think like a recruiter.

After I was introduced to the disciple making movements that were baptizing millions of disciples all over the world it became so clear to me that thinking like a recruiter makes a big difference.

Remember that Jesus approached disciple-making like a recruiter. He called people to follow him so that they can replicate His ministry. (Matt 4:19)

Thinking like a recruiter means that:

  • You are thinking of both the disciple and Jesus.
  • You clearly articulate the truth that Jesus is calling them to follow Him and to join Him to make disciples.
  • You immediately start training people to reach out to their contacts and circle of influence.
  • You make sure that the people are truly interested in following Jesus.
  • You present the people to Jesus and let Jesus convict them and confirm them.
  • You immediately teach them how to listen to Jesus and to obey him.
  • You try as much as possible to show the new disciple that with the power of Jesus, they can do what you are doing.
  • You even tell them about the challenges that they may face without the fear that they would draw back. Jesus did this a lot. (Luke 18:22).
  • You take them through a process and even when they say the “salvation prayer” and get water baptized immediately, you let them know that it’s just the beginning.

When you think like a recruiter, the disciples you make have a much greater chance of remaining in the faith because from before their conversion, they knew that they would become sold out to Jesus! They would need to take on a new life. (Matt 13:44-45).

The difference is internal but it makes a big difference. When I am hiring workers, I never try to convince people to like the job offer, I look for people who have been praying for such a position, then check if they are qualified for the job.

When you go out with a recruiter mindset to look for disciples for Jesus, you find them. Sometimes they are the people you least expect but you find them! There are many all around you.

As you go out today, look out for potential disciples that the Lord will send to you!

A 15 year old boy’s one word prayer?

God will work with available vessels. I sense that we would experience more of God if only we can recognize how helpless we are without Him!

A fifteen-year-old boy named Donald was wonderfully converted and became an outstanding helper in the revival.

One day Campbell called at Donald’s home and found him on his knees in the barn with an open Bible before him.

Donald quietly said, “Excuse me a little, Mister Campbell, I am having an audience with the King.”

In a service one night this youth stood up, clasped his hands together and uttered the one word, “Father.”

Everyone was immediately melted to tears by the presence of God invading the house. And this extraordinary young man went on to play an important role in the Berneray revival.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel, pg 312.

I know you want this, we can see the move of God if we ask Him.

Let’s work together!

What about children in the house church?

We have been doing something called church in the home for a few years now. We take one Sunday and we have our meetings in the home. Thanks to the pandemic we have been having virtual church in the home every week for many months now.

Church in the home can be scary for some people because they wonder what would happen to the children. What we do now is keep the children in the same room with the adults and we worship together and involve the children.

The very little ones can paint or do some craft on the rug beside their parents. I know it’s a little more work for parents but I believe that children will do well in the church at home and the extra sacrifice is worth the effort.

Here are the reasons why I know that church in the home is a blessing for the children as well.

  1. Those who are already in grade one and above can participate in the meetings. Our children have been participating in our meetings since they could respond to questions. They are now 13 and 10 and they are doing well.
  2. The children get to hang out with adults and see how God works with people. They also see other adults (closeup) with godly lifestyles to look up to.
  3. They experience the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at the meetings and develop faith for these manifestations from a young age.
  4. The older children can start to lead their own Discovery Groups when they get to high school because they have seen it modeled all their lives.
  5. They don’t have to struggle to integrate back to the adult church after being in the kids church for many years.

There are some challenges which usually boil down to more work for the adults at first.

As it is, we are still in the pandemic and still having church at home and we are loving it. Our boys Demi and Damilola love it.

Two elderly ladies?

I am always blown away by the way God works. No one is too young or too old. See what God did with two elderly ladies. One of them was blind. Everyone can pray!

In 1949 in the village of Barvas, Rev. James Murray MacKay was the parish minister. For months he and his church leaders prayed for an outpouring of the Spirit.

In a small cottage lived two elderly sisters: Peggy Smith, aged eighty-four and blind, and her sister Christine Smith, eighty-two and almost bent double with arthritis.

They were unable to attend worship, but for months they prayed in their cottage for God to send revival to Barvas.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel, pg 306

They prayed for months for people in their village by name. And other members of the church prayed as well.

One morning after several months of praying, God gave one of the sisters Peggy Smith a vision of the church building filled with people including the young people. She saw hundreds of people being swept into the kingdom of God.

She told her pastor and he and the church elders invited a guest minister Duncan Campbell to speak for a couple of days.

Here is what happened

That night Campbell preached on “The Wise Virgins” and the following night on “The Foolish Virgins.”

The second service closed with intense silence. God was speaking to hearts.

At the close, Campbell dismissed the crowd and the building emptied.

But suddenly the church door opened again and an elder motioned for Campbell to come to the door.

The entire congregation was standing outside, so gripped by the Holy Spirit they did not want to leave.

Other people who had not attended were drawn from their homes by the irresistible power of the Holy Spirit.

Many faces showed deep distress. Campbell called everyone back inside the church.

The awesome presence of God was so profound that unsaved people began to groan with distress and pray in repentance.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel pg 308.

Many more wonderful things happened in that village.

When we pray with our whole hearts for a move of God’s Holy Spirit. He always responds.

Let’s pray please! Our Heavenly Father is looking for willing vessels. (Acts 1:14)

Excuses!

We make excuses for almost everything! Success or progress comes when we stop making excuses and start finding solutions.

We read this story today at our family devotion.

“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:57-62‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What are my excuses for not making disciples? What are yours?