THE FLOW EXPLAINED

Introduction | Urgency | Process | Hindrances | Training | Purpose | Diagram | Leaders | Questions | SlideShow

Growing the Church Through Biblical Training

Developing Key Leaders

One of the Flow’s greatest benefits has not yet been mentioned. Many pastors and missionaries have had limited training in their churches. Once they indicate that they ‘feel’ called, they are sent off to a seminary or Bible college to be trained. Some of them, while they are waiting to go, are asked to do something in the church like lead the youth group.

The church typically only knows how to assign people to tasks but unfortunately know nothing of helping them to actually rightly carry out the task. I am ashamed by the people I have seen ‘burned’ from service in the church. Because of noble desires to help out in the church, they volunteer their services. But no training is given. About a year later they are  heavily criticized because they did not rightly carry out the ministry. Whose fault?

People rarely think about training in the local church. The Flow helps train everyone the need for training. More important, they see how to train others. They are not afraid to ‘say’ something to others. What even more importantly happens, though, is that people are interested in serving the Lord full-time.

We are not saying that churches with no training process implemented do not have people inquiring into full-time service. There is a great difference between those who are raised in a church with ‘a flow’ and without.

Trained With the Flow	Drifting Without the Flow
They anticipate emerging leaders	They are surprised by upcoming leaders
They work with the new leaders	They are threatened by new leaders
The upcoming leaders have actually trained others	The upcoming leaders have not necessarily trained anyone
The emerging leaders through experience have a good idea what being a pastor or church planter might be like	The emerging leader has a ‘romantic’ and ideal image of full-time service.
They have had to learn to work with authority	They have not had to learn to work with those in authority
They have resolved relationship problems	They might not have resolved relationship problems
They have found confidence in God’s Word to overcome all kinds of sin	They have not necessarily overcome sinful habits
They share a similar vision for the church along with the other church leaders	They have no vision for the church and just want to get on to bigger and better.
They have been trained for years and do not necessarily even need seminary training	They have not been trained and seminary training is inadequate to equip them for ministry
They find lots of support and advice for going into full-time ministry	They find little support and advice for going into full-time ministry.
The best are sent out	Ill-prepared candidates leave for training

 

The Flow is a current. It brings people along. When the current is flowing properly, others are naturally attracted to it. Part of this reason is that they know they have a place in the church. They are needed. God is working through them. There is another important reason.

God can trust to bring more gifted people to such churches. If there is a flow, then people will go downstream through the leadership stream. The other aspect is that people see how God can use them. They get a taste for full-time ministry and seriously contemplate it. Some of these people never end up ‘called’ to full-time ministry but serve rather as tent-makers. They end up training others wherever they go.

If we allow our very best ‘trained’ people to go out into ministry, there will be others that will remain around so that the blessed ministry might grow even more, some in full-time ministry and some as volunteers. The Flow allows the Spirit of God to continue to allow the spiritual maturity of the congregation to grow.