These 3
"So, now, faith, hope, and love remain, these three; and, of them, love is the greatest."
These gracious words, form a trinity, appear at the end of the "love chapter" in the Bible (1 Corinthians 13).
They also form the 3 cardinal virtues. And they make their home in us as the fruit, or expression of the life and presence of the Holy Spirit in us.
These three also constitute three aspects of our ministry. How could they not?
We should think of these three as being the source of all ministry, as well as its expression. We can directly correlate the presence, or absence, of these three, to the measure of spiritual life in a follower of Christ. By extrapolation, we can also correlate the spiritual vitality and state of a local church to the degree to which these3 things are present, and abide.
As our churches are facing tremendous challenges today, from a pandemic, as well as the regulations, restrictions on meeting, and the economic fallout of both, we want to come alongside of you, and your church, and walk with you as a partner, and at times, a coach. But above all, a friend, and fellow disciple of Jesus.
So, you may be thinking, "how do we do that?"
Again, in keeping with the power of a trinity, we offer 3 services to help you in this time of what is perhaps the church's greatest challenge in nearly a century. (More details on specifics later.) I will focus on 3 areas of great need, as well as tremendous opportunity for disciples and churches. Then we will juxtapose the 3 greatest things in the world upon them: faith, hope, and love. You will see the power in them to meet every need that the church faces.
The three areas where we believe we can help you are also three pages on this website. You will find on each instruction, inspiration, along with insight into the unique challenges disciples and churches face in these challenging times. Our prayer and our passion is for you and your church to live in the fullness of God has for you. Below you will find a snapshot of each area, followed by a link to a page where you will find much more help, inspiration and coaching.
The 3 Areas are:
Prayer Coaching
Disciple Coaching
Church Coaching
faith - hope - love
Prayer Coaching
I think you will agree with us that prayer is at the very core of christian experience. We begin our lifelong journey with Christ, our Savior, when we respond to Him. Romans 10 defines that Holy Spirit led response. It can be thought of in terms of 'prayer'.
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. ~Martin Luther
Yet, we find that only 6% of christians say they pray enough. With all of the tremendous statements, claims, and promises about prayer in the Bible, little wonder we somehow feel we are missing out. To this end you will find numerous resources to help you grow in prayer. Sometimes 'faith' just needs to hear what is possible. One cannot pray without hope, real hope, for the answer. And there will be no real heartfelt intercession for others without the Love of Christ "shed abroad in our heart".
Many churches today are struggling to survive. 20 churches per day were closing, pre-Covid. Researchers tell us 20% of churches will close for good over the next 18 months. One of the great antidotes for that is united prayer. We have found the most evangelistic churches to be thriving, not just surviving in these times. And these churches have a commitment to united prayer.
We can partner with your church to help. We coach you in igniting a prayer movement in your local church. Many churches now have a prayer ministry. A prayer movement is different, though. In a prayer ministry, people come to the prayer specialist to pray for them. In a prayer movement, everyone prays.
Ask, and you will receive. Matthew 7:7
He who asks, receives. 7:8
"Asking is God's ordained way of receiving." ~Andrew Murray
Please help yourself to all of our prayer resources, books, eBooks, audio books, etc. And, if we can come alongside your church, and help lead them into a united prayer movement, simple connect with us via email, phone, etc. This time we are experiencing is the perfect time to coach your church into becoming "a house of prayer."
Continue on to our Prayer Coaching page
You will find resources to empower your personal prayer life, and to elevate the united prayer in your local church. There are many classics of the faith to inspire you. There are new strategies and testimonies to guide you.
******************
Check our store for some classic christian writings, and for new ones as well.
(All proceeds from this site go to support our missions to the unreached peoples of the world.
You can read more on our About Us page.)
Church Coaching
Why you may want to assess church coaching. You, as a church leader, know very well the challenges you face today. Still, you may want to meet with a church coach, who has the resources and research to help you with what may be ahead. No one knows exactly what is going to happen, or the very best course of action. But we can help you understand the times better, the possibility of even greater need and challenges ahead. And, at the same time, we want to equip you to not only survive, but to thrive in this new and uncertain environment we find ourselves in.
We will not dwell longer than needed on the negative aspects of these new challenges. But you know they are there, and you need to be aware of what perilous times we are navigating. After this list, we will show you how to address each. We will give you examples of churches who have thrived, and how they did it. There are specific actions and attitudes that mark thriving churches. First, here are some of the dire circumstances our churches face.
- 20 churches were closing daily, pre-Covid
- 20% of churches will likely close in the next 18 months
- Less than 3% of churches have returned to pre-Covid attendance levels - even virtually
- 20% of your pre-Covid attendees will never return
- Giving is tailing off as attendance drops
- Pastoral dropout is increasing
- Church leaders suffer from "decision fatigue"
- Everything if fluid, how to hold church, classes, et al
- 65 - 90% of churches needed some type of revitalization before Covid
- Every challenge you faced before has been exacerbated by Covid
It would be beneficial to you, as a church leader, to have a partner to walk through this minefield with. Often, that alone makes all the difference.
If you decide you would benefit from partnering with a church coach, we are there for you with trained, certified church coaches. We have work with our partners to glean the make the best research available to you, so you have the best foundation for your course of action you will follow. We make all of our resources available to you and your church at no cost to you. You will find some of the best experts in the fields of prayer coaching, discipleship coaching, and church coaching.
Some of the actions and attitudes you can take to not only weather the storm, but to grow during it are:
+ The most evangelistic churches are thriving
+ These churches have a commitment to united prayer
+ You can grow during this time, while others shrink
+ You must make a strong, real, commitment to prayer
+ You must make a strong commitment to having the members share their faith
+ You must make it an urgent priority to make disciples
We are here to help you in every way we can. Again, all of our resources are made available to you free of charge. We wish to come alongside of and bless the bride of Christ. See more on our Church Coaching & Resources page.
Yes, this is where we took our name.
these 3 - faith, hope, and love
In the most famous book in the world, one of the most famous chapters is 1 Corinthians 13- the LOVE chapter. "Now abide these 3 faith, hope and love."
Disciple Coaching
A disciple is a learner, a student. One would think that it is self evident, that when we set out to learn of Christ, that learning will never end. Christ is omniscient, possesses all knowledge. We do not. So the disciple process is like a street that never ends.
"All authority has been given to Me on heaven and earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them whatsoever I have commanded." Matthew 28:18, 19
I actually misquoted the Great Commission just now. Can you find what is missing? This is how most of our churches practice the command. They teach all that Jesus has said. But what He commanded was not just teaching what he said, bu to train disciples by "teaching them to observe/obey whatsoever I have commanded."
There is a difference, and it is not subtle. At East West Ministries we have shared the gospel with 200 million people in the spiritually darkest places on earth. We have discipled 20 million followers of Christ. The Lord has given us an amazing plan based on this same Great Commission. You can find resources to train yourself to be an effective disciple maker- begin with yourself.
Or, you can contact me through this website and we would love to train your church leaders and staff into becoming disciple making disciples. Just make your way over to our Disciple Coaching page to learn more.
The Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Andrew's 17th century classic, now updated for the modern reader. It is short, its simple, and it is profoundly heart warming. In very simple terms Brother Andrews leads us successively into a more and more full experience of the presence of God. He helps us understand what hinders us in growing in it. And he leads us, in grace, deeper yet.
As Hudson Taylor often quoted, as in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, By Howard Taylor:
"The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete..."
Find Brother Andrew's, The Practice of the Presence of God, in our store. All proceeds from this site go to missions to reach the unreached peoples of the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.