The Ministry Multiplication Cycle

Book excerpt: After harmonizing the four Gospels into one unified story, the author examines the ministry of Jesus to see what we can learn today for our own churches and ministries. As the story unfolds, one finds Jesus implementing four strategic ministry tactics, in this order: -Outsiders becoming new believers through evangelism -New believers becoming committed disciples through establishing -Committed disciples becoming effective workers through equipping -Effective workers becoming world Christians through missions mobilization Together these four tactics form the "ministry multiplication cycle." To determine whether this strategy is truly a biblical strategy or not, an in-depth look is then taken into the book of Acts. There we find the apostles, the men whom Jesus trained, implementing these same four tactics in the exact same order, with the exact same results--powerful growth through multiplication. The question remains whether the ministry multiplication cycle can be replicated today in our own culture. The answer is a resounding "yes," when we learn to think in terms of principles and not just practices. This book is a product of over thirty years of clarifying these principles in the classroom and implementing them around the world, the latter resulting in over two thousand churches being planted among unreached people groups.