June 26, 2025 • 47 mins
Americans are reconnecting with the Bible, and young people are coming to Christ in record numbers! Are you ready to start spiritual conversations and share your faith? Today guest-host Collin Lambert introduces the I Am 2nd project and offer practical ways you can become the confident disciple-maker God has called you to be!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:19):
Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of
equip with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined
us today. Do me a favor strap on your seat
belt as we navigate through the contours of culture, as
always with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But
before we do that, let me remind you, this is
the day that the Lord has made. He is giving
(00:40):
it as a gift so that you and I can
rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that.
Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Today
I want you to help me to welcome to the
hot seat my good friend Colin Lambert. Colin is a
man of God who ministers through radio for decades, including
(01:02):
many years at Moody Radio. He's the host of Missions
today and is passionate about seeing people across the globe
growing Christ Jesus. Colin, thanks for leading this edition of equip.
S2 (01:16):
Chris, thank you so much. Appreciate the opportunity as always
and excited about our program today. Just before we move
into that, I want to just encourage you, remind you
as you listen today to be in prayer for Chris
and his daughter Zoe and their family as they continue
to battle health issues throughout. And, uh, Zoe's continuing to, uh,
(01:39):
be engaged in her work and testing and all the
things that go on with her situation. And Chris, of course,
home with the family. So continue to pray for them,
continue to lift them up during these challenging days. I
know that they appreciate it so very much. Well, one
of the things I think, as followers of Christ that
(02:00):
we seem to do the least of, if you think
about it, probably is sharing the gospel and making disciples.
Those two things often do not seem to make our
list of things we do. Oh yeah, we might be
going to church. Yes, we might be even reading our
Bible on a regular basis. But what about sharing the
gospel in some real, tangible way? Or what about making disciples?
(02:24):
Today we're going to talk about developing a gospel sharing,
disciple making lifestyle. Joining us to talk about that is
Josh Spinks. He serves as a vice president of E3 partners.
He oversees the North American initiatives for the ministry, including
I Am second. And in his role, he seeks to
partner E3 with churches and ministries across the country. These
(02:46):
partnerships help equip churches and believers to engage lostness both
in the US and around the world. Josh has pastored
in local churches for 20 years. They've got a new
Bible study that's about to come out. We'll talk about
as well. Uh, but let's just start by welcoming Josh
to the program. Josh, thanks for your time. It's great
to have you with us today.
S3 (03:08):
Well, first of all, thank you all so much for
allowing me the opportunity to hang out with you today?
And I just I deeply appreciate this opportunity.
S2 (03:17):
I am familiar with I am second, I don't know
how many people are. I know it started around 2008, right?
In that time frame. I think if I got my
notes right and, uh, it is a video testimony, if
you will, a video testimonial of, in many cases, people,
people that we know, celebrities or people who have had
(03:39):
some incredible experiences in their life change. Uh, people may
not be familiar with it just from that name, though
I am second. So could you take a minute? Tell
us a little bit about E3 partners and the type
of ministries that you all work with and including? I
am second.
S3 (03:56):
Yeah, absolutely. So E3 partners is a church planting organization.
It got started back in 1987, and it was primarily
just a short term sending agency. They would go, uh,
On the short term mission trips. They would empower churches
to go with them, take them for a week or two,
do some work for a little while, and then go
(04:19):
back home. And so, uh, for many, many years, this
is what they did. They would send 4 or 500
trips a year around the world, but probably back in
the maybe 2010, 2011, they started to make a paradigm
shift to where they started sending missionaries long term around
the world. And so now E3 primarily sends long term
(04:41):
missionaries to plant churches. And in the last five years,
E3 has seen over 500,000 churches planted. And so I
am second. How does I am second fit into that? Well,
around the time that you're talking about around 2008, 2009, uh,
somebody uh, with E3 partners had this idea, what would
(05:03):
it look like to lift high, the name of Jesus?
Because the promise that we have is if we lift
him up, he'll draw all men to him. So it
started out with just billboards scattered throughout the Dallas area.
And man, it just kind of it just started to
gain in some awareness and recognition. They did some videos
with people who had influence and a platform. And then
(05:25):
we see what happened in the early days of I am.
Second was these videos, these interviews, these stories that they
would tell. They went viral before viral was a thing.
And and I am second has grown in popularity since then.
And so that's who I am. Second is it's kind
of the media ministry of E3 partners, which is an
(05:48):
organization that is focused on planting churches for the sake
of seeing God's glory spread around the world.
S2 (05:55):
Before we move on from I am second, could you
think about maybe a few names that people would recognize
that their stories are there on? I am second.
S3 (06:05):
Yeah, well, a couple of them that went, uh, they
kind of put us on the map was Brian Welch,
who was the lead singer of Korn, which was a
secular band. And when people heard that this man was
a Christian, you know, it kind of took them by surprise.
And then, of course, you have, like, Chip and Joanna
Gaines who've done the that House show on HGTV. And
(06:27):
then you have the Robertson family. Uh, many of those
individuals have shared their story. Uh, Carrie Underwood and her
husband have done, uh, some a film with us as well.
And then there's some folks that you probably wouldn't recognize
whose stories are just as transformational. But over the last
16 years, I am second has, uh, put out probably
(06:50):
close to 200 films of different people with their platforms
and their influence, just to share their transformational story of
how they once were lost. But now they're found because
of the life changing power of the gospel.
S2 (07:05):
Yeah, the great stories. And I want to encourage folks,
if they have not seen these and even utilize them,
I think you could send them to friends to to
see and to view. I am second, I am second
is where you can find those and they are so
well done. Uh, beautiful, amazing, powerful stories and just want
(07:27):
to thank you for the work you all have done
with that, because they are wonderful tools to introduce people
to Jesus through some people who've experienced that life change.
So appreciate that tie in. I want to focus now
more on on the discipleship and evangelism part, because that's
where we really want to spend most of our time today.
(07:47):
And then we'll also get to this new Bible study
that's available. Uh, first, maybe your thoughts on how you
would describe the current state of discipleship in the church today?
S3 (07:59):
Okay. Yeah, that's a that's a big question. And you
and I could probably spend several hours discussing, uh, where
where I think and where I've kind of observed the,
the church today. But I think where we are today
is when we look across and I'm just going to
focus on the US and not the world. But what
I see here in the US is that we have
(08:21):
a knowledge based discipleship in the church today, which is good, right? Uh,
I would say at this point in history and in, uh,
the time where we are as a church, 2000 years
since the resurrection of Jesus, that we are probably the
smartest church to have ever existed because of all the
(08:41):
contributions of those who have come before us to the
Library of Christian Literature. Um, and so I would say
that not not not everybody in the church is the
smartest Christians that have ever existed, but the church at large, uh,
is the smartest church that ever existed. However, what I've
noticed over my time serving in the church is that
(09:04):
while we might know a lot about our faith, uh,
the obedience side of discipleship is something that is lacking.
We know our faith, but we don't practice our faith.
And so we have, uh, we have kind of really
set aside, uh, the practicing of our faith to the
hired guns of the church, like our pastors and our staff,
(09:26):
and we say, hey, they have the responsibility of kingdom growth.
They have the responsibility of seeing the kingdom of God expanded.
And and most of our brothers and sisters who are
in the church see church as something that they can consume.
Christianity is something that they can binge and and it's
(09:48):
not something that they can contribute to. And so by
and large, what we see as we kind of just
look over the church in the US, we have a
lot of key leaders, rock stars in our churches that
are doing most of the work when most of the
church today is contributing very little to, uh, the, the,
(10:11):
the sharing of the gospel and the development of disciples
and leaders.
S2 (10:18):
In the midst of that, I have heard that Bible
engagement is on the rise. Is that true? And if so,
why do you think that's the case today?
S3 (10:27):
Bible engagement? Do you mean just people getting into the word?
S2 (10:31):
Yeah. Interest in it or finding it? Yeah.
S3 (10:35):
Yeah, yeah. And so I think it goes, uh, I
think when we look at the, the landscape around us,
the world in general and some of the chaos that
we experience, whether it's, you know, in some of the
conflicts that we see around the world or some of
the suffering that we see around the world, we're looking
for answers. And so I think people are turning to
the word um, because, um, for one, I think there
(10:58):
is just this spiritual, uh, Pooling of every individual to
towards truth. And so I would say that we see
Bible engagement going up here. Um, because of just when
we look around us, we see suffering. I think also
studies will show you that here in the West that
there is actually an undercurrent of, especially the younger generations
(11:22):
really turning back towards faith. And I think it's because
of I think that's a result of many folks in
our church seeing that we have relegated, uh, the responsibility
of kingdom expansion to leaders. And the leaders are really
(11:43):
starting to empower their people to share the gospel. And
the more people that you empower to practice their faith,
the more Bible engagement that you're going to get, and
you'll start to see, uh, the community at large share
their faith on a more consistent basis, make disciples on
a more consistent basis. So if I had to give you,
just like a quick answer as to why I think
maybe we were seeing Bible engagement increase a little bit
(12:05):
is because of the observation of the suffering that we
see in the world today. But on top of that,
also noticing the gaps that that we might have experienced
over the last few decades in the sharing of the
gospel and making of disciples. That's really encouraging leaders to, uh,
teach into that and equip people, uh, to fill those holes.
S2 (12:28):
Yeah. Josh Spinks is our guest. Our topic today, developing
a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle. And we're going to
come back and talk more about discipleship and evangelism and
a made to multiply study, something they've been working on
for some time. And we're going to tell you about
how you can get involved with that, and what kind
of difference it might make in your life or the
(12:50):
lives of those around you. Our phone lines are open
at 5483675. You have a question or comment for Josh
as the program rolls along. Maybe you have engaged more
deeply recently in discipleship or gospel sharing. We'd love to
(13:10):
hear your story as well. (877)Â 548-3675. You're listening to equipped
with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert sitting in today, and
we'll be back with more with Josh Spinks coming up
in just a moment. Stay with us.
S1 (13:29):
The Bible offers victory over sin and Satan, but even
strong Christians can feel discouraged or even distant from God.
If that's where you find yourself today, may I encourage
you to get a copy of Still Standing by Lina Abujamra.
Lina has walked this road and knows that suffering isn't
a detour. It's often the very path God uses to
(13:52):
transform us. We'll send you a copy of Still Standing
when you support equip this month, simply call 888644 4144
or visit Equip Radio.com.
S2 (14:11):
You're listening to equipped with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert,
sitting in for Chris today. Our guest is Josh Spinks.
We're talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle.
Just before we get back to that. My thanks to
the team in Chicago today, Ryan behind the scenes handling
all things technical. Deb is producing Rihanna on the phones,
(14:32):
and my thanks to the folks at The Bridge in Austin,
Texas for making their studios available to me today. Uh, Josh,
getting back to the topic of discipleship and evangelism, uh,
what trends would you say you're seeing in our culture
that open the door for discipleship and evangelism outside the church?
It's obvious that in the church, those are things that
(14:55):
hopefully should and are going on at most churches today,
but it seems there's more and more opportunities outside the
church you were just talking about. Um, the suffering in
the world, uh, that that issue of knowledge seems to
be part of it as well. The access to to
(15:15):
so much through social media and internet, there's so many
ways to learn today. Is that an open door as well?
Just the fact that people have access to so much knowledge.
S3 (15:28):
Yeah, I would say, uh, if you think what was
really eye opening, I think for the church here, um,
is Covid. I think when we kind of had to
figure out how to do a lot of our Christian
development on our own during that season, leadership at large, uh,
(15:50):
in the church just saw that there was a deficit,
that there was a gap in that endeavor. So that
is kind of opened up the door for many churches
to kind of say, hey, we probably leadership in church
for sure need to figure out a way to better
equip our people so that they can practice their faith,
even when they are not able to come to the building.
(16:13):
That faith is something that needs to be practiced Monday
through Saturday. And what is super helpful in this current
age of technology, where every bit of information is at
our fingertips and we can have conversations with one another,
whether I'm sitting here in Southeast Louisiana and you're over
there in Austin and we have a team up in Chicago,
(16:36):
we can immediately begin talking to each other. Is the
church starting to take advantage of some of these avenues
in which we can inform people and help people understand
more about their faith and how to practice their faith? So, yes,
I believe that because the information is out there for
everybody to get, and the church is now helping there.
(16:58):
The people that God's entrusted to them to, to get
connected to that information, I think, is really contributing to
a lot of this undercurrent, undercurrent back to to faith
and practicing our faith that we're seeing in our culture today.
S2 (17:14):
Yeah, I know that you all talk a lot about
living missionally. What would you say it means to live
missionally in this culture today?
S3 (17:23):
Uh, well, the second that you open your eyes in
the morning as a believer is that you see the
world around you as a place where you are planted. Uh,
to be missional, to see that the people in your
home know the gospel. Uh, see that they have opportunities
to come to the gospel and see that you disciple
them on their journey after the gospel has made its impact. Likewise,
(17:47):
when you step outside of your door and you go
to work, or you go to school or you just
encounter the world that you live in is to see
that everybody around you is somebody who the father deeply
cares about and wants a relationship with. And just as
it says in Second Corinthians chapter five, that we've been
given this ministry of reconciliation, that we're supposed to bring
(18:10):
them this hope that they can be reconciled to the father.
You know, missions, that's not just something that we do
across the pond or in a different context and culture.
But living on mission is something that should be a
part of our DNA. It is our identity in Christ.
In that same passage, Second Corinthians chapter five, if you
(18:31):
go down to verse 20, it says that we are
an ambassador and right. So we are God's mouthpiece, his
representation here, no matter where you are. And so in,
in our estimation, in our opinion, to live missionally is
to just live with a keen eye to the people
around you who may be far from God, who need
(18:53):
that gospel of reconciliation.
S2 (18:56):
Yeah, our phone lines are open. 87754836758775483675. If you have
a question or comment from Josh A for Josh, or
you'd like to share your own story about how disciple
making has changed your life, maybe your ability or desire
to share the gospel has increased of late, and maybe
(19:19):
what that's tied to. We'd love to hear your story. (877)Â 548-3675. Josh,
one of the things I mentioned right at the beginning
of the program was that I think, and I don't
have any data, but just from talking to people and
talking to pastors over the years and doing programs like this,
it seems that one of the most challenging things for
(19:39):
Christians to do is to share their faith. Why do
you think that is, and what kind of specific needs
do you think Christians have Of in being able to
effectively share their faith.
S3 (19:53):
Yeah. So your conclusions are not anecdotal. Uh, LifeWay did
a study just a couple of years ago, uh, where
they saw that nine out of ten professing evangelical believers
are not sharing their faith on a consistent basis. And
so we boil that down to two primary reasons that
(20:14):
we've seen, um, why Christians are fearful for sharing the gospel.
One is that there is a lack of confidence. Uh,
they just don't know an easy way, a clear and
concise way to communicate the gospel they can share with
their friends and family. You know, you know how the
gospel has changed their life and and the new life
(20:37):
that they have on this journey that they now are
walking with Jesus. But to communicate the gospel in a
clear and concise way escapes them. In fact, I do
trainings from sea to shining sea. Here in the US,
and we have Shriners scattered across the country who are
doing the same. And typically in our trainings, we'll ask, uh,
(20:58):
the folks that we're training, hey, we want you to
share the gospel in just a couple of minutes with
your training, buddy. And a lot of times, people will
grade themselves as a C minus or below when it
comes to sharing the gospel after they've had a chance
to do it. So for so for one reason, uh,
that there's a lack of gospel sharing is people just
(21:19):
don't know how. And because there's a lack of confidence,
confidence in sharing the gospel suffers. And so if I
don't know how to do something, I'm not going to
do it. And so what will typically happen is believers
will invite people to go to church where somebody who
is competent can share the gospel with them. But, uh,
(21:40):
you know as well as I do, uh, fewer and
fewer and fewer people are willing to go to a church.
And so the believer has to be equipped so that
they have confidence to share the gospel where people are.
And so I believe those are two reasons why we
see the vast majority of believers in the US are
scared to share the gospel. It's because of a lack
(22:01):
of confidence which which leads to a lack of confidence.
And a simple way to remedy that is just to
learn some simple tools for sharing your story and sharing
God's story. How do I get into a spiritual conversation
about Jesus? How can I tell them my story in
a simple way, and then communicate the gospel in a plain,
(22:22):
simple way that makes sense to the people that I'm
in relationship with?
S2 (22:27):
Do you feel like you mentioned a little earlier, and
we've even done some programs on the the move that
seems to be happening on many college campuses today. I've,
I've heard from a number of people on my Missions
Today program who do mission work, who say they're seeing
more young people come to Christ than in almost any
(22:48):
part of their ministry, that they are open to follow Christ.
Are you seeing that? And is there a different or
unique way to reach today's generation?
S3 (22:59):
Uh, absolutely. Uh, it's been our, uh, experience. And what
we've been able to observe is that there is a
real hunger from Gen Z and Gen Alpha to to
have some type of explanation for the world that they
see around them that, you know, uh, for something real,
(23:21):
for something that is tangible, for something that can really
help them answer these questions that they have, uh, about
the world around them. And so what we have seen
as we have labored on college campuses across the US is, um, yeah,
there there is a hunger from this, these younger generations
(23:44):
Patients to seek answers, uh, through Christianity about, uh, the
world around them. And so, uh, for example, I am
second has a program that is called team second and
College Ambassadors. And and what we do is we team
second allows us to take advantage of the nil that
(24:05):
we have in the college athlete world. And so you
have a lot of Christian athletes that are on our team. Second.
And what we do is we empower them to be
missionaries on their campus through the platform that they have
as an athlete there. And so what we'll do is
we'll do a college, we'll do a training through that
athlete on that college campus, and we'll have we'll have
(24:27):
these kids come and be a part of this training.
And then they go out and do gospel pushes. And
the stories that are coming from these campuses are incredible.
Not only that, uh, you know, if you'll remember, uh,
coming out of Covid, some of the things that we
saw in California with thousands of people being baptized on
(24:48):
the beach. Well, that was coming from a younger generation.
If you look at what happened just last year at
Ohio State, where the football team was having a revival
and it wasn't led by any particular church, it was
just led by the hunger of these individuals who led it.
They were part of the football team and the desire
from their community to have answers. And so I think
(25:10):
just as a younger generation is coming up in the
world and they're being exposed to some of the things
that they see in the world, they're looking for answers.
And Christianity has been there to answer it for them.
S2 (25:23):
It's incredible to see, and we're going to talk more
about it when we come back in just a moment.
We'll also learn more about this brand new Bible study,
a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources, and it's helping continue
this effort to see the gospel be shared and disciples made.
And again, if you'd like to get involved in the conversation,
maybe you have a story of your own related to
(25:45):
gospel sharing or disciple making. We'd love to hear it
as well. 87754836758775483675. You're listening to equipped with Chris Brooks.
Our guest, Josh Spinks is with us, and we'll be
back with him. And your calls coming up in just
a moment. Stay with us. You know, the Christian life
(26:19):
is often marked with great trials and suffering. You know why?
Because we live in a fallen and broken world. It
is full of disappointments. It can often cause us to
lose our dreams. And there's even a cost to following
Christ in today's culture. In her book Still Standing, Doctor
Lina Abujamra shares how God's refining process, though it is
(26:40):
often painful, makes him a much bigger person place in
our hearts. It transforms us into people who can, uh,
who are more like him, like his son, Jesus. That's
our goal as followers of Christ, to become like him,
to follow him. She takes a moment in this still
standing book to show us how our pain can lead
to despair and bitterness, or we can make the choice
(27:03):
to have it make us more like Jesus. If you're
facing trials today, you'd like a copy of this wonderful book,
Still Standing. Time's running out. We're almost to the end
of the month. You can become an equipper and help
us here at Equip. Continue great daily programming. Just call 888644414486444144.
(27:26):
Or you can give online at equipped radio dot by
the way equipped radio.org. Also the place you can find
out all about our guest today Josh Spinks about I
am second and the Bible study called Made to multiply.
We're talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle.
Josh Spinks is our guest. Just before we, uh, continue
(27:48):
with him with questions, let's go to the phones. Phone
lines are open at 87754836758775483675. Patricia, you're listening in Illinois.
Thank you for your call, your question or comment today.
S4 (28:04):
So I guess it's part comment and part question. And
thank you for taking my call. So I am currently
in a discipleship class. Um, we meet twice a month
and it's for an hour and a half. And I
have a strong desire, desire to be a disciple. And
I understand that the whole purpose is once I'm discipled,
I can disciple someone else. And I just wanted to
(28:25):
say that I, I'm very, um, I don't know, I
really try hard, but I really struggle because I know
that the Bible doesn't read like a regular book. There's
parables and so forth, and I just really want to
get it so that I can be a disciple, because
my teacher said that, um, you know, even though she's
discipling people, they're not confident enough to disciple someone else.
(28:47):
And I don't want to be that person. And I
just wanted to know if you had any advice for me. Um,
I don't know, just, just I just want to get it.
And I just feel like I do understand to a degree,
but it's still a struggle.
S2 (29:00):
Great question. Josh. Your thoughts?
S3 (29:03):
Oh, gosh. First of all, thank you for your question.
That is such a great question and let me encourage you.
God has equipped you to disciple those in your life.
And so first of all, we have to make time
for it. I think one of the biggest obstacles for
disciple making, personal disciple making is we just don't make
(29:23):
time for it. Uh, investing in somebody else's life. We
have busy schedules, and so to give that investment, it
can be very difficult. So first of all, just look
at your calendar and say, hey, can I give any
part of my life to somebody else. Now, in the
process of disciple making, this is how you got to
look at it. Well, you're 1 or 2 steps ahead
(29:45):
of somebody else, and all you have to do is
just show them what God has shown you. You remember
the Great Commission? Jesus said right before he ascended, he said,
all authority is given unto me both in heaven and
on earth. Therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the father, the son, and
the Holy Spirit. And then he said, teach them to
do everything that I've taught you. So what has God
(30:07):
taught you? And just give it to somebody else? Has
God showed you how to pray, then teach somebody how
to pray. Has God showed you how to read his
word with a little bit more clarity than you had before?
Then teach somebody else how to do that as God
showed you how to love on somebody. Then teach somebody
how to love on somebody. Discipleship is all about taking
(30:28):
somebody that you're a step or two ahead of and
bringing them on a journey with you. And so discipleship
shouldn't be complicated. It should be something that just naturally
flows out of building relationship, investing in the people in
our lives.
S2 (30:43):
That's a good word. Patricia, please hold on. Thanks for
your call, first of all. And then please hold on.
We'd love to get you some helpful resources. So if
you'll just hold on, they'll get the information from you.
Appreciate that. 87754836758775483675. Well, that might be a good place
to talk about how, uh, made to multiply the study
(31:07):
has come about. Tell us about, uh, where this originated
and about the partnership and a little bit about the study.
S3 (31:15):
Oh, absolutely. So when if you have an opportunity to
look at the study, what you will see is that
the the lessons, the seven lessons are what we would
bring in the in a training to a church, right.
Or at least a part of that training. And so
we were trying to figure out the best way that
we could curate the beginning steps of sharing your story,
(31:39):
sharing God's story, and multiplying disciple making amongst our brothers
and sisters. And so, uh, through our relationship with LifeWay,
which has been there for a while, we've had interactions
with them. We said, hey, maybe we can put together
a seven week study that a group could walk through
that would help them embrace simple, biblical, and reproducible tools
(32:04):
that will equip and empower people within that group within
the church to to share their testimony with ease. It
doesn't have to be this long novel, and you can
share your story in 15 seconds, right? And then communicate
the gospel. As we said a while ago, people don't
share the gospel because they don't have easy tools to
(32:24):
do it to to do that. And so this study
also has some simple tools for sharing the gospel. And
then how do we help people look more like Jesus
tomorrow than they do today? And so there are some
simple tools in this study to to help them do that.
And so I am second partnered with LifeWay, put together
(32:45):
this seven week study that can help a group really
start to build their community for the lostness around them
and reaching them. And so, and these seven weeks, you
will grab a plethora of tools that can help you
start this journey, but at the same time also see
the biblical foundation for these tools and for these practices.
S2 (33:08):
That's great. I want to go back to the phones.
The phone lines are open 87754836758775483675. Gail, you're in Chicago
listening to be. Thanks for your call. Your question or
comment today?
S5 (33:24):
Yes, my comment is I did used to be fearful
of talking to people about, you know, discipling them. But
I know that I always enjoyed talking to people, and
I guess that's one of my gifts. And what I
found was that you kind of meet people where they are,
and then you kind of work that into the conversation.
(33:46):
For instance, I know so many people that play the
lottery and I would say, okay, so how do you
what do you think God says about money? Um, you know,
how does that influence your life or whatever? And, or
I know people who believe in astrology and I would
engage them and say, um, do you think God really
(34:09):
made somebody who's a Gemini exactly like somebody else who's
a Gemini is like, you know, whatever they are into.
I know a lot of people that are into wishing
and blessings, and I and I would say, well, how
do you think you get blessings in your life? Where
do you think they come from? And whatever somebody is into.
(34:31):
There is a point of reference somewhere in the Bible
that brings them into that because, um, you know, like
people that believe in luck, you know. Well, why do
you believe in luck? Where do you think that comes from?
And you just ask them to explain how they think
the world works, you know, with wishing and blessing and
(34:53):
looks and things like that. Right. And then it's very
easy to engage them and say where you believe those
things come from, as opposed to where they believe these
things just fall into place.
S2 (35:09):
Yeah. Josh your thoughts?
S3 (35:11):
Yeah. So first of all, thank you so much for
loving on the people around you. And, uh, you bring
up a very key point in the way that you
kind of approach having spiritual conversations with your neighbors and
the people that God bring into your life. And that's
through connecting or are relating to people. Right? And the
biggest way that the biggest tool that God has given
(35:33):
us to relate to people, individual to individual, is your story. Okay.
Your story. How did you go from lost to found?
You'll remember in acts one eight, Jesus says, you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Now
what is he going to give you that power for? Well,
he answers that in the next statement. He said, you
(35:55):
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witness. You'll tell your story.
And stories have a powerful way of connecting with people,
of just relating with people. You know, when I share
with people that there was a time in my life
when I was lost and broken. People can relate to
that because they may be experiencing some of that brokenness
(36:17):
in their life. And then when I say, but I
met Jesus and he forgave me, and I now follow him.
And since that day, my life has had peace and purpose.
So that relating that you're talking about, listening to their story,
listening to where they are trying to meet them, where
they are relating to them, is a super powerful tool
when it comes to shifting a regular conversation to a
(36:38):
gospel conversation.
S2 (36:40):
Yeah, Gayle, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Phone
lines open 87754836758775483675. We're going to come back. Talk a
little more about this made to multiply study. And again
if you want to learn more just visit our website.
You'll learn more about Josh more about uh. Com and
(37:02):
you'll also learn more about this Made to Multiply study.
We'll link you to them, uh, at our website. Again
equipped radio dot again. Phone lines open (877)Â 548-3675. We'll come
back more with Josh and more of your phone calls
coming up in just a moment. It's equipped with Chris Brooks.
I'm Colin Lambert sitting in today. So glad you're along.
(37:26):
We'll be back with more coming up in just a moment.
Stay with us.
S1 (37:43):
Each day on equip, we confront the cultural challenges of
our time, offering biblical truth with discernment and confidence in
God's plans and purposes. Your support as an Equipper helps
us reach more people with God's truth, and you'll receive
exclusive monthly resources and updates to encourage your spiritual life.
Become an Equipper today and partner with us in this
(38:06):
vital ministry. Call 888644 4144 or go online to equip radio.org.
S2 (38:24):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today. Our guest is Josh Spinks.
He serves as vice president of E3 partners, also a
local church pastor for the last 20 years. And we're
talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle. And specifically,
just in the last few minutes, talking about the Made
(38:45):
to Multiply study, a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources. You
can learn all about it on our web page at Radio.com.
Phone lines are open at (877)Â 548-3675. Let's go back to
your calls. Jay, you're in Florida. Thanks for calling today.
Your question or comment for Josh.
S6 (39:05):
Hey, thanks a lot for taking my call. I just
have a comment to make. Um, I'm a member of
a local church and we have a Bible study, and
I also do a study outside of that. Um, when
we get pretty in-depth, you know, we're like breaking down
the word into Greek and Aramaic and trying to figure out,
you know, the meanings of words. And one day we
had a realization. You know that we're spending all this
(39:26):
time trying to get a deeper grasp of the Bible,
but what we're really called to do as Christians is
to apply what we know already. And, you know, we
don't have to be perfect in our answers, but we
got to be out there making the effort. And I
think what you guys are doing is awesome. And, um,
I'm going to talk to my pastor about seeing maybe
if we can implement that in our church.
S3 (39:48):
Well, brother, you just blessed my socks off. Thank you
for sharing that. Man, that is so good to hear that. Uh,
you and the wisdom that the Lord has given you
is just. Hey, we gotta live this out. It's not just, uh,
we have the responsibility to love the Lord with all
of our mind, but we also have the responsibility to
love the Lord with all of our strength as well.
(40:09):
And so, brother, hearing that you just made my day.
So thank you for sharing.
S2 (40:13):
Jay, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Uh, Josh,
the study I understand includes some videos from I am
second alongside the printed material. How? How do those coordinate?
How does that work?
S3 (40:26):
Yeah. So this study is meant to be walked through
with a small group, because the idea is that you
want to build a community that is focused outwardly, not
just inwardly. And so these so you'll have so it's
it's formatted to where they're, you know, you watch one
video that is an I am second testimony and then
(40:48):
you have a discussion and then there is some help
and another video where myself or one of the trainers
that that I work with is with me, and we'll
commentate together on the the topic of that particular week,
but also give some very specific training on the tool
that is being highlighted in that week's study. So the
(41:11):
videos really complement the study that you're walking through so
that you get if you're just to take the adult
learning style to the less, and you get to learn
through conversation. You get to learn through reading, and then
you also get to learn through watching things that we
have seen to be best practices when it comes to
sharing your story, God's story, and making disciples great.
S2 (41:34):
Uh (877)Â 548-3675 are numbered. Back to the phones. Debbie, you're
in Florida. Thanks for your call. Your question or comment
for Josh today?
S7 (41:43):
Yes, I often say that everything that you just said
applies to what I'm going to say to you. First
of all, I'd like to say I love the Lord
and I love the word. That's how I came to
know the Lord. A neighbor taught me. I grew up
Catholic and she started telling me, telling me about Jesus Christ,
and everything just changed for me. I'm a Sunday school
teacher slash student because I'm still learning, but I love.
(42:05):
I love the words of Jesus when he talked to
his disciples. I want to make you fishers of men.
I don't call it discipleship, but it's a fisherman for
Jesus Christ. They do not do it in my church.
I love my church, but I wish they can start
a program where they can send us out and teach
us and send us out two by two in a community,
just as what the Jehovah Witnesses do, you know? I
(42:27):
want to know how can I find a way to
do it? And I know the I know the gospel.
I don't know everything, but I have a best friend
who teaches me and shows me everything, the Holy Spirit.
But I want I don't I'm not truly equipped with
all the stuff I need to tell others. I'm not
scared to tell people about the Lord. I'm not ashamed
(42:49):
of Jesus Christ. But sometimes, you know, I think I
don't know enough. That's my thing. Yeah. In case somebody
asks me a question, I know the Holy Spirit helps me,
but I would like some resources where maybe I can
start it because I long for our church to do it,
but they don't do it. We have Bible study and
all that. Discipleship is what really Jesus and the disciples
(43:13):
to do before he ascended into heaven. So how can
you help me?
S2 (43:16):
Can you? Debbie, thanks for your call. Josh. Thoughts?
S3 (43:21):
Oh, yeah. First of all, thank you so much for
your heart, for, uh, wanting to see people's lives transformed
not just by the conversion, but by the living out
the word of God. And let me encourage you. You
said you don't know a lot, but you know some.
And so just take what you know and give it
to somebody else. And I would say that there has
(43:44):
to be a shift in the overall atmosphere in the
church here in the West. We have to move from
an addiction model to spreading the gospel to a multiplication model.
It's a paradigm shift. Right now, the addiction model says, hey,
we want to bring the best and the brightest to
lead our church and let them grow the kingdom. We
(44:04):
need to shift towards a multiplicative approach to kingdom expansion,
where we're empowering everybody in the church with simple ways,
because sharing the gospel and making disciples is not complicated.
So we just need to equip everybody. And so one
resource that you can use is obviously the study that
we're talking about today. It'll give you some simple tools,
(44:26):
but there are a plethora of resources out there to
help you understand simple ways to share the gospel and
to really live into that great commission of multiplying disciples.
So please be encouraged. And you know you have what
it takes to pour into somebody else what you know.
So that would be my comment for her. And thank
(44:48):
you again for your, your your your question.
S2 (44:52):
Yeah. Debbie, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Josh,
just to have about a minute here, maybe a final
word for someone listening right now who is a little
fearful about sharing their testimony, but they know what God's
done in their life. They have a story to tell.
Maybe a few words of encouragement for them today.
S3 (45:12):
Absolutely. As I stated a while ago in acts one eight,
Jesus promises His Holy Spirit and that that Holy Spirit
will bring you power to share your story, to be
a witness. And a witness in a courtroom tells her
side of the story. And so God is empowering you
(45:32):
to tell your side of the story. And yes, you
may be apprehensive. And yes, you may be a bit
scared scared of the rejection. But let me encourage you.
God has got you, and he has put His Spirit
in you to empower you to use your story to
relate to the world around you and then share the
beauty of the gospel.
S2 (45:54):
Josh Spinks has been our guest. The study is called
Made to Multiply and you can learn all about it
on our website at Radio.com. Josh, thanks so much for
your time today. Really appreciate it.
S3 (46:06):
Oh my pleasure, brother. It was an honor to be
with you all again.
S2 (46:10):
Equipped radio org is where you can find all that information.
I just want to take a quick second and thank
a good friend and colleague, Deb Solomon. Today is her
last live programme with us on equipped with Chris Brooks producing.
She's a rock star in the producing realm. She's been
doing it for years here at Moody Radio. Deb, we
(46:30):
love you. We thank you for all you've done. Appreciate
the work that you put into this program. It wouldn't
be the same without you. My friends, thank you for
joining us today. It's been a great day and a
great message. I hope you'll take it to heart. It
is something we all need to be doing sharing the gospel,
making disciples, and making it part of our lifestyle. Equipped
(46:52):
with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Hope you have a great
evening and a great weekend. Find a local church to
be a part of this week, will you?
Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of
equip with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined
us today. Do me a favor strap on your seat
belt as we navigate through the contours of culture, as
always with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But
before we do that, let me remind you, this is
the day that the Lord has made. He is giving
(00:40):
it as a gift so that you and I can
rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that.
Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Today
I want you to help me to welcome to the
hot seat my good friend Colin Lambert. Colin is a
man of God who ministers through radio for decades, including
(01:02):
many years at Moody Radio. He's the host of Missions
today and is passionate about seeing people across the globe
growing Christ Jesus. Colin, thanks for leading this edition of equip.
S2 (01:16):
Chris, thank you so much. Appreciate the opportunity as always
and excited about our program today. Just before we move
into that, I want to just encourage you, remind you
as you listen today to be in prayer for Chris
and his daughter Zoe and their family as they continue
to battle health issues throughout. And, uh, Zoe's continuing to, uh,
(01:39):
be engaged in her work and testing and all the
things that go on with her situation. And Chris, of course,
home with the family. So continue to pray for them,
continue to lift them up during these challenging days. I
know that they appreciate it so very much. Well, one
of the things I think, as followers of Christ that
(02:00):
we seem to do the least of, if you think
about it, probably is sharing the gospel and making disciples.
Those two things often do not seem to make our
list of things we do. Oh yeah, we might be
going to church. Yes, we might be even reading our
Bible on a regular basis. But what about sharing the
gospel in some real, tangible way? Or what about making disciples?
(02:24):
Today we're going to talk about developing a gospel sharing,
disciple making lifestyle. Joining us to talk about that is
Josh Spinks. He serves as a vice president of E3 partners.
He oversees the North American initiatives for the ministry, including
I Am second. And in his role, he seeks to
partner E3 with churches and ministries across the country. These
(02:46):
partnerships help equip churches and believers to engage lostness both
in the US and around the world. Josh has pastored
in local churches for 20 years. They've got a new
Bible study that's about to come out. We'll talk about
as well. Uh, but let's just start by welcoming Josh
to the program. Josh, thanks for your time. It's great
to have you with us today.
S3 (03:08):
Well, first of all, thank you all so much for
allowing me the opportunity to hang out with you today?
And I just I deeply appreciate this opportunity.
S2 (03:17):
I am familiar with I am second, I don't know
how many people are. I know it started around 2008, right?
In that time frame. I think if I got my
notes right and, uh, it is a video testimony, if
you will, a video testimonial of, in many cases, people,
people that we know, celebrities or people who have had
(03:39):
some incredible experiences in their life change. Uh, people may
not be familiar with it just from that name, though
I am second. So could you take a minute? Tell
us a little bit about E3 partners and the type
of ministries that you all work with and including? I
am second.
S3 (03:56):
Yeah, absolutely. So E3 partners is a church planting organization.
It got started back in 1987, and it was primarily
just a short term sending agency. They would go, uh,
On the short term mission trips. They would empower churches
to go with them, take them for a week or two,
do some work for a little while, and then go
(04:19):
back home. And so, uh, for many, many years, this
is what they did. They would send 4 or 500
trips a year around the world, but probably back in
the maybe 2010, 2011, they started to make a paradigm
shift to where they started sending missionaries long term around
the world. And so now E3 primarily sends long term
(04:41):
missionaries to plant churches. And in the last five years,
E3 has seen over 500,000 churches planted. And so I
am second. How does I am second fit into that? Well,
around the time that you're talking about around 2008, 2009, uh,
somebody uh, with E3 partners had this idea, what would
(05:03):
it look like to lift high, the name of Jesus?
Because the promise that we have is if we lift
him up, he'll draw all men to him. So it
started out with just billboards scattered throughout the Dallas area.
And man, it just kind of it just started to
gain in some awareness and recognition. They did some videos
with people who had influence and a platform. And then
(05:25):
we see what happened in the early days of I am.
Second was these videos, these interviews, these stories that they
would tell. They went viral before viral was a thing.
And and I am second has grown in popularity since then.
And so that's who I am. Second is it's kind
of the media ministry of E3 partners, which is an
(05:48):
organization that is focused on planting churches for the sake
of seeing God's glory spread around the world.
S2 (05:55):
Before we move on from I am second, could you
think about maybe a few names that people would recognize
that their stories are there on? I am second.
S3 (06:05):
Yeah, well, a couple of them that went, uh, they
kind of put us on the map was Brian Welch,
who was the lead singer of Korn, which was a
secular band. And when people heard that this man was
a Christian, you know, it kind of took them by surprise.
And then, of course, you have, like, Chip and Joanna
Gaines who've done the that House show on HGTV. And
(06:27):
then you have the Robertson family. Uh, many of those
individuals have shared their story. Uh, Carrie Underwood and her
husband have done, uh, some a film with us as well.
And then there's some folks that you probably wouldn't recognize
whose stories are just as transformational. But over the last
16 years, I am second has, uh, put out probably
(06:50):
close to 200 films of different people with their platforms
and their influence, just to share their transformational story of
how they once were lost. But now they're found because
of the life changing power of the gospel.
S2 (07:05):
Yeah, the great stories. And I want to encourage folks,
if they have not seen these and even utilize them,
I think you could send them to friends to to
see and to view. I am second, I am second
is where you can find those and they are so
well done. Uh, beautiful, amazing, powerful stories and just want
(07:27):
to thank you for the work you all have done
with that, because they are wonderful tools to introduce people
to Jesus through some people who've experienced that life change.
So appreciate that tie in. I want to focus now
more on on the discipleship and evangelism part, because that's
where we really want to spend most of our time today.
(07:47):
And then we'll also get to this new Bible study
that's available. Uh, first, maybe your thoughts on how you
would describe the current state of discipleship in the church today?
S3 (07:59):
Okay. Yeah, that's a that's a big question. And you
and I could probably spend several hours discussing, uh, where
where I think and where I've kind of observed the,
the church today. But I think where we are today
is when we look across and I'm just going to
focus on the US and not the world. But what
I see here in the US is that we have
(08:21):
a knowledge based discipleship in the church today, which is good, right? Uh,
I would say at this point in history and in, uh,
the time where we are as a church, 2000 years
since the resurrection of Jesus, that we are probably the
smartest church to have ever existed because of all the
(08:41):
contributions of those who have come before us to the
Library of Christian Literature. Um, and so I would say
that not not not everybody in the church is the
smartest Christians that have ever existed, but the church at large, uh,
is the smartest church that ever existed. However, what I've
noticed over my time serving in the church is that
(09:04):
while we might know a lot about our faith, uh,
the obedience side of discipleship is something that is lacking.
We know our faith, but we don't practice our faith.
And so we have, uh, we have kind of really
set aside, uh, the practicing of our faith to the
hired guns of the church, like our pastors and our staff,
(09:26):
and we say, hey, they have the responsibility of kingdom growth.
They have the responsibility of seeing the kingdom of God expanded.
And and most of our brothers and sisters who are
in the church see church as something that they can consume.
Christianity is something that they can binge and and it's
(09:48):
not something that they can contribute to. And so by
and large, what we see as we kind of just
look over the church in the US, we have a
lot of key leaders, rock stars in our churches that
are doing most of the work when most of the
church today is contributing very little to, uh, the, the,
(10:11):
the sharing of the gospel and the development of disciples
and leaders.
S2 (10:18):
In the midst of that, I have heard that Bible
engagement is on the rise. Is that true? And if so,
why do you think that's the case today?
S3 (10:27):
Bible engagement? Do you mean just people getting into the word?
S2 (10:31):
Yeah. Interest in it or finding it? Yeah.
S3 (10:35):
Yeah, yeah. And so I think it goes, uh, I
think when we look at the, the landscape around us,
the world in general and some of the chaos that
we experience, whether it's, you know, in some of the
conflicts that we see around the world or some of
the suffering that we see around the world, we're looking
for answers. And so I think people are turning to
the word um, because, um, for one, I think there
(10:58):
is just this spiritual, uh, Pooling of every individual to
towards truth. And so I would say that we see
Bible engagement going up here. Um, because of just when
we look around us, we see suffering. I think also
studies will show you that here in the West that
there is actually an undercurrent of, especially the younger generations
(11:22):
really turning back towards faith. And I think it's because
of I think that's a result of many folks in
our church seeing that we have relegated, uh, the responsibility
of kingdom expansion to leaders. And the leaders are really
(11:43):
starting to empower their people to share the gospel. And
the more people that you empower to practice their faith,
the more Bible engagement that you're going to get, and
you'll start to see, uh, the community at large share
their faith on a more consistent basis, make disciples on
a more consistent basis. So if I had to give you,
just like a quick answer as to why I think
maybe we were seeing Bible engagement increase a little bit
(12:05):
is because of the observation of the suffering that we
see in the world today. But on top of that,
also noticing the gaps that that we might have experienced
over the last few decades in the sharing of the
gospel and making of disciples. That's really encouraging leaders to, uh,
teach into that and equip people, uh, to fill those holes.
S2 (12:28):
Yeah. Josh Spinks is our guest. Our topic today, developing
a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle. And we're going to
come back and talk more about discipleship and evangelism and
a made to multiply study, something they've been working on
for some time. And we're going to tell you about
how you can get involved with that, and what kind
of difference it might make in your life or the
(12:50):
lives of those around you. Our phone lines are open
at 5483675. You have a question or comment for Josh
as the program rolls along. Maybe you have engaged more
deeply recently in discipleship or gospel sharing. We'd love to
(13:10):
hear your story as well. (877)Â 548-3675. You're listening to equipped
with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert sitting in today, and
we'll be back with more with Josh Spinks coming up
in just a moment. Stay with us.
S1 (13:29):
The Bible offers victory over sin and Satan, but even
strong Christians can feel discouraged or even distant from God.
If that's where you find yourself today, may I encourage
you to get a copy of Still Standing by Lina Abujamra.
Lina has walked this road and knows that suffering isn't
a detour. It's often the very path God uses to
(13:52):
transform us. We'll send you a copy of Still Standing
when you support equip this month, simply call 888644 4144
or visit Equip Radio.com.
S2 (14:11):
You're listening to equipped with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert,
sitting in for Chris today. Our guest is Josh Spinks.
We're talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle.
Just before we get back to that. My thanks to
the team in Chicago today, Ryan behind the scenes handling
all things technical. Deb is producing Rihanna on the phones,
(14:32):
and my thanks to the folks at The Bridge in Austin,
Texas for making their studios available to me today. Uh, Josh,
getting back to the topic of discipleship and evangelism, uh,
what trends would you say you're seeing in our culture
that open the door for discipleship and evangelism outside the church?
It's obvious that in the church, those are things that
(14:55):
hopefully should and are going on at most churches today,
but it seems there's more and more opportunities outside the
church you were just talking about. Um, the suffering in
the world, uh, that that issue of knowledge seems to
be part of it as well. The access to to
(15:15):
so much through social media and internet, there's so many
ways to learn today. Is that an open door as well?
Just the fact that people have access to so much knowledge.
S3 (15:28):
Yeah, I would say, uh, if you think what was
really eye opening, I think for the church here, um,
is Covid. I think when we kind of had to
figure out how to do a lot of our Christian
development on our own during that season, leadership at large, uh,
(15:50):
in the church just saw that there was a deficit,
that there was a gap in that endeavor. So that
is kind of opened up the door for many churches
to kind of say, hey, we probably leadership in church
for sure need to figure out a way to better
equip our people so that they can practice their faith,
even when they are not able to come to the building.
(16:13):
That faith is something that needs to be practiced Monday
through Saturday. And what is super helpful in this current
age of technology, where every bit of information is at
our fingertips and we can have conversations with one another,
whether I'm sitting here in Southeast Louisiana and you're over
there in Austin and we have a team up in Chicago,
(16:36):
we can immediately begin talking to each other. Is the
church starting to take advantage of some of these avenues
in which we can inform people and help people understand
more about their faith and how to practice their faith? So, yes,
I believe that because the information is out there for
everybody to get, and the church is now helping there.
(16:58):
The people that God's entrusted to them to, to get
connected to that information, I think, is really contributing to
a lot of this undercurrent, undercurrent back to to faith
and practicing our faith that we're seeing in our culture today.
S2 (17:14):
Yeah, I know that you all talk a lot about
living missionally. What would you say it means to live
missionally in this culture today?
S3 (17:23):
Uh, well, the second that you open your eyes in
the morning as a believer is that you see the
world around you as a place where you are planted. Uh,
to be missional, to see that the people in your
home know the gospel. Uh, see that they have opportunities
to come to the gospel and see that you disciple
them on their journey after the gospel has made its impact. Likewise,
(17:47):
when you step outside of your door and you go
to work, or you go to school or you just
encounter the world that you live in is to see
that everybody around you is somebody who the father deeply
cares about and wants a relationship with. And just as
it says in Second Corinthians chapter five, that we've been
given this ministry of reconciliation, that we're supposed to bring
(18:10):
them this hope that they can be reconciled to the father.
You know, missions, that's not just something that we do
across the pond or in a different context and culture.
But living on mission is something that should be a
part of our DNA. It is our identity in Christ.
In that same passage, Second Corinthians chapter five, if you
(18:31):
go down to verse 20, it says that we are
an ambassador and right. So we are God's mouthpiece, his
representation here, no matter where you are. And so in,
in our estimation, in our opinion, to live missionally is
to just live with a keen eye to the people
around you who may be far from God, who need
(18:53):
that gospel of reconciliation.
S2 (18:56):
Yeah, our phone lines are open. 87754836758775483675. If you have
a question or comment from Josh A for Josh, or
you'd like to share your own story about how disciple
making has changed your life, maybe your ability or desire
to share the gospel has increased of late, and maybe
(19:19):
what that's tied to. We'd love to hear your story. (877)Â 548-3675. Josh,
one of the things I mentioned right at the beginning
of the program was that I think, and I don't
have any data, but just from talking to people and
talking to pastors over the years and doing programs like this,
it seems that one of the most challenging things for
(19:39):
Christians to do is to share their faith. Why do
you think that is, and what kind of specific needs
do you think Christians have Of in being able to
effectively share their faith.
S3 (19:53):
Yeah. So your conclusions are not anecdotal. Uh, LifeWay did
a study just a couple of years ago, uh, where
they saw that nine out of ten professing evangelical believers
are not sharing their faith on a consistent basis. And
so we boil that down to two primary reasons that
(20:14):
we've seen, um, why Christians are fearful for sharing the gospel.
One is that there is a lack of confidence. Uh,
they just don't know an easy way, a clear and
concise way to communicate the gospel they can share with
their friends and family. You know, you know how the
gospel has changed their life and and the new life
(20:37):
that they have on this journey that they now are
walking with Jesus. But to communicate the gospel in a
clear and concise way escapes them. In fact, I do
trainings from sea to shining sea. Here in the US,
and we have Shriners scattered across the country who are
doing the same. And typically in our trainings, we'll ask, uh,
(20:58):
the folks that we're training, hey, we want you to
share the gospel in just a couple of minutes with
your training, buddy. And a lot of times, people will
grade themselves as a C minus or below when it
comes to sharing the gospel after they've had a chance
to do it. So for so for one reason, uh,
that there's a lack of gospel sharing is people just
(21:19):
don't know how. And because there's a lack of confidence,
confidence in sharing the gospel suffers. And so if I
don't know how to do something, I'm not going to
do it. And so what will typically happen is believers
will invite people to go to church where somebody who
is competent can share the gospel with them. But, uh,
(21:40):
you know as well as I do, uh, fewer and
fewer and fewer people are willing to go to a church.
And so the believer has to be equipped so that
they have confidence to share the gospel where people are.
And so I believe those are two reasons why we
see the vast majority of believers in the US are
scared to share the gospel. It's because of a lack
(22:01):
of confidence which which leads to a lack of confidence.
And a simple way to remedy that is just to
learn some simple tools for sharing your story and sharing
God's story. How do I get into a spiritual conversation
about Jesus? How can I tell them my story in
a simple way, and then communicate the gospel in a plain,
(22:22):
simple way that makes sense to the people that I'm
in relationship with?
S2 (22:27):
Do you feel like you mentioned a little earlier, and
we've even done some programs on the the move that
seems to be happening on many college campuses today. I've,
I've heard from a number of people on my Missions
Today program who do mission work, who say they're seeing
more young people come to Christ than in almost any
(22:48):
part of their ministry, that they are open to follow Christ.
Are you seeing that? And is there a different or
unique way to reach today's generation?
S3 (22:59):
Uh, absolutely. Uh, it's been our, uh, experience. And what
we've been able to observe is that there is a
real hunger from Gen Z and Gen Alpha to to
have some type of explanation for the world that they
see around them that, you know, uh, for something real,
(23:21):
for something that is tangible, for something that can really
help them answer these questions that they have, uh, about
the world around them. And so what we have seen
as we have labored on college campuses across the US is, um, yeah,
there there is a hunger from this, these younger generations
(23:44):
Patients to seek answers, uh, through Christianity about, uh, the
world around them. And so, uh, for example, I am
second has a program that is called team second and
College Ambassadors. And and what we do is we team
second allows us to take advantage of the nil that
(24:05):
we have in the college athlete world. And so you
have a lot of Christian athletes that are on our team. Second.
And what we do is we empower them to be
missionaries on their campus through the platform that they have
as an athlete there. And so what we'll do is
we'll do a college, we'll do a training through that
athlete on that college campus, and we'll have we'll have
(24:27):
these kids come and be a part of this training.
And then they go out and do gospel pushes. And
the stories that are coming from these campuses are incredible.
Not only that, uh, you know, if you'll remember, uh,
coming out of Covid, some of the things that we
saw in California with thousands of people being baptized on
(24:48):
the beach. Well, that was coming from a younger generation.
If you look at what happened just last year at
Ohio State, where the football team was having a revival
and it wasn't led by any particular church, it was
just led by the hunger of these individuals who led it.
They were part of the football team and the desire
from their community to have answers. And so I think
(25:10):
just as a younger generation is coming up in the
world and they're being exposed to some of the things
that they see in the world, they're looking for answers.
And Christianity has been there to answer it for them.
S2 (25:23):
It's incredible to see, and we're going to talk more
about it when we come back in just a moment.
We'll also learn more about this brand new Bible study,
a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources, and it's helping continue
this effort to see the gospel be shared and disciples made.
And again, if you'd like to get involved in the conversation,
maybe you have a story of your own related to
(25:45):
gospel sharing or disciple making. We'd love to hear it
as well. 87754836758775483675. You're listening to equipped with Chris Brooks.
Our guest, Josh Spinks is with us, and we'll be
back with him. And your calls coming up in just
a moment. Stay with us. You know, the Christian life
(26:19):
is often marked with great trials and suffering. You know why?
Because we live in a fallen and broken world. It
is full of disappointments. It can often cause us to
lose our dreams. And there's even a cost to following
Christ in today's culture. In her book Still Standing, Doctor
Lina Abujamra shares how God's refining process, though it is
(26:40):
often painful, makes him a much bigger person place in
our hearts. It transforms us into people who can, uh,
who are more like him, like his son, Jesus. That's
our goal as followers of Christ, to become like him,
to follow him. She takes a moment in this still
standing book to show us how our pain can lead
to despair and bitterness, or we can make the choice
(27:03):
to have it make us more like Jesus. If you're
facing trials today, you'd like a copy of this wonderful book,
Still Standing. Time's running out. We're almost to the end
of the month. You can become an equipper and help
us here at Equip. Continue great daily programming. Just call 888644414486444144.
(27:26):
Or you can give online at equipped radio dot by
the way equipped radio.org. Also the place you can find
out all about our guest today Josh Spinks about I
am second and the Bible study called Made to multiply.
We're talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle.
Josh Spinks is our guest. Just before we, uh, continue
(27:48):
with him with questions, let's go to the phones. Phone
lines are open at 87754836758775483675. Patricia, you're listening in Illinois.
Thank you for your call, your question or comment today.
S4 (28:04):
So I guess it's part comment and part question. And
thank you for taking my call. So I am currently
in a discipleship class. Um, we meet twice a month
and it's for an hour and a half. And I
have a strong desire, desire to be a disciple. And
I understand that the whole purpose is once I'm discipled,
I can disciple someone else. And I just wanted to
(28:25):
say that I, I'm very, um, I don't know, I
really try hard, but I really struggle because I know
that the Bible doesn't read like a regular book. There's
parables and so forth, and I just really want to
get it so that I can be a disciple, because
my teacher said that, um, you know, even though she's
discipling people, they're not confident enough to disciple someone else.
(28:47):
And I don't want to be that person. And I
just wanted to know if you had any advice for me. Um,
I don't know, just, just I just want to get it.
And I just feel like I do understand to a degree,
but it's still a struggle.
S2 (29:00):
Great question. Josh. Your thoughts?
S3 (29:03):
Oh, gosh. First of all, thank you for your question.
That is such a great question and let me encourage you.
God has equipped you to disciple those in your life.
And so first of all, we have to make time
for it. I think one of the biggest obstacles for
disciple making, personal disciple making is we just don't make
(29:23):
time for it. Uh, investing in somebody else's life. We
have busy schedules, and so to give that investment, it
can be very difficult. So first of all, just look
at your calendar and say, hey, can I give any
part of my life to somebody else. Now, in the
process of disciple making, this is how you got to
look at it. Well, you're 1 or 2 steps ahead
(29:45):
of somebody else, and all you have to do is
just show them what God has shown you. You remember
the Great Commission? Jesus said right before he ascended, he said,
all authority is given unto me both in heaven and
on earth. Therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the father, the son, and
the Holy Spirit. And then he said, teach them to
do everything that I've taught you. So what has God
(30:07):
taught you? And just give it to somebody else? Has
God showed you how to pray, then teach somebody how
to pray. Has God showed you how to read his
word with a little bit more clarity than you had before?
Then teach somebody else how to do that as God
showed you how to love on somebody. Then teach somebody
how to love on somebody. Discipleship is all about taking
(30:28):
somebody that you're a step or two ahead of and
bringing them on a journey with you. And so discipleship
shouldn't be complicated. It should be something that just naturally
flows out of building relationship, investing in the people in
our lives.
S2 (30:43):
That's a good word. Patricia, please hold on. Thanks for
your call, first of all. And then please hold on.
We'd love to get you some helpful resources. So if
you'll just hold on, they'll get the information from you.
Appreciate that. 87754836758775483675. Well, that might be a good place
to talk about how, uh, made to multiply the study
(31:07):
has come about. Tell us about, uh, where this originated
and about the partnership and a little bit about the study.
S3 (31:15):
Oh, absolutely. So when if you have an opportunity to
look at the study, what you will see is that
the the lessons, the seven lessons are what we would
bring in the in a training to a church, right.
Or at least a part of that training. And so
we were trying to figure out the best way that
we could curate the beginning steps of sharing your story,
(31:39):
sharing God's story, and multiplying disciple making amongst our brothers
and sisters. And so, uh, through our relationship with LifeWay,
which has been there for a while, we've had interactions
with them. We said, hey, maybe we can put together
a seven week study that a group could walk through
that would help them embrace simple, biblical, and reproducible tools
(32:04):
that will equip and empower people within that group within
the church to to share their testimony with ease. It
doesn't have to be this long novel, and you can
share your story in 15 seconds, right? And then communicate
the gospel. As we said a while ago, people don't
share the gospel because they don't have easy tools to
(32:24):
do it to to do that. And so this study
also has some simple tools for sharing the gospel. And
then how do we help people look more like Jesus
tomorrow than they do today? And so there are some
simple tools in this study to to help them do that.
And so I am second partnered with LifeWay, put together
(32:45):
this seven week study that can help a group really
start to build their community for the lostness around them
and reaching them. And so, and these seven weeks, you
will grab a plethora of tools that can help you
start this journey, but at the same time also see
the biblical foundation for these tools and for these practices.
S2 (33:08):
That's great. I want to go back to the phones.
The phone lines are open 87754836758775483675. Gail, you're in Chicago
listening to be. Thanks for your call. Your question or
comment today?
S5 (33:24):
Yes, my comment is I did used to be fearful
of talking to people about, you know, discipling them. But
I know that I always enjoyed talking to people, and
I guess that's one of my gifts. And what I
found was that you kind of meet people where they are,
and then you kind of work that into the conversation.
(33:46):
For instance, I know so many people that play the
lottery and I would say, okay, so how do you
what do you think God says about money? Um, you know,
how does that influence your life or whatever? And, or
I know people who believe in astrology and I would
engage them and say, um, do you think God really
(34:09):
made somebody who's a Gemini exactly like somebody else who's
a Gemini is like, you know, whatever they are into.
I know a lot of people that are into wishing
and blessings, and I and I would say, well, how
do you think you get blessings in your life? Where
do you think they come from? And whatever somebody is into.
(34:31):
There is a point of reference somewhere in the Bible
that brings them into that because, um, you know, like
people that believe in luck, you know. Well, why do
you believe in luck? Where do you think that comes from?
And you just ask them to explain how they think
the world works, you know, with wishing and blessing and
(34:53):
looks and things like that. Right. And then it's very
easy to engage them and say where you believe those
things come from, as opposed to where they believe these
things just fall into place.
S2 (35:09):
Yeah. Josh your thoughts?
S3 (35:11):
Yeah. So first of all, thank you so much for
loving on the people around you. And, uh, you bring
up a very key point in the way that you
kind of approach having spiritual conversations with your neighbors and
the people that God bring into your life. And that's
through connecting or are relating to people. Right? And the
biggest way that the biggest tool that God has given
(35:33):
us to relate to people, individual to individual, is your story. Okay.
Your story. How did you go from lost to found?
You'll remember in acts one eight, Jesus says, you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Now
what is he going to give you that power for? Well,
he answers that in the next statement. He said, you
(35:55):
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witness. You'll tell your story.
And stories have a powerful way of connecting with people,
of just relating with people. You know, when I share
with people that there was a time in my life
when I was lost and broken. People can relate to
that because they may be experiencing some of that brokenness
(36:17):
in their life. And then when I say, but I
met Jesus and he forgave me, and I now follow him.
And since that day, my life has had peace and purpose.
So that relating that you're talking about, listening to their story,
listening to where they are trying to meet them, where
they are relating to them, is a super powerful tool
when it comes to shifting a regular conversation to a
(36:38):
gospel conversation.
S2 (36:40):
Yeah, Gayle, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Phone
lines open 87754836758775483675. We're going to come back. Talk a
little more about this made to multiply study. And again
if you want to learn more just visit our website.
You'll learn more about Josh more about uh. Com and
(37:02):
you'll also learn more about this Made to Multiply study.
We'll link you to them, uh, at our website. Again
equipped radio dot again. Phone lines open (877)Â 548-3675. We'll come
back more with Josh and more of your phone calls
coming up in just a moment. It's equipped with Chris Brooks.
I'm Colin Lambert sitting in today. So glad you're along.
(37:26):
We'll be back with more coming up in just a moment.
Stay with us.
S1 (37:43):
Each day on equip, we confront the cultural challenges of
our time, offering biblical truth with discernment and confidence in
God's plans and purposes. Your support as an Equipper helps
us reach more people with God's truth, and you'll receive
exclusive monthly resources and updates to encourage your spiritual life.
Become an Equipper today and partner with us in this
(38:06):
vital ministry. Call 888644 4144 or go online to equip radio.org.
S2 (38:24):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today. Our guest is Josh Spinks.
He serves as vice president of E3 partners, also a
local church pastor for the last 20 years. And we're
talking about developing a gospel sharing, disciple making lifestyle. And specifically,
just in the last few minutes, talking about the Made
(38:45):
to Multiply study, a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources. You
can learn all about it on our web page at Radio.com.
Phone lines are open at (877)Â 548-3675. Let's go back to
your calls. Jay, you're in Florida. Thanks for calling today.
Your question or comment for Josh.
S6 (39:05):
Hey, thanks a lot for taking my call. I just
have a comment to make. Um, I'm a member of
a local church and we have a Bible study, and
I also do a study outside of that. Um, when
we get pretty in-depth, you know, we're like breaking down
the word into Greek and Aramaic and trying to figure out,
you know, the meanings of words. And one day we
had a realization. You know that we're spending all this
(39:26):
time trying to get a deeper grasp of the Bible,
but what we're really called to do as Christians is
to apply what we know already. And, you know, we
don't have to be perfect in our answers, but we
got to be out there making the effort. And I
think what you guys are doing is awesome. And, um,
I'm going to talk to my pastor about seeing maybe
if we can implement that in our church.
S3 (39:48):
Well, brother, you just blessed my socks off. Thank you
for sharing that. Man, that is so good to hear that. Uh,
you and the wisdom that the Lord has given you
is just. Hey, we gotta live this out. It's not just, uh,
we have the responsibility to love the Lord with all
of our mind, but we also have the responsibility to
love the Lord with all of our strength as well.
(40:09):
And so, brother, hearing that you just made my day.
So thank you for sharing.
S2 (40:13):
Jay, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Uh, Josh,
the study I understand includes some videos from I am
second alongside the printed material. How? How do those coordinate?
How does that work?
S3 (40:26):
Yeah. So this study is meant to be walked through
with a small group, because the idea is that you
want to build a community that is focused outwardly, not
just inwardly. And so these so you'll have so it's
it's formatted to where they're, you know, you watch one
video that is an I am second testimony and then
(40:48):
you have a discussion and then there is some help
and another video where myself or one of the trainers
that that I work with is with me, and we'll
commentate together on the the topic of that particular week,
but also give some very specific training on the tool
that is being highlighted in that week's study. So the
(41:11):
videos really complement the study that you're walking through so
that you get if you're just to take the adult
learning style to the less, and you get to learn
through conversation. You get to learn through reading, and then
you also get to learn through watching things that we
have seen to be best practices when it comes to
sharing your story, God's story, and making disciples great.
S2 (41:34):
Uh (877)Â 548-3675 are numbered. Back to the phones. Debbie, you're
in Florida. Thanks for your call. Your question or comment
for Josh today?
S7 (41:43):
Yes, I often say that everything that you just said
applies to what I'm going to say to you. First
of all, I'd like to say I love the Lord
and I love the word. That's how I came to
know the Lord. A neighbor taught me. I grew up
Catholic and she started telling me, telling me about Jesus Christ,
and everything just changed for me. I'm a Sunday school
teacher slash student because I'm still learning, but I love.
(42:05):
I love the words of Jesus when he talked to
his disciples. I want to make you fishers of men.
I don't call it discipleship, but it's a fisherman for
Jesus Christ. They do not do it in my church.
I love my church, but I wish they can start
a program where they can send us out and teach
us and send us out two by two in a community,
just as what the Jehovah Witnesses do, you know? I
(42:27):
want to know how can I find a way to
do it? And I know the I know the gospel.
I don't know everything, but I have a best friend
who teaches me and shows me everything, the Holy Spirit.
But I want I don't I'm not truly equipped with
all the stuff I need to tell others. I'm not
scared to tell people about the Lord. I'm not ashamed
(42:49):
of Jesus Christ. But sometimes, you know, I think I
don't know enough. That's my thing. Yeah. In case somebody
asks me a question, I know the Holy Spirit helps me,
but I would like some resources where maybe I can
start it because I long for our church to do it,
but they don't do it. We have Bible study and
all that. Discipleship is what really Jesus and the disciples
(43:13):
to do before he ascended into heaven. So how can
you help me?
S2 (43:16):
Can you? Debbie, thanks for your call. Josh. Thoughts?
S3 (43:21):
Oh, yeah. First of all, thank you so much for
your heart, for, uh, wanting to see people's lives transformed
not just by the conversion, but by the living out
the word of God. And let me encourage you. You
said you don't know a lot, but you know some.
And so just take what you know and give it
to somebody else. And I would say that there has
(43:44):
to be a shift in the overall atmosphere in the
church here in the West. We have to move from
an addiction model to spreading the gospel to a multiplication model.
It's a paradigm shift. Right now, the addiction model says, hey,
we want to bring the best and the brightest to
lead our church and let them grow the kingdom. We
(44:04):
need to shift towards a multiplicative approach to kingdom expansion,
where we're empowering everybody in the church with simple ways,
because sharing the gospel and making disciples is not complicated.
So we just need to equip everybody. And so one
resource that you can use is obviously the study that
we're talking about today. It'll give you some simple tools,
(44:26):
but there are a plethora of resources out there to
help you understand simple ways to share the gospel and
to really live into that great commission of multiplying disciples.
So please be encouraged. And you know you have what
it takes to pour into somebody else what you know.
So that would be my comment for her. And thank
(44:48):
you again for your, your your your question.
S2 (44:52):
Yeah. Debbie, thanks for your call. We appreciate it. Josh,
just to have about a minute here, maybe a final
word for someone listening right now who is a little
fearful about sharing their testimony, but they know what God's
done in their life. They have a story to tell.
Maybe a few words of encouragement for them today.
S3 (45:12):
Absolutely. As I stated a while ago in acts one eight,
Jesus promises His Holy Spirit and that that Holy Spirit
will bring you power to share your story, to be
a witness. And a witness in a courtroom tells her
side of the story. And so God is empowering you
(45:32):
to tell your side of the story. And yes, you
may be apprehensive. And yes, you may be a bit
scared scared of the rejection. But let me encourage you.
God has got you, and he has put His Spirit
in you to empower you to use your story to
relate to the world around you and then share the
beauty of the gospel.
S2 (45:54):
Josh Spinks has been our guest. The study is called
Made to Multiply and you can learn all about it
on our website at Radio.com. Josh, thanks so much for
your time today. Really appreciate it.
S3 (46:06):
Oh my pleasure, brother. It was an honor to be
with you all again.
S2 (46:10):
Equipped radio org is where you can find all that information.
I just want to take a quick second and thank
a good friend and colleague, Deb Solomon. Today is her
last live programme with us on equipped with Chris Brooks producing.
She's a rock star in the producing realm. She's been
doing it for years here at Moody Radio. Deb, we
(46:30):
love you. We thank you for all you've done. Appreciate
the work that you put into this program. It wouldn't
be the same without you. My friends, thank you for
joining us today. It's been a great day and a
great message. I hope you'll take it to heart. It
is something we all need to be doing sharing the gospel,
making disciples, and making it part of our lifestyle. Equipped
(46:52):
with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Hope you have a great
evening and a great weekend. Find a local church to
be a part of this week, will you?
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