by Terry Barone

TORRANCE - Evangelism should be at the core of any disciple-making process of the local church, according to three California pastors speaking at the 2010 On Target Evangelism Conference.

The pastors - A.B. Vines, Johnny Mendez and Andy Wood - also agreed that modeling/mentoring is a key element to the discipleship process.

Vines, pastor of New Seasons Church in Spring Valley, said disciple-making must be done by example and with love. "I don't have a discipleship process," he said, "I just do it."

Vines added that discipleship is teaching members to love people the way Christ loved people. He said he does this by setting personal discipleship goals such as winning 24 people outside of church to Jesus annually and always mentoring others.

"I must first keep the fires of evangelism and discipleship burning in my life," Vines declared.

He noted that "Starbucks is the greatest place to win people to Jesus. Buy coffee for the guy behind you. I guarantee you will have a conversation with him.

"And when you start with conversation, Christ always shows up," Vines said.
Mendez, pastor of Crosspoint Church in Fresno, noted every church "should have a disciple-making process. I'll tell you what is going on at Crosspoint Church and tell you about the discipleship model that I put together on the way over here," he said jokingly.

Mendez emphasized the importance of the church making the Bible the basis for all discipleship strategies.

"God has a purpose and a plan for every church," Mendez said, "and He wants that church to be His church, not your church, but His church."

A strong believer in community ministries, Mendez noted how Crosspoint collaborated with other churches in the area that believe in salvation through Jesus Christ to provide a unity service in a local high school football stadium. A $7,000 offering was collected and given to the high school for its "sober graduation night" party.

A block party is another ministry Cross-point used to show the community the love of Christ through service. Mendez said it was a great time for the community, and the church gave away a lot of free items.

"But most of all," Mendez noted, "we wanted to give away Jesus."

And they did, as 350 of the 7,500 participants made professions of faith in Christ.

"This (block party) showed our community that this church is for real."

Mendez concluded by saying, "Evangelism and discipleship are one and the same," and both are about time.

Christians must be willing to spend time telling others about Jesus and spend time modeling for/mentoring others, Mendez explained, adding "Sundays and Wednesdays don't count!"

Andy Wood, pastor of South Bay Church in San Jose, said his and his wife's "hearts were broken by the lostness of the West Coast, and that so much that influences the United States and the world is shaped by what comes from it.

"So we moved to the Bay Area with not a lot of experience in ministry but wanting God to use our lives to impact the community," Wood explained.

Having grown the church from six families to more than 300 in attendance within a short time, Wood said he gets a lot of calls from other church planters wanting to know "the secret sauce" of their success.

He said it "disturbs" him when he's asked that question and others like it while the questioners never seem to be concerned or ask about "my relationship to Christ," which he believes is at the heart of discipleship.

"It bothers me," Wood said, "that I can put systems in place to build a church, but not walk and follow God with everything I have. It may be possible to put a system and a strategy in your church for something you don't value in your heart and in the core of your being."

Wood challenged the audience to "pursue God more than anything in your life. Some of you say you value discipleship, but when was last time you spent time alone in the scriptures or mentored someone?"

Questions Wood believes pastors should be asking about their disciple-making process include:

• How is my personal intimacy with Christ right now?
• Do I have a broken heart for the lost? "When was the last time you led someone to the Lord, other than Sunday morning?"
• When I challenge my church to pursue something, do I go first? Am I modeling for others what I ask them to do?

"I want to see the Kingdom of God come to fruition in our generation," Wood declared. "I challenge you to go back and ask Him to get you to a place where you want Him more than anything else."

When that happens, evangelism and discipleship will follow, Wood said.