The Field: Jan. 27, 2023

What is THE FIELD newsletter?

This e-newsletter is designed to inform and energize all of us for the work of the harvest. Jesus told us to pray for the harvest fields and for all those working in the fields. I hope you will join me in this exciting adventure.

Brian Harris
Church Planting Mobilizer

Where I’ve been…
and where I am going…

Over the Christmas and New Year season I’ve been closer to home. I spent some time with pastors James Suderman (Meno, OK) and Leonard Reimer (Lawton, OK). I am always encouraged to see true shepherd hearts at work, and these guys exemplify that. Pray for them and our Oklahoma pastors as they work in the brand new Oklahoma Missional Network. This is a group of pastors working on church plant initiatives in the state. Below you can find an excellent book study Pastor Leonard was leading on evangelism.

I will be heading up to Kansas next. Pray for Kansas! I recently ran across a surprising statistic: only 18 percent of Kansas has an evangelical protestant affiliation. Of the 3 million people, about 2.4 million are NOT associated with an evangelical church. Pray that as the Kansas Missional Network works together we can make greater inroads with the gospel. Specifically, pray for Kevin Friedberg and Andy Owen as they launch South Lake, a plant from Ridgepoint in Wichita.

What a 49ers Football Coach Can Teach Us About Discipleship

Bill Walsh had a coaching record of 2-14 in his first season with San Francisco, but in just three years, he turned the team into a Super Bowl champion. In the end, Walsh won three Super Bowls in his 10-year NFL career. But that’s not the point of this article. It was the coaching tree he produced that still lives on 35 years later.

Bill Walsh developed a lot of successful NFL head coaches. In fact, of his assistant coaches, seven went on to be head coaches. But here is an even more interesting point: those seven assistants spawned even more head coaches, around 30! It is nearly impossible to find a current coach that hasn’t been influenced by the Walsh tree.

Let’s transfer this coaching tree into discipleship. When we think of a coaching tree, we can see a similarity with 2 Timothy 2:2. There are four generations mentioned in this single verse: Paul, Timothy, Faithful Leaders, Others. Bill Walsh was the “Apostle Paul” of coaches, his seven assistant coaches that became head coaches were his “Timothy’s.” The numerous third generation of head coaches represent the faithful leaders taught by Timothy. Then there are all the others influenced by these three generations.

What’s the “aha” for me? Would I rather be satisfied with being super successful for the short term or impactful for the long term? Short term might be wins: winning sermons, winning budgets, winning campaigns, winning buildings… But long term? What’s that? What if I were able to disciple winning leaders who produced more winning leaders? What if after I died there were 30 churches planted because I poured into men who poured into men… what if my one small church birthed a few churches that birthed a few churches?

Do I want a winning season or a winning legacy?

My Discipleship & Evangelism Book Suggestions

Best book for a seeker…
Need help in sharing Jesus? Give a book! One of the best books to give a seeker is Andy Stanley’s “How Good is Good Enough?” I buy it in a bulk 3 pack for under $6. Here’s a link.

B.L.E.S.S. A Powerful Book on Evangelism
Pastor Leonard Reimer was working through this book with a group in Lawton. I listened to the audio version and found it to be an excellent resource for practical evangelism! Here’s a link.

If you need a good resource for guiding you and your church into loving people to Jesus, this is it. Love the simplicity and practicality of the 5 ways: