"God is still at work in my life and in the lives of my church family. At our recent Discipleship Sunday, many came forward requesting one-on-one mentoring in response to powerful testimonies about being mentored using DTI.
Lisa H. talked about the darkness she was in before she was saved, and how I offered to disciple her."
Having a spiritual mentor and doing these discipleship lessons has honestly changed my life. As a fairly new Christian, I am learning how to put off my old life and put on the new life. I am learning that I have to die to self and be made new in Christ. I understand now what it really means to surrender to the Lord. The Holy Spirit works with me through these lessons to be completely transformed. The Holy Spirit helps me to stop viewing life from the world's perspective, and instead to view and live life from God's perspective.
When someone becomes a Christian and makes the choice to surrender to the Lord, that doesn’t mean it will all be easy from there. Without these lessons and learning who God is, and how to view life through God's lens, I think I would have let the hard times drag me back down the rabbit hole.
I'll admit, there was a time during these last couple years where I did let that happen, even with the knowledge and understanding I had gained through our discipleship lessons.
But the difference was that I KNEW what needed to happen; I KNEW I needed to trust in God; I KNEW I needed to give the situation to Him and to pray to Him and let Him take over. I was just too stubborn at the time to do it. I knew my spiritual mentor was out there the whole time praying for me, and that made such a difference in my decision to let go and to give this situation to the Lord. Almost every single time we met, that particular lesson related to something I was going through at the time.
I also texted my spiritual mentor about many different things, whether I needed prayer, had questions about the Bible or something in the lessons, or just questions about the faith in general. When we got together we would talk about tragedies, hard times, happy times, family, friends and coworkers who need prayer. We built up such a trusting relationship that I was and still am able to share just about anything with her, and I am so grateful to have her in my life.
Several months ago I finished Phase 1 of the discipleship lessons with my spiritual mentor, Vanji. It took about two years! We will soon be starting on Phase 2 of the lessons, which will prepare me to become a discipler, as well.
DTI is please to announce that we are an approved partner with YouVersion and their Bible APP. We have our first devotional, "Spiritual Transformation, Not Behavior Manipulation, Are you 'white knuckling' your Christian walk?"
This 6-day devotional is designed to help all believers see life more from God's perspective.
Click here to go to the devotional.
We pray you will blessed by it as we continue to seek ways to help all believers to "see life, more and more, from His perspective".
The DTI APP makes it easier then ever to have all the Mentoring Lessons
Written by Frank MeitzDescargar Español APP (Beta Version)
Since we launched the English APP last June, over 10,000 pages have been viewed in 3800 sessions! Currently the APP is available in English and Español (Beta Version)
CONTENT:
- Lessons from all three Phases
- Additional videos, resources and teaching embedded in the lessons, including Art Barley, the author teaching live in Reno, NV (HINT: many mentors play these videos with mentees to stimulate conversation, in addition to using for their own preparation and training.)
- Ability to download and print a PDF at the bottom of each lesson
- NEW: Intentional Discipleship Community curriculum, with accompanying Live videos. (In English only)
ACCESSIBLE OFFLINE:
- Once a lesson is opened, the content will be “cached” and available when off-line. (without any internet or cell signal.) This will be especially important in Cuba where many do not have consistent internet access.
AVAILABILITY:
- Remember, the DTI Apps are not available in any app store. To Download the APP click the links at the top of the page. Share these links with others, especially the younger generations who use their mobile devices for most everything.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- For easy access, after opening the app, create a shortcut to your device's Home Screen. For assistance with these instructions:
- Click on the menu icon in the upper left corner
- Choose “App Tips” from the menu
- Follow the instructions either for an IOS or Android device
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:
Send us an This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know how you are using the app, what you think of it, and suggestions for making it more useful.
Just Launched - Intentional Discipleship Communities
Written by Frank MeitzSpiritual Mentors, Frank & Jeannette Meitz are leading a group of believers getting together regularly to seek the Lord for His presence, unity, and a fresh anointing in His individual and collective calling and mission.
Using all three Phases in the DTI manual with thoughtful engaging conversations we seek the Lord and His promise of Living in The Abundant Christian Life.
We are video recording each session so pastors and leaders can use it to lead their own groups. We make all the handouts available for you!
You can access the material in several formats:
- From the DTI App. If you don’t have the DTI App, click here for instructions. You’ll find the Intentional Discipleship Community (IDC) section on the App Home Screen.
- From the Mentor Training section of the DTI web site. Choose the IDC section and follow the links.
- Facebook Live. We plan on streaming the gatherings live. We will announce when this launches.
Our desire is that God will make each of you into an effective “spiritual mentor / parent” and that your life will be multiplied many times over.
…entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim. 2:2)
…unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24)
Have you wished the DTI manual “A Tool for Personal Discipleship” could be read with your phone or tablet? Well, now that is a reality! AND it includes video and audio snippets of additional explanations and thoughts.
DTI App now available!
(Phase 1 only thus far; other lessons coming soon!)
The DTI App is not available in any app store. You can access by clicking on this link https://dti-tool.disciplers.org/ and then add a shortcut to your device's Home Screen.
To add the app to your device's Home Screen, click on the menu icon in the upper left corner, and choose “App Tips” from the menu.
We invite you to “poke around” – use it when mentoring someone, and let us know what you think!
Mentee Assessment - Two Diagnostic Tools for the Spiritual Mentor
Written by Frank MeitzDTI has developed two diagnostic tools to help you as the spiritual mentor to discern the spiritual maturity level of the mentee and possible gaps in their understanding, so that you may be better prepared as you go through Phase 1 with them.
It will also help you to develop thought-provoking questions, based on where the mentee is in their “spiritual walk”.
It will help you avoid the pitfall of assuming the mentee is more spiritually mature based on observations of external behavior – especially if you are mentoring a believer who has been in the church a long time.
Our vision for the DTI ministry is to be useful to the Lord to effectively provide discipleship resources and encouragement to the multitude of individuals, churches and ministries worldwide, who desire to put discipleship principles (spiritual mentoring) into practice.
The Lord has made me aware of the need for all Christians to have the opportunity to grow to spiritual maturity, spiritual fruitfulness and to spiritually reproduce (Col. 1:28-29).
The Lord is also providing us with a growing understanding of how to clearly explain to others the process by which that goal can be achieved in greater measure for those believers who simply have a desire to serve Him as their Master.
Art Barkley
Jesus is not a sad victim of a fallen world or a victim of a gruesome plot. Good Friday is not a tragedy but a triumph. The perfect plan that God set in motion in the Garden of Eden is now finally coming to fulfillment. God wanted us, his imagers, to bring the world back to the Garden of Eden, but we couldn’t. We tried. We kept creating false gods. We kept wanting to be independent from God, thinking we could do it without Him, but we can’t. Only He can bring peace and redemption.
Everything that happened to Jesus was leading up to Good Friday and was orchestrated by God. Think of Passion Week as a chess board. He was thinking outside the realm of two dimensions. God was playing in 3-D where Jesus' contemporaries were playing in 2-D.
The Pharisees thought they “had” him, that they were in control, manipulating the "pieces" (checkmate). But they lost the game before they started, primarily because they were playing based on their own understanding (reason and rules) and not trusting in the Lord, by faith (what they couldn't see). The Pharisees couldn't see the moves that God was making, had made (in the past) and would make (in the future).
Jesus managed every situation, every person, allowing events to happen to get Him where He needed to be – nailed to the cross – for my salvation.
How does this apply to me?
As I move forward and look into the future, Jesus is already there. He is already moving pieces around (or allowing them to be moved around) in different dimensions. My obedience to Him, my surrender and Lordship, and abiding with Him will bring me to the place He wants me to be and transform me into the person He always intended. Just like with Jesus, the point is to get me to where He wants me.
The dimensional aspect is that I may need to allow God to reconcile things in my past that I am holding onto, that I feel are dear to me or just wounds that prevent me from moving forward – to take advantage of whatever it is that Jesus is creating for me in my future. (Jesus tried to get the Pharisees to reconcile their past) God is viewing the totality of my life from His 3-D perfective, while I can only see 2-D. Why? Because God is outside of our time and space.
We can look at the future as “next week”, “next year”, and so forth, but as I contemplate Scripture, I can see that God was “playing 3-D chess” over thousands of years. For instance:
- David penned Psalm 22 (about 900 BC) depicting what would happen on the cross.
- Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 from the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22 described other things that also happened on the cross.
- Isaiah (about 700 BC) prophesied many things about Jesus (see Chapters 51- 53, especially)
- Zechariah (about 500 BC) prophesied in 9:1 “Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Palm Sunday)
This gives ME hope and courage that God is working in my life on a 3-D level – even when I can’t understand or comprehend what He is up to!
Passion Week
What can I take away from Passion Week, leading up to Friday? Here are a few examples of how God was "playing 3-D chess", far from the 2-dimensions of everyone else.
Tuesday – Jesus cursed the fig tree - Mark 11:12-14
The leaves were on the tree, looking good, but the tree would have no fruit. Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the tree. In Scripture fig trees usually represent Israel. The religious leaders were doing and saying the religious things, but in their hearts, they didn’t make Him Lord. People may appear to be super religious, but many aren’t “all-in” for Him. God looks at the heart – not at the outside. (I Samuel 16:7)
Contemplate: Have I made Him Lord of my life? Am I fully surrendered to Him and obediently following Him? Am I “all-in”? Have I given Him access to all areas of my life? (rooms of my house). 1
Jesus may be saying “move two steps forward and one to the right”. I obey by faith, because I may be able to see a step or two ahead, but I can’t see around the corner. As I pray in God’s will, He will answer – but not always like I expect. God is in 3-D, and I am not. What I think is God’s will for me may not be at all what He wants for me.
In other words, am I doing or saying religious things, but I don’t REALLY trust Him for everything? Do I really trust His character? Is He really sovereign? Loving? Good? Can only do what’s in my best interest? 2
Wednesday – Jesus is anointed with oil – Mark 14:3-9
When Jesus was eating a meal with his disciples, a woman anointed him with expensive fragrant oil of nard. It was an act of honor and devotion. She didn’t just pour it on his head, but also on his feet. She was giving him something that was precious. Her most valuable possession – about one year’s wages.
Contemplate: Do I have anything that is more precious to me than Jesus? Does He get the best of my time, energy, and possessions, or only the leftovers?
Thursday night – the Passover meal - Jesus washed the disciples’ feet - John 13:1-17
Jesus says He came to serve, not to be served. There were no servants in the room, and the disciples didn’t want to serve. They were thinking in their 2-D realm that they had come to celebrate the Passover. They didn’t even think about serving each other. Jesus was a model for them – to think more 3-D – more like Him.
Jesus was, in essence, saying, “I will be gone in 24 hours, and you need to start thinking like me, because I am thinking like God by doing His will.”
Contemplate: What do my actions (behavior) say about my thoughts? Because what I think about is what I do.
Jesus recognized they weren’t thinking about being servants; they were thinking about being served. That was their worldview at the time. Jesus came to change their worldview to see life from God’s perspective. 3
I can identify with Peter when he basically said, “Jesus, you don’t know what you are doing.” Do I do the same thing -- telling Jesus what is best for me? After all, don’t I know what’s best for me and won’t I only do what’s in my best interest?
Thursday night –the Passover meal continued - Exodus 12:1-14
The very first Passover was a foretelling of Jesus, our Passover lamb. God was reminding the nation Israel that an innocent animal had to be sacrificed in order for them to be saved before moving forward into the Promised Land.
Jesus was fulfilling the same prophecy when John the Baptist declared, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He took our sin away forever, for those of us who believe.
God commanded the Israelites to commemorate the Passover meal yearly by remembering how God spared them and delivered them from bondage. What’s the importance of remembering? As I remember who I used to be and compare that to who God is making me into now, I can be very thankful for His deliverance.
Contemplate: God had a two-step plan for the Israelites: 1) to deliver them FROM bondage in Egypt and 2) put them INTO the Promised Land in Canaan.
What about me? Am I like the Israelites who, a week later, were wandering in the desert when they didn’t have to be? When they left Egypt, they were only a couple of weeks away from walking into the Promised Land. It only took them a few days to lose faith and start wandering -- leaning on their own understanding. The result was it took them 40 years to get to their Promised Land.
I am thankful God brought me out of bondage, but am I wandering in my spiritual desert? Am I allowing God to take me into my spiritual Promised Land? That requires my Lordship decision (full surrender), trusting His character (Proverbs 3:5-6) and abiding daily. (Do I need to seek out a more spiritually mature believer to mentor me, walk with me through the DTI material?)
Thursday night – Garden of Gethsemane - Mark 14:36
Jesus went into the garden and prayed. (paraphrase) “Okay, God, I don’t know that I want to do this. I don’t know what I need to do. But I trust you. I trust your character. If this is going to be painful or unpleasant, please take it away from me. BUT, if it is your will, I know you will lead me, and I will do as you have asked.”
Contemplate: What is my garden moment? What if I ask him to take it away, and He says, “No, this is what I have prepared for you. It is a dimension you can’t see, a level you aren’t even on right now. But if you trust me, and keep moving forward, we will get there.”
Yes, I may go through trials, like Jesus did on Friday. I may have people deny me; I may have family and friends deride me, say bad things about me, even abandon me. All things Jesus went through on Friday. All this may happen to me, but if I consider myself a follower (disciple) of Jesus, why wouldn’t I have a similar “Friday” in my life?
Because…we know – just like Jesus knew then – that SUNDAY IS COMING!
Friday was the culmination of the week - hard, depressing. But Sunday is coming!!
Sunday’s promise is my spiritual Promised Land -- better than I can imagine!! I’ve never been there before, but he gave me the GPS – the Holy Spirit. Now all I have to do is sync with Him and follow Him as He leads me to live the abundant life He planned for me.
(1) DTI Lesson 1-7
(2) DTI lesson 1-5
(3) DTI lesson 1-2
DTI is returning to Cuba for our 12th "Equipping The Saints" conference.
Please pray for finances and consider whether God is prompting you to partner with us.
You can donate via check or credit card.
To pay by credit card, click here which will take you to the secure Tithely website for processing.
Make checks payable to DTI and mail to:
Discipler Training International
2900 Gulf Blvd, #112
Belleair Beach, FL 33786
Cuban Pastors (including the Cuban Facilitators) have no financial means to attend the conference on their own, since most make less than $30/month.
DTI pays for the entire conference - lodging, meals, transportation, and conference materials. (DTI Manuals, which they highly value.)
The cost for the total 5 day conference is about $30 per attendee.
There is a total need of $8,000. (200 attendees X $30 = $6,000, plus about $1500 for transportation and expenses for the traveling team, and $500 for the pre-conference for the Facilitators.
We are excited about what God has been doing in Cuba and look forward to sharing with you His miracles in peoples' lives when we return.
It was September 53 years ago that we stepped out in faith to serve Him full time. When we left Reno and headed to Wisconsin for the New Tribes Mission Missionary training we had two people who committed to support us. One gave us a one-time gift to put on our account to go towards our rent and the other was a $50.00 dollar a month gift. That remained the same during our three years of training. We never went without a meal. There were times we ate whatever the deacons brought us. To this day I can’t even think about asparagus soup without gagging! :(We had told the Lord if He wanted us to serve Him full time, it was up to Him to meet our financial needs as we didn’t want to ask for support and look to others to meet our needs. That remains our policy today. (Matt. 6:33) Over the 
years God has laid us on the hearts of different “angels”. When we went to Bolivia we had two people commit to send us $10.00 a month. One never sent it. During our 20 years in Bolivia He continued to lay us on the hearts of those of His choice. When we came back to the States and ended up resigning, that support ended and God provided a pastoral position at Reno Christian Fellowship. When Art resigned from RCF in 1998 to devote himself full time to this discipleship ministry, once again we had two supporters. One made a one-time gift and the other committed to monthly support. Over the last 19 years He has continued to raise up those to stand with us in this incredible journey. Our support has varied over the years. Some have gone to be with the Lord (can’t blame them for that), some have retired and had to make changes, some have felt the Lord leading them to support another cause, and others have felt God leading them to support DTI. The bottom line, it is all Him.
There is hardly a day that goes by that we don’t thank God for you. As we focus this month on the Gift that He gave us through His Son, we realize that without the Gift of His Son, without the gift of salvation, without the gift of the Holy Spirit, without the gift of eternal life, this would all be in vain. So I hope you see we do not take your support of us lightly. It is a gift. We thank our loving God for it, but we also thank you for your faithful heart.
May this next year be f
illed with His love, peace and joy. May you experience His grace when things get tough and you lean on His sovereign will. May you see Him daily in your lives as He meets your every need be it big or small. We love you and are so thankful for you. May He be honored!
Much, much love, Toni and Art
If you would like to financially support Art and Toni please click the link below and donate either one-time or consider an on-going gift. DTI is a 501c3 and gifts are tax deductible.
More...
DTI - Cuba and elsewhere!
Our most recent Newsletter is available here. We pray you have a blessed 2018!
Highlights:
- Ciego de Avila will be the location for our 11th DTI Conference in February 2018
- In Cuba we see that lives are changing, addictions are being broken and marriages and relationships are growing stronger as people learn to consistently abide with the Lord.
- In Cuba we see that lives are changing, addictions are being broken and marriages and relationships are growing stronger as people learn to consistently abide with the Lord.
- A testimony from one of our disciple-makers in Mississippi who first invited DTI to conduct workshops there. He has mentored many men over the years, and this is a story of perseverance...
- Read and watch a live “Equipping the Saints” training class
- News from Around the World
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- An update from the Barkleys (the author of the DTI manual)
- Lot's more...
We see miraculous ways God is working in Cuba, so please consider donating towards the upcoming February 2018 conference. You can donate here.
Unfortunately the American church is not having much impact on the world because the emphasis in the American church is on evangelism and getting people saved. Therefore most believers know they're going to heaven but for the most part many are left on their own trying to figure out how to live the Christian Life.
Why?
Simply put, new believers are not being mentored. They're not being shown right at the beginning of their Christian life what the Christian life is all about. Many Christians spend months and years trying to figure it out. (They Ask) “What am I supposed to be doing?”
If God didn't have a purpose for your life after you became a Christian then you have to ask yourself, “Why doesn't He (God) just take me home? Why does He leave us here?”
We believe God has a purpose for every Christian. But the majority of Christians don't have a clue what they're supposed to be doing from the time they are saved to the time they die.
As a result when you ask many believers about their Christian life they will say something like “I used to be a drunk and this (was bad in my life) and now God has saved me and I have assurance of going to heaven.
It's going from salvation to heaven but nothing in between.
Unfortunately there are a lot of believers that fall into that mindset. If you ask them, “what are you supposed to be doing here on earth between the time you’re saved and the time you die?” many believers will just express that they are trying to do their best or they are trying to live “like Christians” or they are trying to be a witness.
But for most believers that is pretty much it. (sadly)
God has a greater purpose for us than just try our best. God wants to transform our lives and He wants us to be lights through which He can flow.
As spiritual mentors if you can help a new believer to get started on the right direction right from the beginning, it’s going to accelerate their growth. There will be an acceleration of their spiritual growth. This is what we want.
There is no reason why believers have to spend time in the spiritual desert. That is not what God intended. And yet this is where the majority of Christians are - out in the spiritual desert. Not because they make a choice but mainly because no one has ever laid out the options. (See Lesson 3-4 for more on the spiritual desert)
Use the “Where Am I as a Christian?” diagnostic tool to help believers evaluate themselves as to where they are in their spiritual journey. In the Spiritual Promised Land or the Spiritual Desert? The lesson is located in the Assessment section of the DTI manual.
Click here to watch a few short teaching videos describing the lesson.
Access - Does Jesus have access to all the rooms of my house?
Written by Frank MeitzThe section titled “Access” in lesson 1-7 (Lordship and Surrender) is intended to draw the contrast between the believer who gives God access to their entire life versus a believer who allows God access only to parts of their life.
You can see the lesson comparing the normal versus the abnormal Christian life by clicking here.
One believer allows God control over only a limited part of their life, represented by the progressive surrender diagram. Why would a Christian limit God’s access?
If you say, “God, I want you to manage my life,” this includes giving Him access to all areas. If you aren’t allowing Him access to all the nooks and crannies of your life, both large and small, then, you really DON’T want Him to manage your life.
For instance, what if you said to a money manager, “I want you to manage all my money,” but then you give that person a five dollar bill and you keep the rest of the money under your own control. They would ask, “I thought you wanted me to manage all your money?” And you respond, “Yes, I intend that someday you will manage all of it, but we will go at it by degrees, progressively for now.”
It's a contradiction, because God wants to manage our entire life. What this believer should say is, “God, I want to give you freedom to make changes in any area of my life because I know you love me.”
The point is, we’re to give God control and access to every area of our lives. The only reason that someone would deny God complete access is fear, fear of the unknown. It also demonstrates a distorted view of God's character, a lack of real understanding of who God is.
How do we communicate this message in the spiritual mentoring process? We use an analogy of visualizing our life as a house, with different rooms. Here is the list of rooms that one mentee used.
• Other people (my spouse, children, grandchildren
• My social media
• Exercising and eating / drinking habits
• My vocation or other work life
• Entertainment
• My devotion and prayer life
• Church attendance
• Mission work
(There are other examples listed in the lesson)
Now many Christians look at their life and say “God is in my life and He can be in charge of my “spiritual room” where I read my Bible, pray, and go to church. The prevalent view is that God is obviously in charge of those spiritual areas, but when it comes to the other areas, God leaves it up to me to do the best I can. (The house on the left)
While God doesn't want us to be robots, He doesn't want us to have areas of independence from Him. He wants us to learn how to cooperate with Him and be like the other believer in the lesson who has given God access to all the areas of their life. (The house on the right)
They have an attitude that says “God, I may be comfortable with the way things are arranged in each one of these rooms, but I want to be willing to let you go into each room and make the changes that you want to make. Whatever you want to do, God, you know best.” Maybe He wants to just rearrange things or He may want to have a garage sale or maybe He wants to replace some items, or clean out a locked closet. You have to believe that God will only do what is in your best interest, because He loves you. Love can be defined as only doing for someone what is in their best interest. And that is what God does for us if we let Him.
When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, He didn’t just say to Moses (at the burning bush encounter in Exodus Chapter 3) “I will take my people out of Egypt.” No, He said, “I will take them out and PUT THEM IN” their promised land. He wants to deliver all Christians from our bondage and put ALL Christians into the “Spiritual Promised Land” and not wander in a “spiritual desert”. However, for that to happen, He has to be the one who manages our lives.
The final piece of the lesson is a “house” with blank “rooms” to be completed by you (honestly). Name the rooms using the examples listed above and other labels that God reveals to you. Then prayerfully consider whether you have given God complete access and control to each of these areas of your life. If yes, great! That’s what He wants. If the answer is no, then prayerfully consider why not?
Here are several questions to ask yourself if you are struggling with giving Him total control. Pray about these honestly.
• “What will He ask me to do that I can’t do, or don’t want to do?
• “What will He keep me from doing that I want to do?”
• “What will He take away that I hold dear?
• “Will God fail me if I entrust “this” to Him?”
When all is said and done, we can be sure that we will approve of the changes He has made. And, there is no logical reason for not embracing Him as Manager and Master of my life.
Frank and Jeannette Meitz just finished an “Equipping the Saints” class for Crosspointe Church in Largo, Florida (www.crosspointefl.com) to prepare and train the faithful men and women of this Free Methodist congregation to come alongside a new believer and mentor them using the DTI manual, A Tool for Personal Discipleship. Each of the one-hour fast-paced sessions was recorded live, allowing others to benefit from the teaching. You can watch the live archives here. Us this training before you disciple your mentee to remind you of nuances and give you confidence or when you're training others.
You'll find "outside the box" sharing, such as how to use a Sunday sermon message with your mentee, and a testimony from a woman sharing from her experience of being discipled and now discipling another and how the Lord gave her confidence and DTI gave her the tools not only to mentor someone else, but to put into practice the DTI concepts.
To watch archives of the teaching click here.
If you have any questions or comments about the “Equipping The Saints” format or content please click here and send us an email.
Blessings, The DTI Team
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