Joel Comiskey

Posted by Bill on October 30, 2012

Joel Comiskey says …

I count it a privilege to have worked in cell group ministry for over a decade with my good friend, Bill Joukhadar. Bill has ministered to me over and over. He also has contributed many articles to our daily JCG blogs. Our JCG blogs cover different aspects of cell group life, and I’d like to encourage you to sign-up to receive each blog daily in your email to help you grow in your cell knowledge.

If you’d like to receive the blog into your email each day, please click HERE.

In December 2011 we had less than 1000 people receiving the JCG blog in their emails. At that time, Bill felt in his spirit that JCG would have 2000 people by the end of December 2012. I didn’t really believe it was possible but felt an excitement and even took it as a challenge. Right now we have 1930 people, and it’s possible to reach 2000 by December 31!

I pray that you will be part of that number.

Please sign up today.

Joel

www.joelcomiskeygroup.com
www.comiskey.org

Please consider this worthwhile opportunity to ‘drink’ from a variety of streams of thought on this important subject and share this opportunity with others whom you feel may also be interested.

Myth: Change the Church by Criticizing It

Posted by Joel on April 21, 2012

Some in the cell movement excel in putting down others, while exalting the cell structure as the new wineskin. They construct an “us and them” mentality. Everyone else is doing ministry wrongly and the only group doing it right is the cell church. Many, in fact, embrace the cell church because they are disillusioned with the conventional church. Yet can negativity sustain the cell church movement?

Truth: Let People See It Worked Out

Churches and ministries lay a very weak foundation with a negative message. Granted, scripture critiques our lives and ministry and never sugar coats the truth. Yet, once the theological foundations for cell ministry are laid, people need a positive message of how to implement that biblical message in their own culture and context.

Just do it. Let people see the results in action. I personally believe that cell church ministry is the best strategy out there. Yet, I realize that it’s not the only strategy, and that God is using various ministries to bless his body and grow his church. God has supernaturally placed me in his body to encourage and fine-tune cell church ministry.

All those living under the Lordship of Jesus and committed to his inerrant word are part of his organic church. Leaders in Christ’s church need to be very careful about badgering and bad-mouthing Christ’s blessed body.

Joel Comiskey

Myth: Cell Church Focuses Exclusively on the Cell and Celebration

Posted by Joel on April 14, 2012

Many have likened the cell church to a two-winged bird. Just as a bird needs two wings to fly, cell churches thrive on both cell and celebration. Cells meet together during the week, but then those cells come together to celebrate on Sunday.

Two-winged comparisons are made so frequently that many people don’t realize that cell churches need additional supporting structures to function effectively. What are those additional systems?

Truth: The Cell Church Focuses on Key Systems that Produce Life in the Cell and Celebration

Besides cell and celebration, other systems make cell church work. The two main ones are training and coaching.

Training

Cell churches have a step-by-step process to take a person from conversion to spiritual maturity. The training track is intimately linked with cell ministry and furthers the process of cell multiplication.

Coaching

One of the key differences between groups that start and fizzle and those that make it over the long haul can be summed up in one word: coaching.

To make it over time, the small-group leaders must have a high-quality support system, much like the supply line that channels food and other materials to battle-weary soldiers.

The cell-driven strategy succeeds or fails on the quality of the coaching given to the cell leaders.

Joel Comiskey

Myth: Once You Have a Model, Stick by It

Posted by Joel on April 7, 2012

When a church follows cell church principles over time, it might become an example for others to follow. Other pastors might visit, ask questions, and even participate in the church’s network. Once a church has arrived at this point, is it best to stick with the exact strategy that has produced that growth?

Truth: Innovate and Change the Model as the Spirit Leads

A church never arrives at perfection. There is always room for improvement. The moment, in fact, that a church thinks it has arrived, it probably has already begun its downward spiral.

John P. Kotter, a business professor at Harvard University, wrote a book called A Sense of Urgency, in which he says:

“Complacency is much more common than we might think and very often invisible to the people involved. Success easily produces complacency. It does not even have to be recent success. An organization’s many years of prosperity could have ended a decade ago, and yet the complacency created by that prosperity can live on, often because the people involved don’t see it.”

One of Kotter’s main points is that complacency that comes from success is the enemy of progress. Of course, Kotter is writing to businesses, but churches fall into the same trap.

Churches often lose the urgent dependency on Jesus Christ when things are going well. They become content with their models, buildings, and other outward signs of success. They forget the sense of urgency that brought their fruitfulness.

Joel Comiskey

Myth: The Number 12 Has Special Significance in the Organization of Groups

Posted by Joel on March 31, 2012

The International Charismatic Mission in Bogota, Columbia exploded with growth in the 1990s and became a worldwide sensation. I wrote about their church in my book, Groups of Twelve: A New Way to Mobilize Leaders and Multiply Groups in Your Church. I later had to pull back my support for this church because of their fixation on the number twelve and their exclusivity in promoting their own model. Was ICM’s model based on the number twelve the secret to their success?

Truth: The Principles of Evangelism and Discipleship Make Cell Ministry Work

The International Charismatic Mission became effective by following certain principles rather than a particular number. One principle they perfected was seeing every person in the church as a potential leader—not only those with the gift of evangelism or the gift of leadership.

Since ICM saw the potential of cell leadership in every member, the logical step was to train each person to participate in cell ministry. Much of their training involved breaking bondages and liberating people from sins that held them back.

ICM also saw every leader as a potential supervisor and asked each parent cell leader to supervise the cells they birthed. Because supervisors were not appointed in the G12 model, each individual leader had more motivation to multiply cell groups.

Sadly, ICM fell into the trap of asking everyone to follow their entire model, rather than principles that could be adapted and adjusted according to context. They began to promote their entire model as being the only anointed one. They asked churches to adopt their model rather than adapting principles.

My advice is to adapt G12 principles rather than to adopt the G12 model.

Joel Comiskey