Training Myth #2 “We Can’t Afford It.”

Let me be frank: If you and your church decide to bring authentic biblical and Jesus-like training to the volunteers in your church, it will most definitely cost you time, energy—and money. Like anything truly worthwhile, there is a cost to training. However, the “We can’t afford training” response is a myth! Consider these cogent reasons why:

Money Myth Buster #1
God provides monetary resources for what he commands us to do.

God would never command us to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), “equip the saints to do the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12), or to entrust his Word to “reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2)—and fail to provide resources for such training endeavors! Clearly his Word to those of us who love him and serve him is one of provision (see these verses and their contexts to get you started: Matthew 6:33, Philippians 4:19, and 2 Corinthians 9:6). The Bible is full of such promises! Don’t miss the critically important learning:

Resource Lesson #1
God provides for what he commands us to do!

But someone reading this may be thinking: “But you don’t understand. Our church and community are economically depressed. We are barely keeping the doors open. We don’t have money for an extravagance such as training.” To this I say, our circumstances never trump the Bible’s promises to us! When our circumstances are dire, God just gets more creative about how he fulfills his promises. Look at how God creatively provided the necessary resources for Jesus’ training ministry with his disciples:

“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means (Luke 8:1-3, emphasis mine).

Resource Lesson #2
God often provides in very unexpected ways and through the least expected means!

Read and reflect on that last sentence in Luke 8:3. Note carefully that God provided a handful of women to support the training ministry of Jesus and the disciples—in a day and age long before most women were able to make much money.

God always finds a way to make resources flow to those who take action on that which is close to his heart. If you believe that making disciples who can make more disciples is close to the heart of God, then you must believe that God will provide the necessary resources needed to train these disciples!

What do I know about taking a financial step of faith to train volunteers? All of our small but potent Cadre staff serve as stateside missionaries. That means God must help us raise financial support so we can give our time and attention to our volunteer training ministry with Cadre. Let me translate this in very personal terms: I must DAILY trust God to provide for me, my wife Stacy, and our six children ages 4-14 so I can fulfill God’s Ephesians 4:11-12 call on my life to assist local churches in training volunteers to do God’s work! (Are you beginning to see that this might not be as easy for me as you think? I share this only because I want you to know I can relate to your financial concerns.) Like many churches and ministries, Cadre does NOT have a pile of money waiting in the bank. So here is what we are learning and continually relearning as we take this financial step of faith to train volunteers in the church—

Resource Lesson #3
We must step out in faith first--and do the ministry God wants--and then God provides for our needs!

I wished it were the other way around—don’t you? But that’s not how God works. He’s got this faith thing going—and he wants us to catch on. There is NO way around a life of faith if you want to live in a way that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). God’s provision comes in often only after we take a God-directed step of faith.

Recently I asked Tracy Montgomery, a dear ministry friend, certified Cadre trainer, and long time stateside missionary with Mission Birmingham in Alabama, if he ever got tired of raising support. Tracy looked me square in the eyes and spoke into my very soul when he said, “I’ve been raising financial support to do God’s work in urban America for twenty-one years. I could never go back to a job that provided a regular paycheck because it’s too exciting to trust God to provide for me, my family, and our ministry.” Does that sound funny to you? It sounds like faith to me!

Yet so many of our churches need to learn that it’s only after you put your feet in the water that God will roll back the waters and make a dry path for you to walk on (Joshua 3). You can’t sit on the nice dry bank of the river and say, “God, if you provide the money, we’ll invest it in training volunteers to do the work of the ministry.” I have a sneaking suspicion that God would respond, “If you get about the business of training volunteers to do the work of the ministry, I will provide the resources!” If you really believe you can’t afford to train the volunteers in your church, then I challenge you to take a God-directed step of faith—jump off the dry bank of safety into the river of ministry and start doing whatever it takes to train volunteers in your church to do the work of the ministry—and then see what God does.

If all you ever attempt to do as a church is something that is already within your financial reach—God will never have to show up. If God never shows up…. are you really a church?

Respond to this article:
info@cadreministries.com

Devotionals That Help You Love God and Love People!

Loving God Devotional
Thirty-Three Things That Happen at the Moment of Salvation

http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#guide

Loving People Inside the Body of Christ Devotional
The One Another Community Living Guide

http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#1another

Loving People Outside the Body of Christ Devotional
The John 3:16 Factor Devotional Guide

http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#john316

Is Cadre Training Coming to a Place Near You?

Chicago Illinois Area, Saturday, 11/5/05
Time Management for Painfully Pooped-Out People workshop
http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/pooped.php
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Come all ye who are pooped out and learn to apply ten biblical principles for taking control or your life and time! For more info or to register, visit <http://www.fbcg.com/inside/f_home.ml.htm> or contact Michele at mschuman@ameritech.net

1. Your First and Most Important Job as a Volunteer in Children's Ministry!
2. Training Really Does Make All the Difference!
3. Why Volunteers Hate Meetings and What You Can Do About It!
4. You Can Recruit Excellent Volunteers Into Your Children's Ministry!

Minnesota/Wisconsin Area, Saturday, 11/19/05
Evangelism Is Relationships!
http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/evangelism.php
For more information, contact bill@cadreministries.com

Central Minnesota Area, Saturday, 12/9-11/05
The Leadership Genius of Hezekiah
http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/hezekiah.php
For more information, contact bill@cadreministries.com

To bring this training workshop to your church, ministry, or area, contact Bill at:
info@cadreministries.com

Brand New:
The Cadre Training Festival in Michigan, March 18, 2006!

March 18, 2006
8:30-12:30
Midland Evangelical Free Church in Midland, MI

Choose one of three training tracks:

1. Ministry Is Relationships http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/relationships.php
This workshop for...
Any Christian--junior high through senior saint--who wants to learn to love others effectively with God's love!

2. Becoming a High Impact Teacher http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/bahit.php
This workshop for...
All Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, Bible study leaders, and anyone who wants to learn how to become a high impact teacher.

3. Creating a Culture of Training in Your Ministry http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/culture.php
This workshop for...
Anyone who wants to train volunteers to effectively serve in ministry.

For more information or to register for the Michigan Cadre Training Festival, contact info@cadreministries.com

* A special Saturday afternoon train-the-trainers certification is being offered!
Certification for Ministry Is Relationships AND Becoming a High Impact Teacher (participation in the Saturday AM workshop is required for certification).

For more information about the certification option on Saturday afternoon, contact rennie@cadreministries.com

Cadre: We're guilty of inciting a volunteer TRAINING revolution in the church!

Cadre is a not-for-profit ministry [501(c)(3)] that exists to assist local churches in becoming the greatest volunteer training organizations in the world. We're asking God to give us 5,000 non-staff trainers who are obsessed with Ephesians 4:11-12! To pursue certification to take Cadre training to your church, contact info@cadreministries.com.

Cadre staff serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries to come alongside volunteers and those who care for volunteers in the church to help accomplish their God-given mission.

We provide FREE monthly online training for volunteers in the church (Cadre Connection), for volunteer Jr. High Youthworkers (Batteries Included), and for Student Leaders (Spiritual Caffeine). Visit www.cadreministries.com to preview our recent free training or to sign up to receive training in your email-box monthly.

For more information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer to coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers in your church, contact info@cadreministries.com

For Cadre training resources visit http://www.cadreministries.com/store

All other tax deductible donations can be sent to:
Cadre Ministries
PO Box 278
Sycamore, IL 60178

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