Search and rescue (the book) - pt. 2

Part 2 of my notes from Neil Cole's book Search & Rescue: Becoming A Disciple Who Makes A Difference.You can find part 1 HERE.

• p. 75-76 - Walter Henrichsen's display describing the power of multiplication... As well as the story of the father who offered his sons the choice between one dollar a week or doubling one cent each week (p. 76)...
• p. 81 - details about 'Pay It Forward' (the movie, and the idea)...
• p. 83ff - Chapter 6 on "Motivations That Make A World of Difference" is a good chapter detailing internal/external and spiritual/natural motivation...
• p. 86 - "Much of what consumes the mind of the typical pastor today is figuring out how to motivate unmotivated people. How do we make people want to do the right thing?" ***
• p. 89 - "The motivation for following Christ and reproducing disciples must be INTERNAL rather than EXTERNAL."
• p. 94 - "It comes when we 'remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead' (2 Tim. 2:8). We love ONLY because he first loved us. This is why Jesus was so careful to instruct us to take the bread and cup regularly - to remember him and the body broken and the blood shed for us. This is where the internal, spiritual motivation comes from. When we forget Jesus Christ and him crucified, things of less value motivate us."
• p. 96 - "The blood of the saints is the seed of the church."
• p. 96 - "The key to effective disciple making and multiplying is tapping internal motivation."
• p. 97 - "If the Spirit of God does not grip our hearts and move us to invest our lives in the most important cause of all, no manipulative tactics, gimmicks, and persuasions will get the job done."
• p. 97-98 - story about the Satanist who thought he might become a Christian.
• p. 100 - "There is nothing more futile than trying to get unmotivated people to be moved. My life is too short to spend it trying to manipulate unmotivated people to do important things. I would much rather give my life to a few motivated people who will make a difference."
• p. 103 - I wrote "preach this" at the beginning of chapter 7 "Being Prepared and Equipped for a Great Work"
• p. 107 - "Confession is verbal agreement. When police officers want a confession, they are looking for the perpetrator to agree with the charges. When we confess our sins to God, we are saying we agree with God that our sinful behavior is wrong and unholy."
• p. 107-108 - clearing up that 1 John 1:9 is intended for confession to be to other people, not just to God (like most assume).
• p. 113-114 - "Often I ask audiences if they like to read instruction manuals. Usually there are a small handful of people who do; the rest of us do not. We are the ones who use only about 10 percent of our computer software capabilities, and our VCR is still blinking '12:00'. The few who read the instructions use their equipment much more effectively than the rest of us... Then I ask the audiences if they have ever received a love letter from someone they really have a thing for. When they raise their hands, I ask them how they read their love letters. 'Did you read the first line, "Dear Joseph," and then set the letter down to meditate on the deeper meaning of those words rather than going ahead to read the rest? Of course not!... How do people read love letters? They read the whole letter, every word, all the way through, and then they read it again and again. They even smell the letter, wanting to consume every part of it. They may even take it with them in their coat pocket or purse, so that if they end up waiting for a bus or in line at the bank, they can take it out and read it again... We must begin to see God's Word as a personal love letter that God has written to us. It's not just an instruction manual. Yet often we approach it like an instruction manual. When something goes wrong we turn to the troubleshooting section (the concordance) to find the text that addresses our problem, and then we read just that paragraph divorced of context, flow, and unity of thought..."
• p. 116 - Four characteristics to initiate a multiplication movement... (1) It must be incarnational... (2) It must be viral... (3) It must be transformational... (4) It must be universal...
• p. 117 - good story about Neil and the gang member over the need to both exhale AND inhale; we can't be willing to only exhale (confess) our sin, without also inhaling (taking in Scripture)...
• p. 120 - Summary of Spiritual CPR: Confessing our sins to one another; Planting God's Word in our heart; Reaching out to others with the message of the gospel (this is what Life Transformation Groups are all about).
• p. 123 - He gives his reasoning for his belief that the best context for life change is a community of two or three... ***** "Consistently throughout God's Word there is reference to two or three. The phrase "two or three" is mentioned at least ten times in the Bible. It seems to consistently say "two or three" not "two or more," for that could be endless numbers. It also doesn't say "three or less," for that could also include a solo disciple not in relation to others. No, the perfect size group for life change in the Bible seems to allow for options, but only two: two or three."
• p. 126 - "Church planting is my calling and passion. It dawned on me one day, however, that I could not find a single verse in all of the Bible that commands us to plant or multiply churches. It's just not there! The command that God gave was to make and multiply disciples - not cell groups or churches. Jesus wants to build his kingdom through church planting and multiplication, but his plan is to do so by multiplying disciples..."
• p. 134 - Court case about the guy who was sued because he sat by and watched a man drown and didn't do anything about it. Chuck Swindoll says, "You and I have a legal right to mind our own business - to turn a deaf ear to anyone in need, to continue sunbathing while someone is drowning. We are not obligated to respond. Indifference may not be illegal, but it is certainly immoral!"... (Neil) "I cannot accept that if we love Jesus, we will be able to sit back and sunbathe while millions around us drown. We cannot afford to turn a deaf ear to those who are drowning. Indifference is not an option for any follower of Christ. Indifference is an insult to the initiative and sacrifice of Christ."
• p. 136 - "How do you spell faith? R-I-S-K. You simply cannot live a vibrant life of faith in a safe and protected place. If you do not have any current story of how God has stepped in and rescued you, you are probably not living with enough risk." "We must be willing to go into harm's way for the sake of others to see the hand of God intervene on our behalf."
• p. 138 - (in an interview Neil had) "If I am a good lifeguard, it is because my relationship to the ocean is much like my relationship to God... I love the ocean and feel most at home when I am in the water. I play in the ocean and enjoy it. But I also know what the ocean can do, and I fear it with a healthy respect. That is how I feel about God. I love him and enjoy him, but I also know what he can do, and I have a healthy fear of God that shapes my life and character. That is what makes me a good lifeguard."
• p. 139 - "When Cortez landed in America, his first order to his men was to burn their ships. Retreat was not an option. They were now committed to this life, come hell or high water. Because of this, the men were motivated to move forward in their mission."
• p. 140 - The story about the little boy giving a blood transfusion to his sister, who then said, "Will I start to die right away?" (he thought he was giving his life, not just his blood).

This ends the first section of the book. More to come later...