ONE WHY
 
God is on mission to rescue his runaway planet. The scope of his rescue is more than his people. It is cosmic in nature. He plans to rescue and “to reconcile to himself All things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on a cross.” In other words, through his Gospel he will reconcile all things. Is there any higher compelling reason to be involved in Gospel Coaching — the empowering of leaders to multiply the Gospel in their spheres of influence in the mission of God to renew all things? Wow! When we rehearse Gospel Story in its fullness, it really is a cohesive and compelling purpose to coaching.
 
ONE HOW
 
A Church Planter was not doing much personal evangelism. As we explored why he was not highly motivated to engage non-believers part of his personal story came out. He had never shared it with others. A close relative had committed suicide when he was younger and it was a place of shame for him. He told me that one of his hesitations in talking with people was they would eventually find out that part of his story and it was too painful to relive. Man, all the coach training in the world cannot prepare you for that.

I wish I had a success story to tell you. He would never go there to a place of the power of the Gospel to heal his shame. We finished our 2 years without ever addressing that issue again.
 
ONE WHAT
 
Ok, for those of you who are Presbyterians and have to attend a quarterly Presbytery meeting, let me suggest something: Ask your pastor and work committee or MNA committee for personal privilege to give a 5 minute talk on the value of Gospel Coaching. End it with your business card available to all those attending…not just the pastors but other leaders as well. 
 
At CMM, we want to help you in the ministry of Gospel coaching with the CROSS Conversation so you can expand your influence and enlarge the Gospel in the lives of others. Contact Us anytime to let us know how we can empower you to multiply.

ONE WHY
 
A coaching conversation I had with a pastor once revealed why he had engaged a coach. After several months of meeting — dealing with typical church issues, mostly dealing with how to grow his church — he finally asked me a personal question. It took quite awhile for the trust to be gained to get on a personal level. If the stats are true, most men and 90 something percent of pastors do not have anyone close enough to them to have a significant friendship. As we talk about in training, Aloneness is a major risk factor for planters. It increases potential for temptation, depression and anxiety. Gospel Story helps us unearth some of the stuff our Planter is wrestling with.
 
ONE HOW
 
When the pastor finally told me his personal concern had to do with him slipping into an addiction (he found himself finishing a bottle of wine every night just to relax and unwind) I had a couple of options.

I could simply ask more questions on top of the ones I asked about how he feels, what is going on in his mind, why he thinks he’s turned to wine to unwind? Or I could have given him the verses about not getting drunk with wine — the “don't get drunk” rule. Or I could have redirected our convo back to safer waters about his church and its growth barriers etc. The How of Gospel Coaching goes back to the Planter’s RPMS. There may be several key factors at play in his Relational, Personal, Missional, and Spiritual Life.  
 
 
ONE WHAT
 
Our “what” is simple in our approach. Using C.R.O.S.S. as an intentional Gospel conversation, it allows us to explore at a friendship level. “It is impossible to overstate the immense need that people have to be really listened to and to be understood by at least one other person” (Tournier). Because it's a conversation, you do not have to just ask questions. You can speak into the Planter’s life. We can and should at times, give godly direction. Really listening to someone demands we respond with clarity and hope.

We want to help you in the ministry of Gospel coaching with the C.R.O.S.S. conversation so you can expand your influence and enlarge the gospel in the lives of others. Contact us to let us know how we can empower you to multiply.