WDA Presents Free Life Coaching Webinar

Posted on August 23, 2021November 24, 2021 by Jordan Stafford

Fayetteville, GA, August 23, 2021 — Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA) will present a Life Coaching Webinar on October 6, at 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET and at 7:00 – 8:00 pm ET on Zoom. Certified John Maxwell speaker, trainer, and coach Sean Hall will lead the webinar.

WDA reports that the webinar will include one hour of training, a breakout group, and Q&A. The webinar will provide a broad overview of life coaching as a means of building intentional relationships that produce sustained growth and transformed lives.

Registration is now open for free and will close on October 4. Tickets can be booked online at wdaleadershipinstitute.com.

“My entire life has changed for the better as a result of [Sean’s] mentorship and coaching,” said Trey Roth, regarding Sean Hall’s impact and effectiveness as a life coach. “I would not be the person or professional I am today without his significant, positive impact. I respect and trust Sean to no end.”

Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA) is an interdenominational Christian ministry whose mission is to serve the church worldwide by developing Christ-like character in people and equipping them to disciple others like Jesus. WDA has been serving the metro-Atlanta area since 1974.

Media Contacts

Worldwide Discipleship Association
Jordan Stafford (Marketing Coordinator)
770-460-1337
www.disciplebuilding.org/
Or contact Jennifer McClin (Director of Generosity)

Worldwide Discipleship Association Presents 1-Day Life Coaching Intensive

Posted on June 23, 2021November 11, 2021 by Jordan Stafford

Atlanta, GA, June 23, 2021 –(PR.com)– Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA) will present a 1-Day Life Coaching Intensive on July 10 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Ponce Church in Atlanta, GA. Certified John Maxwell speaker, trainer, and coach Sean Hall will lead the intensive.

WDA reports that the intensive will include training sessions, workshops, and a complimentary boxed lunch. Sessions will cover such topics as strategic growth plan creation, handling life coaching clients and appointments, and a step-by-step coaching launch process.

Earlybird registration is now open for $99.99 and will close on July 1. General registration will stay open until the day of the event, and the ticket price will rise to $135. Tickets may be purchased online at disciplebuilding.org.

Media Contacts

Worldwide Discipleship Association
Jordan Stafford (Marketing Coordinator)
770-460-1337
www.disciplebuilding.org/
Or contact Jennifer McClin (Director of Generosity)

Life Coaching

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Bob Dukes

Life Coaching, an Introduction

“When I return to my hometown I often meet someone who says, “I’ll never forget your dad. He taught me to play baseball.” My father coached in the recreation league for nearly twenty years. Several of his players played professionally, including two of my brothers. (Watching one of them pitch a scoreless inning in the World Series is still one of the highlights of my life.) Ironically, “Pap” was never a star himself. Most of his short career was spent in the minor leagues during the Depression, struggling to find a place in the starting rotation. But he loved the game. He died several years ago but his legacy lives on, immortalized by a small plaque at one of the city parks and through the lives of countless boys who played on one of his teams.”

“He coached at a time when some fathers were unavailable, so he became a surrogate dad to my friends, instilling skills on the field and discipline in the dugout. But there was something else. After the games the team would sometimes show up at our house for a meal. He would move from player to player replaying the game as he rubbed heads and offered words of encouragement. My father never achieved what many would call success, working hard all his life with few tangible results. But when I bump into one of his former players, I’m amazed at the impact of his life.”

“Nearly everyone I know has had a similar experience. For some it was a teacher who influenced their lives, others followed the lead of a drama coach, for some a music instructor or close relative helped to shape their formative years. Many young people had a coach similar to my dad, someone who taught them more than game strategies and mechanics. These people who influence and strategically shape the lives of others can be called Life Coaches. The most successful instill more than training and discipline, they impart their very lives to others. Of course, the best Life Coach of all is a caring parent. Moses admonished the parents of Israel to teach the laws of God to their children as they went about the routines of life. It was in the course of ordinary activities that lives were changed.”

The WDA Life Coaching Manual:

“It’s uncertain exactly how the term “Life Coach” became part of the popular vernacular, but the concept describes a person who is able to provide guidance, insight, and experience to others who are striving to succeed at various endeavors. Used in the business world it refers to someone able to help others become profitable in commercial ventures. In athletics, it’s a person who prescribes workout routines to maximize physical strength and prowess. Used in a more general sense, it means anyone skilled at helping others remain focused and goal-driven. Sometimes a Life Coach can be someone the ‘disciple’ has never actually met face-to-face. In these cases, the insights are gleaned from books and tapes or by attending conferences.”

“But [the WDA Life Coaching Manual] is about a different kind of Life Coach. It’s about Christian leaders who are willing to invest their knowledge and experience and even their very lives so that others might deepen their spirituality and relationship with God. A spiritual Life Coach is a person who, in the midst of a caring relationship, imparts truth that changes the life (conduct/character) of another, gradually helping the disciple become more like Jesus Christ. In WDA, we often use the phrase, ‘meeting people where they are and helping them take the next step®’ to describe the life-coaching process. Those who are helped may not fully realize it until later, but they’re forever impacted by the life and example of these leaders. It was Jesus who said ‘but everyone [disciple], after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.'(NAS) Used in this way, there’s another term that can be substituted for ‘Life Coaching,’ ‘disciple building.'”

How have people invested in your life? Take some time to write a comment and share the ways God has used people to impact you.

Consider picking up a copy of Life Coaching! Coming Soon at the WDA Store!

Coming up Next: Spiritual Life Coaching

*editors note: The quoted passages are from WDA’s upcoming Life Coaching Manual by Bob Dukes with Jack Larson and Margaret Garner.

The Art of Life Coaching

Posted on October 13, 2014May 22, 2015 by Buddy Eades

When I consider what it looks like to fulfill the great commission I can get overwhelmed. Jesus commands us to make disciples, bring them into fellowship in the Church, and provide places for them to grow to maturity. In my life context, I have been considering how to be part of Jesus’ plan by investing in people who share a love for creativity and art. This whole Atlanta Arts Network idea is at the root a movement of artistic believers who understand the need to grow in their faith and to live out the vision of Christ. But getting my mind around how this works in just my own local church is daunting at best. This is why my focus at first has been on a few leaders both in my church and also in Atlanta.

While this blog isn’t about our methods of building a ministry or the overall philosophy, it is important to remind myself at times that Atlanta Arts Network is a Network, made up of individual churches who are capturing a vision to build arts communities. For this to happen I am praying for a grass roots movement of individuals who love creative people and love to invest in them.

I am convinced that one of the tools that must be embraced for this to work is Life Coaching. For a pastor or lay person to begin to see artists join the community of Christ, they must first know how to determine where a person is in their spiritual journey. They must also know where they need to go next. I serve in a larger ministry, Worldwide Discipleship Association, that has been building mature disciples for 40 years. One of the tools we use is called Life Coaching.

For Arts Communities to grow in our churches we will need creatives who have a heart to pour their lives into others. Life Coaching teaches how to make this happen. But what do you have to know to be a life coach? I think there are four points that are helpful to remember: Relationship, Promise, Faith, and Plan.

Life Coaching is Relational.

WDA* believes that it all starts with Relationships! Relationships take time. Time is the critical component for discipleship and Life Coaching. Jesus called the disciples at first to come and see. He went into their world. (John 1:38-40)

Life Coaches know God’s promises.

Jesus understood that they needed to know the promises of God. They would have heard his pronouncement that the kingdom of God was in their midst. (Luke 4:16-18)

A Life Coach has to have faith in God.

Jesus begins the great commission by stating that He is the one with authority. It is not faith in myself, but trust in Him. He, the King, is building people to Christlikeness. He is the one who also will be with me! (Matthew 28:18-20)

A Life Coach has to have a plan.

Jesus modeled for all of us how to help people grow to maturity. He spent 3 years taking time in relationship, teaching content, helping them apply truth and holding the disciples accountable, praying for and with them, as well as creating situations where they could put into practice what He was teaching them.

WDA Life Coaching is a great tool for anyone who has a heart to help someone grow but might not know how to go about it. It takes time to invest in someone else. It will cost us. In the process, I learn to remember God’s promises, live by faith and follow His plan.

Sure, not everyone feels like they are gifted as a disciple maker. There are those who might be called to pursue making disciples as their primary calling. For the artist, Life Coaching is an art too! For us to be part of God’s work in our churches, we will need creativity in how to make disciples. It might not be a formal program but it might be one person who God has brought into our lives. It might be a musician who plays in worship. It might be someone who shares a similar love for our form of art. It might also grow to a community of artists who are living in community together, creating, serving, loving and contributing to the flourishing of our world.

What do you think? How could life coaching be part of the life of the artist? What ways do you see that you could invest in the lives of others? What benefits to your church could there be if you and other creatives began to share this kind of life together?

Buddy Eades is the Coordinator of Atlanta Arts Network which is part of the church ministry of WDA.

The Atlanta Arts Network exists to connect artists and worship artists, to encourage people who create and share art and cultivate a love for the arts as well as to aspire artists in the context of Christian community.

Learn more about Life Coaching and check out the manual here.

This blog first posted on Atlanta Arts Network

Spiritual Life Coaching

Posted on September 15, 2014May 22, 2015 by Bob Dukes

Spiritual Life Coaching

Jesus Christ was the ultimate Life Coach. In the Gospel of John, He offers this promise: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (NAS) The Great Commission given to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 is both a command and invitation to join Him on one of the greatest adventures in life: building disciples. Spiritual Life Coaching involves “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”(NAS) There are two implications to this command that often escape our notice.

Teaching should be comprehensive.

The first is that the teaching should be comprehensive. We are to teach everything, not just the familiar principles or the introductory concepts. Spiritual Life Coaches must ask the question: “Is my coaching part of a larger, comprehensive plan to teach the whole curriculum of Christ?”

“We should help the people we are teaching to actually obey the truth.”

The second implication is that we should help the people we are teaching to actually obey the truth. I like to call this doing truth versus just knowing truth. There is a clear biblical priority to evangelize the nations and plant churches, but we must not forget that the Great Commission includes helping Christ’s followers become “conformed to the likeness of His Son [Christ].” Our spiritual Life Coaching must be intensive and intentional enough to transform lives.

But any parent can tell you this is easier said than done. Teaching others to ‘do’ truth is a complex process that involves the changing of motives, values, and worldview. It also hopes to develop a walk of faith, teaching people how to trust God. This type of training cannot be accomplished in a classroom alone. It must be worked out in the context of real life experiences. Some of the concepts, such as how to develop and demonstrate mature love, are not simple. This is why spiritual Life Coaches are critical to the process. It’s only in the context of a close relationship (where there is encouragement, accountability, prayer, and teaching) that this type of transformation can effectively occur.

The importance of the example and teaching of a spiritual Life Coach cannot be overstated. Paul admonished Timothy to follow him as he followed Christ. In another place the instruction was for Timothy to follow the “pattern of sound teaching” that Paul had taught. Timothy learned these truths from Paul in the context of close relationships. II Timothy 2:2 states, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (NAS) Jesus, after washing His disciples feet as a model of Christian love and leadership, urged them, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (emphasis mine).

We who build disciples should be encouraged by the importance God places on the Life Coaching process. The Scriptures remind us that anyone who aspires to the office of overseer has an honorable, noble role in the Kingdom. But we should also be sobered by the responsible role God expects us to play. Paul warns the Corinthian church that “each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Paul goes on to explain that we can either build by using temporal materials or eternal materials, but there will be a Day when we must give an account for our work of building up others.

In order to be effective disciple builders, we must realize that God is the author and finisher of the process of sanctification. Paul states, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (NAS) In another place Paul asserts that “He who began a good work in you will perfect [complete] it until the Day of Christ Jesus.” (NAS) Spiritual Life Coaches can take heart that God will sovereignly oversee the process.

The role of spiritual Life Coaching is only one part of the disciple building process. For years there has been a debate in disciple building circles about what is the best forum for helping people grow spiritually. The advocates of small groups can list examples of people whose lives have been changed by the intimacy and accountability of this arrangement, while the proponents of one-to-one discipleship (Life Coaching) cite the advantages of this format. Others extol the merits of teaching and preaching, or the benefits of being well-read. Some point out the importance of putting disciples into ministry situations as the best way to facilitate growth and development. The spiritual disciplines such as fasting, solitude, or personal devotions are mentioned by many as being especially beneficial in spiritual formation.

All of these forms constitute healthy approaches to spiritual development. All should be included as part of a disciple building program. Each format has certain advantages and certain limitations. It is valuable to note that Jesus used all of these forms as part of His disciple building training. Because the local church has all of these structures (e.g. small groups, teaching, preaching, etc.), it is the best location for making and training disciples if the structures are utilized strategically. Within the church there is a unique role for a well-equipped Life Coach. This person is able to “meet people where they are, and help them take the next step^®.”

If disciple building is the overall process in which more mature believers assist younger believers as they grow, then spiritual Life Coaching is the “one-to-one” part of the process. A Life Coach is able to help a disciple integrate and incorporate all the other growth processes into a unified whole. The Life Coach is responsible for tracking and overseeing the progress of the individual believers entrusted to his care. This individual encouragement and accountability is invaluable. As we will see later, this is best accomplished when the Life Coach works in concert with a team of others in a ministry context. One of the purposes of this manual is to offer assistance and coaching skills to help make the task of Life Coaching more manageable and successful.

Where have you seen a “one-on-one” or Life Coaching process have an impact on others? Have you ever considered learning how to be life coach?

WDA Life Coaching Manual will train leaders to coach others as Spiritual Life Coaches. If you are a Discipleship Professional or Leader, you can use the WDA Life Coaching Manual to train a team of Life Coaches for you church.

Read more of this series on Life Coaching:

Part 1 – Life Coaching