Gospel Seminar in Greeley, Colorado

CTO @ New Hope Bible Church

EVERY 1 DISCIPLE 1

God Wants To Use You in His Process of Changing Lives

As I sat down at the table to meet with a guy who had just found out his wife had been having an affair with their Sr. Pastor, it was obvious that he was angry.  Who wouldn't be?  Trust had been violated at multiple levels, he felt rejected by his wife and their marriage vows had been broken.  There was every reason to feel that his marriage was over. But that morning he agreed to begin to work on forgiving his wife and restoring their marriage.  It was only a short time into the process of seeing God bring healing in their marriage when he turned to his wife and said, 

"I don't think God is bringing us through this just for us.  Maybe he wants to use what we are going through and learning to help others."  

Wow!!  This is from a husband who had remained faithful to his wife.  She was the one who had sinned against him - isn't he the victim?  Shouldn't he be feeling sorry for himself and seeing all of this as a horrible turn of events?  

It wasn't long before they got a phone call from a friend who shared,"I just found out my wife has committed adultery.  I don't know what to do.  I want to see our marriage saved - can you help us?"  That was the first of many couples God has brought into their lives who have experienced similar situations.

You may have never faced a crisis like this couple but you need to know that God wants to use you tand your experiences to help encourage someone else. God will use the growth you have experienced, the struggles you have overcome, the relationship you have with your spouse, the joy of seeing your kids walking with God, or maybe how you survived that one teenager who gave you a run for your money. You have been given a unique opportunity to help someone else experience God at a deeper level. Would you commit to sharing your life with just one person this next year in a personal discipling relationship?  God wants to use you in His process of changing lives!!

                                    
                  If only 50% of those registered with CTO at a given time

were to disciple only ONE person each year...

 by the end of 2013  = 1,650 discipled believers

 by the end of 2014  = 2,475 discipled believers

by the end of 2015  = 3,710 discipled believers

      by the end of 2020 = 18,780 discipled believers

  

Contact me to discuss how I can begin discipling others!!

Tom and Dennie in Prescott

Christmas Greetings from

Tom and Dennie at their new home in Prescott!

                
       250 Lakewood Circle
              Prescott, AZ 
              928.515.1934



"My grace is sufficient for you."  Sometimes God's undeserved grace whispers, but in 2012, it descended upon us with great shouts of blessing!  On April 22nd, Dennie fell while hiking in Austria, shattering two leg bones.  God's providing grace: through an excellent Austrian surgeon, 5 days in a hospital there and dear Austrian and German Christian friends who cared for all our attending needs!

 Arriving home on May 2nd after a memorable 15-hour trip in a cast and having to have her leg elevated during the flights (another story of God's grace), Tom checked himself into the ER on May 3rd because of pressure in his shoulders.  He did not return home for 10 days since he had a 5-artery bypass, open-heart surgery on May 7th.  God's intervening grace: to save his life!

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With Dennie completely immobilized and Tom hospitalized, our local church home (Soma Bible), the CTOers of Phoenix, and family members cared for her and then both of us during our long recovery and rehab.  So many prayed, sent cards and called, extending words of encouragement.  God’s comforting, caring grace: in action through family, friends and the body of Christ!

Unable to get to our upstairs bedroom for a very long time and knowing that Tom is facing two hip replacement surgeries (now bone-on-bone in both hips) and Dennie had broken two toes on her “good” foot, (surgery needed for one; soft cast for the other), we saw the need to move to a one-story dwelling before our next surgeries.  We decided to leave the heat and congestion of the metro area and move to the cooler, quieter town of Prescott, AZ, located a couple hours north of Phoenix…a place where the CTO ministry is thriving in two churches.  Within weeks this fall, we bought a new abode and sold our house.  God’s enabling grace: on the move!

Our church and other friends became the hands and feet of Jesus to transport us up the mountain to our special new home on November 21^st.  God’s loving grace: through the prayers, time and energy of the saints!  And for the two of us, His strengthening and sustaining grace: to press on while literally limping, weak and weary! (2 Cor. 12:9,10)

Merry Christmas!  No matter what your circumstances, may you see and savor God’s outpouring of grace in this season and in the coming year.

Tom and Dennie

 

God heals marriages!!

Randy, today I write this letter to you because I am overly grateful for God's love, mercy and forgiveness. 

You see, about 6 months ago, I was facing the strong desire to separate from my husband because I couldn't stand him, didn't love him and was pretty much disgusted by him.  This feeling was nothing new to me because throughout our 6 year marriage, I have felt this way that has resulted in me filing for divorce two times and asking him to leave a handful of times.  We have had a rocky road to say the least and most of our family and friends know it...I always had a strong feeling of hate, bitterness and entitlement issues that I deserved better and that God didn't really want me to be married to this man.  I was in control of my life and even though I thought I loved God, acted like it, I would still result in negative and hateful behaviors toward my husband and shamefully towards our 5 year old son. 

We have some very amazing and Godly friends who have been a part of our lives through T-ball, church, etc...who have always reached out and in their own special way let us know they were there for us no matter what.  So, when I was feeling the strong desire to get "rid" of my husband, I thought I cannot feel good about myself until I talk to them and share with them all that he has done wrong against me and what a lousy husband he is.  To my surprise, the entire dinner was about how much God loves both of us and has a better plan for our lives.  It was still hard to believe it at that moment but I know I was getting the best advice I could ever get:   God is in control and we must surrender to his plan and then we will be overwhelmed with love, joy and happiness!  Such a wonderful idea but still not something I was ready to jump into...I still had ALL these issues that they didn't even address in our meeting.  They didn't even want to hear about all my issues with my husband.  It sent me home with alot to think (and pray) about. 

So, about two weeks later, these same friends met with both my husband and me and suggested we go through CTO and that they would be more than happy to meet with us every other week to go through it. I was interested but I told them I didn't have 6-9 months to stay with my husband and was very reluctant to do a "bible study" that would be just like all the others I have done.   Until the first week when I started reading God's word and really feeling a sense of peace, love and a great sense of forgiveness. I remember calling my friend and telling her how overwhelmed I felt and how amazing God's word really is! 

So, here we are about 3 months into this "bible study" and I will tell you I have never known God this way, even though I was a believer my whole life. I have learned he has a perfect plan for our lives and his timing is perfect.  He puts us through trials so we will become more like him and he is with us all the time!  I now know God put us together for a reason and I have started to feel a love for him that I have never felt before.  It isn't perfect but at least that strong negative desire to remove him from my life is gone. We are a different couple now and God is continuing to do a good work in us.  We are even considering adoption of a 3 year old family member who has no father and the mother is in prison for drugs. 

We are a different couple now 

and God is continuing to do a good work in us.

Talking to a friend the other night, he said you know, it is truly a miracle to see where God has brought you two because six months ago, this would never have been possible.

We live daily for the Lord and pray his will be done in our lives.  We still have a long way to go, but with changed hearts and a renewed spirit, I think--I know--we will be ok and stay married through the good and the bad.  I now have a strong desire to be the very best wife and mother and to show them love and patience.  I see the good in him and thank God for who he is. 

God is so wonderful and is doing a good work in us.  We are so grateful for our friends who have believed in us and have prayed for us and it is all because of His love that we are able to write this letter to you today.  We both feel we are open to God's plan and can't wait to see what the future brings!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Lisa D'Alesio

"I used to think of God's power and limits through my point of view.  

Now I've begun to realize that He has no borders."

Lisa, who is a native to Arizona, has been married to Matt for 27 years and has two daughters, 19 & 16.

In addition to discipling a number of women, Lisa and Matt have discipled couples and have worked with crisis marriages using "Setting Your Marriage On A Biblical Course."
Lisa also serves the Phoenix area by finding available disciplers for those who desire to be discipled.  She has been a board member of CTO since 2005 and serves as Secretary of our ministry. She has been one of the key people in planning and hosting the National Conferences. 

When asked how CTO has personally impacted her, she said...

CTO has deepened my understanding of my rights, or maybe as to the rights I really don't have."  I was significantly impacted by the reality that "I deserve to burn in hell and anything less than that is a pretty good day."  This perspective helps me to narrow my expectations of life from the worldly perspective I once had. 

  

Also, I've learned that there are no borders on the limits to the power of God.  I used to think of God's power and limits through my point of view.  Now I've begun to realize that He has no borders.  I have a new appreciation for the sovereignty of God and how vast He is.

Prior to CTO I did not have a full perspective or grasp of God's design of forgiveness and its importance throughout His Word.  Walking others through forgiveness helped me to come to a greater understanding and a growing personal experience of the power of forgiveness. 

Lisa has seen CTO impact others too.

I used to think that "doing life", was when I was "doing life" with like-minded people.   Now I have come to a better understanding with a broader perspective, that "doing life" is relative in all aspects of my life, people, community, etc. We don't have it mastered but I have seen God use intimate personal relationships to soften people's hearts to what God wanted to teach them.  One gal comes to mind...I was discipling her through forgiving her husband.  The gal did not see how she could forgive him.  As we worked through God's word on forgiveness, her heart was softened.  She began to understand that she must forgive and that it's not an option.  She said, "I just really need to deal with it, right?  So let's work through it!"  Not that it was easy, but it was what needed to be done and experienced in order to begin to grasp the power of God.

What about CTO excites you the most?  The personal stories... when people share their life stories. Everyone has a story but when we bring it down to the heartbeat of God we all have a great story.

Chuck Oltman

"I am excited about seeing discipleship continue to become a fundamental piece of church ministry." 

Chuck has been married to his wife, Isabel, for 36 years. They have four grown children and six grandchildren, with another one on the way!!  

After retiring from the Air Force and becoming a commercial pilot, Chuck recently completed his M.Div. in Leadership Development at Phoenix Seminary.  During this time he helped plant Soma Bible Church in Glendale, AZ, where he serves as an Elder, shares in the preaching, leads a gospel community and is involved in discipleship and leadership development.   In his "spare time"  he oversees the curriculum development for CTO.  Chuck has given many hours of his personal time to designing and formatting the Three-Part Discipleship series.

How has CTO personally impacted you?

When Randy and Janet took us through CTO in 2004, I saw fruit in 2 areas: 

• Our marriage improved as God dealt with some longstanding areas where I had been claiming my "rights".
• It deepened my understanding of the process of sanctification and the importance of forgiveness in that process-especially as it reflected my understanding of God's grace in my life and His forgiveness of me.

I have also seen other people grow in their personal walk with God and in their marriage as they deal with issues of control and forgiveness.

What excites you about CTO and CTO's future?

I am excited about seeing discipleship continue to become a fundamental piece of church ministry.  CTO can play a significant role in building discipleship into the DNA of the local church. It is not just a counseling program or a bible study to take people through, but a process that truly helps people to live lives that grow in Christlikeness and bring great glory to Him!!!!!