What's APT?

This was our 4th year to partner with Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, TN and the LH Missions Team to provide Thanksgiving Meal Bags to families who live in apartments that we serve. Each year we go to the apartment management of 4-6 of our apartments to see if they would be willing for us to drop off meal bags for their residents to come pick up. We have never had an apartment manager turn us down. They are usually overjoyed that we would do this for them. It is a huge blessing to the management staff. This year we were able to serve 400 families in 6 apartment properties. We were even able to serve a new apartment that you'll hear about in today's episode. Today's episode is full of information on how this distribution works, how we even got started distributing Thanksgiving Meal Bags and what we pray will be the result of this year's distribution. We will conclude by sharing what next year might look like as we expand this incredible access ministry. This is where you can get involved.

Three years ago we started promoting a day of prayerwalking in apartments. We started with the few we had at that time here in Middle TN. CityLife now has connections, relationships and friendships with people across the US who have interest and passion for getting the Gospel to those who work and live in apartments. We encouraged individuals, churches and nonprofits to choose an apartment near where they live, work, church or school. This year’s NAP Day was November 2 and we definitely had an increase in numbers both in reports and verbal commitments. Today’s episode Rod and Gary will discuss what happened that beautiful day on November 2. Our hope is that this episode will encourage you to join us in 2025 and maybe even sooner. 

When Rod, CityLife's Director of Operations, moved from NJ to PA, he was given a large golden framed plaque from friends he ministered with at the Stonecrest Community Church of Warren, NJ. The plaque read,“As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand…” Jeremiah 18:6. This episode is a conversation about how Rod works daily with CityLife to make disciples through Discovery Bible Studies. Listeners will hear how true this verse in Jeremiah is, as Rod and Gary share how they are constantly being remolded and reshaped by the hand of God and being sensitive to the Spirit of God. It is crucial as we minister to apartment employees and residents to be sensitive and flexible as God goes before us preparing us and them to experience the will of the Father. This is His work and He has invited us to join Him in His plan to redeem and transform apartment complexes for His glory. 

This episode is a deep dive into helping listeners understand what goes on behind the scenes of CityLife’s MissionLab 615 and what it takes to do a mission experience in our Middle TN apartments. Rod and Gary talk about how we customize, short-term mission trips to share God’s love in apartments. They also will talk about what happens after the mission experience.  CityLife serves churches, collegiate ministries, and faith-based nonprofit organizations to bring their unique skills, talents and God’s love to do hands-on, practical projects in apartments. ML615 is becoming a go to place to experience disciple making in apartments. Come join us in the episode to hear why we do MissionLab 615.

Local churches have been doing apartment ministry for decades however most churches don’t stay. There are several reasons a church’s ministry to apartment residents is not consistent or sustainable. It could be because….They can’t get enough workers.They expect the residents they serve will come to their church. When they don’t come, then churches may decide it’s not worth it.Lack of vision or resources or time.Apartment ministry is not a part of the church’s mission vision. They have other priorities. Apartment ministry seems to drain the church’s budgetChurches don’t see this as a kingdom work. This podcast is focused on why churches SHOULD be involved in apartment ministry and why relationships and partnerships will create a sustainable ministry to apartment employees and residents and even vendors. Listeners will be given a clear picture of the role of the local church in serving an apartment complex on purpose and with purpose as a way to fulfill the Great Commission.

How many times have I prayed over and over and eventually began to feel like God was just not hearing my prayers? If you can identify with this, then you might be interested in our discussion today regarding why we pray and how it changes us. Prayer aligns our life with God so that He chooses to demonstrate His power through you. The purpose of prayer is not to convince God to change your circumstances but to prepare you to be involved in God’s activity.You will also hear about how prayer changes us in how we work and minister in the apartments God has called us to serve. 

Prayerwalking is essential for CityLife to be effective in our apartment ministry with employees and residents. Today's episode is a deep dive into the mechanics of prayerwalking. Rod and Gary covered prayerwalking in a recent episode but Casey Cobb, CityLife's national prayer coordinator, will share some very specific things that will help all of us know that we are doing the right things to cover an apartment community with prayer. Casey will share some very intentional things to do and what not to do. She will go into great detail on asking the Holy Spirit to use the five senses we have to pray for specific people as we prayerwalk. These practical insights will be beneficial to anyone who wants to prayerwalk an apartment or wherever you go in your daily routine. "Prayerwalking is praying onsite with insight!"

Prayer Movements precede Disciple Making Movements. There is no doubt in the history of the Church that strong movements of prayer have resulted in God moving in miraculous ways in the people of God as well as the lost. CityLife has adopted that approach as we serve in apartments. Prayer is the work! The foundation of CityLife is built on praying and fasting. This has been on our heart for three plus years to catalyze a prayer movement for and in apartments across the US. Apartments are everywhere and more are coming but who is praying for them? Who is serving them? 

We embrace what the late Dr. Henry Blackaby says, "Prayer is not a substitute for hard work–prayer is the work! God does things in and through our lives by prayer that He does in no other way. As we pray and as our attention is turned toward God, we become more receptive to aligning our lives with His will. God will not equip us with His power while we are racing off to our next appointment! His Spirit will not empower us if we are oblivious to what He is saying. He requires our complete attention before He will fill us with the powerful presence of His Spirit." (taken from Experiencing God Day-by-Day Devotional, October 2)Listeners today will hear the heartbeat of CityLife's national prayer coordinator, Casey Cobb. Rod and Casey talk about prayer and aligning ourselves to God's will, purpose and activities. We suggest that you get a notepad out and take some notes as you listen to Casey's testimony and passion for prayer. 

One of the most effective evangelism tools in the New Testament are persons of peace talked about in Luke 10 and Matthew 10. One way to find persons of peace is to have spiritual conversations with them. Also, spiritual conversations are a great way to start and build a relationship with someone you know or don’t know. It's an opportunity to tell my story and even live my story as it relates to His story. Today’s podcast will be a discussion between Rod and Gary about what those spiritual conversations look like. Those who do not Jesus as their Savior deserve much more than a presentation. We desperately need to share Jesus and show the lost who the God of the Bible is with our words, actions and friendship. Lost people don’t need a presentation. They need a demonstration. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Today Gary will be interviewing Rod on a topic that describes how the Church and CityLife work together in apartments. The Church has been the teaching ground to live holy, to live humbly and to be hungry for the Word of God. The Church is also a sending church. This conversation will talk about the Church getting outside the proverbial four walls and work with CityLife to pray, care and share Jesus with employees and residents. Listeners will hear how important it is to fill the Gospel gap that exists in apartments and how churches partner with CityLife to do extraordinary things for God. 

There were 9 nonprofits, 3 businesses, 30+ volunteers from 6+ churches that came together to serve, love and make friends in an apartment complex that desperately needs transformation. Rod and Gary will talk about a Saturday event called Opportunity Day that CityLife did in partnership with a local attorney who loves and feels called to Haynes Garden Apartments, a HUD housing community, in Nashville. This event will help listeners to know why and how to partner with several nonprofits, businesses and churches to meet the needs of an entire apartment complex. Listeners will hear the stories of how this all came together with the manager of the apartment leading and contributing to the event. 

This is a sequel to Episode 15 "The Ministry of Networking." Rod and Gary go deeper into the purpose of networking as well as what the blessings and fruit of networking. Listeners will hear how networking accomplishes great things for Kingdom work in the context of apartment ministry. Rod and Gary will also answer the question of where networkers and disciple-makers go fishing for people resources. Finally, listeners will gain some great insights on how networking is the foundation for multiplication of making disciples who make disciples. 

If you would like to make a huge impact on an apartment community, then this episode is for you. We will talk about a specific access ministry called The Angel Tree Project that we did twice at the same apartment that is ninety percent Hispanic. We will go in detail on how this incredible experience was put in our laps and how God used it for His Kingdom work to begin transforming this apartment into a community. Rod and Gary will also talk about the "why" which is the most important part of this episode. We don't just serve...we serve with purpose. The Angel Tree Project was a monumental event that brought several churches together to take care of nine-one kids at Christmas time. 

One of the most important tools for making and multiplying disciple-makers is Discovery Bible Study. It's simple 8 question inductive format is being used all over the world to help people discover the God of the Bible in all languages and cultures. We have covered a lot about Discovery Bible Study in Episodes 4 and 5 however today's episode is focused on how to select the right scripture sets for any challenge, need or issue in life. The DBS questions don't change but the selecting the right scripture sets are even more important to learn how to obey God's Word so that His will is being done through our lifestyle of obedience. Listen in as Rod asks great questions to stir the conversation with Gary that will be helpful to you as a facilitator of DBS. 

This is part 2 of a short series on how disciplemakers change the world. This episode is a discussion on how to get started as a practitioner and multiplier of disciples. Rod and Gary go back and forth with prodding questions and stirring conversations about Experiencing God and how that study has affected believers to become disciplemakers. 

Rod and Gary talk about what it means to be a disciplemaker and the Biblical mandate to multiply. This is a two-part series with this episode focused on how and why disciplemakers are actually world changers. This is a great conversation for individuals, churches and faith-based nonprofits to get a fresh look at the Great Commission and our obedience to Jesus' final command. This will encourage current disciplemakers to retool to become disciplemakers who multiply disciplemakers as well. 

This episode is a robust conversation about how important and effective prayer walks are for the apartments we serve. Prayer walks are strategically necessary as we start CityLife in an apartment but also how prayer sustains the ministry. We've said it before but it's worth saying again...."Prayer is the work!!!"The last part of the episode is dedicated to "trash talking." You'll see how this cheesy idea is becoming one of our most significant access ministries in serving and praying for an apartment. Apartment managers love it! The apartment management technicians love it even more. 

We are flipping the roles of Rod and Gary on this episode. Gary interviews Rod this time to talk about how and why we work with apartment management instead of knocking on doors to share the Gospel. We discovered four years ago that CityLife's ministry model fits into the apartment industry business model of retention. CityLife, in effect, becomes a partner with apartment management to help them build community. This is a very important session to help other individuals, ministries and nonprofits see how our commitment to apartment management is easily reproducible and sustainable because it's built on long-term relationships and their need for help in building a healthy apartment community.

You will hear Rod and Gary talk about how CityLife uses access ministries in apartments they serve. CityLife has used several ministries and events to gain access to residents as we work with apartment management. You will hear some of those access ministries and the stories that resulted in serving with purpose. Access is about entry into a community to whom we are strangers.  Appropriate access is about entering this new community without adding additional barriers to being a stranger. The point of access is to meet people, to demonstrate a spiritual life that draws the Person of Peace and do so in such a way that no one is put off.  The precursors of all this activity are prayer and planning.  

CityLife is called to make and multiply disciplemakers in and through apartments therefore we were determined to stay focused on the multi-family housing mission field. However, we began to hear from the Lord that we needed to expand our scope to the homeless. We decided to follow the Lord's leading and launch a homeless ministry in the Rivergate area in partnership with Faith Baptist Church, Madison. This episode is about that very first Meal of Hope where we served 20 homeless and had multiple Gospel conversations with was undoubtedly a God thing. 

America is home to many nationalities and cultures. As we continue with this discussion on Home Missions and CityLife we will acknowledge some of the many cultures we connect with in our apartment ministry. We pray that these sessions regarding Home Missions piqued your interest to take the next step and investigate some of the mission opportunities that are in your own neighborhood. Our responsibility is to obey God, and make disciples in Nashville, New Mexico, Netherlands, or your own neighborhood.Don't forget to pray for CityLife!!!

This is the first time Gary and Rod did their podcast recording in from of a live audience. Mt Juliet Christian Academy invited us to speak at one of their High School chapels services.  We were asked to represent CityLife as an example of a Home Mission.       Acts 1:8 (ESV)"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Jerusalem in this command is the Home Mission."As Christians we are commanded to share the witness of Christ from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. I pray that you and the High School students of Mt Juliet Christian Academy will each obey God’s call to be a witness for Jesus whether He calls you to go across the world or across the street.

This is the final episode of an interview Gary Jennings had with John King, the retired global coach with Final Command Ministries. John is also Gary's coach as he practices the principles of DMM in the context of apartments. CityLife is committed to these DMM principles to transform apartments by making and multiplying disciplemakers in and through apartments. John goes over the five basic principles of DMM including praying and fasting, serving with purpose, finding persons of peace, starting Discovery Bible Studies and embracing multiplication. CityLife partners with churches, nonprofits, individuals, entrepreneurs and business leaders to provide a "lab" to implement these Kingdom elements for the multiplication of disciplemakers from the inside out.  Thank you, John!!!

This is an ongoing interview that Gary Jennings had recently  with John King focused on how critical ordinary people are to lead, disciple and multiply movements. Traditionally, the local church depends on seminary-trained ministers to share the Gospel which seldom leads to the multiplication of disciplemakers. However,  ordinary people is essential for the multiplication of the Gospel in the workplace, schools, neighborhoods, and communitiesThis conversation also includes some very special insights John has for those of us who use the principles and practices of Disciple Making Movements in apartment ministry. 

We are so blessed to have John King on our podcast today. John is the retired Global Coach with Final Command Ministries in Murfreesboro, TN. John has been a part of several Disciple Making Movements around the world and has been Gary's Disciple Making Movement coach since 2015. This interview is first episode of three beginning with some basics about Disciple Making Movements. We will be discussing what is a DMM and how they get started as well as brief conversations about how God uses ordinary people to transform their circles of influence from the inside out. We will also talk about how to train people for multiplication. 

We love working with the apartment management teams. They are the entry point for CityLife to be effective in serving and discipling employees and residents. First, as we serve the apartment management we are developing  and building a community that encourages retention among residents and employees. In other words, we are assisting apartment management in their business model by creating a safe and healthy community for their residents to live, play, serve and flourish. As we pray and serve with purpose CityLife is able to interact with the community through access events and ministries, we are given the opportunity to have spiritual discussions, and find persons of peace, start Discovery Bible studies and multiply what God is doing. This enables God’s Kingdom to be expanded in and through apartment communities. 

In order for CityLife to accomplish all that God has given us – God also provides the resources that come from partnerships. Today we will talk about “The Ministry of Networks” and how God uses networks to bring us the essential resources that come from partnerships.Networking provides the “all sufficiency” that we read about in 2 Corithians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace aboundtoward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

MissionLab615 is a ministry of CityLife, that provides customized, short-term mission trips to share God’s love in apartments. We want mission teams to “taste and see” what God is doing in our Middle TN apartments and equip them to make and multiply disciplemakers in apartments here in Middle TN as well as where the mission team lives, works, and plays. Who is MissionLab615 for? Churches, collegiate ministries, and nonprofit organizations are invited to Nashville to have practical, hands-on experiences on how to make and multiply disciplemakers in and through apartments. Our mission lab experiences are for high school students (who have completed the 8th grade), college students, and adults in churches, collegiate ministries, and faith-based nonprofit organizations. 

This is the final episode in a three-part series called CityLife Distinctives. Rod and Gary cover the last five of the twelve distinctives in a short amount of time but each distinctive is garnished with stories from our apartments. Compassionate PartnershipsPartnerships are our fundamental way of implementing Matthew 9:35-38. Partnerships are our model in earning trust to serve and build apartment communities. We are dependent on strong partnerships to fulfill the Great Commission in and through apartments.Coach the Coach(able)Coaching is essential in making obedience-based disciple-makers who support disciple-making movements in and through apartments.Willing Learners We must be willing to learn how God is using our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world that are experiencing disciple-making movements and adapt in our ministries to apartments.Equip Churches for Apartment Ministry Strong, healthy missional churches in North America are critical in sending and supporting disciple-makers in difficult-to-reach Acts 1:8 areas. By enlisting volunteers from local churches they get to experience the work that God is doing and the opportunity to join Him in making disciple-makers. Additionally, we coach churches in initiating prayer and service for apartments in their own communities.Success measured by transformed lives. Our effectiveness will be measured by apartment employees, residents, partners and volunteers transformed in becoming disciples who make disciples.  

This is the second episode  in a three-part  series called CityLife Distinctives where we cover the following topics.  MultiplicationEveryone believer should be a disciple maker and every disciple maker should be reproducing by multiplication, not just addition.  Kingdom MinistryWe submit to the authority of God to invite Kingdom-minded partners and volunteers to do ministry together that brings glory to God and His Kingdom.Multi-Family Housing is our FocusWe intentionally serve and partner with apartment owners, management companies and teams in order to serve their residents.Authentic, Long-term RelationshipsWe desire to authentically practice the “One Anothers” always putting the needs of apartment employees and residents before ourselves to love and serve as long as possible. 

Our call from God for CityLife is to make and multiply disciple-makers in and through apartments. CityLife has 12 distinctives to guide our apartment ministry. Rod and Gary will cover the following three distinctives in the first of three episodes. LoveOur motivation is to live the Gospel out of love for the Father and for those He created. Our love is demonstrated in our obedience to serve apartment employees and residents.Dependence  PrayerWe pray and seek where He is already working and join Him in His mission to transform apartments therefore we will not go and do without His power and guidance.  The Power of DiscoveryWe encourage and equip apartment employees and residents to discover the God of the Bible in small groups with an 8-question inductive Discovery Bible Study.

Rod and Gary will conclude this 2 part series on Discovery Bible Study as a tool that the Holy Spirit uses to be the engine to make and multiply disciplemakers in any context or culture. The Holy Spirit is the fuel that creates the environments for Kingdom movements.What is DBS? Discovery Bible Study is an inductive method in which participants learn what the scripture reveals about God and about people. Obedience to the passage is stressed as they discuss what it will take to obey the passage – and through their earlier reports on how well they did in living it out the previous week. Each week, each participant is asked to share either the lesson or the method with others. The results are shared with the group each week. Rapid practice and sharing is the key to reproduction.

Rod and Gary will thoroughly discuss what makes DBS a tool that the Holy Spirit uses to be the engine to make and multiply disciplemakers in any context or culture. The Holy Spirit is the fuel that creates the environments for Kingdom movements.A Discovery Bible Study (DBS) is facilitated by using eight simple questions. These questions, or steps, are carefully designed to bond a small group of 4-6 people together as they explore the Word of God in a non-threatening environment. 

Partnerships can be characterized in our apartment ministry context as Kingdom expansion. CityLife is not about building a huge organization. We are committed to building partnerships to work together for the "good" of those who live and work in apartments.This session is filled with great information on why we partner with others and what that means in making disciples who make disciples.

Today's conversation is built around our obedience-based disciple making process that is happening in other parts of the world where there is a rapid reproduction of disciples making disciples who make disciples. We cover the five basic elements of this process including, Praying and Fasting, Serving with Purpose, Finding Persons of Peace, Starting Discovery Bible Studies and Embracing Multiplication. 

Rod and Gary talk about how CityLife got started and how those early days set the stage for where CityLife apartment ministry is today.The conversation began with How CityLife got started but moved into why CityLife  focuses on apartments and how apartment ministry works for us to make and multiply disciplemakers.