Spent Matches

“Allen Hoskyn Methodist pastor, community chaplain, FCS Urban Ministries, Lawrenceville, GA Spent Matches is core, simple, easy to follow, and reproducible, anytime—anywhere. For the gospel to go viral and the Great Commission to be fulfilled will require all different kinds of churches, some just like this book talks about. Read it and apply it! Bob Roberts Jr. Author, Bold as Love and senior pastor, Northwood Church, Keller, TX If there’s anything that’s needed among today’s Christians, it’s that we all go deeper and really follow through on Jesus’ command to invest ourselves in other people and make disciples—even with our own children. In this book, Roy will give you a lot to think about in that regard, and will challenge you to live out your faith in ways that are more effective for the kingdom and more satisfying for us as well.”

Carey Casey

“Roy is one of the few men who challenges and inspires me virtually every time we’re together. Spent Matches captures what I have seen to be Roy’s heart—a passion to creatively engage lost people with truth and turn them into communities communities of disciple-makers. This book will challenge you, trouble you, possibly irritate you, and ultimately inspire you. It is a thought-provoking wake-up call for the church to get back to doing what Jesus told us to do.”

Dale Losch

“If you are thin-skinned, don’t read this book! But if you really want to look beyond our ego and natural self-protectionism to really understand where we are today as the American church, Spent Matches may be able to help you get there. After fully deflating any ego that might remain after reading the first section about where we are as a church today, Roy leads us through a thought-provoking process that challenges some of our most basic assumptions (some cherished assumptions) about church and ministry. Fortunately, the book doesn’t end there. Roy goes on to offer up reasons to hope for a better church in the future. This hope, he tells us, is rooted in a fresh understanding of the Great Commission’s laser focus on making disciples rather than planting churches. As we make disciples who make disciples, more and more churches will emerge in a process of accelerating growth.”

Dave Hunt

“Rarely have I read a book that answered my questions, moved me to tears, gave practical insights that I can use immediately in ministry, and reignited passion for the Kingdom of God. Spent Matches by Roy Moran has done all that. As a missions administrator focused on Disciple-Making Movements in Latin America, I have been asked numerous times if the DMM strategy could bear fruit in the United States. The answer is clear, and the answer is yes. This book explains how. No one who is concerned with finishing the Great Commission should miss this book.”

David Parish

“of the principles outlined in this book. He is doing the hard tedious work of living out a new way of doing church and challenging all of us in the process. If you really care about the future of the church and the expansion of the Gospel Spent Matches is a must read . . . but beware: you will be infected with a disciple-making mentality! Pastor Gary Schmitz Executive Director Citywide Prayer Movement, Kansas City Spent Matches is the kind of book that all followers of Jesus Christ must read. Above all, this book has the ability to make us look inside and see our weaknesses: the kind and the depth of our Christianity. It makes us to see that we have a large and important task as a church to reach those who are far away from Jesus. On the other hand, it challenges us to look outside the box, beyond ourselves, as well as to glimpse a much larger mission: The Missio Dei, which all those who claim to be followers of Jesus, true disciples, should engage, engage, so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea. Gustavo A. Chofard SEPAL/ OC International Missionary Sobering truths but critical insights. This book gives key principles, pointing a way forward for the church to make progress in its mission to make disciples of all nations.”

Kevin King

“state of the church” message thoughtful leaders will want to read. I was sobered as I read the book but also drawn in by Roy’s engaging conversational style. If you want your church to make a difference in the world, this is essential reading. Floyd McClung All Nations Cape Town Roy Moran is one unorthodox pragmatic leader, for whom Christianity is a faith and a lifestyle, not a religion! In this same manner, comes Spent Matches to reflect the mind-set of the author and lay for us the mission of the church in this world that is changing every day. One of the strengths of this book is that Roy lived and implemented it way before he wrote about it. It’s the “raw” view of the church as Jesus intended it to be! Spent Matches is a must read for all those who passionately want to see a movement of God, founded on the Word of God, intended to love and obey God! Nadim Costa Executive Director, Near East Organization, Lebanon, and member of the City Council of Beirut This book is a valuable guide and introduction to how North American followers of Jesus can be culturally relevant, biblically faithful, and fulfilled in Christ. Many folks feel that there must be another way to do church, but they don’t know why they feel this way or where to begin. Roy has helped forge a path to how to remain culturally relevant to traditional notions of church gatherings in North America while also helping to unleash the rest of us to join the mission of God. No more holding back. No more telling people they aren’t good enough or ready. In Jesus, all his promises are “Yes and Amen” for all of us messed up, theologically screwed up, sinner saints. If you are one of the “least of these,” read to see how you can get started right here, right now, right where you are, and just as you are to partner with Jesus in his Great Commission.”

Pam Arlund

“Raw and real; provocative and practical. A brave and noble attempt to guide those on the cusp of total disengagement down a path of personal discovery and discipleship. Pete Burney Senior Executive, Corporate America Roy Moran’s book Spent Matches is an eye-opening book. It will help you to see the church in a bigger picture while looking through the lens of your understanding of kingdom vision and broadening your perspective of how we can win the world to Christ in a shorter period of time. In his book Roy expounds on the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. Roy explains clearly that the commission is for us to make disciples that make disciples. This concept is pure gold and is key to seeing closure to the Great Commission. This book builds beautifully on this principle and allows us to pick up a mirror and make an analysis of the heartfelt efforts that we have committed our lives to and sacrificed so much for. Sometimes the truth hurts us to the core, but only when we are hurting are we willing to change. I am thankful for the loving manner in which Roy wrote this book. It reaches into the heart of the matter while cautiously and carefully touching and challenging our hearts to change. Too many people are dying without Christ each day while we are allowing allowing our methodologies and approaches to stand in the way of Christ’s kingdom expansion. What will we do about it? Are we willing to change our methods and tactics so that we too will be able to see the Great Commission fulfilled in our lifetime? I recommend this book to all people who are passionate about finishing the task and are intensely awaiting the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Randy Keith Travis Jr. Third Generation Missionary and Co-Strategy Coordinator for the Latin America DMM project with World Missions and Evangelism Roy Moran is a trusted advisor to many, a chief agitator, uniquely skilled at bringing people “into close quarters with a revelation that creates discomfort in their paradigms” (see From Teachers to Learning Designers, chap. 4). His passion for pre-Christians and vision for a New Reformation is evident in these pages. If you are dissatisfied with the traditional approach to evangelism, you will find in Spent Matches a fresh approach worthy of consideration. If it causes discomfort, consider yourself blessed. A positive paradigm shift rarely takes place within the comfort zone. Richard Potter Musician and Writer, blogging at www.playingbyfear.com This book from Roy Moran highlights the biblical concept of the Christian church as a “movement”. . . not a “monument.” He challenges the tendency of the church to focus on “maintenance” rather than on her “mission” as the body of Christ. He provides a solution by calling the church back to the great commission which refocuses her on obedience to Jesus’ call to make disciples which will promote Church Planting Movements. After all it is “among the wolves that we are to find sheep.” His experiences and passions have produced a helpful and practical challenge to the church of Jesus Christ. Shalom! Rev. Victor John Bhojpuri CPM Coach, Leadership Development Roy Moran loves Jesus’ church enough to tell us the brutal truth. Deep in our soul, we know that we as the church are failing the people of this world. In Spent Matches, Roy does not give simplistic answers, but rather digs beneath the surface of the necessary changes in belief and practice for us to live out Jesus’ GREAT command: being disciples who make disciple-making disciples. Roy is not an arm-chair theologian but a local pastor who describes his journey with his fellow Shoal Creek disciples as they learn, struggle, fail, rejoice, and try again with lots of offbeat and refreshing efforts. Some would suggest that we abandon the existing church, but Roy shows us a hybrid path of how we as believers and churches can allow God to call us to a new Reformation of the church.”

Stan Parks