About DTN

WHO WE ARE

The Daniel Training Network (DTN) is a decentralized network of trainers, disciples, and churches bound by a common vision to equip the saints to persevere in obedience to Jesus through the intense difficulties that will precede the establishment of His kingdom at the Second Coming.

To this end, our primary ministry functions are prayer, relationship-building, training, resource development and coordination. We also encourage the use of a small-group training environment that fosters strong relationships.

As training is offered and resources generated in context to the Daniel Training Network, our goal is to coordinate those resources and make them available freely to others by means of an online resource center (our website).

WHY DANIEL?

The name Daniel means “God is my judge.” As part of our identity, the name “Daniel” is to function as a constant reminder that one day all of us will give an account of our lives before God (Rom. 14:12). We want this name to help us remember to keep our eyes fixed on the things that truly matter to God as we pray and seek to faithfully obey Jesus’ command to make strong disciples (Mt. 28:18-20). Our deepest longing is simply to stand before Jesus when He returns and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servants. You were faithful to Me and did not shrink back from loving Me even in the face of death. And you were faithful to make other disciples who did the same.”

The book of Daniel inspires the focus and desired outcomes of our training:

FOCUS

• Pray: Daniel was committed to a lifestyle of prayer and fasting despite opposition, especially in times of crisis (Dan. 6:10-13; 9:3; Dan. 10:2-3). Like Daniel, we too are committed to making a lifestyle of prayer foundational to everything we do. Jesus says that apart from abiding in Him, we are fruitless (Jn. 15).

• Proclaim: Daniel had clear understanding of the biblical gospel. He proclaimed the Messiah’s coming earthly Kingdom (Dan. 2:34-35, 44), the Second Coming (Dan. 7:13-14), the bodily resurrection of the righteous and the wicked (Dan. 12:1-3), and the inheritance of the saints in the coming Kingdom (Dan. 7:18, 26-27). Like Daniel, we are committed to declaring the biblical gospel boldly in word and deed.

• Prophesy: Daniel had skill in hearing the Spirit clearly, and therefore had prophetic understanding of the purposes of God at the end of the age (Dan. 1:17; 2:26-28; 4:4-9; 5:10-12). Like Daniel, we too prioritize hearing the Spirit’s voice as crucial to preparing for the persecutions that the saints will face at the end of the age (Dan. 7).

• Prepare: Daniel faithfully and righteously administered his God-given assignment despite opposition and in times of turmoil and transition (Dan. 5, 6:1-5). Like Daniel, we want to prepare for Jesus’ return by empowering the different parts of Jesus’ Body to faithfully carry out their God-given assignments with integrity, righteousness, and in the fear of the Lord.

DESIRED OUTCOMES

• Provoke: Daniel carried an intercessory burden for Israel’s restoration (Dan. 9:1-19), because Israel’s salvation is linked to the restoration of the entire earth (Is. 62). Like Daniel and Paul (Rom. 10:1), we want God to increase a burden for Israel’s salvation. The true litmus test of our quality of life as the church is this: Are we walking in a quality of love and declaring a quality of witness sufficient to provoke the nation of Israel to jealousy for her Messiah (Rom. 11:11)? When they see Gentile faces, do they see the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the self-sacrificial love of Jesus? The resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming happen in context to the fullness of the Gentile harvest coming in and Israel’s national salvation (Rom. 11).

• Persevere: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah model for us a resolve to remain faithful to God through persecution and tests (Dan. 1-3; 6). Also, Daniel had great clarity about the unprecedented time of persecution that the saints will encounter at the end of the age (Dan. 7-8, 11-12). Like Daniel, we want ourselves and others to have clarity and understanding about the nature and purpose of that coming persecution. More importantly, our desire is for as many people as possible to actually remain faithful to Jesus when the thing about which we are seeking clarity actually occurs.

• Promise: In Daniel, God has given a promise to those who give themselves to preparing the saints to persevere in righteousness through the coming difficulties: they will shine forever and ever in the Kingdom of God (Dan. 12:3-4)! Like Daniel, we want ourselves and those we influence to shine forever in resurrected glory because they remained faithful to Jesus through the coming tribulation.

VISION

Equipping the church to follow Jesus faithfully until he returns.

MISSION

The Daniel Training Network exists to generate and coordinate quality training and resources that:

1. Equip the Church to follow Jesus faithfully through trials and persecution until He returns.
2. And produce disciples who boldly proclaim the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit

VALUES

• Simplicity – We are committed to fighting for simplicity of devotion to Jesus, simplicity of organization, and simplicity of lifestyle.

• Watchfulness – We are committed to cultivating a watchful heart that resists the scoffing spirit that will manifest itself in the last days (2 Pet. 3:3).

• Fear of the Lord – We are committed to keeping the Day of the Lord and the fact that we will all give an account of our lives before God at the forefront of our thinking, conversation, and actions.

• Prayer – We are committed to making prayer and intercession the foundation of everything we do.

• Love – We are committed to keeping the First Commandment first, and to loving each other self-sacrificially as Jesus has loved us.

• Spirit-led – We are committed to hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice and obeying.

• Truth – We are committed to fanning into flame a love for the truth.

• Urgency – We are committed to proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God with boldness and earnest resolve.

• Integrity – We are committed to holding each other accountable to righteous stewardship of all God would entrust to us.

• Community – We are committed to building strong relationships, working together in humility, and catalyzing all parts of the Body to operate together in their God-given gifts and calling.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

• The Trinity – We believe in one God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit subsisting forever in one divine essence (Jn. 1:1; Rom. 9:5; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; etc.).

• The Person of Jesus the Messiah – We believe that Jesus the Messiah is both fully God and fully man, one Son, Lord, and Messiah made known in two natures without confusion, without change, without separation, without division (in accordance with the Definition of Chalcedon [451]). The eternal Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us (Jn. 1:1, 14; Rom. 9:5; Ph. 2:5-11; Col. 2:9; Rev. 1:8, 17, 22:16; etc.).

• Atonement – We believe that the forgiveness of sins is accessed only through the atoning blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Repentance and faith in Jesus as the resurrected Lord is the only means of salvation and inclusion in the coming Kingdom of God (Ac. 4:12; Eph. 1:17; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9-13; 1 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:9; etc.).

• Nature of Salvation – We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will inherit the Kingdom of God in resurrected bodies at Jesus’ return, and the wicked will ultimately be thrown into the Lake of Fire in resurrected bodies. The gospel is not the soul’s escape to an ethereal “heavenly destiny” (Gnosticism), but the “restoration of all things” and the renewal of the heavens and the earth that will commence at the Second Coming (Is.65:17ff; Lk. 14:14; Jn. 5:28-29; Ac. 3:19-21; Ac. 24:15; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Th. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6, 20:11-15, 21-22; etc.).

• Gifts of the Holy Spirit – We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are operative in the church today and are to be eagerly desired. The gifts are to be exercised and administered not in a spirit of self-exaltation, but in love and humility for the edification of the Body and well-being of the whole (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12-14).

• Mission of the Church – We believe that the mandate of the church in this age is NOT to establish the dominion of God on the earth, but to boldly testify in word, deed, through sufferings, and in the Spirit’s power to the Day when God will establish dominion through the Messiah He has chosen (Ps. 110; Ac. 3:19-21; 4:29-30; 17:31; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; etc.).

• Eschatology – We believe that Jesus will establish the Messianic Kingdom prophesied throughout the Old Testament at His coming. The saints – Jew and Gentile, male and female – will receive their inheritance and reward at that time (the classical pre-millennialist position of the early church). The Messiah’s Kingdom will be an earthly kingdom and government with its headquarters in Jerusalem, and Jesus will rule over the earth in partnership with resurrected saints from Israel and all nations (Is. 2, 11, 40-66; Dan. 7, 12; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Pet. 1; Rev. 1; 2-3; 11:15-19; 19-22; etc.).

• Perseverance – We believe that the church will pass through the Great Tribulation during the last three-and-a-half years before Jesus returns, and that this time of testing will serve to purify and sanctify the Bride of Messiah in preparation for His return. These tests will prove whether our faith is sincere or not. Jesus will return at the end of the Tribulation to vindicate His Bride by raising the saints from the dead for the world to behold (Dan. 7-8, 12; Mt. 24; Mk. 13; Lk. 21; 1 Cor. 15; Col. 3:1-4; 1 Th. 5; 1 Pet. 1:7; Rev. 13:10; 14:12; etc.).

• Israel – We believe that God still has plans for ethnic Israel because of His covenant-faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, these plans center on Israel’s national salvation through the gospel. “Supporting Israel” means sharing the gospel with Jewish people. “Praying for the peace of Jerusalem” means praying for Jews to turn to Jesus in repentance and faith. The church made up of both Jew and Gentile – the “one new man” – is called to walk in a quality of love, witness, and self-sacrifice that provokes unbelieving Jews to jealousy for their Messiah. The resurrection of the dead, the Messiah’s return, and the restoration of all things are ultimately linked to the fullness of the Gentile harvest coming in and Israel’s salvation (Rom. 9-11; Eph. 2-3; etc.)

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

In pursuit of our vision and mission, most of our time and energy is directed toward:

1. Abiding in Jesus through extended amounts of time in prayer and the Word
2. Training and equipping through multiple formats and venues
3. Networking and facilitating strong relationships between different parts of the Body of Christ
4. Resourcing the saints with quality resources at little to no cost

HISTORY

The Daniel Training Network was originally birthed out of Bethany Church, located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Our official launch date was Good Friday, April 2, 2010. The idea of the Daniel Training Network – originally the “Daniel Institute of Prayer and Missions” – was conceived when a number of people at Bethany Church began to feel an increasing burden for the Body of Christ to be equipped and prepared for persecution and the other end-times difficulties prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24.

In Fall 2010, we changed our name to the “Daniel Training Institute” in order to more clearly communicate our focus on training. However, upon further reflection, we realized that the word “institute” itself tends to give off the impression of a centralized school with buildings, programs, and degrees. In contrast, our focus is on building a decentralized network of relationships. As training is offered and resources generated in context to that network, our vision is to coordinate those resources and make them available freely to others by means of an online resource center (our website).  Thus, in April 2011, in order to underscore and bring clarity to our priority on relationship-building, we became the Daniel Training Network.

TRAINING TOPICS

The Daniel Training Network is committed to training that will help the saints persevere in faithfulness to Jesus through the shakings that the Bible prophesies will occur in the days leading up to the Second Coming. Our desire is to facilitate training for the fruitful exploration of a diverse range of topics that may prove helpful and strategic to the saints as the events of Matthew 24 unfold with increasing intensity in the days ahead. These include but are not limited to:

• Prayer – How do stay-at-home moms with young children facilitate a culture of prayer both individually and with other moms in the midst of flying cheerios and dirty diapers? How do we build a culture of prayer? Where should we build a culture of prayer? What are some practical ways we can keep the First Commandment first – at our jobs, at home, in our family culture? How can our children grow in a life of prayer? How can we effectively coordinate prayer and solemn assemblies on church, citywide, and regional levels? How can we stay anchored in intimacy with Jesus through the coming shakings?

• Church Planting Movements – How can we catalyze church planting movements that are of New Testament-caliber? What are the true implications of the Holy Spirit backing up the gospel with power? What if we only had a short amount of time to train new disciples due to an outbreak of persecution? What would we need to deposit in a first round of disciples in order to catalyze a rapidly-expanding movements whose adherents stay faithful to Jesus through trials and opposition?

• The Message – What is the biblical gospel that the apostles preached? What are the core elements of the gospel? How should a right understanding of the gospel motivate the saints to wholehearted love and obedience?

• Inner Healing and Deliverance – How can we integrate a vision for the Day of the Lord with insights from Spirit-led approaches to inner healing and deliverance? How can we make inner healing training lay-oriented and easily reproducible?

• Jew and Gentile – What is going to happen to the Jewish people in the days ahead? How can we help them in their time of coming crisis? Why does God require that we help them? Why is God administrating His plan among Jew and Gentile the way that He is?

• Judgment – Why is God going to judge the earth? How is God good, loving, and faithful as Judge of the earth? What is God trying to accomplish in our hearts through the coming shakings?

• Compassion – James 1:27 says that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” A witness in word only is an empty witness. How can the Body of Christ faithfully serve God’s purposes among the fatherless, the widow, the orphan, the alien, the poor, and the oppressed in this strategic hour in history?

• Persecution – What kind of things has God used historically to sustain His people through seasons of persecution? Why do we believe that the saints will go through the “Great Tribulation”? How do we practically organize ourselves when our buildings are taken away in context to an outbreak of persecution?

• Children/Family – How can parents prepare their children to stay faithful to Jesus through the coming persecution? What kinds of truths do our children need to be anchored to persevere until Jesus returns? How do we train our children to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?

• Worship – What kind of songs will strengthen the saints for persecution and martyrdom at the end of the age? How can we develop songs that put long-neglected aspects of the biblical gospel – the resurrection of the body, the Day of the Lord, the Messiah’s coming Kingdom, etc. – back in the forefront of the church’s corporate consciousness? How can we detoxify worship songs of Gnosticism (i.e. that our hope as believers is to die and float away to an etherealized “heavenly destiny”) and individualism?

• Practical Preparation – How can we respond and support each other as a community when economic crisis comes and suddenly there is no food in the grocery stores? What plants can we eat from our front yards, and what plants are poisonous to eat? How do we survive if the electricity goes out for weeks or even months?

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The desire of the Daniel Training Network is to produce and make available raw as well as quality resources that will serve to strengthen and equip the saints to remain faithful to Jesus at the end of the age. We want to ensure that the resources being produced and channeled to and through our network are anchored in the core values, vision, focus, and desired outcomes of the Daniel Training Network. The reason we do this is because we believe these are key to anchoring the Body in a New Testament expression of the faith at the end of the age. If we post resources on the Daniel Training Network website, we want to make sure that they serve as “grain” and “meat” that feed people in this hour, and not “chaff” that leaves them hungry and weak through the coming trials (Jer. 23:25-29).

We also desire to make the resources developed through the Daniel Training Network available to the Body of Christ at little to no cost. In cases where some kind of financial cost is unavoidable on a particular resource (such as a book), the money will not go to the Daniel Training Network itself, but directly to the person who produced the resource via that person’s personal arrangements. For example, if an author connected to the Daniel Training Network publishes a book through a self-publisher, the Daniel Training Network will serve a platform to communicate and endorse this written resource. However, we will not function in a middle-man role financially for this resource, but will communicate where people can purchase the book based on the author’s personal arrangements with the self-publishing agency. This modus operandi will apply to all resources that by necessity involve some financial cost.

Some of the resources we hope to produce and/or make available through the Daniel Training Network include:

Daniel Training Network Recordings

Part of our training process includes recording or videoing forums, seminars, and classes facilitated by the Daniel Training Network. All of these recordings, together with corresponding notes, will be made freely available online as they are produced over time. Resources are recorded in all types of environments and many are recorded via mp3 recorder, thus the quality varies from resource to resource.

Worship Resources

We believe that it is on God’s heart in this hour for the church to write and produce a genre of songs that:

1. are geared specifically toward strengthening the saints for persecution, great difficulty, and even martyrdom at the end of the age
2. puts long-neglected aspects of the biblical gospel – the resurrection of the body, the Day of the Lord, the Messiah’s coming Kingdom, etc. – back in the forefront of the church’s corporate consciousness
3. and is divested of Gnostic influences (i.e. that our hope as believers is to die and float away to an etherealized “heavenly destiny”) and individualism.

We are trusting God to develop these resources as the Holy Spirit speaks to worship leaders connected to DTN. Thus, we do not know the timing and pace in which these resources will be developed. However, we trust the Lord to bring about these resources in His timing. As they are produced, we will make these songs freely available through our website.

Research Articles

Within the Daniel Training Network, we want to provide a credible platform for researchers who share the Daniel Training Network’s vision, values, focus, and desired outcomes to make their work available to the Body of Christ. We will ask all of those who feel called to do research on behalf of the Daniel Training Network to conduct their research in the spirit of a good “Berean.” In Acts, we learn that the Bereans “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). In light of the Day of the Lord and the coming judgment, we request those doing research on behalf of the Daniel Training Network to bathe their research in the Berean qualities of noble character, hunger for the Word, respect for the authority of Scripture, and a love for the truth. Those who engage in rigorous academic pursuit must never forget that on the Day of the Lord, we will be judged on the basis of how well we loved, not on how well we were able to impress others with what we thought we knew (1 Cor. 8:1-3). Daniel Training Network research articles will be made available online as soon as they have been approved.

Children’s Resources

God has given many people connected with the Daniel Training Network a burden for the development of quality children’s resources – such as children’s books, videos, and homeschooling supplements – that will help parents prepare their children to remain faithful to Jesus through the difficulties of Matthew 24. Some resources are in the process of being brainstormed and developed, and a number of people connected with the Daniel Training Network are currently having conversations on this topic. As soon as these kinds of resources are completed and produced, we will communicate their availability on our website.

Prophetic Corpus

One of our desires at the Daniel Training Network is to facilitate regular “prophetic forums” where people can come together to discuss and interpret what the Holy Spirit has been speaking to them. Our desire is to collate and organize the resources produced in these forums into a growing corpus that those in the Daniel Training Network can turn to in the future for encouragement and strength. We will make some parts of the corpus available online as we deem appropriate under the Holy Spirit’s leadership.