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).
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
DESIRED OUTCOMES
Equipping the church to follow Jesus faithfully until he returns.
The Daniel Training Network exists to generate and coordinate quality training and resources that:
In pursuit of our vision and mission, most of our time and energy is directed toward:
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.
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:
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:
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.