Doing It Jesus’ Way

Let’s Do It Jesus’ Way!

Preconceived notions!  We all have them!  It doesn’t matter what subject we are talking about—we all have our own ideas as to how any given thing is to be done.   And this, of course, includes the topic of “how to do ministry.”   In fact, if we are not careful, it will be our tendency to base our service for God upon what we’ve seen as a child, our past church experiences, cultural norms, or any of a number of “models” that we may think is the “way to go.”

But wait! What about Jesus?  Isn’t He to be our One and Only Model for the way to live life?   Jesus indeed provided the pattern for behavior in every area of life, including that crucial area of ministry!  In essence, He not only PROVIDED the pattern—HE WAS THE PATTERN.  Here are a few tips we can learn from our Master, our Model:

Initiative: Jesus didn’t wait for His disciples to approach Him!  He reached out to them, called them, chose them!  (Luke 6:12-13)

Proximity: Jesus’ primary method was personal involvement!  He spent time with His disciples.  They were distinguished as the ones being with Jesus!  They went with Him on trips, prayer retreats, sailing, to weddings, funerals…  (Luke 8:1;  Mark 3:14-15)

Example: Jesus’ main method of mentoring was allowing His disciples to observe His life.  He knew that  they would learn faster if He would SHOW them—not just TELL them.  Class was always in session.  Discipleship was a way of life.  (John 13:5)

Friendship: Jesus GAVE HIMSELF to them.  He didn’t hold back from bringing them into His world.  He let them know that they were not merely servants—they were His FRIENDS!  (John 15:15)

Commitment: Jesus committed Himself to His disciples, and expected the same commitment from them.  Jesus did not waste His time.  He made it clear that they were to follow Him on HIS terms.  They had to be willing to forsake everything and follow Him.  (John 13:1; Matt. 16:24)

Responsibility: Jesus involved His disciples in the work.  He gave them ownership of the ministry through delegation and authority.  (Mark 6:7)

Assessment: Jesus was a great “Supervisor” of His disciples.  He gave responsibility WITH accountability.  He knew that mere experience is not the best teacher—it must be EVALUATED experience!  There was no failure with Jesus—just learning opportunities.  He would listen to their reports, rejoice with them, and then send them out again.  (Luke 10:17-20)

Empowered Launch: Jesus initiated one final contact and gave one final challenge to His disciples—THEY WERE TO DUPLICATE WHAT HE HAD DONE WITH THEM!  He empowered them with His Spirit so that HE WOULD ACTUALLY BE MINISTERING THROUGH THEM!  Jesus expected His disciples to reproduce His life in others in everything they would do!  (John 20:22;  Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:18-20)

Yes, Jesus’ “mentoring model” was definitely unique!   It was not about programs—but it was about people! He focused in on the FEW to reach the MANY!  Although He had a vision for the whole world, He started by investing His life in a few men and women.  We will not be able to accomplish Jesus’ mission apart from His beautiful model of selecting and discipling a few people.  Are you ready to ready to “do it Jesus’ way?”  You are not alone!  This is the one plan He will be thrilled to accomplish through you!

Pray For Disciples

Raising a Healthy Disciple

Pray for Disciples!
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A young, energetic, prospective missionary received some very encouraging news. One of the most successful missionaries he had ever heard about was going to speak at his church. With the hope of learning how he could be most effective on the mission field, the prospective missionary prepared questions to ask the veteran ambassador.

His first question was: “As you look back on a successful ministry, what brings you the most joy?” The wise missionary did not hesitate to answer. “As I look back, it is not the huge crowds that I spoke to or the large churches that I started that bring me the most joy. It is the young boy I led to Christ along the road who is now a powerful preacher. It is the woman I led to Christ in the village who is now training her children to be strong believers. It is the individuals whom I have been able to disciple that bring me my greatest joy and fulfillment!”

Why is this true?

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The strategy that Jesus gave to reach the world was not “go and make converts,” it was “go and make disciples.”
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God compares a new convert to a newborn child. Everyone rejoices at his birth! But the work has only just begun. To bring that baby to full maturity, daily feeding and constant care will be required. That is the work of the ministry as well, and we are to pray for God to raise up laborers to carry out that work.

When the nation of Israel cried out for deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, God sent Moses to do the job, but he was a baby and needed training. (See Exodus 2:1-10.) When Israel needed a judge to replace a corrupt spiritual leader, God sent baby Samuel. (See I Samuel 1:20.) When we pray for God to raise up laborers for His harvest, we may be expecting Him to send mature believers, but often He will send us “baby” Christians whom we can disciple and then send out to make other disciples in God’s harvest fields.

The lives and ministries of Jesus and Paul show us this pattern. They made disciples and then sent them out to make more disciples. The Apostle Paul wrote, “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (II Timothy 2:2).

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The same God who can send out laborers can send to you potential laborers whom you can disciple. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Years ago, there was a godly woman who taught Sunday School classes for college students. She realized that she was training the next generation of leaders, and she endeavored to disciple them in the truths of Scripture. As each student grew in his relationship with the Lord, he gained a vision for the harvest fields around the world.  Several of them actually ended up establishing effective Christian ministries. One of these students was Dr. Bill Bright, who founded Campus Crusade for Christ. Through this outreach, millions of people around the world have received the message of the Gospel. Let’s pray for God to send us potential laborers today!

Who is it that God has prepared for you to disciple? Pray for Him to reveal them to you.  Once you recognize these people, begin to invest your life and resources into them on a regular basis. Speak God’s heart and purpose over them, show them the strategy of God for multiplication, believe in them, and walk them into the joy of a fulfilled and fruitful life.  You may never fully know the extent that God may use these people whom He has entrusted to you for discipleship. Your job is not to worry about such things, but you are to be a good steward of whomever He may assign to your loving care and mentorship.

Don’t miss the opportunities that God is giving you to make a difference in this world!  It may be through a person that you least expect!

A Biblical Guide For Discipleship And Small Group Discussion

The Acts of the Apostles - Discovering Our Roots

We are on a spiritual journey–in a process of change.   If we are to grow up and move into our divine purpose, we need to be mentored and encouraged by those who have already walked this path.  We need spiritual parents to help guide us, nurture us, love us, and encourage us through the process.

This material is designed to assist God’s people in the process of multiplication through discipleship.  It is meant to provide a basic framework for guiding your disciples through the process of growth into the likeness of Christ.

Just as God used ordinary men and women filled with His Spirit to establish His extra ordinary church on this earth, He will take your ordinary life, empower you by His Spirit, and use you to continue the process of advancing His glorious Church throughout the nations of the world.  Take the time necessary to grasp the truth found in this inspired account, meditate on it, let the Holy Spirit bring about transformation in your walk with Christ, and then pass it on to faithful people who will teach others also.

Seven Principles of Biblical Discipleship

•    What is and what is not biblical discipleship?
•    What must I do in order to disciple someone?
•    What must I become if I am to be a disciplemaker?

Biblical discipleship is the act of one person intentionally impacting the life of some other person in the direction of Christlikeness (2 Timothy 2:2).

So Biblical discipleship is:

Intentional –Discipleship is not simply someone learning about Christ. It is not accidental. It’s intentional. It is not a function of the learning of the learner but of the teaching of the teacher. Someone must intend to do it.

Impacting –Discipleship has not happened because a student is excited about or impressed by a teacher. Discipleship brings about a change in virtues, values, beliefs, and lifestyle.

Personal –Discipleship is not covering material. Neither is it being part of a group (a class, congregation, family, etc.). Discipleship is one person dealing with another person personally.

Christlike –Discipleship is not just a mentee modeling a mentor. The modeling must be moving in the direction of Christlikeness.

Seven Principles

Understanding Biblical Meditation

From: “Bringing Heaven To Earth”, By: Tim Dailey

In modern culture, meditation is often connected with non-Christian systems of thought (examples—yoga, transcendental meditation, New Age, etc.).  Christians may at times be uncomfortable with the idea of “meditation,” BUT it is commanded by God and modeled by the godly in Scripture.  True meditation is NOT daydreaming.  It is NOT allowing our mind to drift here and there.  It is NOT thinking about nothing.
True Biblical Meditation:
1.   True Biblical meditation IS disciplined thought, and it involves filling your mind with God and truth (not doing your best to empty the mind.)

2.   Requires constructive mental activity (not an attempt to achieve complete mental passivity.)

3.   Involves focusing on things that are true (Phil. 4:8).  It is linked with prayer to God and responsible, Spirit-filled human action to effect changes (not the “creation of your own reality”).

4.   Biblical meditation is the “deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer.”

What is Discipleship?

Matthew 28:16-20; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12

What is discipleship? What is Jesus calling us to in Matthew 28:18-20? Is this a command, or is it a suggestion?  Does it mean that we are just to evangelize and let people find their faith on their own, or does this mean we are to lead others and teach the precepts of the Scriptures and the character of our Lord? Does it require obedience and action on our part, or are we disciples just by being a Christian and being in a church once a week?

This passage at the end of Matthew’s Gospel is what is called the “Great Commission.” This is also the great failure for many of God’s people! This is the main call to the church from our Lord and Savior, but it is the one thing that so many are neglecting! If discipleship is so absent from our life and experience in Christ, then most Christians will not understand how to live out their faith. They will not be able to handle problems, witness, share their faith, or grow effectively spiritually, because no one is modeling, or showing them the way!

Being a disciple encompasses more than just asking Christ in, and it goes far beyond baptism. Our conversion, our acceptance of Christ as Savior, is the beginning, the entrance, into the faith and Christian life. It is not the only act of being a Christian! It would be like joining a club, but never venturing into the club. Baptism is initiation and public dedication. It is to be the door through which we go in our walk of faith, as is also our profession and testimony of our faith publicly. It does not stop there! It starts there!

So, what does the average church do about discipleship? In many cases, people are encouraged to accept Christ or make a profession of faith. They are immediately congratulated, put on the membership role–and then quickly forgotten. Sadly, the Church at large has forsaken discipleship, and has left its members to figure out spiritual growth on their own. In doing so, it causes many to give up on Christianity, while others become confused, calloused, or complacent–or they are swept away by false doctrines and cults because they do not know the difference.

The Church Is Called To Make Disciples

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is perhaps the chief characteristic that we have somehow forgotten. It is also the quintessential aspect and reason the church exists. So, why is it that so few of us actually have disciple-making as the primary function of our life?  There are many reasons for this, but let me just mention a few major things that may be keeping us from obeying Christ’s command to make disciples: Fear, time, laziness, insecurity, etc.

Check out some passages that tell us discipleship and mentoring are not an option, but a command:  Matthew 28:16-20; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 6:1-10; Mark 1:35 – 2:12. We must follow out of our obedience and mentor in a multigenerational lifestyle, caring for the total person. This will move us from just playing church, to really being the church.

Making disciples takes vision and the understanding of Scripture. It gives the church a purpose to form leaders who grow other leaders in an outgrowth of their growth. The Christian, especially the leader, who disciples and equips others is a person who is living the faith for themselves and setting goals for their personal growth before they set goals for others. Their skills and abilities are growing them to be a better worker, because they are first striving to be a better child of God.

From the character of Christ will come the conduct of Christ, if we chose to follow Him. Then those values of our daily walk that drive our behavior will in turn influence others. You cannot lead where you have not been, or where you do not know the direction to go. This is why discipleship is so essential to the aspect of being a Christian. We are called to not merely visualize discipleship, but to practice it—not to just talk about it, but to do it. One cannot just think about dinner and satisfy hunger; the meal has to be prepared, then eaten! The effective church will take Scripture and the call of our Lord seriously, and then implement it into everyday life!

Jesus’ purpose for His three years of earthly ministry was the discipleship and equipping of the twelve Disciples. This was His drive and where most of His time was spent. He was focused on the teaching of the kingdom of God, teaching men to see beyond their present situation to the life to come. With His teaching, Jesus entrusted His church and people to the care of the people He taught. They were to replicate themselves in others. The objective was that every believer was to be an equipper, every member a minister, every Christian involved in the life and gifts of the Body to influence the world.

The Word must touch who we are and transform the very core of our being. This is the knowledge that leads and transforms. One cannot lead where he does not know the way, and to know the way you must have knowledge. Knowledge comes from experience, and experience comes from discipleship. The will of God is for us to study His Word, which will change our behaviors.
A Christian, and especially a leader in the church, must have the knowledge and experience to put into practice the work that needs to be done. The disciple will be studious so that the Word nourishes him. He must study and apply the Scriptures–not just read it occasionally like a novel. The Word must touch who we are and transform the very core of our being. This is the knowledge that leads and transforms.

So, what are we to do?

Jesus’ Model of Discipleship

Jesus didn’t operate a formal school, but his disciples took quite a course.  He discipled them over a three year period, not only establishing the course subject matter, but setting the pattern by which future disciples should walk.  His curriculum is difficult to institutionalize because of its rigorous standards.  Institutions have sought to define it, replicate it, and make programs out of it.  But few have succeeded.

Jesus asked his disciples to do four things that churches and other training institutions rarely do.  He asked them to abandon everything, to immerse themselves into a life of constant ministry, to depend on God and no one else for their resources, and to live in community.

It’s a tough road Jesus walked; it’s a road that his disciples have been struggling to walk ever since.  He called it a narrow way.  He didn’t try to soft sell its difficulty.  Let’s look at these four pillars of discipleship that Jesus required of those who would follow him.

Abandon
“So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”  Luke 5:11

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:62

“Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.”  Mathew 8:22

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”  Matthew 16:24

“Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:33
“Sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come follow me.”  Luke 18:22

Sociologists have a term that has spiritual implications.  It’s “attachment theory.”  We form attachments with people and things over time.  They become familiar; we become comfortable with them.  Because we grow up as selfish creatures in a broken world, we become attached to the wrong stuff.  We become compromised, more citizens of the kingdom.

Jesus’ solution is a general purging.  He asks his disciples to abandon the familiar, even their families.  He won’t compete for our affection.  The problem is that his disciples of today have far more to abandon than those of past generations.  Separation anxiety is something to be wrestled with.  The kind of total abandon he required of his disciples is a rare occurrence in our modern world.

The Reasons For Sickness

1.    Violation of Spiritual Laws

When man sinned, death began to work its corruption in the body. (Rom. 6:23)

Healing can be lost by returning to sin (John 5:14).

2.    Satanic Attacks
Sickness that comes through sin has its original source in Satan of course, but sometimes it comes through a direct attack of Satan and not because of individual or corporate sin.  Job is one of the best examples of this (Job 1 and 2).

Sin is Satan’s attack on the spiritual man.  Sickness is his attack on the natural man.

Variables That Affect Healing and Deliverance

It is important for you to understand these so you can help others work through them to receive healing.
1.    Lack of Teaching
Lack of knowledge about healing, its principles, source, how to exercise faith, and receive it can affect healing.  God said: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

2.    Traditions of Men
Traditions are beliefs, rules, and principles of man.  Our traditions and beliefs hinder the work of God’s Word.  (see Matt. 15:6 – “…thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your traditions.”)

Why Does God Perform Miracles?

1.    Demonstrates the Character of God:
He is good!  It shows that He loves us and cares for us.
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy…
The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.  (Psalms 145:8-9)
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. (Mark 1:41)

2.    Glorifies God:
(see Matthew 15:30-31; Acts 4:21)