Gospel.com Blog

Part of discipleship is understanding the necessity of the spiritual disciplines, and there’s no greater discipline than Prayer. Dr. Krejcir of Discipleship Tools writes about prayer in this way:

Prayer is not just a selfish wish list to get God to cater to our needs and whims; rather, it’s true purpose and the reason it is also a discipline is to shape us by what He has revealed, and to grow in faith, character, perseverance, and maturity.

No one would argue that a healthy prayer life is integral to a Christian’s life, but health is not just a matter of daily repetition. The same article from Discipleship Tools has a series of questions to ask yourself concerning prayer:

1. How would you define The Discipline of Prayer? Are you a person who naturally prays in all situations you face—from daily life to future activities for your own needs and those of others, too? If not, why not?

2. What part does prayer play in your relationships with church members, friends, coworkers, and family? If you see a need, do you first pray? If not, what do you do? What should you do?

3. How does prayerlessness counteract prayerfulness? What is the cost to the Kingdom of God when the church does not engage in prayer or teach and encourage its people to be people of prayer?

Personally, I know that far too often prayer is a secondary solution rather than my primary action. If any of these questions piqued your interest there are a few more and some other thoughts on prayer to ponder in the rest of the article.

What comes first—evangelism or discipleship? It’s commonly thought that discipleship is a one-time process that Christians must go through after they’ve accepted Christ but before they start sharing the Gospel with others. Is discipleship like taking a class in school—you do your homework, graduate, and are then free to move on to the “real” Christian life?

In an article at Lausanne World Pulse, Kumar Abraham argues that this approach isn’t necessarily the best (or most Biblical) way to understand discipleship. Rather than seeing evangelism and discipleship as two separate activities, we should consider them two closely integrated facets of the Christian life:

But which comes first—evangelism or discipleship? Some argue that without doing evangelism, discipleship is impossible. Some say it is only a disciple of Christ who can evangelise. Others may ask why we should even separate the two. [...]

The Bible teaches the integration of evangelism and discipleship. “We proclaim (announcing the gospel publicly) him, admonishing (warn believers) and teaching (the word) everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). While evangelizing, we disciple; while discipling new believers, we encourage them to share the gospel.

There are many more articles about discipleship and evangelism in the World Pulse archives.

This week we’re thinking once again about discipleship. What is discipleship? The call to discipleship is laid out for Christians in Matthew 28:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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.”

That’s a pretty ambitious command—how are we to understand it today? In an overview of discipleship, Richard Krejcir elaborates on the questions raised by this Bible passage:

Is this a command, or a suggestion; does it mean 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 on Sundays?

Read the full article for Krejcir’s answers, and his ideas about what discipleship means for the church. One of his central points is the artificial distinction Christians tend to make between evangelism and discipleship—discipleship, we are inclined to think, is just the training and education of people are already Christians, right? Krejcir argues that evangelism and discipleship are not only closely related, they’re actually just two aspects of the same activity: bringing people closer to Christ. It’s a view echoed in another article, “Why Must Evangelism and Discipleship Go Hand in Hand?” by Jerry Root.

So as we think about discipleship this week, consider that the definition we often use for it might not actually account for everything that we’re called to do as disciples of Jesus Christ. We’ll back back tomorrow with a few more good articles and links about what it means to make disciples in Christ’s name!

The December episode of the Youth Specialties podcast is online—this month features an interview with Mark Matlock about the importance of teaching wisdom to students and young people. What is Biblical wisdom, and how can you teach teenagers to practice it? It’s a good discussion about an area of youth ministry that is often overlooked.

If you haven’t listened to the YS podcast before, be sure to also check out the podcast archives—past issues have touched on subjects ranging from evangelism to running successful youth group events to gender issues in youth ministry.

Have you ever felt like a slave to sin? Do you know someone who might be? Setting Captives Free is a ministry that strives to bring people into a right relationship with God. They don’t claim to make you impervious to sin, but they can effectively help you break free from addiction.

The goal of Setting Captives Free is surprisingly simple, they want “to reach as many people as possible with the liberating message of Jesus Christ.” Practically, this works out into a series of free online courses. Courses range from achieving sexual purity, food issues, gambling, and substance abuse. All courses are free and will walk you through a daily process of recovery. They have translations of their courses in six languages with more translations on the way.

If you’re interested in hearing about how other people have been blessed by their ministry, you can read testimonies of those that have found freedom. They also have other resources, like recommended reading, audio files, links, and accountability software to help you or someone you know break free from sin. In all things they strive to meet their purpose of honoring and glorifying God.

Uplook Ministries is “devoted to to bring helpful information, varied ministry, and encouragement to God’s people, it continues to grow in its readership, many of these readers in Developing World countries.”

The main outlet of their ministry is publishing their magazine, Uplook, which has been regularly published since 1927! If you’re interested in more history on the magazine, read about it here. If you’d rather read the magazine, they have it available online with issues back to 1998.

Have questions about Christianity? You can find thorough answers to some difficult topics on their questions and answers page. Uplook also keeps a list of poetry and hymns as well as helpful charts and Bible study guides. I found the minor prophets chart particularly helpful at breaking down who was sent where. Uplook Ministries is committed to their online presence. So, “what you see on our Uplook site so far is just a taste of what we hope to accomplish.”

Please pray with us as we seek to stir up greater evangelistic interest, especially in North America. We are seeking also to equip young evangelists and provide helpful gospel materials for believers to use in witnessing.

We’ve been talking about discipleship all week here on the Gospel.com blog. Discipleship encompasses a lot of different things, and is something that all Christians should be practicing in their lives. But what about those for whom discipleship is not just a good spiritual idea, but part of their actual job description?

I’m referring to church leaders—pastors, small group leaders, youth ministers, worship directors, volunteer coordinators, and everybody else who has a leadership role in their church or community. How does one be an effective leader of others? Here’s a sampling of articles that address different aspects of leadership in the church today.

(more…)

Are you in a mentoring relationship that needs some direction? New Christian Life Ministries “passion is to see believers live Spirit-empowered lives.” Their web site is run by the author Rev. James Hall, who has this to say about his ministry:

After years of careful study of the Scriptures, much thought, and countless personal witnessing and discipling exchanges, God has birthed these guidelines and lessons in Jim’s spirit and made them available to others under the title “The Harvester’s Handbook.”

His eWorkbook and curriculum is designed as a program for young believers to walk through the basics of the faith with an older believer. Advice and support are provided for the more mature believer in this process as well.

If you’re interested in trying out the discipleship eWorkbook, you can find the first two units for free online here (free sign-up required). Each additional lesson costs $1. The eWorkbook allows you to keep a daily journal and guides you through some of the basics of Christianity with plenty of biblical backing.

Their prayer “is that through this ministry, many will come to know Christ, and many will truly learn what it is to follow our Lord and Savior.”

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” It’s one of the more famous proverbs in the Bible, and it points to a basic truth: one of our most important jobs as Christians and as human beings is to help each other grow in the faith.

(more…)

We’ve all had times where we’ve neglected reading the bible. Frankly, sometimes it’s just hard to make time. This week we’ve been focusing on discipleship, so if you’d like to revitalize your bible study, we’ve compiled some helpful resources for you.

Personally, bible reading has been a foundational aspect of my faith; one that continues and will continue to transform me. Still, on occasion the bible leaves me scratching my head. Without honest study and good teaching, passages like, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” can be very confusing.
(more…)