On March 16, 2010 my son, Isaac, was born! He weighed in at over 8 lbs (much bigger than his sister was at birth) and he hasn't stopped growing since. At his one month check up he was over 10 lbs! How is he growing steadily? We can look first at the physical factors: he is drinking milk six times a day, he is sleeping when he needs to sleep, and he is getting regular interaction from his mom, me, and his sister so that he knows he has a support system around himself as he grows. The older he gets the more these things will change (they will all be a part of his life and schedule, but the amount of time for each will change as he grows). The older he gets, the meals in the middle of the night will be replaced by sleep and the amount of food eaten during a meal in the daytime will increase, plus he will be getting different types of foods later on such as fruits and vegetables and eventually, meat and potatoes. Our interaction with him will become much more than holding him and talking to him or singing to him...it will become play time in a big way as well as specific teaching time and bonding time. Beyond these physical factors, God is causing Isaac to grow. You see, we did the same things with our daughter, but she is different than he is. She was much smaller and developed at a different rate than he has thus far in his life. One day though, he will be where she is now...a smart, joyful, and energetic two year old!
Now why am I telling you all of this? Other than the fact that I am a very proud husband and father (and I am!), the parallels between raising children and making disciples are very similar. We are commanded to make disciples according to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). What does this entail? Well, discipleship is simply helping other Christians to grow in their faith so that they will be as much like Jesus as possible and they too will help other Christians to grow. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
There are things we need to do to help Christians grow, such as showing them how to feed themselves through reading, studying, and memorizing the Word of God as well as how to pray and communicate with their Heavenly Father. As they grow up we teach them how to make decisions in life that show that they have been saved by God as well as how to share their faith with others. Our ultimate goal is for them to be able to raise up other mature Christians who will be able to do the same with others...just like I want my son to be a godly husband and father someday, raising up children who love Jesus with their entire beings!
How are you doing in raising up mature Christians that raise up others also? Do you need to first be discipled so that you can do this with someone else? This is what we are to do as Christians...make disciples of all nations so that all may know Him!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thoughts on the Great Commission
One of the things we have been doing this past year at our church is focusing on discipleship. We have been advocating it through our Sunday School and also by using MasterLife groups. MasterLife was chosen as our main curriculum for the small groups because it is organized and reproducible. But our goal and hope is that this will not be treated simply as another Bible study for people to check off the list and think they have been “discipled”. Our goal is to group people together (men with other men and women with other women) so that they will do life together and grow together in Christlikeness. When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He did not tell us to simply baptize people, but to “teach them to observe all He commanded us”. He told us to make mature disciples who will be disciple-makers.
So with this in mind, I am going to pose a question to you in order to challenge your thinking and cause you to evaluate and possibly reprioritize the things you do in this life. So the question is…if our mission as the Church is to make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ who reproduce themselves), then why aren’t more people in our churches discipled?
Before you get too upset with me…I know our churches have been doing Discipleship Training classes and things like that for years. But have our people seen these classes simply as a Bible study? Something to check off their list? Or have these classes actually made a significant enough impact on their lives that they are turning around and investing in others to help them grow in their faith? My observation and guess is that very few in our churches that have gone through these numerous classes have become “disciple-makers”. Now don’t get me wrong, these classes have been somewhat beneficial and have taught our people some valuable truths from the Bible and about life. But where does the practical fulfilling of the Great Commission come into play?
Imparting knowledge alone to an individual is a far cry from true discipleship. You have probably noticed I use the phrase, “doing life together”, quite often. The reason for this is because discipleship and the Christian life best take place in the context of relationships, not classrooms. This is why we use Sunday School as well as these MasterLife groups as our main strategy to fulfill the Great Commission in our church. These two avenues provide a small group setting in which it is much easier to build and foster good relationships with one another. The goal of our Sunday School and these MasterLife groups is to “do life together” in such a way that each and every person in these groups are growing in their faith, reaching out to bring in new people, sharing the Gospel with these new people and helping them grow in their faith as well.
By utilizing these two “group settings” (Sunday School and MasterLife groups) we are seeking to mobilize our church to be missional in their lives here in our local community, but also to be missional in their lives as it regards the billions of lost people among the nations around the world. We are called to make disciples of all the nations…that they may know Him and worship Him alone!
So with this in mind, I am going to pose a question to you in order to challenge your thinking and cause you to evaluate and possibly reprioritize the things you do in this life. So the question is…if our mission as the Church is to make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ who reproduce themselves), then why aren’t more people in our churches discipled?
Before you get too upset with me…I know our churches have been doing Discipleship Training classes and things like that for years. But have our people seen these classes simply as a Bible study? Something to check off their list? Or have these classes actually made a significant enough impact on their lives that they are turning around and investing in others to help them grow in their faith? My observation and guess is that very few in our churches that have gone through these numerous classes have become “disciple-makers”. Now don’t get me wrong, these classes have been somewhat beneficial and have taught our people some valuable truths from the Bible and about life. But where does the practical fulfilling of the Great Commission come into play?
Imparting knowledge alone to an individual is a far cry from true discipleship. You have probably noticed I use the phrase, “doing life together”, quite often. The reason for this is because discipleship and the Christian life best take place in the context of relationships, not classrooms. This is why we use Sunday School as well as these MasterLife groups as our main strategy to fulfill the Great Commission in our church. These two avenues provide a small group setting in which it is much easier to build and foster good relationships with one another. The goal of our Sunday School and these MasterLife groups is to “do life together” in such a way that each and every person in these groups are growing in their faith, reaching out to bring in new people, sharing the Gospel with these new people and helping them grow in their faith as well.
By utilizing these two “group settings” (Sunday School and MasterLife groups) we are seeking to mobilize our church to be missional in their lives here in our local community, but also to be missional in their lives as it regards the billions of lost people among the nations around the world. We are called to make disciples of all the nations…that they may know Him and worship Him alone!
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Acid Test of Life
John 14:15 (Jesus said) "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
How do we show that we truly love Jesus? By keeping His commands. Allan Taylor said it this way: "The acid test of our love for Christ is not how much Bible we know but how much Bible we obey!" (Sunday School in HD, p. 57).
How are you doing on knowing and obeying the Word of God and thereby proving that you are His loving child?
John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
How do we show that we truly love Jesus? By keeping His commands. Allan Taylor said it this way: "The acid test of our love for Christ is not how much Bible we know but how much Bible we obey!" (Sunday School in HD, p. 57).
How are you doing on knowing and obeying the Word of God and thereby proving that you are His loving child?
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