Adorn the doctrine of God…
I usually don’t copy long passages of Scripture in this blog, but take a moment and read this passage, carefully:
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. (Titus 2:1-10 ESV)
I will be teaching this passage in a few weeks, so I’ve been studying it. I’ve noticed a few interesting things already.
First, notice that Paul encourages Titus to teach what accords (what is fitting) to sound doctrine. So, what “doctrines” does Paul encourage Titus to teach? This passage seems to focus on behavior, attitudes, speech, and relationships much more than what we usually call “sound doctrine”. Or, perhaps Paul is talking about “sound doctrine”, because he does not differentiate between “doctrine” and “practice” the way we do at times.
Second, and related to the first, did you notice what happens when the younger women do not live according to sound doctrine? The word of God is reviled. The word “reviled” is the same word that is usually translated “blasphemed”. I would think that this would apply to each group, not just the younger women. When we do not “live” according to sound doctrine, we blaspheme the word of God. Isn’t that interesting… blasphemy may have as much to do with our practice as our statements of doctrine.
Third, did you notice the “focus on the family” (oops… I hope I didn’t violate any copywrite laws). Seriously, this passage is directed toward older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves. These are all the various “members” of a household in that society. Apparently, the “sound doctrine” was being taught and being caught, being spoken and being lived within family structures.
Finally, what happens when our actions match our doctrines? What happens when we actually practice what we preach? What happens when we walk the talk? We “adorn” the doctrine of God. “Adorn” is from a verb that can also mean “trim, put in order, decorate, make beautiful, make attractive”. I wonder, does my life demonstrate the doctrines of God and make them attractive to others?
Tracing the letters…
I remember learning to write the alphabet by tracing the letters. Both of our children learned the alphabet by tracing pre-made letters. Today, on his blog (3/23/07 7:43 am), Dave Black talks about Greek studies and tracing the letters:
Our beginning Greek grammar has 26 lessons, which means that we must cover 13 chapters each semester. It is my delightful duty to hornswoggle everyone into learning their lessons. We are discovering that between mastering the Greek alphabet and mastering Greek exegesis is a long and often bumpy road. Often our studies are interrupted by “real life,” difficult personal or family trials. This has happened on many occasions in the lives of my students already this semester. Life is tough, pure and simple. How should we then live when we face suffering? 1 Peter 2:21 has the answer: by following the example (hupogrammos) of Jesus. The word hupogrammos was sometimes used in the ancient world to describe a tablet that contained all the letters of the Greek alphabet from alpha to omega. Students would use it to practice the formation of the Greek characters by tracing its letters.
As disciples of Jesus, we are to use His life as just such a character-forming tablet. I don’t know about you, but when it comes to unwanted difficulties I sometimes feel like I’ve gotten to the letter beta and no further. Like learning Greek, trials may not be pleasant at times, but we can still consider them as faith-building experiences, and may even learn to rejoice in them.
I’ve never thought about discipleship in the context of tracing the letters. But, it is a great analogy… and, apparently Peter thought so as well. How well do our lives fit into the pattern set by Jesus? Do we love as he would love? Do we serve as he would serve? Do we give as he would give? Do we die as he would die?
There are times when my life gets “outside the lines” of what Jesus has laid down for me. That’s when the Master wraps his hand around mine and makes corrections as they are needed. Walking the straight path… not straying to the right or to the left… tracing the lines that Jesus drew for us.
So, the next time we get “to the letter beta and no further”, allow the Spirit to move you back into Christ’s example, and trust his grace and power… and one day, we’ll make it to gamma.
There is something fundamental about fellowship…
Fellowship… There is something about fellowship that makes it fundamental to the church. When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, he answered:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV)
There are at least two amazing things about this passage. First, Jesus did not stop with the commandment to “Love the Lord your God”. It would seem that commandment would be enough. Instead, he said there is a second command that is like it. Similarly, Jesus said that the Law and the Prophets depend on both of these commandments. Again, the Law and Prophets do not just depend on “Love the Lord your God”. The Law and the Prophets also depend on the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
There seems to be a fundamental connection between our relationship with God and our relationship with other people. John said something similar in his first letter:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 ESV)
This seems very simple. If we love God, we will love others. If we do not love others, that demonstrates that we do not love God. The two are fundamentally connected.
In the prologue to his first letter, John also discussed our relationship with God in terms of our relationship with one another:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship (κοινωνία) with us; and indeed our fellowship (κοινωνία) is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3 ESV)
When we have fellowship (κοινωνία – koinonia) with one another, we are demonstrating our fellowship with God. Verse 3 could even be translated as follows: “… that you too may have fellowship with us, and that fellowship of ours is truly with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ.”
We cannot separate our love for God from our love for other people. We cannot separate our fellowship with God from our fellowship with other believers. Fellowship is fundamental in the life of a believer and in the inter-connected lives of a group of believers.
But, just as we cannot create love for God and others, we cannot create fellowship either. Instead, the Spirit creates a bond between His adopted children that humans cannot create on their own. The fellowship (“sharing”) that we have in common is the presence of the Holy Spirit. And, this fellowship exists between all believers. Certainly relationships can be deep or shallow, intimate or surface-level, but fellowship between believers is created by the Spirit, not by our interaction with one another. Relationships that are based on this Spirit-created fellowship should be nurtured, strengthened, encouraged, and sought through continued interaction. But, those relationships must be built fundamentally on Spirit-created fellowship.
What does it mean for fellowship to be fundamental to believers and the church? Here are two examples:
Discipleship depends on fellowship…
When we recognize that discipleship is more than simply teaching facts to someone, then the fundamental role of fellowship becomes clear. Discipleship requires sharing life together. Without fellowship, discipleship is reduced to the transfer of information, which is not true discipleship at all.
Discipline depends on fellowship…
When a brother or sister is living in unrepentant sin, we are taught to disassociate with that brother or sister. In modern times this has been reduced to preventing attendance at certain activities. However, if there is true fellowship involved, then discipline requires the rupture of vibrant relationships: like divorce in a family, back when divorce was not an accepted option.
Fellowship… There is something about fellowship that makes it fundamental to the church. I want to learn more about fellowship. Perhaps others could share what they’ve learned about Spirit-enabled, Spirit-created, Spirit-driven fellowship…
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night…
(10 extra point to the first person to name the inspiration for the title of this post…)
Once again, our family met together last Saturday night with a few other brothers and sisters to share a meal and fellowship. We enjoyed getting to know them more, to hear about what was happening in their lives, and to simply spend time together as a family.
A few days ago in a post called “Imagine all the people…“, I mentioned that our family has been discussing what it means to live together as a family with people who are different from us. (As someone recently pointed out to me, it is sometimes more difficult to live with people who are very much like us!) We talked about this briefly, recognizing that we have been called to do something (live with and love people) which we cannot do on our own power. Thus, it is God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us”. (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)
Another brother mentioned that his family was reading the Gospel of John. He mentioned John 17, which includes the following passages:
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:11 ESV)
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21 ESV)
Jesus prayed for his followers and the ones who come after them that they would be united. So, we talked about what kind of attitudes and motives we would need to be able to live in unity with those with whom we disagree.
We started talking about humility, then love, then patience. We soon realized that we were starting to list the fruit of the Spirit. Paul told the believers in Galatia that the Spirit would produce love, joy, peace, patience, kingdness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in their lives. All of these are necessary to live in unity with those who disagree with us.
We also talked about what attitudes and motives disrupt unity. We talked about pride, arrogance, hatred… These kinds of attitudes always cause problems.
I have to admit that I struggle with arrogance: that is, I usually come to a discussion thinking that I am right and the other person needs to change. However, this kind of attitude disrupts unity. Instead, I want to come to a discussion recognizing that the other person may be right. If I want someone to listen to me and to consider changing their views to match mine, then I must be willing to do the same thing.
Of course, this applies to blogs as well. I pray that I will be more willing to listen to others, and less anxious to jump in and prove my point.
Assembling Together 7 and 8 – Praise and The Breaking of Bread
The seventh and eighth chapters of Watchman Nee’s book Assembling Together (chapters 20 and 21 of the Basic Lessons series) are called “Praise” and “The Breaking of Bread” respectively. I’ve decided to review these two chapters together.
Praise
I agree with almost everything that Nee says in this chapter. He says that praise is sacrifice [114] and the way to victory [115]. He also examines the benefit of praise in the midst of spiritual warfare [119]. I really appreciate this paragraph:
Concerning the matter of glorifying God, I have a thought to share. Today we see in a mirror darkly; though we see a little, yet we cannot understand the full meaning for it has been distorted. We feel great pain for the things we have suffered, not recognizing the difference between inward hurt and circumstantial difficulty. Since we do not understand, we find it hard to praise. I believe the abundance of praise in heaven is due to our perfect knowledge there. The more perfect the knowledge, the greater the praise. One day when we all come to the presence of the Lord, everything will be crystal clear. What is a puzzle to us now will be solved then. On that day we shall be able to see His hand in every step of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Had the Holy Spirit’s discipline been lacking, to what depths would we have fallen! If He had not restrained our steps, where would we have been? If we realize this, we will bow our heads in praise saying, “Lord, You are never wrong.” [128]
Nee recommends learning to praise God during good times, so that we will praise him during the difficult times. This is great advice that also works for prayer, thanksgiving, and even spending time with other believers.
He makes a few dogmatic statements that seem to apply his conviction to everyone. For example, he says:
As soon as one becomes a Christian, he ought to learn to praise God daily. I will give him a rule: he must praise God at least seven times a day. [115]
I’m not sure that this is given as a “rule” in Scripture, although it would certainly be a worthy endeavor. Let’s continue to offer the sacrifice of praise to our worthy God!
The Breaking of Bread
Similarly, I agree with much of what Nee says about breaking bread. For example, he says that the word “supper” denotes “a family meal” [133] (as opposed to an individual meal) and excludes the thought of work [134]. He also suggests that the Lord’s Supper is a time to remember the Lord and to proclaim his death – both biblical concepts. Importantly, Nee says that when the supper causes us to “remember the Lord”, it dispels division among brothers and sisters in Christ:
Remembering the Lord has another spiritual value: it makes strife and contention and division impossible among God’s children. When you are reminded of how you have been saved by grace and you find another person with you who is likewise reminded, you are both one before the Lord. When you contemplate how the Lord Jesus forgave the myriad of your sins and you see another brother coming to the supper who has also been bought and redeemed by the precious blood, how can you bring in anything to separate you from him? How can you divide God’s children? For the past nearly two thousand years, many controversies among God’s children have been settled at the Lord’s supper. Many unforgiven things, even things unforgivable, and many lifelong hatreds have disappeared at the Lord’s table, for it is impossible not to forgive when, in remembering the Lord, you are reminded of how you have been saved and forgiven. [136]
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see people brought back to unity over the table? Perhaps we do not see this as often because we are not truly “remembering the Lord”. Unfortunately, we often see people disagree over the supper more than we see people united over the supper.
Nee also recognizes that the supper symbolizes both our communion with the Lord and our unity with one another. Based on this two-way communion Nee makes the following statement:
How, then, do we receive people to the table of the Lord? Remember, we are not the hosts; we are at best but ushers. This is the Lord’s supper, the Lord’s table, not ours. We have no authority whatsoever over the Lord’s table. We are priveleged to eat the bread the drink the cup, but we cannot withhold it from others. We cannot forbid any of the blood-redeemed ones from coming to the Lord’s table. We have no authority to refuse anyone. We cannot refuse those whom the Lord has received, nor can we reject those who belong to the Lord. We can only refuse those whom the Lord refuses or those who do not belong to Him. The Lord only refuses those who do not belong to Him or those who yet remain in sin. Since their communion with the Lord is already interrupted, we, too, do not have fellowship with them. But let us take not that we are the Lord’s and have no authority to exercise other than that which the Lord exercises. [144]
I know that this is a touchy subject. I’ve heard many arguments why certain believers should be refused a place at the Lord’s table. Nee says that only reason to refuse someone is because they are not children of God. I have not seen a scriptural defense for refusing anyone else. (By the way, I believe that when the church separates from someone through the process of discipline, the church is stating that the person is not living as a child of God and is depriving himself and the church from priveleges and benefits of the family of God.)
How can we partake of the Lord’s supper in a worthy manner when we refuse to partake with others whom we recognizes as brothers and sisters in Christ?
Review of Watchman Nee’s Assembling Together Series:
1: Chapter 1 – Joining the Church
2: Chapter 2 – Laying on of Hands
3: Chapter 3 – Assembling Together
4: Chapter 4 – Various Meetings
5: Chapters 5 & 6 – The Lord’s Day and Hymn Singing
6: Chapters 7 & 8 – Praise and The Breaking of Bread
That one talent guy…
My good friend Lew over at “The Pursuit” has posted a seres on the kingdom of heaven parables in Matthew. In his latest post, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like… – Part 11“, Lew examines the parable of the talents. (By the way, this has been an exceptional series, and I would recommend reading the entire series! Maybe Lew will create an index for us… hint, hint.)
Anyway, in this parable, the master gives a servant one talent. The servant hides the talent and does not multiply it. So, the master throws the servant into outer darkness. So, here’s the question: Does this servant represent a follower of Jesus? What in this parable indicates that the servant may represent a follower of Jesus? What in this parable indicates that the servant may not represent a follower of Jesus?
Imitate Good…
I’ve posted a few things recently from 3 John. I’ve enjoyed studying this short letter. Here is another passage that helps us understand what it means to make disciples and what it means to be a disciple. Consider what John says in verse 11:
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 ESV)
Just before this, John had warned his readers that Diotrephes did not accept what John wrote, did not help the brothers and sisters who travelled through his area (see “Sending with hospitality…“), and “likes to put himself first”. John indicates that he plans to confront Diotrephes face to face about this (see “We will talk face-to-face…“).
In 3 John 1:12 and following, John encourages his readers to follow Demetrius instead. How do the readers know that they should follow Demetrius? Because Demetrius “has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself”. John adds his own recommendation as well.
Notice what John is saying here. There is one man who loves to be first – he loves being a leader. But, John says that his conduct is contrary to the ways of God. So, John does not want his readers to follow him. Instead, he points them to a man who is obediently following God. Everyone who knows him recognizes this. This is the “good” that John expects his readers to follow.
Do you want to know who to follow as a disciple? Then ask yourself these questions: Who has a good testimony? Who’s conduct matches their theology? Who lives what they teach and speak? Follow those people.
But, think about these questions: Who loves to be first, noticed, recognized, important? Who is more concerned with their position than with their conduct? Who is more concerned with whether or not other people are obeying him than whether or not he is obeying God? Do not follow those people.
John began this short letter by telling his readers, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4 ESV) Could it be that part of “walking in the truth” is knowing how to imitate good and those who are following God, and how to avoid imitating evil and those who are not following God?
How Does God Communicate?
Last week, as I was talking with a group of friends, someone asked the question (or one similar to it), “How does God communicate with us?” This is a very interesting question. We all want to obey God, but how do we know what God is telling us to do?
One of the things that our group discussed was the ways that God communicated with people in Scripture. We came up with several different ways: Scripture, prayer, dreams, visions, audibly, reason, logic, experience, angels, other people. We saw God communicating to people in Scripture through each of these different methods, and probably others.
God spoke directly to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others. God sent angels to communicate with several people, including Joshua, Daniel, Mary, and Joseph. Daniel and other prophets had dreams and visions. The children of Israel were instructed to seek God in the Torah, and the Bereans continued seeking God in the Scriptures. Jonah learned about God’s will through the experiences of a storm, a great fish, and a withering plant. Paul taught the Corinthians that they have the mind of Christ, and he taught the Romans to use their renewed mind (reason/logic). The Jerusalem church listened to the advice of the elders and apostles (including James, Peter, Paul, and Barnabas) in order to determine God’s will.
This is only a sampling of the many instances of God communicating in Scripture. God revealed his ways, thoughts, and plans to His people in many different manners. This is one of the most amazing characteristics of God: He is a communicating God.
Of course, this raises other questions, so I will ask these to you: Can God still communicate in these ways? If so, does He still communicate in these ways? How has God communicated with you? How do you ensure that it is God who is communicating with you?
A Van-based discipleship program…
No, this is not what you’re thinking. You will not be able to buy this “discipleship program” at your local Christian bookstore.
Last night, we had the opportunity to provide dinner for a couple who just had their first baby. Well, I said “we” but once again it was mostly my wife who made arrangements, planned and prepared the meal. My wife fixed her famous fried chicken fingers (sorry, Stan, there were no leftovers). We loaded the food into the van and headed to their house. They live about 15 minutes away, so we had about 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to talk together as a family.
Last Sunday, our brother Rob taught our church from 2 Timothy 3:10-17. Unfortunately, my son and I were sick, so we did not hear him. However, my wife (and others) told me that he greatly challenged the church, especially in the area of family discipleship.
We began talking about discipleship on the way to our friends’ house. We asked our children who they looked to as spiritual leaders in their lives (besides us). I was pleased to hear them mention some godly men and women that God has brought into their lives. We reminded them that they could always talk to us, but if they wanted to talk to other people, we would encourage that as well.
We also talked about pastors. Our church is seeking God’s will and examining the body to determine if we should recognize others as pastors. We even talked about (*gasp*) how the Holy Spirit makes people overseers.
When we got to our friends’ house, we delivered the food, and my wife and daughter were able to see their new baby boy. Unfortunately, my son and I waited at the door, since we have both been sick this week. We would also usually prefer to stay and have dinner with them, but again, we didn’t want to expose them and the baby to this virus.
So, we loaded back into our van after a few minutes, and continued our conversation. This time, my wife started the discussion. My wife and daughter had read Psalm 32 together that morning. We discussed sin, conviction, guilt, punishment, forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We talked about meditating on the Scripture that we read by thinking about it throughout the day, trying to determine how God would use that Scripture in our lives. By the time we had returned home, several of us had confessed our sins to one another, and admitted that we couldn’t stop sinning on our own.
We occasionally (I want to say “usually”, but that would be stretching it) read Scripture together before dinner. But, this hasn’t led to the discussions that I would like us to have, not like the discussions we had last night in the van. My wife and I also read Scripture together sometimes at night. Right now, we’re reading Daniel. It has been interesting, but difficult reading. Again, we have had some great discussions after reading, but not as encouraging as the discussion we had last night in the van. (Perhaps I should market this “Van-based discipleship program”. If I could only come up with a good acronym…)
What happened tonight is the way that I prefer to disciple my family. I prefer that we discuss Scripture and what God is doing as a normal part of our life, instead of setting aside a certain time each day as “devotion time”. There is certainly nothing wrong with a specific time of devotion, and we may use something like that to help us in family discipleship.
These times of natural discipleship do not always take place in our van. But, I thank God for what he taught me last night. I hope the rest of my family feels the same way.
My prayer is that when my children are older, they will “continue in what [they] have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom [they] learned it and how from childhood [they] have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make [them] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV).
Disciple making 4: Implications…
In the first three posts of this series on disciple making (“Disciple making 1: The Command“, “Disciple making 2: Pupils or Disciples“, and “Disciple making 3: Paul and his disciples“) I suggested that “disciple making” includes much more than simply transferring information through instruction. Instead, making a disciple includes spending time with the person: “being rather constantly associated with someone”. Already, this implies that I should stop calling classes discipleship, even Bible study classes. Discipleship includes studying Scripture, but it cannot stop there. A class that only includes Bible study is not discipleship.
As I’ve studied Paul’s letters, I found something very interesting when it comes to making disciples. Paul desires for people to follow Christ. However, he recognized that many times people need an example of what it means to follow Christ. Thus, it was not self-importance or pride that caused Paul to implore his readers to “follow/imitate me” (for example, 2 Thes 3:7). Instead, it was in recognition that people need an example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. But, is Paul’s exhortation to “follow Paul” simply an indiation of his position and authority as an apostle? No.
According to the author of Hebrews, believers are to imitate the faith of anyone whose life demonstrates that they are following Christ (Heb. 13:7). But, aren’t we supposed to make followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ? How do we make disciples of Christ if believers are following us?
The difference lies in the goal of our discipleship. Our purpose is not to make disciples of ourselves, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ. However, on the way to that goal, we will have to teach people by example. Thus, a new disciple of Christ may begin by following a more mature disciple of Christ. In other words, the less mature believer becomes a disciple of the more mature believer by being “rather constantly associated with” the more mature believer.
This step in the process was very important to Paul, and it should be important to us as well. We should recognize that in many ways people learn by imitation, especially when it comes to learning a new way of life. So, the younger believer learns to serve others by observing and imitating the more mature believer as he or she serves others. The younger believer learns to study and apply Scripture by observing and discussing and studying with the more mature believer as he or she studies and changes his or her life in response to Scripture.
For many in the church today, this step in the discipleship process has been lost. Neither men nor women have had a more mature brother or sister to walk with, learn from, and imitate. Instead, the church has skipped immediately to the next step: having the discipler step out of the way so the one being discipled begins following Jesus alone.
Please, do not misunderstand me, making a disciple of Jesus Christ is our goal. We do not intend to make disciples of ourselves. We always intend to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We should also recognize that God can and does work with people who have never been discipled by another believer. But, this is not the way of disciple making that God describes to us in Scripture.
Just as Paul called believers to “imitate” him, we also must call new believers to “imitate” us, all the while teaching them to begin following Jesus themselves. Meanwhile, those making disciples should be real, physical examples of what it means to follow Jesus. In that way, young disciples are able to see something in us that they cannot physically see in Jesus (Col 1:24).
To wrap up this study then, I recognize two deficiencies in my own life related to discipleship. First, I have often thought of discipleship as transferring information about the Bible and about Jesus to another person. I now see that discipleship is much more than transferring information. It also means spending time with another person – sharing life with another person – being “rather constantly associated with” another person.
Second, I have often thought that all I needed to do to make a disciple was to point someone to Jesus. I have learned that besides pointing them to Jesus, I must also demonstrate what it means to follow Jesus. This goes along with sharing my life with others. Thus, a disciple learns how to pray by watching a disciple-maker pray. A disciple learns how to serve others by watching a disciple-maker serve others. A disciple learns how to be a good spouse by watching how a disciple-maker interacts with his or her spouse.
Finally, I recognize that it takes very little “Bible knowledge” to be a disciple-maker. Instead, it takes someone who is seriously following Jesus, and is serious about sharing his or her life with others in order to see them following Jesus.
Therefore, as you go, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20 ISV)
Series:
1. Disciple making 1: The command…
2. Disciple making 2: Pupils or disciples…
3. Disciple making 3: Paul and his disciples…
4. Disciple making 4: Implications…