Becoming Like Jesus

“We need to spend less time forming Jesus into an appealing hero of our own design, and more time being transformed by Jesus into a holy people. The more we paint a true picture of Jesus, the more like that Jesus we will become, and the less of a disconnect between the Jesus we say we follow and what they see in our lives.” -- Ed Stetzer

Transformation Not Information

“Discipleship is to be more like Jesus. Christ-like transformation is the goal, as we are "to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29). The point is not information, but Christ-like transformation. And, that means it is not about knowledge in general, but about knowing Jesus better. Trying to be like Jesus, without the power of Jesus, dishonors Jesus.” -- Ed Stetzer

You Can't Make Disciples

“Let me ask you a question: How are you making disciples? You may be tempted to think, “I don’t know if I can really make disciples.” If that’s you, then I want to let you in on a secret: you can’t. But that’s the whole point. God has put His Holy Spirit in you, and He has equipped you and empowered you to do that which you could never do on your own. That’s the whole point of Christianity. God has not saved you to sit on the sidelines and to do what you’re capable of doing. He has saved you to live on the front lines and experience what He alone is capable of doing.” -- David Platt

Gospel Quote - Cross the Street

"While some people are called of God to move overseas to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, every believer in Christ is called to participate in making disciples of the nations. For some of us, engaging in discipling the nations means intentionally crossing the street to have a conversation.  It means doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality, and showing others how all of life is submitted to the reign and rule of Christ—even buying groceries, coaching soccer or enjoying hard work to the glory of God." -- Todd Engstrom

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Gospel Quote - Lordship Living

"As Abraham Kuyper famously declared that “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence which Christ who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” If that is the case, then true discipleship is about dutifully and faithfully living out the lordship of Jesus Christ. Discipleship means ordering our lives according to his story, symbols, teaching, and authority." -- Michael Bird

Gospel Quotes - Making Disciples

"Scripture gives us a number of ways to know who is truly a follower of Christ. For example, those who repent of their sin, trust in Christ, and surrender to his lordship have the marks of a true disciple. Those are foundational responses to the gospel. But did you know that being a disciple also means that you ought to be making disciples? If you’re a follower of Christ, you weren’t made to be a spectator; you were made to be a disciple-maker." -- David Platt

Gospel Quotes - The Essential Component

"The first essential component of making disciples is “go.”  Discipleship at its very core requires obedience to follow Jesus and make him famous in the nations. By God’s design, the gospel will be proclaimed by His people among those who do not yet know Him, and we as God’s people must go to the nations." -- Todd Engstrom

4. What Does It Mean to be a Disciple of Jesus? Slides & Notes - English & Romanian

4. What Does It Mean to be a Disciple of Jesus? from William Anderson

Here are the slides I will use today during my teaching with the young people in the Nouă area of Brașov. In this teaching we will look at what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. To download the slides and notes just click on the links below the embeds which will take you to SlideShare.

4. Ce înseamnă a fi un ucenic al lui Isus? from William Anderson

4. What Does It Mean to be a Disciple of Jesus? Notes from William Anderson

4. Ce înseamnă a fi un ucenic al lui Isus? Notițe from William Anderson

An Interview with Francis Chan (Video)

Here is an interesting interview by Moira Brown of 100 Huntley Street in Canada with Francis Chan about his life and ministry and how God worked in both to radically change him. Be sure to watch both parts.

Multiply Gatherings - Francis Chan and David Platt

David Platt and Francis Chan held "Gatherings" in Birmingham, Alabama and San Francisco, California in November 2012 to encourage people to become better disciple makers. Above is the video from Birmingham Gathering and below is the link to the San Francisco Gathering. They discuss the same things in both cities so you can choose which one you would like to watch.

In addition to these videos their discipleship ministry, Multiply Movement, has released free materials to use in discipling others. Just yesterday they made available all their materials in one PDF which can be downloaded here: One Big PDF

Related LInks
Multiply Gathering San Francisco

Is There a Problem with the Way We Evangelize?

Michael Metzger recently wrote a post on his blog DoggieHeadTilt titled Scracth-Off Faith which talks about the role of discovery in learning in the ancient world and how the Enlightenment distorted this. He then goes on to show how this infected the church looking at what it did to evangelism. Though Mike focuses on evangelism what he says applies to other things as well, especially teaching. So I encourage you to read what he says below then if you are interested go to his blog and read the rest of the post. Good "food for thought"!

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is “treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt. 13:44). This is an older sense of discovery, “of finding something that was there,” writes Iain McGilchrist. In ancient times, it was believed truth is covered and we dis-cover it. It’s similar to setting out to see one thing and stumbling upon something entirely different. It’s the combination of surprise, discovery, and joy – exactly what Augustine meant when he said the soul delights in particular in what it learns indirectly.

McGilchrist believes the Enlightenment distorted this ancient view. It instead fostered a “grandiose sense” of discovery, with truth as “something we make, rather than something we uncover.” Enlightenment experts constructed theories, principles, and concepts that were presented to inquirers as truth. The ancient sense of discovery was dulled. To assess the damage done to education, catch Sir Ken Robinson’s critique of the Enlightenment and how it crimps students’ enthusiasm for learning.

The Enlightenment infected the Western church as well. Enlightenment evangelists set out to present truth rather than assist others in discovering it. This fostered new methods of evangelism. One is the direct method – sermons, speeches, and canned presentations like The Four Spiritual Laws. Another is the erudite approach, lamented by Roger Parrott, president of Belhaven College. It relegates evangelism to the domain of gifted apologists who present “biblical worldview.” The therapeutic method presents a “safe” God. The consumerist approach presents a God dying to “meet your needs” – but allows individuals to determine those needs, turning them into consumers.

The problem with these methods is not that they don’t work. They do. But they ignore the Enlightenment paradox. Presenting truth in modern ways “simultaneously makes evangelism infinitely easier, and discipleship infinitely harder,” writes Os Guinness. In not having to dig a little and discover truth, conversion becomes infinitely easier. But discipleship becomes infinitely harder, since Christian formation is arduous, requiring discipline. The effect of the Enlightenment approach “is not that Christians have disappeared,” writes Guinness, “but that Christian faith has become so deformed.” The solution is restoring the ancient sense of discovery.

So what do you think about what Michael says? What are some of the ways we can restore the "discovery" method to evangelism? How about to other topics?

The "Unforgiveable" Sin - Jefferson Bethke

"There is nothing wrong with concerning ourselves with discernment or wanting to have a good conscience about certain things, but I realized I usually concentrate on certain sins, in order to cover up the fact I neglect the weightier ones like Jesus talks about."

Related Links
Gospel Quotes - What the Gospel Does to Sin
What is Sin? Tim Keller
Why Do We Need Jesus?
What is Sin? Slides and Notes - English and Romanian
How Does Sin Begin? Slides and Notes - English and Romanian
What are the Consequences to Sin? Slides and Notes - English and Romanian

Three Ways to Live

Three Ways to Live

Here are the three possible ways there are to live in this world as I see it*:

1. Be your own god.
2. Make yourself right with God.
3. Trust Jesus.

Be You Own God

1. I live for me, myself and I.
2. I decide what is right and wrong.
3. I choose what to worship, what to live for, what to seek happiness and find satisfaction in.

Romans 1:18-20

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Thoughts

In these verses we see that people reject God because they love sin. They actively suppress their knowledge of God so that they can continue in sin. But they will be without excuse on judgment day because they should have realized that God exists from looking at what He created.

Romans 1:21-23

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Thoughts

Paul shows us that when people reject God they become foolish and their hearts become dark. When they stop worshipping God they don’t stop worshipping they just turn and worship something else. Sadly, they settle for so little when they could have had the Creator of the universe.

Romans 1:24-25

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 

Thoughts

When people reject God to be their own gods, one of the things that happens is that their sexual desires go out of control and become perverse. Why? Because the human body is the pinnacle of all that God created and because of that people are drawn to it in a powerful way.

Make Yourself Right with God

1. Live for self and God. 
2. Try to earn salvation – hoping good works will outweigh the bad.
3. Acknowledge God but only give Him part of heart – live a divided life.

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Trust Jesus

1. Live for Jesus
2. Rest in the salvation Jesus made possible through His life and death.
3. Obey, serve and worship Jesus out of love, not out of duty.. 

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

John 14:23-24

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Three Ways to Live

Choose wisely the way you want to live. Don’t deceive yourself. Then find out how to live that way. Remember there are consequences both now and in eternity for the choice you make!

* I got my ideas about this from Tim Keller, who got his ideas from C.S. Lewis, who was one of the great Christian thinkers and writers of the 20^th century. He wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and many more.

It's About Jesus! (links) - November 29

Here are more links to blog posts that focus on Jesus:

1. Replacing the Center of Youth Ministry
2. 3 Questions to Ask of Your Sermon
3. The Key to a Purposeful Life
4. Jesus is Not Safe
5. As the God-Man, Jesus Understands Human Frailty
6. Madly in Love

The Secret to a Rich and Satisfying Life

Dying to Self + Living for Jesus = Rich & Satisfying Life 

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. (Mark 8:35 NLT)

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10 NLT)

If this is true why is it that so few Christians ever experience it? Why do we hold on to our idols and our selfish ways when only Jesus and living for Him can give us the life we were created to have? Lord help our unbelief! 

Discipleship Links

Here are some more discipleship links:

1. Community Shaped Discipleship: A Plea to Youth Workers
2. The Challenge of Making Disciples on Campus
3. Imitation: Getting Beyond Information-Based Discipleship
4. How to Create a Discipling-Making Culture in Your Church
5. From Moralism to Evangelism

Gospel Reflections

It is good for those who are disciples of Jesus to think deeply about the gospel and it's implications for living on a regular, if not daily, basis. Here are links to some blog posts to help you do just that.

1. Nobody’s Perfect (yet): The Inevitable Messiness of Being Human Pt 3
2. The Gospel's Antidote for Envy
3. Two Ways the Gospel Changes Your View of Sin
4. How the Gospel Makes Us Generous and Content with Our Money
5. Grace - More Than We Deserve, Greater than We Imagine (Video)
6. Things Which Ought To Be Better Known About The Resurrection Of Jesus (Video)

Discipleship Links | Oct 26 - Nov 7

Here are the best blog posts I came across lately on being and making disciples.

1. Discipling Quick Tips and How To's
2. How Jesus Made Disciples
3. How Do I Get Disciples As Jesus Discipled
4. DeYoung & Gilbert on the Great Mission
5. Story-Formed Disciple-Making
6. Platt & Chan: Don't Be a Lone Ranger
7. Chan and Platt Team Up to Help You Make Disciples
8. The Cost of Discipleship Quotes By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9. Don't We Already Know the Great Commission?
10. Is Making Disciples a Command to Individuals or a Call to Churches?

Discipleship Links | October 19-25

Here are the best blog posts I came across this past week on being and making disciples.

1. Discipleship Training Videos and Handouts at Multiply
2. How to Use the Multiply Discipleship Material
3. What about the Other Great Commissions?
4. A Sacred Trust: Reflections on Discipling Women
5. Plugging into Discipling Relationships
6. Give Up Your Weak Definition of 'Disciple'

Mars Hill Community Group Training

Mars Hill Church in Seattle has put together a free resource called Community Group Training that includes 10 sessions of videos and handouts that take you from an overview theology of community to practical strategies you can implement to help your group grow strong. You can check it out at Community Group Training.