Let me tell you of a time when I lost mine and eventually discovered my voice all over again…
Heart attack…intubation…on the ventilator…six days…I pulled out the tube in my throat on day three without their permission…they put it back in again on day three without my permission…along the way, damage occurred to my vocal chord…for months all I could do was whisper…eventually it was repaired…but the vocal “quality” changed into a new voice.
Perhaps you know a lot of religious words, but have you found a vibrant clarity in your voice? Do you know how to articulate the requirements of being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you make disciples?
I want to investigate the possibility that awaits us if we take seriously the Lord’s command to make disciples.
Discipleship As A Lifestyle: How Does A Believer Grow?
I Suggest At Least Four Ways...
1. God’s Word—Produces Edification
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Acts 20:32
*Don’t do surgery on God’s Word,
let God’s Word do surgery on you”—Harold Burchett
1. God’s Word—Produces Edification
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Acts 20:32
*Don’t do surgery on God’s Word,
let God’s Word do surgery on you”—Harold Burchett
2. Personal Responsibility—Produces Consecration
but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 1 Cor. 9:27
*Passivity is a great enemy of living the Christian life.
but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 1 Cor. 9:27
*Passivity is a great enemy of living the Christian life.
3. Circumstances—Produces Examination
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
*There will always be tests, harder tests, and more tests.
*How you often respond is often times more important than what happens to you.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
*There will always be tests, harder tests, and more tests.
*How you often respond is often times more important than what happens to you.
4. Mentors—Produce Inspiration
A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Luke 6:40
*Spiritual mentoring is a triadic relationship between mentor, mentoree and the Holy Spirit, where the mentoree can discover, through the already present action of God, intimacy with God, ultimate identity as a child of God and a unique voice for kingdom responsibility.
A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Luke 6:40
*Spiritual mentoring is a triadic relationship between mentor, mentoree and the Holy Spirit, where the mentoree can discover, through the already present action of God, intimacy with God, ultimate identity as a child of God and a unique voice for kingdom responsibility.
That's enough to begin the discussion. The challenge before us is to not just have the 'theory' in place, but the grace applied to obey what the Lord commanded each one of us to do...to go and make disciples.
Making Disciples,
Denny
