How much does the Bible get in the way of what you believe? If you’re like most Christians, you believe in Jesus, but you’ve compartmentalized your faith so that your Bible beliefs have only a little influence over other areas of your life. For many, the Bible doesn’t influence what they believe one iota! As… Continue reading Observing All Things
Category: Discipleship
Discipleship Versus Evangelism
Most Christians believe that the primary purpose of salvation is to avoid hell. That may have been what you were taught, but it’s not what the Bible teaches. In fact, that kind of thinking serves to inoculate people from the truth of the Gospel concerning salvation. If we simply ceased to exist at death and… Continue reading Discipleship Versus Evangelism
Discipleship without reservation 1
I don’t know of anything that I have ever taught which God has not first burned into my spirit. I have already experienced it deeply; and when you hear that Word, you know that. I could not and would not lead you into anything at all if I did not know it in the depths… Continue reading Discipleship without reservation 1
The free things cost the most
The lack of dedication in a disciple is one of the greatest failures of his life. If you are not dedicated to the Lord, you put yourself into a no-man’s-land; you cut yourself off from the free flow of grace that God has for you. You cannot receive blessing through anything you have unless it… Continue reading The free things cost the most
Our cross is the cost
God has set before us a choice. It has been so from the beginning, whether it was Joshua thundering to all of the congregations of Israel, “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15), or Moses saying, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. Will you choose life… Continue reading Our cross is the cost
“Bumblebees can’t fly”
Bumblebees are amazing insects. According to the principles of aerodynamics, bumblebees should not be able to fly. When you compare the size and structure of their wings with the size and weight of their bodies, it would seem to indicate that bumblebees cannot fly. But you cannot convince a bumblebee of that. There are many… Continue reading “Bumblebees can’t fly”
Total discipleship will dominate the world
Mark 16:15–16 records one of the commissions that Jesus gave His disciples. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Notice that the acceptance of the gospel message is optional: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. The long period… Continue reading Total discipleship will dominate the world
Progressive demands of discipleship
Father, our hearts look to Thee. We know that when we started to walk with You, You brought us to set our hearts upon You and to say yes to Your will—but we never dreamed what Your will would mean! We pray that You will help us to have that discipleship without reservation. Amen. Think… Continue reading Progressive demands of discipleship
Without reservation
I do not know of anything that I have ever taught that God has not burned in my spirit first. When you hear it, you know that I have already experienced it deeply. I could not talk you into anything at all if I did not know the truth of it within the depths of… Continue reading Without reservation
Discipleship without reservation
Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,… Continue reading Discipleship without reservation
All that we are and all that we have
“Yea, this is the day that the Spirit of the Lord doth bring thee to a crisis in thy heart, that thou shalt become completely dedicated to the will of God. It shall be an hour that thou shalt not halt between two opinions. Thou shalt not waver in thy heart, for there shall be… Continue reading All that we are and all that we have
Our way of life
I like to paint for you pictures of the stories of what happened in the Word of God, especially in the life and the ministry of Christ. To have lived through the ministry of Christ upon the earth must have been most memorable—to have witnessed the fantastic thing of miracles, the constant put down when… Continue reading Our way of life
The Lord’s way of teaching
How can we be more Christ-focused? How can we get our eyes off of our distracting problems and circumstances? If we look at them too much, we’re going to waver in the Lord. We have to press in to the victories. We can’t be blinded from seeing the victories that are ours and what is… Continue reading The Lord’s way of teaching
Shrinking into a greater place
Being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you.… I Peter 3:15. Be of a sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing… Continue reading Shrinking into a greater place
Authority to make disciples
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,… Continue reading Authority to make disciples
The purpose of discipleship
The first purpose of Discipleship is to “get yoked up” to Jesus Christ, even as He is “yoked” to the Father. This will enable Him to work the quality of “meekness” in us, even as He is “meek.” What is “meek?” Some translations use the words “mild” or “gentle,” but I believe it means far… Continue reading The purpose of discipleship
The position of discipleship
Distinguishing Discipleship from the Initial Gift of Eternal Salvation We do not become a disciple of Christ in order to become a Christian, or in order to “get saved.” Salvation precedes Discipleship. Neither do we take Scriptures that are dealing with Discipleship and try to make them applicable to salvation as many do. For the… Continue reading The position of discipleship
The perspective of discipleship
First, we want to view discipleship from the perspective of the importance that Jesus placed on it, in relation to other truths that He taught. Jesus began his ministry in the flesh by calling disciples (Mt. 4:17-24), and ended His ministry by commanding these disciples to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,… Continue reading The perspective of discipleship