"[Solomon prayed] 'When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord...then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.'" - 1 Kings 8:44-45
When I was in college, I was blessed to have Christian fellowship on campus with a man named Bob Schindler. Bob was with the Navigators ministry on college campuses and also worked a full-time engineering job, in addition to being a great husband and father.
Bob loved the Lord.
Bob loved the Lord so much that trust in the Lord was a natural fruit. Bob asked his engineering company if he could work half-time because that would still provide adequate income for his family and he could devote more time to Jesus through campus ministry. His company said, "No!"
Bob decided to trust the Lord's calling. After explaining to his company his burden to have more time for ministry as he had requested from them, he left his engineering job. It was a hardship and a battle in many ways on Bob and his family.
It would be wrong to say, "They prayed." No, instead, they continued to pray. The emphasis is on "continued," because, in the spirit of today's Bible verse, Bob saw the life of faith as full of little wars that constantly try to destroy our faith. As should we all.
As it turned out, when the Schindlers prayed to the Lord, God heard "from heaven their prayer and their plea, and upheld their cause." (1 Kings 8:45) As it turned out, months after Bob left his engineering job because of his dedication to campus ministry, his company came back to him, recognizing his immeasurable value to their company, and they worked out a plan to bring him back to their company in a way that still freed him for campus ministry, just as Bob had asked for to begin with.
Today's a work day. Give your employer an honest day's work. But work to the glory of the Lord so that you and yours and your company will all see the blessings of God for those who love him and trust him and pray.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
The DNA of a Disciple Making Movement
Imagine a day when disciple making is the norm for the local church! Everyday Christians engage in relationships with people (inside and outside the church) so that they can show the love of Jesus and help people to trust and follow him. Churches are known as disciple making places, where Jesus-like people are created. And pastors are evaluated by the people they raise up and the disciple makers they have made in the Spirit's power. Jesus' message AND Jesus' methods dominate. What would it take? I would like to suggest the DNA of a movement.
1. The Gospel is our message – this Good news is focused on Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection. All who respond to salvation are also called to discipleship, no exceptions, no excuses (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Mark 8:34-38). The gospel we preach and believe dictates the kind of disciples we are and the kind of disciples we make. If we attempt to make a Christ-like disciple from a non-discipleship gospel we will fail [A non-discipleship gospel is one that does not include discipleship as a natural part of the message and expectation]. Historically, many have called this Biblical response to the Gospel the "Gospel Imperative."
2. We are Compelled to be and make disciples of Jesus. We believe Jesus Christ is supreme and worthy of all devotion, worship, and emulation – and disciple making is a natural and necessary life responses to Jesus. With laser focus, it was Jesus himself who made disciples who could make disciples… and then Jesus commanded us to do the same (Matthew 28:16-20, John 20:21).
3. Jesus is the model (for life and ministry). Jesus showed us how to live life and how to make disciples. We seek to emulate his method and model. As the sinless second Adam, He was man as God intended man to be. He then told us, "do what I have done" (John 14:12) and "walk as I have walked" (I John 2:6). Paul understood this when he said, "imitate me as I imitate Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1). Discipleship demands us to "follow" the resurrected Christ, and "imitate" the priorities and patterns of the incarnate Christ. We prefer to use the expression "Disciple Making" over "discipleship" because the former is closer to the words of the Great Commission and the latter is often mischaracterized (Matthew 28:18-20). We like the expression "Jesus model of disciple making," as a summary of what we do.
4. Love is the driving motive. The Great Commandment precedes the Great Commission.
And there's more. Tell me if you'd like to hear more.
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