What is Christian discipleship?

By definition, a disciple is a follower, one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. A Christian disciple is a person who accepts and assists in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ. Christian discipleship is the process by which disciples grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and are equipped by the Holy Spirit, who resides in our hearts, to overcome the pressures and trials of this present life and become more and more Christ like. This process requires believers to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to examine their thoughts, words and actions and compare them with the Word of God. This requires that we be in the Word daily—studying it, praying over it, and obeying it. In addition, we should always be ready to give testimony of the reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15) and to disciple others to walk in His way. According to Scripture, being a Christian disciple involves personal growth characterized by the following:

1. Putting Jesus first in all things (Mark 8:34-38).The disciple of Christ needs to be set apart from the world. Our focus should be on our Lord and pleasing Him in every area of our lives. We must put off self-centeredness and put on Christ-centeredness.

2. Following Jesus' teachings (John 8:31-32).We must be obedient children and doers of the Word. Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God (1 Samuel 28:18), and Jesus is the perfect example of obedience as He lived a life on earth of complete obedience to the Father even to the point of death (Philippians 3:6-8).

3. Fruitfulness (John 15:5-8).Our job is not producing fruit. Our job is to abide in Christ, and if we do, the Holy Spirit will produce the fruit, and this fruit is the result of our obedience. As we become more obedient to the Lord and learn to walk in His ways, our lives will change. The biggest change will take place in our hearts, and the overflow of this will be new conduct (thoughts, words and actions) representative of that change. The change we seek is done from the inside out, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It isn’t something we can conjure up on our own.

4. Love for other disciples (John 13:34-35).We are told that love of other believers is the evidence of our being a member of God's family (1 John 3:10). Love is defined and elaborated on in1 Corinthians 13:1-13. These verses show us that love is not an emotion; it is action. We must be doing something and involved in the process. Furthermore, we are told to think more highly of others than of ourselves and to look out for their interests (Philippians 2:3-4). The next verse in Philippians (verse 5) really sums up what we are to do when it comes to everything in life: "our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." What a perfect example He is to us for everything we are to do in our Christian walk.

5. Evangelism - Making disciples of others (Matthew 28:18-20).We are to share our faith and tell nonbelievers about the wonderful changes Jesus Christ has made in our lives. No matter what our maturity level in the Christian life, we have something to offer. Too often, we believe the lie from Satan that we don't really know enough or haven't been a Christian long enough to make a difference. Not true! Some of the most enthusiastic representatives of the Christian life are new believers who have just discovered the awesome love of God. They may not know a lot of Bible verses or the "accepted" way of saying things, but they have experienced the love of the living God, and that is exactly what we are to share.
Recommended Resources:Making Disciples - One Conversation at a Time by D. Mike Henderson and Logos Bible Software.

Millennials and the Demise of Print: Five Implications for Churches

 As the president of an organization that has huge investments in both print and digital assets, I watch the trends related to the two closely. Current discussions focus on a few basic issues. First, digital communication is pervasive and growing. Any metric will affirm that reality. Second, print as a form of communication is suffering in most areas. Third, print will have occasional rebounds that will give print adherents hope that it is not going away. In the past couple of years, for example, print book sales have stabilized.

But a recent article by Henry Blodget in Business Insider shed some fresh perspectives on this issue. He notes the allegiance to print media is highly influenced by the age of the readers. Simply stated, the older you are, the more likely you are to like, or even prefer, print. Of course, that information is really stating the obvious.

The Stark Reality of the Future of Print
But Blodget notes recent research that is almost breathtaking. The research looked at media preferences for different age groups. The stark reality of the future of print is most noticeable in the 16-to-24 age group and the 25-to-34 age group. The Millennials have absolutely no loyalty to or preference for print media.Blodget’s words are worth repeating:

“Media consumers in the 0s, 10s, 20s, and 30s have no such print alliances. To them, the idea of printing on a dead tree and then trucking it to houses and newsstands seems ludicrous, old-fashioned, inconvenient, and wasteful. To these folks, paper-based publications are a pain to carry and search, easy to misplace, and hard to share, and the information in them is outdated the moment it appears. For those who weren’t raised on paper, digital is superior in almost every way.”
Wow. Those words are painful for an old print adherent like me. But facts are our friends, and I would rather deal with reality than deny reality.

Five Implications for the Church
Of course, after I read the article, my mind traversed quickly to implications for local churches. I see at least five at this point.

1. Churches not fully acclimated to the digital age need to do so quickly.It’s a matter of gospel stewardship. There is no need to compromise biblical truths, but there is a great need to be relevant.
2. More of our congregants will be turning on their Bibles in the worship services rather than opening them to a print page. Some pastors view this practice as troublesome. One pastor recently commented to me: “How do we know if they aren’t looking at sport scores or something else?” We don’t know. And we don’t know where their minds are wandering if they don’t have a digital device with them.
3. Church leaders should view this change as an opportunity to be more effective missional leaders. We would not expect international missionaries to go to a place of service without learning the language and the culture. The language and the culture of the Millennials are all digital.
4. Leaders must keep current with changes in the digital revolution. While old guys like me will never be as conversant with the digital culture as our children and grandchildren, we must do our best to understand this ever-changing world. What is current and relevant today may be dated and irrelevant tomorrow.
5. Social media is a key communication form for the Millennials; churches and church leaders must also be connected. I recently wrote an article on this issue. For now, a church not involved some way in social media is neglecting a large part of the mission field.

Implications and More Implications
I recently was reading a print magazine article to one of my grandsons who was cuddled in my lap. He saw a photo on the page and tried to swipe it like he would on an iPad. When nothing happened he declared my “picture was broken.”
That is the age and the era that are quickly approaching. The implications are many and staggering. But we in churches cannot be complacent. The very communication of the gospel is at stake.

This article was originally published at ThomRainer.com on May 14th, 2014. Thom S. Rainer serves as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam,  Art, and Jess; and seven grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ThomRainer and at facebook.com/Thom.S.Rainer.

Tim's Thoughts - By Pastor Tim Binns

Have I told you the importance of prayer lately?  We need to be a praying church.  We need to pray for those who are sick and hurting.  We need to pray for those who are serving in the military and as missionaries.  We need to pray for families that are breaking apart.  We need to pray for jobs.  We as a church family need to pray for these and many other things.
 
However, I believe we need to set a number one priority of praying for the lost.  Our prayer lists need to be saturated with the first names of people who need Jesus.  We need to be on our knees praying for them.  We need to be praying for the lost by name. 
A recent survey of the top evangelistic churches in our nation found that 82% of them pray for the lost by name.   I think we need to start praying for the lost by name in our church.  Why does it make a church more evangelistic?

When we start praying for the lost by name it starts working in our lives.  It begins to remove the fear of witnessing by putting our focus on someone we know and care about instead of the whole world.  It also clarifies the gospel for us.  The more we pray the more we understand what needs to be done.  Praying for the lost by name also gives us confidence because we know that God is going before us.  Praying for the lost by name also unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit who will begin to convict that person of their sins.  Last, praying for the lost by name prepares their hearts to hear the Gospel.
 
Let's create a prayer list of lost relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors who need to know Jesus.  We can record the first names only and celebrate when some of those come to know Jesus. 
 
Transitional Focus Team Meeting dates:

• November 16 – Team reports due also
• December 7
• January 4
• February 15

Is it Halloween or Harvest Time? - By Wanda Hess

Jeremiah 8:20 says “the harvest is past, the summer is ended” and it truly is happening with the change in the weather. We have seen some beautiful leaf colors this year and having seen snowflakes already in Miami Valley. In the month of October begins the harvest time and also the end of the month brings Halloween festivities. I read Halloween is the second best holiday that people decorate. Are you a person who celebrates Halloween or do you celebrate Harvest Time?

I googled Halloween and this is what I found. Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

When my children were in school we celebrated Halloween in their respective grades at school with a Halloween party and some schools have parades. Children were allowed to come to school in costume. I remember the years my daughter was in Band. And the band members who wanted to could dress up in costume and wear that on the football field.

This year I had the opportunity to work “Harvest Party” at my grandchildren’s school. I didn’t see too much different other than no costumes allowed. We played games; we had snacks and sent home sweet goodies for later. Harvest time took on a different meaning for me this year because I have been driving up into Champaign County to visit and be with the grandchildren and there are a lot of farmers up in that county. Seeing the fields take on their different looks from planting time, growing time, and the harvest time made me appreciate and be aware of how our lives could be compared to fields. Isaiah 53:2 says "for he shall grow up as a tender plant" ……we could compare those tender plants as our children and how we need to plant the seeds about Jesus and going to Sunday School. II Peter 3:18 "but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." We all need to grow just as those young plants. We learn more and more about Jesus by Bible study and attending church. And then comes the harvest. To me the harvest is the rewards when we get to heaven. Just like those farmers who reap the rewards of their hard work and monitoring their crops….So if you are a Halloween person or a Harvest person make it a good end of the season.

Kitchen Korner (Brownies) - By Dolly Lawler

When I was a kid, I spent as many weeks at summer church camp as I was eligible for and worked at some of the others. I loved camp. One night of each of the weeks I spent at camp, my mom would come visit camp and take in the evening services. When she came, she would always bring a box of fresh baked blond brownies for me to eat and share with my friends. On one of those occasions, she entrusted the box to a faculty member who assured her he would give them to me first thing the next morning. That night, after "lights out" for us kids, the faculty had a meeting in the dining hall. You guessed it; the group became aware of my box of brownies, was tempted and then gave in to that temptation. There was not even a crumb left the next morning. They apologized profusely and gave me free access to anything I wanted from the canteen the rest of the week. I smile when I reflect back on that incident, but back then I remember being a little miffed. Needless to say, this recipe came from Mom. I think of her every time I bake them, and recall they were among the many things she did to let me know I was special to her.

BLOND BROWNIES

Mix dry ingredients:
1 C. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the following then add the above dry ingredients:
1/3 C. butter
1 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Add the following:
1/2 C. chopped nuts
1/2 C. chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or other

Spread in greased 8x8x2 inch pan; bake in 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (I always double the recipe and spread in a 13x9 inch pan sprayed with pam, then bake until it's done.) "Until it's done" is one of those ambiguous instructions I hate, but it's the best I can do.

Please submit a favorite recipe to: lawlers@windstream.net

Jesus In Hell? - By Ken Lawler

I'm no theologian, haven't been to seminary, but I can read and have lots of books smart people have written about the Bible. My Dad told me to "Let the Bible say what it says." One book I couldn't do without is Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. It lists every word in the Bible and tells what the original word used meant. Volumes have been written about the title of this article. I heard the answer of a well-respected pastor the other day and I thought his response inadequate.

First, I need to define this place called hell. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word is showl (pronounced, sheh-ole') (we usually say SHE-ole). It is the abode of the dead, and was understood to be the underground cavern to which all dead people go. In the New Testament three Greek words are used for this place. Hades (hah-dace), the place of departed souls and geenna (gheh'-en-nah), the name of a valley SW of Jerusalem where child sacrifices were made at the high places of the Canaanite gods Baal & Molech. It was also the city garbage dump where fires burned continually. This word was used figurative for the place of everlasting punishment. One time, 2 Pet. 2:4, the word used is tartaroo (tar-tar-o'-o), the deepest abyss of hades.

The most complete description of hell in the Bible was given by Jesus when He told about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. According to Jesus, hades had two compartments with a "great gulf," chasma (khas'-mah) between them. Great gulf means an impassable "gape" between the compartments. My Dad assumed this chasm was tartaroo; "the pit" Ezekiel wrote of (28:8); and also the "bottomless pit" John wrote about in Rev. 9:2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; & 20:1, 3. Jesus described the compartment on one side of the great gulf as a place of torments and the one on the other side as a place of comfort He called Abraham's bosom. The question this article addresses stems from the fact that when Jesus was dying on the cross He didn't tell the repentant thief that He would see him in Heaven or in hades, or in Abraham's bosom; He said He would see him in Paradise, paradeisos (par-ad'-i-sos).

Where is Paradise? Both Paul and John tell us. Paul says in 2 Cor. 12 that he had been "caught up to the third heaven" (God's abode), into Paradise. In Rev. 2:7, in Jesus' message to the church at Ephesus, John tells about the Tree of Life (which was originally in the Garden of Eden) being in the "Paradise of God" [in the third heaven]. So it seems clear that Paradise is now in Heaven, but it hasn't always been there.

The key to all this is found in Eph. 4:8-10 where Paul told the Ephesians that when Christ died he descended into the lower parts of the earth, then ascended up far above all heavens, and led captivity captive. Peter tells us in 1 Pet. 3:18-22 that "He went and preached unto the spirits in prison," mentioning as an example, those spirits of Old Testament saints like Noah.

"Letting the Bible say what it says," here's what I think it is saying. Prior to the atonement for man's sin by Christ on the cross everyone who died went to showl. Those people determined to be right with God (the requirements varied depending on what dispensation they lived under) went to the comfort compartment, Abraham's bosom/Paradise; those not right with God went to the torment compartment. Once the atonement was made (I'll do a follow-up article on what Jesus was doing during the 3 days and nights before His resurrection), believers could go directly to God when they died. There was now no longer a need for Abraham's bosom. Also, though having been declared righteous when they died, none of these people had accepted Christ as their personal savior. God solved that problem. Peter tells us Christ went there to "preach to them," [giving them the opportunity to accept Him], and Paul says He then ascended to Heaven [with those who did]. He obviously took the entire Abraham's bosom/Paradise compartment to Heaven with Him since John saw it there. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:8 that now when the believer dies he/she is immediately present with The Lord (in Heaven).

In Peter's sermon, recorded in Acts 2:14-36, he plainly says, in Acts 2:27, "thou [God] wilt not leave my soul in hell", [he's quoting David (Psalm 16:10)], and "that His [Christ's] soul was not left in hell" (Acts 2:31). So yes, Jesus went to Abraham's bosom in showl (hell) when He died on the cross.