We are closing a net of 8 churches each day. Is it not insanity to continue doing what we have been doing with an expectation of receiving different results? What do we have wrong? Who will reverse the trend? Something must be wrong with our approach. Let's go back to the era of Jesus to contemplate what we may be missing... Please read Gravitas: Reimagining The Sunday Lecture Model, Restoring Jesus' Conversational Model! (The downloadable pdfs are printable: 2 pages per sheet/both sides = 4 book pages per sheet. Published traditional versions are available free upon request.)
Please read Gravitas, the 40 page primer for Life, Love and Leading. You will likely then want to continue on with Life, Love and Leading. These were written to support your discipleship & leadership development efforts and are available free in both the published version and downloadable pdf.
Life has been used effectively for many years for discipleship with individuals and in small group bible studies with people from all walks of life: the impoverished, the homeless, present & former prison inmates, struggling believers, wayward believers, in marital & pre-marital counseling, with friends, parents, pastors, teachers and in mentor/counselor training seminars. Life helps us think about our conversations together with hearts after the Father, the mind and attitudes of Christ, language and actions that produce fruit of the Spirit, and love that proves we care and are his.
Love supports the individual prayer time needed in allowing God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to accomplish his sanctification in our lives.
Leading helps us to build upon Life and Love collectively for community transformation. Scattered like salt across our communities and found, as Jesus was, in service to one another, each individual grain reflecting the light of God’s love, more and more people will be led into lifesaving relationship – and our communities will be restored.
So what does it mean to be one of his disciples?
It is probably different than you think because we do not have any word for it in our English language. The Hebrew word translated for us to English is talmid. The plural is talmidim.
Unlike the words disciple or student or apprentice that suggest a learning and doing process, the word talmid is a Hebrew term that describes a becoming process. Talmid desire to become just like their rabbi. It is more than the practical application of the knowledge we gain. It is more than taking actions based upon our understanding of his teachings. A talmid of rabbi Jesus will have a heart after the Father, be growing to reflect the very character of Jesus and will be gaining the mind and attitudes of Christ. Becoming all he would have us be requires that we trust the teachings of Jesus, the Father in us doing his works and the power of the Holy Spirit in us to will and to do it - for the benefit of all of us.
