I met for coffee this week with a Christian who had recently graduated from college. I challenged him to consider that Jesus command to make disciples was for all believers and that the disciplemaking process begins with non-Christians.
Too many have been taught that faith means to agree to a set of religious facts about Jesus rather than choosing to take up their cross daily and follow Him. This shredding of justification from sanctification has done great damage to the authenticity and power of the gospel. It has created a church where faith equals intellectual assent, and high commitment is the exception rather than the norm. Therefore, in the United States, the church continues to shrink in size, lacks relevancy because of moral duplicity, and preaches a gospel that produces more consumers of religious goods and services than disciples.
Last year I attended the Global Church Planting Network in Istanbul, Turkey. It was a powerful gathering of 100 church planting leaders representing 15 regions of the world.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Jesus (Mt 28:19-20)
A few years ago I attended a workshop here in Seattle on interactive training offered by Leif Hansen of Spark Interaction.
One of the most important things we should do as followers of Jesus is to listen and obey Jesus.
I visited the dentist recently. It was a routine check-up. I head there every six months or so.
For the past three years we’ve been hosting college students in our home on Thursday nights. It’s given us great joy to see them grow in their relationship with Christ.
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