Discipleship Network Forum

Joe and Mary enter the church and talk to long-term friends. They get a cup of coffee and ask how Sarah how she’s enjoying their new house. Joe and Mary sit down in their familiar seats by the center aisle so they can leave quickly. They sing some songs, hear a message, and then go home.

A church culture has dominated a mission culture in many of our churches. Too many "Christians" are busy playing church instead of seeking the heart of Jesus. As a result, the church is declining in the US.  Jesus’ example and teaching in Luke 5 helps us change a church culture to a mission culture.

1. Obey Jesus’ word
After not catching any fish, Jesus asked Simon to let down his nets in deep water for a catch. By obeying His word, their nets broke with so many fish.  Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' feet saying he was sinful. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." They left everything and followed Him (Luke 5:1-11).  Obey Jesus' word and admit sinfulness to bear fruit in evangelism.

2. Pray for spiritual power
A leper was cured immediately when he saw Jesus and begged to be made clean. Jesus ordered him to see a priest and make an offering for his cleansing as Moses commanded and as a testimony. News spread as great multitudes gathered to hear Jesus and be healed of their sicknesses.  Often times, Jesus would slip away to pray alone (Luke 5:12-16).  Pray to provide power for physical and spiritual healing. 

3. Show compassion for sinners
Because of the crowd, some men carrying a paralyzed man went up on the roof and let him down through tiles to set him in front of Jesus. So skeptical and condemning Pharisees would "know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," the paralyzed man rose from his stretcher where he had been lying and went home, giving glory to God (Luke 5:17-26). Show compassion instead of condemning sinners.  

4. Share a clear verbal witness
Jesus told a tax-gatherer named Levi to follow Him. He left everything behind and followed Him (Luke 5:27-28). Witness verbally and challenge people to follow Christ so they will repent.

5. Socialize with those who need to know Jesus
After Levi invited other tax-gatherers and gave a big reception for Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled at His disciples saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners?" Jesus answered that since the sick need a physician, He was calling sinners to repentance, not the righteous (Luke 5:29-32). Influence sinners by having meals and personal relationships. 

6. Delight in God's presence
The religious leaders said John's and Pharisees' disciples fast and offer prayers, but "Yours eat and drink." Jesus answered that it was appropriate for his disciples not to fast since He, as the bridegroom, was present with them now and not later (Luke 5:33-35). Delight in God's presence and have fun relating with others. 

7. Use new methods
One doesn't tear a piece from a new garment and put it on an old garment since it won't match the old. You also don't "put new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough'" (Luke 5:36-39). Use new methods for greater effectiveness in making disciples.

To move from a church culture to a mission culture, I will do the following:
1.  Obey Jesus' word and admit sinfulness to bear fruit in evangelism
2. Pray for physical and spiritual healing
3. Show compassion instead of condemning sinners
4. Witness verbally and challenge people to follow Christ so they will repent
5. Influence sinners by having meals and personal relationships
6. Delight in God's presence and have fun relating with others
​7. Use new methods for greater effectiveness in making disciples

For more posts, go to www.markpomeroy.com ;

We can get so worked up whenever someone criticizes God or Christians. We want to run to God’s defense—or honestly, much of the time, our own—and say just the right thing that will shut that other person up (in love, of course). But God can defend himself far better than we can. We are called to stand and deliver, then take what comes—just as Jesus did.

Let’s consider that for a few more moments. Take off the table the idea that Jesus was the Son of God—that Jesus is God. Look, for a few moments, purely at the human Jesus of the gospels. Look at how much he loved God, and how he presented the kingdom of God and defended it—including, very often, from those who claimed to speak for God and clearly did not. Here was someone who actually knew the right answers. How do you think Jesus felt during when he was assaulted verbally—and later physically—by those who didn’t want to hear those answers?

But how did he respond? Certainly there are examples of anger—pretty much reserved for those who insisted they could represent God better than Jesus could—but there was also patience. Love. A desire that the people he responded to somehow did hear it. If that’s the model of a Christian response, who are we—a hopeless jumble of spirit and flesh being perpetually sorted out through this process called sanctification—to respond any more pridefully?

Jesus is clear about our response: “[D]o not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). Somehow, we are to seek the best for the other person, even when the feeling isn’t mutual. Only by remaining under the guidance of the Spirit do we have any hope of responding correctly.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:1–6).

Those who live according to the flesh stand before us. In fact, some of them may be Christians. And lest we forget, they have been us—maybe more recently than we’d like to admit. By remaining in the Spirit, we’re carried from condemnation and suffering to life and peace, and it is only by God’s grace that we can maintain that peace he’s given us. So lay down in that peace, and let the Spirit do his work through you—and despite you.

Lay It Down Today

Today, you get to practice your silence in public. Don’t be rude, mind you, but commit to keeping your verbal responses—either spoken or typed—to a minimum. Commit to not defending yourself, explaining yourself (except when asked), “expressing your concern,” or pointing out what a good thing you’ve just done.

“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil…. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:37, 6:1).

Then, watch what the Spirit does that you couldn’t. And rejoice in it.

All of us who profess to be followers of Christ are missionaries, whether we realize it or not. We may be good missionaries or bad ones, but the Lord has left each of us on this earth as part of His mission to spread the gospel and fill the whole world with His glory (Habakkuk 2:14).

In the mid-1970s I was just completing law school, and was given my first client in the school’s legal clinic program. It was a traffic violation, and my client, Geneva Clark, had been charged with rear-ending another vehicle. Not only that, but her driver’s license had been suspended and was invalid at the time of the accident. And, to make matters worse, Geneva was drunk at the time of the accident.

When the police officers arrived at the accident scene, they reported that Geneva was “strutting boisterously and unclad” in the center of Broad Street, one of the main roads in town. When they charged her with disorderly conduct, she resisted arrest—so they charged her with that too.

Here I was, an intern with the legal clinic, wanting to do well in my first case. Approaching Geneva before we went before the judge, I told her my pessimistic assessment of her case. “Well, Mrs. Clark, I have reviewed your file, and as far as I can see, you have no defense at all.”

Geneva listened politely, and then with a twinkle in her eye started rummaging around in her oversized purse. “Don’t worry, young man,” she assured me calmly. “I have something to show the judge that will help.” She finally found what she was looking for, a rather crumpled-looking card of some kind.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Oh, this is my missionary card,” she replied seriously. “We’ll show this to the judge and he will understand that I’m a missionary...doing God’s work!”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. There may be some areas of the world where a missionary can be effective by “strutting boisterously and unclad,” but Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio, was definitely not such a place. All I could reply to Geneva was, “Somehow I don’t think that will help your case.”

This admittedly is a rather extreme example, but it shows how the world often looks at those who name the name of Christ. Instead of allowing Him to transform our character and manifest His sweet aroma, we end up living like the devil and then trying to use the name of Jesus to cover up for ourselves.

There will never be an impactful revival of Biblical outreach unless it is accompanied by a revival of Biblical character. Before Isaiah was ready to say, “Here am I! Send me,” his sins were purged by burning coals from the altar of God (see Isaiah 6:1-8). Before we can spread the holy fire, it first must be allowed to do its work in our own lives.

So, what kind of missionary are you? When people look at your life, do they truly see Jesus or just a repulsive religious caricature?

In order to influence people for Christ, they must want what we have. I pray you are living that kind of life today, full of the Holy Spirit and radiating His fruit in every situation (Galatians 5:22-23).

I got to thinking about asking questions this past weekend. s good, right?

With about 120 other pastors and leaders, I had the opportunity to participate in a four day training seminar with Kevin Greeson in Austin, Texas.

For some reason this method has met with some controversy and pushback, probably because some people just aren’t asking the right questions. Ya think?

In one of Jesus’ most famous sermons, He told three different parables about things that were lost: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son (Luke 15). If He was giving the same sermon today, He probably would add the Parable of the Lost Jetliner.

The facts of the story would already be well known. A commercial Boeing 777 carrying 239 people suddenly vanished from the sky. Despite pervasive modern technology such as radar, communication satellites, and Google Earth, the simply plane could not be found. Debris sighted in the ocean turned out to be a false alarm, having nothing to do with the missing jetliner. Black box “pings” were heard at times, but then the batteries apparently went dead.

People all over the world were captivated by the story. Everyone loves a good mystery, after all.

Video clips of anguished family members were shown by cable news. Unbelievable pain, anger, and confusion fueled tears and tortured screams. Oh, what love…what loss…what agony.

Meanwhile, TV pundits and aviation experts spouted never-ending theories on what could have happened. Was terrorism involved? Did one of the pilots take the plane on a suicide mission? Was there some kind of catastrophic electrical failure? Had the plane been hijacked and landed in some remote location? One CNN anchor even asked if a black hole might have been involved!

After more than a month of fruitless searching for the hapless jetliner, billions of dollars had been spent by countless countries and humanitarian organizations. But despite the focus of the entire world and a massive outlay of resources, the plane and its 239 people remained LOST.

At this point in the parable, Jesus would segue to some personal applications for His followers. In particular, He would note a strange fact: While people around the world devoted enormous time, money, and technology to recover a lost plane and 239 lost people—people who were already dead—there were hundreds of thousands of LOST people in every major city in the world. “Where is the passion, anguish, and commitment to find and rescue those lost people?” He would ask.

Jesus then might remind us that when He stated HIS mission statement, He was also giving us OUR mission statement as His followers: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost”  (Luke 19:10). I don’t think He was referring to lost jetliners. He meant people—sinners in need of a Savior.

Shouldn’t we be challenged to have the same kind of anguish for lost souls as the relatives have for their loved ones who were on Malaysian Airlines Flight 370? Shouldn’t our devotion to rescue the perishing surpass the energy and resources shown by the search teams combing the Indian Ocean? Where are our tears for the lost people all around us?

In connection with The Discipleship Network, Disciple Nations International is offering one free chapter from our book, “Journey into the Spirit Empowered Life – A Guide for Personal, Family & Community Transformation”.  This book offers a very practical guide for experiencing God’s Presence transform our personal lives, marriages, families and out into our spheres of influence.   Below we give you a free preview of Chapter 10 entitled, "Fruit of a Spirit-Empowered Lifestyle - Evangelism, Discipleship & Love."

Book Description:

Jesus stated that whoever believes in Him would do even greater works than He did because He was going to the Father (John 14:12). With such solid promises from God Himself, why is it that so many sincere Christ-followers feel confined to a life of spiritual mediocrity? How is it that those who have the Spirit of God living in them are failing to live in victory over sin? Why is there so much lack of love and unity among those called to represent God’s life to the world?

Journey into the Spirit Empowered Life is a book that transcends culture, and taps into the deepest desires that God has placed in the human soul. This book addresses some of the hard questions that many Christ-followers have in their hearts but have not found answers to. Through the pages of this book we will seek to break the status quo and enter into a new reality with God that will transform every aspect of our lives.

Endorsements we have received:

"Transformation" and "revival" have become a part of everyday conversation for those who consider themselves as followers of Jesus.  However, very few of us are proactively growing in the kind of lifestyle that reflects the image of our Lord. Chris Vennetti provides a clear road map to anyone desiring authentic personal revival that will lead to family, community and national transformation.  I highly recommend Journey into the Spirit Empowered Life for such a time as this and to such a person as YOU!

Dai Sup Han, Founder/National Facilitator, Prayer Surge NOW!, Serving with Youth With A Mission

"Journey into the Spirit Empowered Life will help you discover and cultivate a lifestyle that is totally surrendered to Christ and walks daily in the power of the Holy Spirit."

Dr. Dick Eastman, International President, Every Home for Christ International

Chris has written a gracious but needed challenge; a call to the radical lifestyle we cannot ignore as we read the scriptures. He has summarized this journey well:

A truly Spirit-Empowered person is someone with a lifestyle that is radically consecrated to Jesus Christ, and who has learned to live in a place of wholehearted faith in the character, will and ways of God.

May the Lord use this teaching to transform our view of the Christian life, expand our vision of authentic discipleship, and drive us back to scripture in a way that results in Spirit-led, scripture-fed expressions of God's love in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Phil Miglioratti, National Pastors' Prayer Network

Chapter 10

Fruit of a Spirit-Empowered Lifestyle

Evangelism, Discipleship & Love

When we are still bound by our flesh, the world, and the enemy it is difficult to even begin to help others.  We lack real authority to call them to be free when we are still living in bondage.  As God’s Spirit sets us free we are simultaneously released to be used of God to assist others.  As we look at the sphere of influence that God has entrusted to us it is helpful to be equipped in three key areas: Evangelism, Discipleship & Love.

A Spirit-Empowered Lifestyle Prepares Us for Effective Evangelism

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.    2 Timothy 4:2

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.        1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)

While not everyone is called to be an evangelist, as Peter mentions here, we are all called to “be prepared to give an answer” to those who ask us about the hope that we have.  Paul speaks of a fearless readiness, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in every situation at any time (Eph 6:19-20).  This lifestyle of evangelism is more than simply going on a specific outreach to declare Christ to those who do not know Him, but it speaks of a faith that flourishes in every situation from morning until night.  We may share Jesus through our words, as well as through our service.   When we are living in victory in our personal lives, we are positioned to be effective witnesses for the Kingdom of God.  We should experience a desire to seek opportunities to share the reason for the hope that we have in Jesus.    

Living in this way, keeps us from becoming apathetic in our faith, and encourages us to walk in a vibrant intimacy with God that is attractive to those He brings into our lives.  We should always look to make the most of every opportunity.  Whether that be in the area where we live, a business, a school, while we walk along the way, or whether we are among family and friends at home.

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.   Ephesians 6:19-20 (NIV)

He who is wise wins souls.    Proverbs 11:30

Are we regularly winning souls into the Kingdom of God?  Do we live in the awareness that if the souls of those around us do not come to know Jesus Christ that they will spend an eternity in hell?  What level of urgency do we have towards the lost?  When was the last time we tapped deeply into the heart of God which “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”?

Practical Instructions for a Lifestyle of Effective Evangelism:

-         Consider asking God’s Spirit to give you at least 5-10 names of unsaved family, friends and acquaintances that you can be regularly praying for their salvation.  Write these names down and keep them in your Bible or in a place where you will regularly see them.  Pray for them as regularly as God’s Spirit leads you to.

-         Daily make yourself available to be used of the Holy Spirit by letting Him know each day that you are willing to be used of Him to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others.  As you make yourself available to Him, He will make the opportunity for you to share His message.  If you pray this way regularly, you will find amazing doors begin to open to share your faith.

-         Consider recording answers to prayer.  These big and small victories will serve as an encouragement to keep believing God to use your life as a vessel of His Good News.

A Spirit-Empowered Lifestyle Prepares Us for Effective Discipleship

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 the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”     Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus did not simply ask us to make converts but to make disciples.  Jesus told us that the way we are to disciple an individual, our family, and our sphere of influence is a process of teaching them “to observe all that I commanded you”.  It is difficult to teach others to observe all that Jesus has commanded us when we ourselves are not yet surrendered to this lifestyle. 

When the Holy Spirit begins to bring us through to the reality of a full surrender to His will and ways, we are being prepared to become an instructor of others.  As we seek to encourage those around us in a lifestyle of radical abandonment to Jesus, we can take courage from His final statement in Matthew 28 where He promised to be with us “always, even to the end of the age”.     

Do not be surprised if your discipleship of others does not look glamorous in the eyes of the world or even the religious system.  The religious system of our day often displays a hyped up image of what successful ministry looks.  Sadly, this image of being a success in the eyes of other people is often in direct contradiction to the ways of God. 

Jesus modeled for us what a life of discipleship looked like.  With a massive vision to disciple every nation; He made a very interesting decision to invest the majority of His earthy life in just 12 men.  He lived in close relationship with them and taught them His commandments, both through His Words, but most importantly through His Life.  In this lifestyle of discipleship, Jesus laid the foundation for His Church.   

The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.         Philippians 4:9

Paul shared about the need for mentoring and modeling a Spirit-Empowered lifestyle in close relationship with others.  This same pattern of discipleship is just as essential today, if we are going to see Christ’s Kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven.  The discipleship of our families ought to be our first priority (1 Tim. 3:1-2, 12, Titus 1:6-7).  Then we are in a position to disciple every other facet of the sphere of influence that God has entrusted to us. 

Practical Instructions for a Lifestyle of Effective Discipleship:

-         Ask God’s Spirit for His wisdom and timing as to whether He believes you are equipped to begin to step out and disciple others.  If our own lives are still in a position of compromise, we would be wise to wait and allow God to disciple us first before we launch out and start seeking to lead others.

-         As your life is consecrated and living a Spirit-Empowered lifestyle, begin to ask God how He would have you pour your life into others.

-         Trust God to reveal those He wants you to connect with in this way.  Learn to allow His Spirit to disciple others through you.  This is not a matter of attempting to disciple others in your own strength.  It is learning to trust Him to disciple others through you.

The Ultimate Goal – A Lifestyle of Unconditional Love

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  1 John 4:8

While there are many fruits of the Spirit, the scriptures are clear that none compare to love.  Unconditional or “agape” love has no parallel.  This type of love is the greatest measure of our depth of connection with God.  God has revealed His loving character to us, and if we desire to properly represent Him to the world, we must tap deeply into His love for us and for others.    

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”       Matthew 22:36-40

The Spirit-Empowered Life is a life of faith, of hope, and of love, but the greatest indication of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit is our level of love.  It is clear that Jesus intended for love to be the primary distinctive that caused the people of God to stand out above every other people on the earth.  It was by our love for God and our love for others that Kingdoms would be conquered and nations discipled.  Our love for God was to be far superior to our love for any other earthly thing.

The Gospel calls us to die to ourselves, and live for Christ’s purposes.  In order to live for His purposes and properly represent Him as His ambassadors we must allow His standard of Love to become our standard of love.  We must allow the Spirit of God to remove any root of bitterness that may be there from our past.  We must forgive as Christ has forgiven us, and daily ask the Holy Spirit to take us deeper in our understanding of His love for us, and of His love for all men.

(Jesus speaking) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”     John 13:34-35

We do not need to look any further than the lack of love in the church in order to see our grievous disconnection from The Vine.  God is Love.  Whenever an individual lacks love this points to their lack of relationship with the source of all Love. 

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  But what if we have not allowed God to love us?  What if we have rejected His love?  Then it should be no surprise that many non-believers lack love.  They have not received God’s love for them therefore they have no sacrificial love to give to others. 

But what about those who claim to follow Christ and yet lack love?  What about the many believers who are easily irritated, frustrated, and lack love on a daily basis?  Could it be that we too have failed to receive God’s Love for us? 

Do everything in love.    1 Cor. 16:14 (NIV)

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.   Gal. 5:6 (NIV)

When was the last time that you allowed God to reveal to you just how much He loves you?

Why don’t you take some time right now and stop whatever you are doing and allow the Spirit of God to show you just how much He loves you?  Will you let Him do this for you now?

Prayer time: God I ask that You would reveal the love that You have for me.  (Take time to wait on Him.)

I hope that you took the time to allow God to saturate you in His Love for you.  This is the most important thing in all of life.  God is Love.  We can only love others when we have a revelation of His love for us.  Love is the most powerful witness to the reality of God.  Therefore, allowing God to love us must become top priority in our lives.

From this place of love, we have the Life of God necessary to impact every circumstance no matter how difficult.  Love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).  Love breaths new life into places that were dead.  A vast throng in heaven can testify that it was the love of another believer that won their heart over to Jesus. 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”       Matthew 5:43-45

In this passage, it is not just any type of love that is being asked for, but Jesus says that we are to have agape love for our enemies.  We are to have unconditional love for those who hate us and we are to do good for them.  Why?  Because God Himself passionately loves those who are His enemies and He expects us to have the same love that He has for those around us.

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.                                 1 John 3:23

In the Middle East it is love that triumphs and causes hearts to turn to Christ.  In Communist countries, it is love that shines like a bright beacon testifying to the reality of Jesus.  In a cold and hardened individualistic culture in the western nations it is love that cuts through the ice and rescues souls from eternal darkness to eternal light.  Don’t underestimate the power of love.  It is love that compelled God the Father to willingly allow His Son to be killed in our place (John 3:16).  It is love that motivated Jesus to willingly lay down His life for humanity.  It is love that will bring about the exaltation of Jesus Christ in the nations of the earth. 

If we realize that love is the most powerful spiritual weapon, the most effective means of evangelism and discipleship, the most needed and rare resource on the earth, then we would ask ourselves the question: “How do I increase the level of love that I am living in?”

The answer to this question is quite simple.  Enter more deeply into the One and Only Person who is Love.  Unlike our desire for other spiritual gifts, such as the desire for miracle working power, or a deeper understanding of future events, there are sources of darkness and sources of light.  But real, genuine, self-sacrificing, and unconditional love has only One Source. 

If we wish to lay hold of more of the most precious commodity on earth, then we must abandon ourselves more completely to Jesus.  We must allow His Life to so infill us, that it is no longer us living, but Him Living through us.  We must allow Him to love us completely, and allow Him to remove the areas of our lives that are lived in contradiction to His Spirit, so that we are clean and pure vessels.  As His Love consumes us, and as we find ourselves willingly melting into Him, our lives will appear as a blazing inferno of love to show the nations that Jesus Christ is alive.

Will you begin to allow His Great Love to consume you?  Will you allow Him to fill you with a deeper revelation of His Love for you?  Start now and don’t stop until He takes you home to be with Him forever.

Conclusion

Can you envision this lifestyle of evangelism, discipleship and love, flowing from your personal life into your marriage / parenting?  How about your workplace?  What about an entire congregation that begins to embrace this lifestyle?  What if the Body of Christ in a community or city began to be equipped and sent out to bear this type of good fruit everywhere they went?  Could we not see entire cities and nations turned upside down?  Let’s allow God to work this good fruit in our lives so that we can begin to share this with others.

Discussion Questions:

• Do you presently live as though the only reason you are here on earth is to give glory to God?  If not, what are some of the common ways that you have been pulled away from living for God’s purposes?

Evangelism

• In what way have you experienced God’s Spirit winning lost souls to Christ through your life?
• How do you believe God’s Spirit wants to win even more souls to Himself through you in the days ahead?

Discipleship

• In what way have you experienced God’s Spirit discipling others in the will and ways of Jesus Christ through your life?
• How do you believe God’s Spirit wants to disciple others even more effectively through you in the future?

Love

• In what way have you experienced God’s Spirit loving others through you?  Do you see yourself consistently living in the level of love that Jesus loves?  If not, what makes it difficult for you to love others as Jesus loves them?   
• How do you believe God’s Spirit wants to love others at an even deeper level through your life in the future?

Action Step:

Take time to ask God how He would have you begin to be even more fruitful as it relates to evangelism, discipleship, and love.  Write down any immediate action steps that He asks you to take and through prayer and obedience put them into practice.

Evangelism__________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Discipleship__________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Love for others________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Prayer Focus:

Father God, I need You.  It is clear that apart from You that I cannot help others to know You more.  You have promised me in Your Word that if I would remain in You that I would bear much for fruit for Your glory.  I ask that You would show me how to let my light shine more brightly so that those around me will come to know You.  I ask that you would teach me Your ways of discipling others so that you can use me to mature other believers.  I believe You to continue to reveal Your great love for me so that I will have an abundance of love to give to others.  I ask that You would give me a greater understanding of Your love for those around me.  (Continue to pray as God’s Spirit leads you.)

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You can view the opening portion of the book free of charge on Amazon by clicking here (and then click the "Look Inside" link)  The book is available both as a paperback and in a Kindle Edition.

Contact us if you have any questions and/or if you are interested in sharing this lifestyle in your location.  We host pastors "Vision Conferences" as well as weekend conferences that are open to the general public related to this topic.  Contact: office@dninternational.org or visit us on the web at www.dninternational.org

Phil Miglioratti recently stirred my reflective juices by asking for my perspective on how discipleship, prayer, and evangelism are related.

    It's a worthy question, especially for people who are so involved in any particular aspect of ministry that it becomes their primary, almost exclusive, frame of reference. Step by subtle step, all other forms of ministry become compartmentalized into separate (and perhaps secondary) roles. That's the "silo effect."

     Should discipleship, prayer, and evangelism be separate ministry silos? If so, what are the implications? If not, how would you describe their connection?

Here is my 3-paragraph perspective:

• Context. Discipleship, evangelism, and prayer are parts of a larger context: our relationship with God. True life revolves around Him -- not us. Human beings were created and designed to worship God; that is, to “honor Him in ways that He accepts.” We are most fulfilled and He is most honored when we live and function as designed—as true, vibrant worshipers of God.

• Lifestyle. We "worship" God -- i.e., we honor Him in ways that He accepts --  by loving Him, abiding in Him, and serving Him. Imagine those as 3 concentric circles with loving at the core, abiding next, and serving as the external circle. In general, the 3 circles represent a Christ-follower's heart, head, and hands. ~~~ A core process in producing this lifestyle is our constant cultivation and practice of Christlike character. ~~~ Examples of this concept in the Scriptures include 1 Cor 13, Jn 15, Rom 12, and the entire book of Ephesians. ~~~ Our lifestyle worship is the way we meet Christ’s challenge in Matthew 5:14-16.

• Connection. Discipleship includes much of what we mean by “abiding in” (or "walking with" in Ephesians) Him, such as our spiritual disciplines, Bible study, and obedience. Prayer is another way we “abide in” Him. Evangelism—with and without speaking evangelistic words—is part of our “serving.”

Your thoughts?