Discipleship Network Forum

This is to whet your appetite.  The book is available now by request to my email, johnhoelzelsr@gmail.com  I accidentally deleted my post, so here it is again.

Here are two excerpts:

Additional Exercise and Application

For those willing to be challenged and inspired in increased opportunities to share the good news of Christ (gospel) and your personal testimony. I highly recommend reading Born to Reproduce (The Parallel between Physical and Spiritual Reproduction and Multiplication) by the founder of The Navigators, Dawson Trotman,  which you can find on the web at http://www.discipleshiplibrary.com/pdfs/aa094.pdf

When you take time to read this, you will likely find it to be the most compelling true account you have read to show the necessity and urgency of discipleship follow-up with new believers.  Billy Graham realized his need for help with follow-up of his new believers, so he called on  Dawson Trotman to help.  Paul’s prayers and letters are mostly his recorded testimony of how extremely important follow-up was to him, coming alongside long enough to develop spiritual maturity. 

Two final questions: 1- who is your current “Timothy?” (God will show you at least one, if you ask Him) and 2- how many of those you showed how to trust Christ as savior this past year are living a victorious spiritual life in His power today?  “Only one life, it will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last!”

Two central examples of making disciples and follow-up, from the Scriptures

First and foremost, Jesus shows us how to pray, let the Father identify his disciples, and promptly call them to an open, learning, sharing relationship, with investments of lots of time, truth, love, patience, and prayer, so they would later mature and reproduce other disciples who would also make disciples. When you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through these recorded scenes of Jesus interacting with his disciples, he will show you unique examples of how to plant the seeds for maturing disciples to grow in their unique way, and according to God’s unique timetable, not available anywhere else. Be sure and do some journaling when you submit to the Holy Spirit’s insights.

Paul recorded lots of his discipleship investments which included prayers of appreciation, expressions of thanks, requests for them, letters of encouragement, equipping, correction, and endearment, and Christ-like attitude of truly putting his disciples ahead of his own interests and needs as a real servant leader. You will find lots of patient, enduring investment and follow-up of Paul with his disciples, including a hungry heart attitude to go back and revisit them for more.

     I watch the children engaged in Sunday School activities. One child, dressed in costume as Ezra, steps up on a wooden platform and reads the Bible aloud to a small group. Another child, pretending to be Ezra the scribe, sits and copies Bible verses. Nearby, children are bowling, knocking over labeled juice bottles and arranging them in Bible book order by division: Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom, and Major Prophets. A third group is engaged learning a Bible verse with a bean bag game. Prayer, thought and preparation birthed these learning activities.

     Yet, when I glance at another area of the classroom, I see a few children who have wandered away from learning about God's word. They are enthralled with a handful of micro toys one boy brought  from home. These children are momentary lost sheep of this Sunday School activity time. I am challenged to plan better and study these individual sheep more to know how I can keep them in the fold. They are worth the extra effort. After all, I realize I spent decades as a lost one. My Shepherd, Jesus, made extra effort to bring me into the fold. How could I do any less for these young sheep of His pasture?

Isaiah 53:6  "We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (NIV)