The Missing Link in Modern Christianity...

I have been in a time of extreme pursuit, for clarity of God’s plan for our church, Abundant Life Tabernacle, Mansfield, Ohio. I have prayed, searched the Word and looked deep within my heart to see what God was saying and what I was missing, or even resisting. I feel like I have heard some things.  Some of them are hard to accept and some are pleasant.  I am about to share many of these things during the next few Sundays (from the time of this writing), but you may or may not have heard the crux of them by the time of this printing so I want to share a few things here.  What I am sharing today deals with Discipleship.

One of the missing elements of the modern church, Christianity’s missing link if you will, is a real focus on discipleship.  It's been lost as a focus it seems, for more than 100 years. Remnants remained until about 40 to 50 years ago, but those have mostly been lost now as well.  Sure, we do some discipleship naturally because of relationships that form within the Body, and that’s great!  Discipleship should happen naturally. But in large, it seems to me that it has been missing from the majority of the Body of Christ for a very long time. 

Biblical Discipleship has been so ignored in the modern Church that few even know what it is now.  I recently saw a study that was done by the Barna Group and published by the Navigators.  In the study, a host of things were explored but the question was also asked, “What is discipleship?” The researchers found that it was unclear, to much of the church, what a good definition of Discipleship is.  Many disagreed upon the particulars, as we Christians so often do.  It was found that most in the church didn’t particularly like the term either, preferring “Becoming Christ-like” or “Spiritual Growth” to the term “Discipleship.”  And that’s okay, these are valuable terms, and the Bible doesn’t particularly use the term “Disipleship”. Still these terms fall somewhat short of the biblical idea of a disciple. Furthermore, the ‘principle of Discipleship’ is clearly biblical whether the exact term is found or not.  Jesus called followers to himself and then told them that if they were not willing to forsake everything, they were unfit to be disciples. Certainly, He’s still looking for people who will put Him above all else! So, what is discipleship?

I’ve done my own inquiry into the subject and I’ve found that ‘it seems’ that Abundant Life has a little better understanding on the subject than most, but then again the Barna Study said that pastors often think that (lol).  Our experience in understanding Discipleship, in general, has been that most people have understood it from the perspective of a weekly Bible Class, or a short term class on Christianity; the art of being Christian, if you will.  Another very good thing, yet it falls short. Some will say that discipleship relates to progress in their own spiritual growth.  Progress in spiritual growth is always a wonderful thing for a Christian, but it’s about half of what is Biblical Discipleship. Many people feel that discipleship is the same as evangelism; preaching and winning the lost to Christ.  It can certainly be argued that it falls within the same category, but I don’t think they are the same.  Discipleship is for already-believers of the Good News, while evangelism is to reach not-yet-believers with the Good News.

So what is discipleship? The study I’ve mentioned has said that from the results, “it’s unclear”.  However, I think Jesus made it very clear. He exampled it boldly with His life and then He told His followers to go make other disciples (Matt. 28:19a), “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”(Matthew 28:20a).  Jesus took twelve believers into a relationship with Him. He spent time with them.  He ate with them.  They did life together!  He lived His life pointing consistently toward the Father.  He corrected them, when they were wrong.  He applauded them when they did well.  He held them accountable and He taught them everything He could possibly teach them in the time they had together.  He doubtless felt sorrow when Peter denied Him and I’m sure felt sadness when Judas betrayed Him, but He didn’t reject the remaining disciples.  He kept on loving.  He kept on pouring into them and He believed that they would accomplish even greater things than He had accomplished in ministry (John 14:11-13).  Jesus lived it, He taught it, and that’s what discipleship looks like.

So, discipleship is not just about my OWN spiritual growth or just about ME becoming Christ-like. It’s ALSO about helping others do the same.  There is a ‘revival’ of discipleship beginning to happen in the world. I am excited to see it!  I believe that God is taking His church back to basics in many areas and again I’m glad to see it!  There is also a new movement of discipleship about to happen here at ALT, and I’m thrilled.  I am fully in favor of the disappearance of the 'missing link in modern Christianity', or I could say I'm excited for the return of biblical discipleship.  Why am I so excited?  Discipleship properly links members of the Body to one another, it links our past to our future, and it's a return of biblical doctrine to the modern church.  I think we are going there!  (Stay tuned…)

What is God doing??

What is the Lord doing? It seem to me that we often wonder what the Lord is up to. Something negative happens in our lives and we think, 'where is God?'  A blessing comes our way and we usually thank Him, but then go on about our business. In our everyday lives though, we are often content to just meet with Him on Sunday morning in the worship, to then hear the Word and that holds us until next Sunday.  Sometimes we spend a little time in the Bible reading or some time in prayer during the week.  Maybe we even go to a Wednesday Night Bible Study if we can, but we are still often left with the question of what the Lord is doing in our lives.  Perhaps we could say it this way, "What's the plan Lord?"  "What's the big picture?"

For the most part, I am right there with you. As a pastor, I have to be at Wednesday night study, and I have to spend quite a few hours in study each week to be able to minister the Word in several services. Yet I too find myself often leaving a service, or time of prayer, and going right back into life without knowing what God is really up to in my day to day life.  I always want to hear his direction, but I sometimes can't seem to hear clearly. 

I certainly don't believe He wants us to know everything, but I do think He wants us to know far more than we do.  So what is God doing?  Why am I at this place in my life now?  What's next?  How do I get there?

I think all, or most of those answers are available to us in prayer and the Word of God. Proverbs 3:6 tells us, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Verse 5, just before this, tells us not to lean to our own understanding.  I believe we lean to our own understanding far too much.  If we aren't hearing clearly from God though, what else are we supposed to do?

It's clear then, that we need to hear more clearly from God. What hinders that?  I'm sure there are lots of things.  If we are regarding iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us (Psalm 66:18)... So, it's not likely that He will keep speaking to us either if there is sin in our lives. If we are too busy with other things, we too won't hear because of distractions.  If we want to hear Him, we have to make meeting with God a real priority.  We also might fail to hear Him because we are simply not diligent in trying to hear, or maybe we don't really want to hear because we are afraid of what he might say (Zech.7:13). (I've been there!) 

I do believe that God wants to speak to all of us.  I think His Word is chocked full of instruction (Proverbs 4:1).  I think as the sons and daughters of God, He desires for us to be led by His spirit (Romans 8:14). Granted though, it seems very difficult to hear Him sometimes even though it shouldn't be.  

This morning in prayer I really met with God.  His presence was overwhelming!  As I write this we are in day 12 of our Corporate Fast, so as you can expect I have spent extra time in pursuit.  I was alone in the church and so I felt no inhibitions of crying out to Him. As He came so near I felt sorrow for our distance from Him, I felt hunger for more of Him, I felt His desire for more of us.  And in that time something occurred to me that I already knew, He wants to guide us but we aren't often close enough to be lead. Peter walked afar off (Luke 22:54), and so do we. The simple, yet not easy, answer to the whole conundrum that we seem to face in this area is: repentance, continual pursuit, then communion (or fellowship) with Him.  It is really that simple... and it's really hard for us to get everything out of His way so that he might be near.  Yet, it's worth it!

John 5:19 says, "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.'"  We desperately need to get to that place in our relationship to our Heavenly Father.  We can only follow His lead, if we can see/hear what He is doing.

I urge you GO AFTER GOD!  We need Him! Be determined this year to walk close to Him, so you can hear and react to what He is saying. He wants you to hear Him (John 10:27).  He wants to lead you (Isa. 40:11). 

In the Love of our Most Holy God,

Pastor Jerry

"On Guard!"

Do you recall the old ‘Three Musketeer’ movies?  When I was a boy, I loved to watch them. Of course, every boy who has ever watched one of those movies has then had to have his own share of sword fights.  We didn’t have the fancy store bought swords, so I recall using whatever was available as a sword. A stick would work in a pinch, but as I recall my favorite was an old curtain rod that mom had replaced with a new one, or at least that’s the way I remember acquiring it. ;-)

The Musketeers had muskets too. It was where they got their name. A musket was a long barreled, black powder, handgun; but it was the sword that thrilled me.  Handguns were commonly in use in the westerns and the police shows of the day, but only the Musketeers, Zorro, or the occasional Pirate had a sword.

Now, all these years later, I carry a sword with me everywhere I go.  I’m not the most talented at wielding it, but the sword that I carry is very powerful and makes up for my inadequacy.  Certainly by now, you know that I’m referring to the Word of God.  It is called the “Sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6:17. It is said to be “sharper than ANY two edged sword” in Hebrews 4:12. I’m all grown up, and have been for a long time, but I still think the Sword is one of the coolest weapons of all time.

We often find ourselves in spiritual warfare.  Like the old movies, it seems that the good guys don’t have to go looking for trouble because trouble comes looking for you.  But this is reality…  This is life, and sometimes it isn’t quite so fun as it was when I was a kid.  The sword fights really matter.  The prize isn’t fantasy, it’s real.  The damsel in distress might be a daughter, or a niece, or a family friend and the peril we are trying to rescue them from is not fiction.  It is a real and present danger and in some instances it is eternity that hangs in the balance.

In the old movies, just before a sword fight, one of the opponents would say, “On guard!”  In life, it isn’t always that way.  The Devil is sneaky, he doesn’t tell you he’s about to attack.  So just stay ready.  I MUST be on guard!  I must be vigilant! I must be alert, and not only for my own wellbeing, but for the people who need the help, or strength, that I might be able to provide.  I must guard against sin in my own life.  I have to guard against offense from a brother; just let it go.  I need to guard against complacency.  I need to watch out for the wide range of attacks of the enemy.  But how can I help someone else?  I’m just a man.  I’m just an overgrown boy who was fascinated by swords, Musketeers, and sword fighting.

I can help others the same way YOU can: By being skilled with the Sword that I have been given and staying on guard.  The Word will do the work. Remember, I told you this Sword is very powerful. I need to know it. I need to declare it.  I need to believe it. Then, I need to stand in agreement with it and watch it work.  The enemy doesn’t have a Sword like this.  This Sword is backed by the power of the Almighty God. "On guard!"