Discipleship Versus Evangelism

Most Christians believe that the primary purpose of salvation is to avoid hell. That may have been what you were taught, but it’s not what the Bible teaches. In fact, that kind of thinking serves to inoculate people from the truth of the Gospel concerning salvation.

If we simply ceased to exist at death and if there was no hell, I still believe that Jesus would have come to earth and died for us. Why? Because salvation is about having a relationship with God. God’s main reason for sending Jesus was to restore fellowship. It just so happens that as we restore our relationship with God through salvation, one of the perks—one of the great benefits—is that we miss hell and gain heaven.

Nowhere in the Scripture did Jesus tell us to go and make converts. Let’s look at what is commonly referred to as the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20. It says this:

Activate the Power

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Ephesians 3:20)
As a believer, you have the power of the Holy Spirit inside you. But that power won't go to work until you put it to work!

The Holy Spirit won't just muscle in on you. He won't come in and turn down the television set and jerk you up off the couch and say, "Now you listen to me."
No, He's a gentleman. He's sent to help you to do the will of God, to strengthen you, to counsel you...but He won't do a thing until He's asked.

God Is NOT the Gospel

Stephen Altrogge

The Gospel is the good news the way 

to God has been opened for all who believe in Christ.

Okay, put your pitchforks and effigies down for just a second. Before you burn me at the stake as a heretic, let me explain myself.
Lately I’ve noticed that Christians in general (and I include myself in that number) have been equating the Father, Son and Spirit with the Gospel.

The Hidden Things of God

"Blessed art thou...for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:17)

Remember when you went to school and learned your ABCs? You learned them by using your five senses and your logical abilities to gather information and sort it out. That kind of knowledge is called natural knowledge and it's the only kind most people know anything about.

But in the kingdom of God, there's another kind of knowing. One that works its way from the inside out instead of from the outside in. It's called revelation knowledge.

Compassion in Action

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)

Compassion. That's the one thing people need more than anything else in this world. They need someone to reach out to them with the compassion of God.

Compassion is a deep yearning that responds to the needs of people. It's much deeper than sympathy. Sympathy can just sit around feeling sorry for people. Compassion has to do something for them.

The Great Purpose of Christian Stewardship

1 Chronicles 16:23–36

Retired missionary Paul R. Lindholm begins a reflection on what he views as the overriding purpose of Christian stewardship—glorifying God—with a humorous vignette:

A church choir director asked a clerk in a music store for a copy of an anthem with the title, “The Glory of the Lord.” The clerk called to the person working in the storage shelves for a copy. Finding none, the clerk called down: “The Glory of the Lord” is out of print.

In print and in thought, the shekinah glory of our Lord does not have the prominence nor attention it should have.

Harnessing Your Imagination And Intuition

The Book of Job reveals the following:

But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. Job 32:8

You have a spirit, given you by God, and through your spirit God intends that you communicate with Him, receive from Him, and join with Him. It is impossible to know God without the activity of your spirit.

At the same time, when you were in your fallen state, outside of Christ, living in death, the result of sin, your spirit became tainted and resulted in your waywardness from God, and your inability to see, hear, and speak about genuine reality both invisible and visible accurately. Everything coming from your spirit as a result of the fall tainted your thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting.

Take Your Place

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His Person]more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection." (Philippians 3:10, The Amplified Bible)

The more you fellowship with God around His Word, the more you'll know the "power outflowing from His resurrection." You'll develop joy. You'll develop faith. You'll start developing God's own characteristics... just by fellowshiping with Him. You'll begin to understand who you really are in Jesus.

I remember one day I was reading the story of the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed.

I'd read the story many times and pictured myself as almost everybody in the story...just experiencing how it would feel to be someone in the crowd or even the one who was healed.

Suddenly God spoke to my spirit and said, "Read that again and this time picture yourself as the one wearing the garment."