Category: Practical Ministry

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The Ground-Level Gospel

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After reading the first post in this series, I hope you are convinced that sharing the Gospel is a must! As Christians, “gossip” about Jesus should always be on our lips. Therefore, in this post and the next, I will share two, easy-to-remember story lines, which will help you share the gospel narrative with others.1

Both story lines I share will contain four simple words for you to remember, which will guide you any time you have an opportunity to share. If you can remember the four words, you can share the gospel.

I call the first story line the “ground-level gospel” because it keeps the story simple, and very personable to the people we are sharing with. Though using scripture is always necessary, this method doesn’t go as deep into the history of the bible as the second method will. It is very simple, and may have even been the method used by the person who led you to Christ. The ground-level is made up of the following four words: God-Man-Christ-Response

God

In this story line for presenting the Gospel, you begin by explaining who God is; that He is perfect and holy, and that when He created everything in the universe He made it ‘very good.’

You can share as much or as little about the creation story, and the nature of God as you want, but the goal is to explain that because God is perfect and holy, He cannot associate Himself with the unholy. This will bring us to the second point.

Man

Man, though he was created holy in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), chose to disobey God’s command and eat of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). With this one action, sin entered the world and man lost his connection with God. The judgement came with the curses pronounced in Genesis 3:14-19, as well as eternal separation from God in this life and in the next.

It is at this point, you will begin to bring in the individual’s own life and sinfulness into the equation. You might ask questions, such as:

  • What do you think sin is?
  • Is God just to judge sin?
  • Have you ever sinned?
  • If you have sinned, why should God forgive you?

We must explain to them that sin is real, and all of humanity is guilty. We must also help them to understand that doing good in the present does not excuse our sinful past. For example, if I commit murder, it doesn’t matter what good I might do afterward, any good judge must hold me accountable to the law.

The scriptures can help make this point:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Romans 3:23

“As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'”

Romans 3:10-12

When you can bring their own life and sinfulness into the light of scripture, the discussion will show that there is stark contrast between the holiness of God and their own sinful humanity. There is a great chasm which has been formed, and it would take a miracle for us to come back to God, but…

Christ

This is where Christ comes in. When you have a Holy God, and a sinful humanity, there has to be a major move on both sides in order to make reconciliation. The problem is that mankind could not make that move back toward God on their own. So when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and birthed by Mary, God actually took on flesh and became a man, and became the representative of both sides! 

“He is the [physical] image of the invisible God…”

Colossians 1:15

Jesus, as a man, lived a sinless life according to the law of God, then when He died on the cross, it was in our place. He took the punishment from God for our sin, and made a bridge to reconcile us to God.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

As God, in Christ moved toward us, we now have the offer of new life and righteousness through faith in Him, to every human being who will repent and believe.

At this point, we once again become personal. We must share with the person that though they can never erase their own sinful history, they must understand that Jesus stood in their place. He took their punishment and He is offering them a new life in Himself, if they will believe.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

Response

With these three things in mind — the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the atoning work of Jesus Christ — the person must then be given an opportunity to respond. Will they accept Jesus as their Savior and be reconciled to God through faith in Christ, or will they reject Christ as Savior and continue in life separated from God?”

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

We must ask the golden question: “Would you like to accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord?”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:16-17

All of our witnessing is in vain, if we do not come to the point where we actually make them an offer to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. I know I am glad someone asked this question of me, many years ago, and I am sure you are, too.

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.'”

Romans 10:9-11

Let’s Connect

In the next post, we will look at the “high-level” gospel, which dives deeper into the full, biblical narrative from creation in Genesis to the re-creation in Revelation. It will be a little more in-depth, but it is also my favorite way to share the gospel. Stay tuned.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and testimonies in the comment section below.

I hope this series will be a blessing to you! You can make sure to never miss a future post by signing up for my weekly roundup newsletter, below. It would be my honor to have you, and I promise never to spam you or share your information with anyone!

You can also join me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Parler, to continue the discussion on this post and more!

1 These two story lines do NOT originate with me. I have heard these two ways of sharing the gospel repeated in many teachings and writings by various pastors, especially during my time working for an Acts29 Network church, so it would be impossible for me to footnote any specific reference. Suffice it to say, (though I have not read it) I believe Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church has explained these two ideas in depth in his book, The Explicit Gospel, published by Crossway.

© Anthony Scott Ingram 2020

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Cover Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash

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God’s Gossip: A Story Worth Telling

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In the Christian world the word “gospel” is thrown around a lot. We believe the gospel. We preach the gospel. We share the gospel. We stand on the gospel. And so on… The question I have, however, is with a word used so often, how many people actually know what it means?

When I say “the gospel,” what am I talking about?

A Basic Definition

In the Greek New Testament, the word gospel is taken from the word, “euangelion.” We get our word evangelism from a similar Greek word, “evangelizo.” While the english understanding of the word gospel is typically translated as “good news,” the reality of the original context is that this is a “good news that is shared.” It is the “good news brought by the evangelist or angel (messenger).” 

What I want us to grasp is that in the New Testament, the word “gospel” is generally used to describe the proclamation of the good news, rather than just the idea of the good news itself. In other words, it is not a “gospel” unless and until it is proclaimed!

The original idea comes from a message of victory being declared over a nation at war. As the Theological Lexicon of the New Testament says,

In secular Greek, angelos was “messenger” (especially of the gods) and angelia “message.” Euangelos referred to “one who bears good news,” a messenger of joy… Usually, the announcement concerns victory and peace: the bringer of good news (euangelos) arrives from the battlefield, sometimes by ship, sometimes by horse or by letter, but also on foot, by a runner.

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 82.

Therefore, when we say “Gospel” what we are actually discussing is the announcement of Jesus’ victory through His sinless life, death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

God’s Gossip

The English form of the word “gospel” comes from an Old English word, “godspel,” or literally “good spell” meaning “good story.” To share a godspel was to tell a good story that would capture the attention and possibly altar the course of a person’s life.

Interestingly, the English word “gospel” comes from a similar root as the English word “gossip,” which means sharing a “good story” about a “sib,” as in a sibling or relative.

Obviously we would say that gossiping about our relatives, friends, or acquaintances is wrong. However, the truth is that when the “gossip” is about our brother Jesus, then it is good news to share – gospel.

The point I want to make is that the Gospel is not something that can be kept to oneself. There is no “gospel” if it is not being proclaimed, the same as there is not “gossip” if people keep their mouths shut!

God wants us to “gossip” the story of Jesus.

Paul’s Gospel

Just look at how the Apostle Paul talks about the Gospel. He does so in very specific terms:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

He says the gospel is something that: 

  • Is “preached” or proclaimed; also “delivered”
  • Is “received” or heard
  • Gives the ability to “stand” and “saves” — again, this is the idea of the message being a declaration of victory over your enemy.
  • Is a message that must be “held fast” — not traded for other “truths” being taught. Don’t fall under someone else’s “spell” or story.

The Gospel Must Be Shared

In almost every case, the word “gospel” is used in the New Testament with the understanding that this is a message to be proclaimed. This is why Paul’s line of questioning in Romans 10:14 deals with preaching:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

The truth is that we live in a world where the gospel is available to most of humanity, if they were to search it out. Through internet, websites, podcasts, bible apps, radio, television, etc, a major portion of the world could discover the gospel on their own. Every single day, that availability grows. Yet at the most foundational level of what the gospel is, that plan can never work!

God’s intention from the beginning was that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be transferred from person to person by proclaiming and hearing. People, by nature, are not looking for a savior. The sinful, human heart makes its own plans and strategies for overcoming every negative thing in life. Even those who recognize sin, seek to justify themselves by “doing good.”

God’s good news, however, is that the battle is already won. Though it is not a message people are seeking, it is one that will change their eternal reality once it comes to them. It must be shared!

Just as gossip ceases to exist when people stop sharing it, so does the gospel. It becomes useless; having no effect in bringing people into salvation. The truth is, you cannot have a gospel unless it’s proclaimed.

You Are Already Commissioned to Preach

The day you became a Christian by believing this gospel, you received a commission to share it with others. You cannot “hold to the gospel” without sharing the gospel. Just look at passages like Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, and Acts 1:8

What I want to do, over the next few weeks, is help you find your voice in sharing the gospel with others. My goal in this series is that you will feel better equipped to share the good news of Jesus Christ with your family, friends, and anyone else God brings across your path. You don’t have to be an evangelist to be a witness for Christ. You simply have to be willing to open your mouth.

In the next two posts, we will look at two basic ways you can express the gospel, in simple terms, that will help people understand the message you share. (First one is here.)

After that, we will talk about the importance of your own testimony in sharing the gospel story. The gospel is our “family gossip,” and your story is an invaluable part in sharing the story of Jesus.

Finally, I will offer you some tips that will make your gospel witness even more effective, as you willingly step out and share.

You can do this! Take it from me. I am not called as an evangelist, and my introvert nature can hold me back at times. Yet, as I have learned to obey the Holy Spirit’s leading, and have grown in my understanding of how to share the news, I have been privileged to lead thousands to the Lord. You have the same Spirit living in you, if you’re willing to learn and to step out in faith.

In This Series

In this blog series, we look at:

Let’s Connect

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and testimonies in the comment section below.

I hope this series will be a blessing to you! You can make sure to never miss a future post by signing up for my weekly roundup newsletter, below. It would be my honor to have you, and I promise never to spam you or share your information with anyone!

You can also join me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Parler, to continue the discussion on this post and more!

© Anthony Scott Ingram 2020

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Cover Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash

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Why Discipleship Matters

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I live in East Africa as a missionary. What I have found where I live is that there is a passion for outreach and evangelism that is lacking in many parts of the world. In almost every church there is a willingness to gather together for open-air gospel crusades, door-to-door evangelism, and other forms of outreach. This is very different than where I come from in America. As a former leader in multiple churches in Bible-belt, Texas I know from experience that it is a difficult thing to get large numbers or Christians together for sharing the gospel, and if you try to do an open-air meeting, it is usually not-well attended.

In Nigeria and other places, Reinhardt Bonnke leads mega crusades attended by millions of people daily. It is an incredible sight, seeing the faces of people stretching past the horizon. However, a few years ago, I attended a Bonnke Crusade in Houston, Texas – one of the largest cities in America – in a stadium that only has about 22,000 seats plus whatever can be added at ground level. From my perspective, the stadium appeared to be one-third of the way full. I don’t think that is the fault of Bonnke. It is because the churches and believers in Houston weren’t unified to see the crusade become a success.

Here in East Africa, the church is good at outreach. They lead big crusades. Churches coordinate together to form mass choirs. Teams are able to canvas an entire city, door-to-door, in a few days. And it is common to see thousands of people put their faith in Christ. I am truly impressed at what I see here!

Can I tell you what the church is not good at in East Africa?

We are not good at bringing the harvest into the barns and preserving the fruit! All too often, the harvest is simply left laying out in the field where it was picked. Churches go out and lead many people to Jesus, yet do not do well (on a large scale) at turning those converts into disciples! 

This is not just an East Africa problem. This is epidemic! It is becoming a whole-church problem!

The Great Commission

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has  been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them  in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them  to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20, English Standard Version

The problem with the lack of discipleship strategy is that the commission of Jesus on the church was not to Go and make converts! It was never to simply to go, preach the gospel, and lead people in a prayer to accept Jesus as their savior. It wasn’t even to go and do signs, wonders, healings, and miracles so that people see the power of God!

All of those things are great, and we need to do them even more. However, until we take those who pray the prayer and those who are touched by the power, and bring them into the body of Christ and disciple them, we are failing at the mission given to us by Christ.

If someone gets saved, but does not get discipled, we are picking the fruit from the tree, but leaving it laying in the field. To say it another way, we are becoming spiritual fathers and mothers to people, long enough to give new-birth, then leaving them as bastard children in the world, with no nurture or guidance to help them grow.

Defining Discipleship

The Lexham Theological Workbook says: 

“Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to a teacher to learn from and become more like them. For the Christian, this refers to the process of learning the teachings of Jesus and following after his example in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship not only involves the process of becoming a disciple but of making other disciples through teaching and evangelism.”

So discipleship is the process of taking a lost person, seeing them saved by introducing them to Jesus, and then walking with them into maturity as a believer in their relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

I used to think that discipleship looked different: The first steps begin small – things like repentance of sin, baptism, church attendance – then as time goes on, the person should grow to learn to pray, study the scriptures, and serve. Eventually, they step into leadership and begin evangelizing the lost, teaching biblical truths to others, and discipling others in their own Christian walk.

Those things are good and necessary, but as I have grown in the Christian life, I have come to know that those things are only the actions of a disciple. They don’t make a disciple.

Converts vs. Disciples

Truly making a disciple is taking the now-saved person and helping them draw closer to the Lord; to Hear His voice; to walk in obedience to Him; to learn their identity in Christ, and leading them to fulfill the destiny God has for them in such a way that gives all the glory back to God. That will involve all the action steps listed above, but it is also so much more!

Let me break this idea down a bit:

Q: Should a new believer come to Church?

A: Yes, obviously!

Q: Is it the goal to simply get a new believer to attend church? Is that “success?”

A: No.

The goal is that the person learns to worship the Lord and serve God’s people! Church attendance is necessary, but it is not the final goal. Church attendance should lead the people into the life of worship and service.

I hope you can see the difference: A convert becomes a church attender. A disciple becomes a worshiper and a servant.

Our job is to take a lost person, bring them to Christ in conversion, and then continue the process of leading them to become mature disciples. This is how we preserve the harvest Christ has given to us.

Discipleship matters because the world is full of converts to the Christian religion, but God’s desire is mature sons and daughters. We have to do more than go into the field as harvesters, we have to invest the time, energy, and resources to preserve the harvest God has given.

We would love to hear from you in the comments: Have you been discipled by mature believers in your Christian walk, or were you left to struggle on your own? How are you investing in the next generation of believers to see them grow to full maturity in Christ?

In This Series

In this series on discipleship, we will look at:

As we go deeper into how discipleship works, I pray this series helps you as a believer to create a strategy for discipling others. Don’t forget to subscribe! You might also enjoy this video teaching I did recently on this topic, also called “Why Discipleship Matters.”

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

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Why You Should Study Theology

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I believe the greatest factor in developing maturity in a believer is their time spent engaging with scripture. If there is not a love for the Word of God in a person’s life, they will never do well at conforming their life to Christ. A believer must engage with the Word daily to become conformed to Christ’s image daily. However, on the flip side, I also believe there can actually be a danger in too much study of the Word, IF we do not connect it to real-life application!

God never called us to just know about Him. God calls us to know Him and then to bring other people into that relationship as well. That is the purpose for which He gave us the scriptures. That is the reason we study theology. It is applicational.

Knowledge of God is Not the Goal

Knowledge about God is great to have, and is a beautiful gift from God to us, but in our study of the scriptures, knowledge cannot become the end goal. Head-knowledge must lead us into deeper worship of the God of the universe. It should strengthen our faith and solidify our trust in who He has revealed Himself to be. And when that comes about in our life, it should lead us into an experience with Him!

When someone is first born-again, they will naturally burn with passion to learn all they can about God and will devote themselves faithfully to spiritual disciplines like study and prayer. There will also be a desire in them to share their newfound faith with everyone around them. As time rolls on, however, and some months or years pass, all-too-often these once-passionate new believers will transition to a stagnate church-goer. They will sit in church,  hear the sermons, learn all there is to know in small groups or Sunday school, and fill their head with knowledge about God; yet they lose their zeal to truly know God and reach their neighbor. As their head fills up, their hearts become indifferent.

I don’t know the cause of this problem, but the symptoms are obvious. We have whole churches that understand the depths of the gospel — that “understand all mysteries and all knowledge” as Paul would say — but it does not cause them to go deeper in their love for God and others, and they are essentially dying because of it. Or, again, as Paul says, they have “become nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

Knowledge Must Affect Reality

Knowledge of God is meant to be a platform for Christians to take what we know by faith and make it a reality. We are to hear the promises God makes and learn about His character; to seek Him and pray, “let it be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and then to walk out the door and put hands and feet to that prayer.

We are to be living reflections of the Jesus we read about. When people see us, they should be seeing the effects of our theology put into action!

Everyone Has a Theology

Someone will no doubt read this post title and say, “I’m really not into theology and study, so this isn’t my problem.” This however is not true. Just because someone does not study the Bible does not mean that that person lacks a theology. Whether you study scripture or not, you do have beliefs about God, which will always lead to your actions concerning God.

If you truly believe that God is only a God of love and mercy, and never of justice and wrath, then you will never see a need to repent or tell others of the Cross of Christ.

If you truly believe that people are generally good, and it is just that God is too cranky, and out to get everyone, then you will avoid having a real relationship with Him.

The purpose of studying theology, then, is not just so that we have the right thoughts about God, but also that we might live rightly before this God.

Good Theology Must Be Learned

If you are a Christian, you must be devoting yourself to exploring the things of God. The scriptures tell us so many times, things like: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), or “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2).  The result is that you will be able “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

I believe that it is important for every believer to invest time studying theology in the scriptures – things like the Trinity, or the “how” and “why” of salvation, or even things like the end times. We must realize, however, that this study is just the first step, not the last, in growing in Christian maturity. We must let the scriptures push us toward the God of the scriptures, so that we can become more like Him!

So what are you studying? How is it leading you in your relationship with God? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

(This post was originally published June 26, 2011. It has been revised and edited for reposting.)

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The R.E.A.P. Method of Bible Study

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Do you struggle with daily Bible study? You know you should go beyond just reading a passage, or relying on a personal devotional, yet real Bible study seems like a lot of work. Not to mention the need of time and resources to get it done. How can anyone make it a daily practice? 

I have recently stepped in as the interim pastor of one of Sozo Ministries’ village churches in Uganda. This has given me the opportunity to return to ongoing discipleship and mentoring of regular Christians. It is an enjoyable change from my normal mode of dealing mostly with leaders, and doing higher-level ministry trainings. Even still, the thing I cannot get past in either case is the need for Christians to be in the Word of God, daily, and applying the truths of scripture to their lives. 

I want to share with you a simple method of Bible study that can be applied to your daily reading, no matter how much time you have to give. Whether you have ten minutes or two hours, this approach can be a great benefit. You won’t need to have a massive library of Bible commentaries; just a place to sit, read, and pray. This tool will help make the scriptures accessible to you, and it is called the ” R.E.A.P. Method.” It is not a method I developed. It is one I was taught a few years ago in my home church in Texas, who also learned it elsewhere. Despite not knowing its source, I will tell you that it is one of the simplest and most beneficial methods you can learn, to start studying the Bible on your own. 

R – Read

The obvious first step in Bible study is to read a passage of scripture. It is completely up to you and the Holy Spirit where you need to focus your attention each day. If you aren’t sure where to begin, you cannot go wrong by beginning with one of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. There are also thousands of Bible readings plans available online, or possibly even in the back of the Bible you use each day. Don’t hesitate to find a reading plan that makes sense for you. Just don’t fall into the trap of shame and condemnation if you miss a day or two.

E – Examine

Anyone can read a passage of scripture. Only those committed to grow from it go further into Bible study! Once you have read the passage of scripture, the real work begins. You must now seek to understand what this scripture is trying to teach. Obviously, the world is full of resources that can help you go deeper and deeper into your understanding of any passage; however,  if you are new to Bible study, that is not necessary. 

The beauty of the Bible is that it was written by God for men to read and understand. It is therefore fairly straightforward in what it says. Still, God did not expect us, with the lingering presences of a sin nature drawing us back to untruths, to navigate the Bible alone. He has given us the Holy Spirit to “teach you all things…” (John 14:26). As you seek to understand the scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind to understanding, and to reveal any hidden wisdom within the passage.

Now, as you examine the passage, you should learn to ask these questions about what you have read:

  • What does this passage teach about God?
  • What does this passage teach about mankind?
  • What does this passage teach about sin and salvation?
  • What does this passage teach about Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
  • What does this passage teach about new life in Christ?

In the beginning, you may only ask the first two questions about each passage, which will definitely grow your knowledge of truth. Still, as you grow in Bible study, always take your examination deeper with these kinds of probing questions.

A – Apply

Once you have spent time  understanding the text, it is time to apply what you have learned to your own life. Remember, Bible study is not just a practice to gain knowledge. It should be connected to your own discipleship and your growth into the image of Christ! 

The simplest way to apply what you have learned is to ask yourself, “Based on what I have read, what do I need to do or change in my own life?” Don’t forget to include the Holy Spirit’s guidance in answering. Once you have finished wrestling with this question, you have taken the first step in application. You now must commit to doing whatever the Holy Spirit and the scriptures are leading you to do. This is how the Word of God transforms you.

P – Pray

The final part of the process is to go back to God in prayer. Even though you have sought the Holy Spirit’s help in each step up to now, this step should pull everything you have done together and bring it back to Him for help living it out. 

Begin by thanking God for what He has taught you. Walk through the process of repentance if there is an area of need. Ask for grace and strength to make the necessary changes in your life. Trust the Holy Spirit to help you as you begin to walk out what you have learned. Finally, ask Him to reveal to you someone in your own life who needs to hear what you have just learned. Seek an opportunity to share with someone else, what you have just been given.

That’s it. You have just successfully completed a real, authentic, personal Bible study! Not too bad, right? Now make it a part of your daily walk with the Lord! New levels of glory await (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Photo by Skyler Gerald on Unsplash

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Gospel or Gifts: Which Follows Which?

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I was raised in a conservative Christian family. Some of my family were Baptist, some were Church of Christ. Needless to say that when my own spirituality gave way to sin, legalism abounded in my upbringing. Even when I began my own pursuit of Christ at age 16, I joined with a fundamentalist Baptist church because I didn’t know much else existed. 

This was a great season for me, as I had never learned much of the Word of God, and the emphasis they put on teaching the scriptures enabled me to learn very quickly the core truths of the Christian faith. However, something was always lacking. Even as I began sharing the gospel, and slowly seeing some of my friends turn to Christ, I always longed for something more.

It was another four and a half years before I was baptized with the Holy Spirit and began seeing the power of God come into my life and ministry, but when it came, it changed everything! What interests me, today, is how the power of the Holy Spirit comes.

Which came first, the gospel or the gifts?

As I read the Bible, there seems to be two contradictory teachings on how the spiritual gifts would become active in the life of a believer.

The first is found in Mark’s version of the great commission, where he writes:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany [other versions say “follow”] those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Mark 16:15-18; English Standard Version

Gifts Follow Gospel

What Mark seems to be saying is that when we go out to obey the Great Commission, sharing the gospel and making disciples, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will just automatically come along to testify of the power of God. This makes sense, because as Paul states, “the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). I take this to mean that without the power of God at work in our efforts to share the Gospel, we are not giving the true gospel, or at least not the full gospel. However, the good news, it seems, is that when we simply obey the Great Commission, the power will come naturally; we do not need to do anything to bring it about.

I like that. It sounds so easy!

The problem is, that isn’t how things actually seem to work.

Gospel Follows Gifts

In my own life, I was a Christian and sharing the gospel regularly for many years, and never once saw the sick healed or demons cast out. I believed in those things. I even hoped for them to happen at times, but I never experienced them. There are many generations of Christians who would testify the same thing. Just read the biography’s of the “generals” of the faith, such as Smith Wigglesworth and John G. Lake.

Even the disciples, whom Jesus delivered the Great Commission to personally, did not just begin preaching publicly and then see the power show up. Jesus actually gave them another set of instructions, which seems backwards to this original position. Rather than telling them “preach the gospel and the gifts will follow,” as Mark teaches, Luke records that Jesus told the disciples to not attempt ministry until the Holy Spirit came on them with power! 

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:5-6,8; English Standard Version

So in one instance, Jesus tells them that as they go to make disciples the power will follow them, and in the other, Jesus tells them to wait for the power which will then enable them to make disciples. 

So which is it?

The truth is, I think it is both. In each teaching, there is a dynamic presented by Jesus in which the foundation of both receiving the power of God and proclaiming the Gospel of Christ hinge on our response to His promise and His command. They become inseparable.

In the book of Acts, Luke tells us that the disciples were to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise. They already had this expectation that the Holy Spirit would empower them to be Christ’s witnesses supernaturally. They had already got a taste of this in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and they had already touched the power of the Holy Spirit themselves, through Jesus, which enabled them to heal the sick and cast out demons. They expected the fulfillment of the promise that this Holy Spirit would one day come and baptize them, and then the power of God would remain on them, just as it did with Jesus. 

Their waiting for the Holy Spirit to come was borne out of an expectation that He would come, and they didn’t just sit idly by twiddling their thumbs. They anxiously pursued the Lord in prayer to see the promise come:

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying… All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Acts 1:12-14; English Standard Version

This prayerful pursuit of the power of God isn’t incongruous with the Great Commission in Mark! He teaches that we are to be walking in obedience to preach the gospel to the whole of creation. That is not optional. Yet in discussing the gifts, Mark tells us that these signs don’t just follow a preacher, but they “accompany those who believe.” 

It may be that to preach the gospel without the power of God is not just a failure to share the full gospel, as I stated before, but is actually a failure to believe it ourselves!

This was the case in my own life! I spent years believing that God’s power was alive and working out in the world, but I was also filled with so many excuses as to why it wouldn’t happen in my own life. I knew that God was healing the sick and casting out demons through those missionaries who live in the remote regions of the world, and I always believed their testimonies when they came to our church, but I was just a nobody kid living in America’s “Bible-belt.” We had a church on every corner preaching to gospel. The testimony of Jesus was surely well-established where I was, so why would God do something supernatural through a barely-saved teenager like me, when there was so much “evidence” of the gospel all around?

As I moved closer in my journey to being filled with the Holy Spirit and seeing the power come alive in me, I necessarily went through a major period of “discovery” that reshaped my beliefs. There were testimonies I began to hear of the power of God at work in urban America, not just the jungles somewhere. There were stories of revival in history, from the Great Awakening to Toronto. Then I began to hear of how God had done miraculous things in my own family’s history — such as when He miraculously healed my grandmother from appendicitis as a young girl through the laying on of her sister’s hands, after the doctors said nothing else could be done for her. I then began to hear of how my own friends were seeing hints of this power happening around them, from crazy (but accurate) prophetic words, to actual supernatural healings.

Even though I believed the gospel and was enrolled in Bible college to become a preacher, this process was taking me to a different place where God was chipping away at my unbelief. Once that path was cleared, there began to arise in me a hunger to see these things happen in my own life. I began praying desperately for God to give me the baptism of the Holy Spirit, without anyone to guide me or tell me what it would be like. (Remember, I was Baptist. Everyone I spoke to was discouraging this pursuit as futile or even an opportunity for demonic manipulations.) 

One night at three in the morning, it finally happened. Sitting on the side of the bathtub in my college dormitory, I was overcome by the presence of God and began praying in unknown tongues. From that day on, everything changed.

The Necessity of Desire

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, stating that “I do not want you to be uninformed” about the Holy Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1), and he spends the next three chapters discussing their use and purpose. The problem in that church was that there was a hyper-spiritualizing of people with certain gifts, and a neglect of others whose gifts were deemed less important. In some cases, there was flat out abuse of the gifts for self-glorification. However, contrary to the reaction of many modern teachings on the gifts, Paul never told the Corinthian church to cease using the gifts. Instead, he corrected them. He explains to them that the goal of every gift is love of others, and summarizes this argument by commanding them: ” Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…” (1 Corinthians 14:1). In fact, this command to “earnestly desire” is repeated again in verse 39, concerning the gift of prophecy. 

The words “earnestly desire” come from a single greek word, ‘zēloo,’ which according to Strongs Concordance means “to burn with zeal,” “to be heated or to boil with envy,” and “to desire earnestly; pursue.” It is a present, active, imperative verb, which means that we are  commanded to be full of this desire all all times, and to actively be pursuing the gifts in our lives. Despite it’s possible vulgar connotation, the best example I have heard to explain this word’s intensity is that we are to “lust after” the gifts, like a young man in pursuit of a woman.

Paul’s language here, then, solidifies the argument that without a belief for the gifts, and a burning pursuit of them, we do not get the power, which enables us to be a witness. They will not passively come upon us.

This throws out the argument I hear from many cessationist friends that, “I am not opposed to the gifts, but God has never given them to me,” and “if God wanted me to do those things, He would give them me.” The truth is that He has shown us, in scripture, that we are to obey every command He gave the first disciples, which includes, “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, cast out demons,” and so much more. He has also shown us in scripture that to receive the power to do these things, we must pursue it. They do not come without hunger.

The Secret to More

Presently, I have the opportunity to share the gospel with thousands of people each year, in different nations of the world, and can honestly say there is nothing more satisfying than to see people give their lives to Christ. Nevertheless, I can also tell you that I am hungrier than ever for the power of God to work in my life and ministry! Dr. Randy Clark is famous for proclaiming, “there is more!” Well, I want more. I am not satisfied to see the power of God remain stagnate in my life, and I have come to expect greater things to come, as I grow in Christ. 

So what is the secret? How do we get the “more?” 

Stay hungry, and preach the gospel! 

As we preach the gospel, it gives an opportunity for the power to come! It all begins when we are hungry and seeking, but it grows as we use the gifts of God in obedience to the Great Commission! As we go and minister to other, more comes. As more comes, our hunger grows, and we pray. As we pray, more comes, and we receive more power to go. The cycle continues on and on. 

So to answer our original question, which follows which? Do the gifts of God follow the preaching of the gospel? Or does the preaching of the gospel follow the arrival of the gifts?

The answer is yes to both!

The scriptural pattern is that the gifts follow those who believe in the promise of God, and prayerfully burn to receive them. Once we receive them and use them in obedience to the Great Commission, they will grow and more will come!

The gospel and the gifts always follow one another, in both directions, because in the plan of God you cannot separate His power and presence from the Gospel presentation. You cannot fully share the gospel with another person in the absence of God’s power to reveal His Kingdom. And you cannot steward the gifts of God in you if you are not using them to share the gospel with others. The scriptures declare that you cannot have one without the other, so let’s stop trying. Let’s get hungry; let’s pursue the gifts, and let’s proclaim the gospel! We will be amazed at what God does through us when we do.

Photo by Nathan Bingle on Unsplash

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Leadership: The 3-12-72 Principle

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I love leadership. I love growing as a leader. I love raising up other leaders around me. I have attended conferences on leadership, taken online courses in leadership, and read many books, by some of the greatest leadership authors of our time and from the past. However, one of the greatest leadership lessons I have learned, actually came to me when I was reading the Bible. I was taking note of how Jesus organized those He led around Himself, and found this very helpful principle for my own leadership, and I believe, as it does come from the greatest leader in (and out) of history, it is relevant for anyone in leadership to understand. 

Jesus Loved and Served Everyone

The first thing we must understand about Jesus is that He loved everyone He came in contact with, ministered with compassion to all, and demonstrated grace to everyone, even the ones everyone else loathed. It is His nature to love, and his desire to save everyone. However, as He walked the earth in a human body, Jesus seemingly realized that His physical limitations would prevent Him from giving equal time to everyone. Equal grace, love, and dignity for all? Yes. Equal face time? No.

When Jesus called His disciples, He called 12 men to drop everything and come follow Him. These 12 had a unique leadership connection to Jesus as He commissioned them for ministry (Matthew 10:1-15). These 12 men were there for it all, and they received special times with the Lord behind closed doors, when Jesus would go deeper in His teachings about the Kingdom of God. 

However, among the twelve, Jesus held an even closer relationship with three men, who have been dubbed the inner circle, made up of Peter, James (or Jacob) and John. Jesus allowed these three men to walk with him in some of the most intimate and personal times of His life and ministry, such as when He met with Moses and Elijah on the mountaintop, called the ‘transfiguration’ (Matthew 17:1-8), or in the Garden of Gethsemane as He called out to God in prayer the night before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-38). The rest of the 12 apostles just did not get this same access to Jesus.

Beyond just the 12, we also know that Jesus had more disciples who were with Him regularly, and heard His teachings often, because He later sends out 72 people to do ministry themselves in the towns He would soon be going to (Luke 10:1-12). These 72 must have been following Him for a while and learned the basics of ministry from Him in order for Him to be willing to send them out like this. Still, though, these did not get the same relationship or access to Jesus as the 12, or the 3.

More than this, we also know that beyond these 72, Jesus was followed by multitudes of people hearing His teaching and becoming His disciples. There were so many in this crowd that at one point He had to get in a boat and push away from shore a bit to be able to teach them all (Matthew 13:1-9). We also know that this number of people ran into the thousands, because even the disciples began to be concerned for the crowd’s well-being, asking Jesus to send them away so they could find food (Matthew 14:13-15). 

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Lesson for Leadership: “The 3-12-72 Principle”

It is clear that while He was on earth, Jesus had a great ministry that reached thousands of people, in a day when technology, internet, and great sound systems hadn’t even been thought up yet. Nevertheless, despite His love for every one of them, Jesus devoted Himself first and foremost to the 3, to the 12, and the 72, because they would be the next generation of leaders when He moved on. 

There is an important lesson demonstrated by Jesus’ disciple-making, that every leader must come to terms with, and that is you cannot – and should not – make an attempt to mentor and develop every person who comes to you one-on-one. You do not have the time, energy, or even the ability to do so. 

For any organization to grow and thrive, the senior leader must identify a few key leaders whom he can train and raise up well, and then send them out to train and mentor more in the same way. Just like Jesus, every leader should have a very small group of people who have full access to them, to learn and be equipped at the highest level. This group will go beyond just being mentors/mentees, to having a very intimate friendship built on the sharing of life together. For Jesus this number was three; for  many other great leaders, it is often only one or two at a time. 

After the commitment to pour fully into this small group, each leader should have another group around them (the 12) who are high-level leaders within the organization, and are therefore getting regular, ongoing, personal development, that is not intended for everyone in the organization. These men and women may not have full access to the leader’s life like the inner circle does, but they should have a high level of understanding as to how the organization functions and be given  some authority within the organization to lead various teams, projects, or divisions. 

Next, a great leader will still find ways to train and equip the next tier of leadership (the 72), to ensure success in their work, as well as giving regularly communicating vision, values and mission to the multitudes who make up the organization as a whole. These people may not have private meetings with the top leader very often, but he should at least know their names, what they are good at, and be building them up along the way. 

Finally, though the leader will be making his biggest investments into the 3, the 12, and the 72, it must remain a priority for him or her to regularly be casting the vision, demonstrating the values, and clarifying the mission priorities of the organization to the ‘multitudes’ who  work for the organization or have a stake in its success. Though the leader will not have the time or energy to be training these people one-on-one — which is the job of the 3, 12, and 72 — he or she should still see a personal need to invest in them as a group when time and resources allow. 

If a leader will develop this tiered structure of leadership development, and determine his or her personal level of investment in each group, the equipping given to each will be immensely greater than if the leader tried to treat everyone the same and give them equal time and training. 

The hard reality is that as leaders to go higher, the numbers get smaller. You cannot expect the multitudes to function at the same level as the inner circle, nor will they all have the same giftings and drive as those making up ‘the 12.’ You have to identify the right people to invest in at each level of leadership around you. 

A Note for Growing Leaders

While this principle definitely sounds unfair to someone wanting to grow in leadership, who may be one of the 72 or even just a face in the crowds, it is, nevertheless, true and necessary. What every person serving under a leader must come to terms with is that not everyone gets a seat at the front of the table. Demanding or usurping authority that is not given to you undermines the leadership you are trying to learn from. Submission means that we are willing to step up when called upon, and to step back otherwise. 

Learning to grow as a leader takes time and effort, not only on your part, but on those that will mentor you. We must either submit and step back sometimes, or find another leader to follow who will train us.

If you’re enjoying the content I produce, a little caffeine to keep me going would be appreciated!



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© Anthony Scott Ingram 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Photo by Kate Kalvach on Unsplash

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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(This post was originally published March 3, 2011. It has been revised and edited for reposting.)

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