Tag: Christianity

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10 Books That Changed My Life

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Growing up, I HATED reading. It probably had to do with assigned books from school, rather than the freedom to choose my own interests. It likely, also, had to do with the accelerated reader testing and comprehension assignments attached to even the best books. Nevertheless, I did not become a reader until later, sometime in college.

Now, however, I read all the time. I can devour a good book in a few days, and have bought so many more than I will every have time to read. I have physical books, kindle content, and even a massive digital library in Logos Bible Software that I’ll never make it through in this life.

This week, I want to take a break from my normal blogging routine to recommend some of the best books I have ever read, that have helped to shape the insights I share with you regularly.

To begin with, here are 10 Books that have changed my life:

Hosting the Presence by Bill Johnson

‘Hosting the Presence‘ is one of the greatest primers on living life filled with the Holy Spirit that I have ever read. In fact, when I read it for the first time, I immediately read it again, and then again, before I could move on to any other book. Using the picture of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus in the form of a dove, Johnson explains that when we value the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life,  we will do everything we do with Him in mind.

Experiencing the Father's Embrace by Jack Frost

‘Experiencing the Father’s Embrace‘ is an amazing book revealing the Father-heart of God over us. This is another book that I have read a number of times, and it is the first book I recommend to any person looking to me for counseling or inner healing. If a person wants me to disciple them personally, this book is required reading, and I cannot more highly recommend it to you, no matter who you are!

Called to Reign by Leif Hetland

Many years ago I noticed that God was teaching me things in three distinct areas of spirituality: identity in Christ, intimacy with Him, and our inheritance as co-heirs. These things filled my personal devotions and the sermons I preached. Imagine my surprise with I stumbled across Leif’s book, ‘Called to Reign: Living and Loving from a Place of Rest,’ and discovered that his main sections are Identity, Intimacy, Inheritance, and one I hadn’t explored, Destiny. He covers these topics in such an eloquent way, I had to read it twice. If you struggle to be who Christ says you are, or attain the vision He has given you for life, then you must read this book!

What's Wrong with Protestant Theology by Jon Mark Ruthven

‘What’s Wrong with Protestant Theology? Tradition vs Biblical Emphasis‘ is a very scholarly work which leads us to the simple conclusion that the Reformers went wrong by excluding the continuing, active voice of God in the lives of everyday believers. ‘Sola scriptura’ effectively silenced any contemporary communication from God to man. Yet, without the ongoing and direct leading of the Holy Spirit, we will never be able to fulfill the mission of Jesus for the church. For some, this may be a difficult book to read, due to its formal style, but will be worth the effort if you are looking for a well researched, theological approach to Pneumatology. 

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice by Mark Virkler

In 2012, I was living in Haiti, and growing in many areas of personal life ministry. One thing I was convinced of was that hearing God’s voice was my right as a believer, and should be natural part of the Christian life. However, I did not know where to begin. That is when I stumbled onto the book, ‘4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice.’ These simple steps were so practical for me, that I began to practice them immediately. Having so many hours alone in the evenings to do nothing else, I spent long periods of time on the balcony of my guesthouse praying and listening for God’s response. Eventually, it became almost as easy to hear Him talking as it was to hear people around me. To this day, I still practice the journaling process I learned from this book. I am so thankful for it!

The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus

‘The Barbarian Way‘ was one of the most influential books of my college life. It was not required reading for any class, but was passed around our dormitory by many young men who were inspired to do something great with their lives for the Lord. If you are already established on your journey in life, then pass this one by. However, if you need inspiration to rise up and do more, with boldness and passion, then maybe this book can help get you there.

Forgiveness by Rodney Hogue

This book set me free from so much extra baggage I carried around from the things done to me by others. It was so easy to blame people for everything wrong in life, and to play the victim card. However, once I learned the power of forgiveness from this little book, it changed my life in so many ways. ‘Forgiveness‘ by Rodney Hogue is now that I recommend and even require by people seeking counseling and inner healing. It might just help you in ways you didn’t know you needed it.

Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby

‘Experiencing God‘ was another breakthrough book for me and some of my friends early on in the Christian life, teaching us how to have a true relationship with God with scripture as our guide. It has been dubbed a modern classic by many. If you have never read this book for yourself, just ask around. I am sure you know some people who have. If you are looking to deepen your relationship with Him, then this might be a good place to look for help.

Created in God's Image by Anthony Hoekema

‘Created in God’s Image‘ was required reading for one of my Bible college counseling classes, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, this book fundamentally shaped my understanding of humanity’s original design and the destructiveness of sin. Although my theological framework is not as reformed as Hoekema’s, this book is still one I recommend to the pastors and leaders in our ministry.

The Simple Way by Shane Claiborne

‘The Simple Way‘ was my first look into Christianity outside of normal, modern church services. Although I cannot recommend all of the theology Claiborne holds to, I can truly say that this book inspired me to love others in ways I didn’t think possible, and to go out into the world to find those who needed the love of Christ, desperately, but may never be welcomed by everyday believers. At one point, it almost led me and a group of friends to become squatters in a rough neighborhood in Fort Worth for sake of the gospel. Be careful.

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4 Levels of Disciple-Making

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As we continue our discussion on creating a strategy for discipleship within your church or ministry, I want to look at four levels of growth people go through in the discipleship journey. (Click here for part 1 of our discipleship strategy series.)

These four levels will give us a grid for how to view our interactions with others, determined by where they are in their own journey with Christ. As we learn to keep disciple-making at the forefront of our minds in every interaction with others, this will help us to see where they are, and inform our efforts to help them draw closer to Christ and to maturity in Him.

Of course these four levels could be broken down even further into many sub-categories, but keeping it simple will enable us to grasp the challenges and opportunities we have with each group, and form a plan for raising them up.

1. The Non-Believer

While this is not technically a level on the discipleship spectrum, I want to include it here because it is the place all of us start from. In our efforts to make disciples, it is necessary to view every person in relationship to where they are in Christ, and so we might simply say these people are pre-Christ. They haven’t met Him yet. Which tells us how we need to be interacting with them .

Jesus loves the world so much that He gave up His own life to redeem ours. In Him, all of humanity has been called back to the Father and has a divine opportunity to be conformed to the image of Christ. Our interactions with non-believers should be intentional to speak in love, offering the life-giving gospel to them as the Holy Spirit gives us the opportunity.

The desired outcome of our time with these people is that as they would encounter Jesus through us, will be drawn to Him, and receive salvation.

2. The New Believer

Once someone has been born-again by putting their faith in Christ, the next step is to help them understand the foundations of the Christian life. They are no longer lost sinners, but unless there has been a supernatural breakthrough which brought them into salvation, they will likely still struggle with what it means to be a Christian.

It is at this stage that we must impart to the new believer the foundation of their new identity in Christ. The old man has passed away, and the new man is breaking through. Yet it is a process to see the new man come in maturity, so we must help them.

In developing a discipleship strategy for these men and women, it can be a good idea to use a topical approach in your discipleship meetings. We can use their hunger to grow, and take them to the basics of the Christian life. These would be things like:

  • what is salvation and repentance
  • how are we born again,
  • what does it mean to pray, 
  • how do you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, 
  • why is Bible study important,
  • why they should join in a church fellowship.

This list can be much longer, depending on how the Holy Spirit leads you in developing your own teaching, and we will discuss this topic in more depth in a future post. But for now, we simply need to understand that the goal at this stage of discipleship is that these people would begin to leave the old life behind, and start taking steps to live as a follower of Christ.

3. The Growing Disciple

Once a person has integrated into the Christian life and is operating as part of the local fellowship of believers, there will come a day that topical lessons have less of an impact on their walk with the Lord. That is not to say that all believers cannot benefit from specific teachings on certain points of the Christian life. Simply that there will come a hunger for “the meat of the word,” and not the basic things – “the milk” – given to babes in Christ.

It is at this stage that we must ensure that these men and women can begin to walk out their own discipleship and growth, through the word of God and in intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

One practical way you can teach people to study the Word of God, as we have discussed in another post, is called the R.E.A.P. Method. While this is not original to myself, I love it because it is simple enough to teach and remember. You simply teach people that with every passage of scripture you should (R)ead, (E)xamine what it means and the principles it teaches, (A)pply these lessons to your life and decide how you will live them out, and then (P)ray for the Holy Spirit to help you do so.

As they are learning to pray for the Holy Spirit’s help, they must also be learning to hear His voice and discern His leadership in their lives. While your church probably has its own beliefs and convictions about how involved the Holy Spirit is in our daily lives, we must make sure we are not limiting Him through willful unbelief. We will discuss this topic in more detail in a future post as well.

The goal with believers at this stage is to let go of handholding Christianity, and enable believers to grow on their own. They will still need guidance along the way, but they cannot remain dependent on others for ongoing growth.

4. The Mature Leader

The final level of discipleship comes when a person has not only learned how to hear the voice of God and grow themselves in the Word of God, but they have a growing track record of practicing these things regularly.

When they reach the point of truly knowing who they are in Christ, and are living out a respectable level of Christian maturity, then the discipleship process turns to them becoming disciple-makers themselves. We might call this a vision-centered discipleship.

What I mean by this is that not only are they learning to walk in Christ more every day, but as their relationship with Him matures, they will begin to have God-given visions of gospel improvement to their family of faith, their neighborhoods and community, and even for national revival. They will no longer simply be pursuing their own growth in the Lord, but naturally they will being leading others toward growth in Him as well.

For these people, stepping into leadership may not be automatic, but it should be encouraged.

As far as it concerns a discipleship strategy, it is at this level that a church should be seeking to impart the vision and values of the ministry into the person, as they begin to lead others down the line. These people should learn what the greater vision God has given to the ministry and how the leadership strives to live it out.

For example, in my own ministry we have 5 “cultural values” which should mark every pastor, missionary, or leader in our ministry, and should be trickling down to every church member and short-term team member. These are things like “bible-loving” and “prayer-led,” which are vital to any ministry and to every maturing disciple. Yet we also have more distinct values such as “identity-driven” and “revival-longing.” Those things need pressed into people growing into maturity within our ministry.

Imparting things like their identity in Christ into the vision they have to serve others will prevent things like a spirit of competition or a poverty mindset. It is not simply a mental understanding of the new man that is necessary, but a practical outworking of their inheritance and authority as sons and daughters of God.

To teach them what it means to be revival-longing, is to impart the vision our ministry has for holiness, justice, community restoration, healing, deliverance, and mass salvations. These things drive how our ministry works from day-to-day, as well as how we pray and seek God as a team of ministers.

The point is that as a person begins to step up into spiritual maturity, our strategy must include a plan to help them become leaders within the church and community, and that means teaching not just the biblical theology and foundations of Christianity, but also imparting the specific callings and giftings that God has given to your ministry for your area of service. The goal is that they will continue the mission of making-disciples in the next generation of believers.

(Click here to begin exploring these four levels in depth.)

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Maturity in Christ: The Goal of Discipleship

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(This is Part 5 in our series on Discipleship. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.)

If you examine global Christianity with a focus on finances, it is impressive how much the church spends every year, doing outreaches and events in the name of “soul-winning.” Millions, maybe billions, of dollars are spent every year on community outreaches, crusades, and various other evangelistic efforts. And it works. Millions of people, every year, pray a prayer of salvation, in hopes of having an eternity in paradise when they die. Yet all too often, that is where the church’s outreach ends.

As we have discussed already in this discipleship series, the Great Commission calls us not just to make converts, but to make disciples. The sad reality is, however, that too many churches make big plans with big budgets for getting people saved, but have a much lower priority in helping the people become Christ-like. Discipleship has a much lower priority, than winning converts.

Even worse is the fact that we now have multiple generations of believers in the church who are caught in a terrible cycle where, because they were not discipled themselves, they do not know how to make disciples of others. We have churches full of Christian converts who live in immaturity, making more converts who also continue to live in immaturity.

The Goal of Discipleship is that People would Become Like Christ.

Discipleship is the process of leaving who we were before salvation, and becoming who we are called to become in Christ (see Ephesians 2:10). It is a leaving behind of the old man; a putting to death to our sinful nature, in the process of conforming to the image of Jesus, who is the perfect image of God and man (see Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:5; and Romans 8:29).

If we have any plans in ministry, short of seeing people being transformed into Christlikeness, then we have completely missed the goal of discipleship, and need to reanalyze our motives. To be sure, it is a great thing to want to see hundreds or thousands of people get saved, yet that is not the finish line. Maturity in Christ is.

To use a football analogy, when trying to get someone saved, it is like playing the game on defense. Your only desire is to get possession of the ball before the other team can score (or in this case, to get the person saved before they die and go to hell).

When a person gets converted to Christianity, that is like the ball being intercepted and now rather than playing defense, you switch to playing offense. The strategy changes when you get the ball, but you still haven’t scored. You still have work to do to get the ball to the goal, which in this case, means taking the new convert from the point of salvation and leading them to maturity in Christ. Salvation is simply taking possession of the “ball,” but getting to maturity in Christ is the actual goal line.

So how do we know when a believer reaches maturity in Christ?

The Clearest Mark of Maturity is the Ability to Make More Disciples.

As with any living thing, the most recognizable mark of maturity is the ability to reproduce. When a human child grows up, they go through puberty and transition from adolescence to adulthood. It is a process, and takes time, and they undergo many changes along the way. They begin to look different. They begin to act different. They even begin to sound different. Yet the process isn’t complete until they can successfully procreate. Beforehand, they could not reproduce even if they tried, but after the maturing of their bodies, it becomes a natural part of life. 

The same is true spiritually! We are born again, then go through the process of transformation and spiritual growth, and then naturally, we will begin to lead others into the new birth and discipleship process as well!

Also, just as in the natural world, when we reproduce, we will replicate whatever is in our DNA. Cows give birth to cows. Birds give birth to birds. People give birth to people. So naturally, disciples should give birth to disciples. Disciple-making should be in the DNA of every believer. 

Maturity in the Body Means Everyone is a Disciple-Maker

The goal of discipleship is that as a believer grows in Christ, he or she will not only begin to live their lives by Christ’s example, but will begin reaching out and discipling others as well. As Ephesians 4 tells us: “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” – that is maturity – and “when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” The body of Christ builds up the body of Christ.

Earlier in the same passage, Paul tells us that it is the job of spiritual leadership – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers – to equip every believer for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).

It is time that we understand that we must be equipping every believer to become disciple-makers, walking in maturity, and pulling other people out of darkness and up to the standard of Christ, as well. His image in mankind is the goal, and any target less than that, falls short of the high calling of God.

As we continue in this series on discipleship, the next post will begin to look at practical steps in forming a discipleship strategy for yourself and for your ministry. Stay tuned…

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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.”

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