“… That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:29-30 Continue reading
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This is what our research has gleaned of the church that is happening now:
We may need to rediscover what Christ calls us to when we lead and manage His Church. We may need to reconsider what we do and how we do it. Is it biblical? Is it what Christ calls success or what the world calls success? Maybe we just need to get beyond ourselves, past our perceived needs and desires and repent. To seek Christ first and foremost. Then, we may be able to really lead His people properly where we all need to go. Closer to Him. Closer to one another. Nonetheless, authentic heartfelt surrendering to Christ as Lord, real discipleship and action of faith needs to take place or what are we doing (Matt. 6:33; 13; Rev. 10:8-11)!
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Here are some good ideas for Recovery….
Our resources are here:
http://www.discipleshiptools.org/pages.asp?pageid=65408
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In most ‘good’ evangelical churches, people are encouraged to accept Christ, make a profession of faith, or be baptized. Then, they are congratulated, put on the membership role, and then quickly forgotten. Sadly, these churches have become warehouses, holding Christians to numbers as a testimony and perceived success, and, as a whole, forsaken discipleship for cheap, contemptible programs with no real teaching or meaning. These programs may seem great on the surface because they attract people, but they do not keep them. In doing shallow programming with little teaching or discipleship has left its members to figure out these spiritual growth things on their own.
Therefore, the back door of the church is as big as the front door! Or the church is not really Kingdom effective!
All that you do in life as a leader of Christ’s church must be a reflection of a life surrendered to Christ. If you are so self-willed there can be no room for the living Christ, this may mean that others will use you, take advantage of you, get mad at you, ignore you, go around you, ridicule you, and persecute you! But remember, what they do to you, they do to Him! Make sure you are not the one persecuting the Lord!
And how do we persecute our Lord in the church today? When we become in breach of his mandates, like to Disciple!
There are many Bible teachers and so called preachers who turn the gospel of Jesus Christ into some kind of “easy-believe-ism,” where repentance is not necessary. However, as you can see, the Bible has something different to say. I would go with God’s Word and not self-proclaimed prompters. John reminds us of the need to bear fruit in keeping with true repentance (Gal. 5)! Are you showing true acceptance of Jesus as your Lord? You can know this by doing what He says (Luke 6:46; John 3:30).
Let our Lord be LORD, He is to be more; you are to be less. Be willing to learn about Him, to grow by His example in our obedience and be willing to go through times of waiting, confusion, discouragement and even suffering. And as leaders we pass this on! See these as opportunities for personal growth, faith building and strengthening.
Filed under: Church Traditions, Leadership Issues, Pastors, Uncategorized | Tagged: discipleship, Kingdom effective, persecute, programming, spiritual growth, sprit | 1 Comment »
Acts29.org 