How do Christians deal with contentious issues? Sometimes every bit as badly as anyone else. If it’s on the Internet, Christians engage in ‘flame wars’ and even ‘troll’, just like other people do.
Here is one Christian leader who has opted for a different approach. Lysa TerKeurst sees this style as vital for the integrity of Christian witness. What do you think?
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) has disciple-making at its heart. But today’s culture already disciples people in other ways that compete with the way of Jesus. Watch Alan Hirsch on this subject:
Making disciples involves more than just information, says Richard Jacobsen, it involves application. I’m not sure whether he’s entirely fair to history teachers in what follows, but see what you think:
Read more of Richard’s thoughts on this subject here.
Discipleship by Timothy King on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
You cannot separate evangelism from discipleship, says veteran professor of evangelism, Robert Coleman. Read why here.
Belonging by Nick Veitch on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
I have in recent days featured two posts by J R Woodward. Here is a third, Discipleship and the Four Spaces of Belonging. He talks about how the whole church needs to lead by example for people to be discipled, and for Christians to grow in missional focus. He also delineates four ‘spaces’ where discipleship can happen:
* public space – a large gathering of similarly-minded people, such as a big church event;
* social space – a community of ‘extended family’ and networked relationships, say, about 20-40 people in size, like ancient Roman households, which were the building blocks of their society (and like the size of some contemporary churches?);
* personal space – private relationships of eight to fifteen people, like a home group;
* intimate space – with our closest friends and family who know us well, and with whom we do not need to be ashamed.
Woodward asks us how well we operate within all four spaces to develop misson-focussed disciples. He suggests that some churches only concentrate on one or two of these, when we would do better to have all four in mind.
What do you think?
Conventional youth work is not effective, says Seth Barnes of Adventures In Missions. If you want to see teenagers in your church grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, take them on mission trips – for at least a month at a time.
To find out why he advocates this, watch this video:
Prayer Chapel by Randy OHC on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Today in many Methodist churches is Covenant Sunday, when we annually renew our commitment to Jesus Christ. Garth Hewitt’s prayer for the new year on his spirituality page might well serve as an act of dedication for us as we recommit ourselves to the mission of God.
Why not comment below if you prayed this prayer as an act of dedication today?
Discipleship by Brother Timothy on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Derek Vreeland argues that response to the Gospel involves decisions, but is not limited to one-off decisions, it is about a call to follow Jesus as a disciple. When we only preach the Gospel as a call to make a decision, we sell Jesus short.
He says that a discipleship-based message has these advantages:
What do you think?
A youth group at Cornerstone by Steve White on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Here are seven issues that are relevant to teenagers today. If this is a reasonably accurate list, then what does the Good News look like to young people experiencing these? What Gospel themes would you identify as being relevant to them?
Perhaps one area where the message of Jesus might touch youth such as those envisioned here would be in the area of true self-esteem, rather than the ways it is presented in society. The Christian message sees people as made in the image of God, offered redemption in Jesus Christ and being heirs to the promise of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.
Does this list shed any light on how the church might faithfully relate to teenagers?
A fun night on the Alpha Course by alphadarius on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Is coming to faith a matter of crisis or process? Or both? In the last couple of decades, churches seem to have shied away from the ‘crisis’ approach to evangelism seen in the big meetings (let’s be careful about the use of the word ‘crusade’), in favour of courses which expose enquirers to the content of the Christian Gospel over a period of weeks or even months. Some also have crossover value in refreshing existing Christians of core beliefs, and of building up discipleship.
It seems apposite to mention this, given that the Church of England has recently announced a new course entitled ‘Pilgrim’, based on famous biblical texts such as the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. While there is still a chance to reach some people with a folk memory of Christianity, the C of E is trying to reach them.
You may have had experience of other courses. Alpha is of course the most famous one, but there is also Christianity Explored, Essence, Disciple and Emmaus, to mention just a few that come immediately to mind. What has been good about these courses for you? What do you think should be different about them?
Thinking About Mission 