Discipleship Unveiled

When we believed and confessed that Jesus is Lord we were saved. That is to say, we were made perfect in the eyes of God. Looking closer, we see that we repented, believed and confessed what was in our heart. Jesus is Lord! We are now a new creation in Christ. Now, what? Once we are born again and become a new creation, it doesn't take too long to realize that, although we are right in God's eyes because of the work Jesus did on the cross, we were still susceptible to sinning. It can be confusing, if not difficult, to grow in the Lord if we do not under what is happening in our salvation. The Three Phases of Salvation Since salvation is realized in three phases we want to understand each phase and understand God's part and our part. The good news is, God does it all. However, there is a corresponding effect on the believer as He molds and shapes us. Justification The larger scope of salvation involves three distinct stages in a Christian's walk. We are sa

We have a good idea as to what being politically correct is. In our culture it has a stranglehold on our ability to come together and share a purpose. The practical result of a PC culture leads to extreme deficiencies in effectiveness, communication and thought. We passively learn to live with PC norms. A little here and a little there. Then, just like the proverbial frog in the warming pot, we are neutralized. As Christians we are not immune to this effect. In fact, not only are we bombarded by the PC culture that surrounds us in public, we find that within the church we have another PC culture that we tolerate. It has the same impact on effectiveness, communication and thought. We witness this as we look across the body of Christ and see many, wonderfully saved by grace Christians who know scripture but are ineffective in their ministry. They have been in Christ for years yet do not have direction, vision or understand the ministry that the Lord has given them. Building For

Have you ever wondered why when Jesus spoke to the disciples and others, they seemed so confused? Jesus was from another world and He thought differently than we Earthlings do. Therefore, we see our Lord responding to questions with questions. He was doing this because they were asking the wrong questions. Jesus used his questions to change their perspective. He was taking the first steps in changing they way they think. We see Paul furthering the work of this new way of thinking when he wrote to the Church at Rome, "for I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established"  Romans 1:11 NKJV So, where exactly did Paul want to establish those he was writing to? In the mind! The word  "established"  refers to a work of strengthening the mind. It means to be made stable, strengthened, to render constant, confirm, one's mind. It's not just important what we know, but our perspective as a new creation in Christ.

We want to give great value to the work we put in for the Lord. Yesterday's accomplishments can truly be significant and honorable but sometimes those wonderful achievements hold us in the past. How do our good works hold us in the past? Good works hold us captive in the past when we give what we have done in the past, more value than what we can do today. Have you ever had someone come to you who was seeking biblical wisdom about a challenge before them and when you began to teach them, they kept referencing things they accomplished several years before? Yea, I went to bible college. Well, I have read through the entire bible... 5 times! You know, I used to pray for 3 hours a day. I served at the church for 10 years. I've thoroughly studied that topic for many years. I know. None of these wonderful accomplishments have as much value as what can be accomplished today. They may have come to you for help today but they can't hear you because yesterday'