Discipleship Unveiled

The armor of God has been a topic that has been difficult to get our minds wrapped around. What it is and how we put it on, has seemed to be a bit mysterious. So maybe by looking at the effect of the armor we can get a better understanding of how to put the armor on. We previously looked at The Breastplate of Righteousness , so let's take the next piece. We're leaving in,  The Effect of Armor,  section here for continuity. The Effect of Armor The most prominent place the armor of God is listed is in  Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV .  Each piece of armor has an effect. Since it is spiritual armor, and we are physically oriented, it can be difficult to understand what is happening when we have it on. One of the things we know about armor is that once we are in the battle, we shouldn't have to think about the armor. It will passively protect us and we shouldn't have to give it another thought. We inspect, test and repair the armor on a regular basis and en...

There are many ways to confirm the authenticity of the scriptures and confirm the recorded accuracy of what makes up the 66 books of the Bible and the reality of the God of the Bible. Although, our best method for confirming the truth of the bible just may be what the psalmist suggested in 1 Psalm 34:8 (NLT) and simply, “Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Yet, there are other fantastic ways to begin to see and confirm the authenticity of the Bible. Anything from showing the accuracy of the many ancient prophecies, to confirming the existence of individuals mentioned, the eyewitness accounts, detailed accounts of places, events, and even the timing of events, are all great places to start.  The study of Biblical Archaeology is one of these disciplines that can be persuasive logically and coherently in showing someone of the opposing view, why Christianity is a Worldview  that makes a lot of sense, and in fact, does...

Many times when we are having a difficult discussion with someone we are being sensitive to not only what to say, but what not to say. We get the feeling that if we "bottom line it" or say something that is generally against common assumptions, we're going to exacerbate an already uncomfortable interaction. It could be something politically incorrect or it may go against a misunderstanding in science or challenge a preconceived idea. It could be about a bad behavior or maybe the boss making a bad decision that hurts you or someone else. We've all had these uncomfortable conversations where we need to speak up and say something that may anger someone. We want to be respectful and think about how we will deal with the situation. We want to follow the scriptures that tell us to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove but this may mean something else, as well. We may find that the best way to address the subject is to simply say the things that need to be sai...

When we engage people with the Gospel, doctrine, philosophy, politics, etc. it can be fun and it can also be a little intimidating if we feel we don't have all the details locked down. Some people avoid those discussions all together. Yet, religion (i.e. any belief system) and politics are where the ideas come from, that move the world forward. Here at In The Cool Zone we want to provide a strategy to discuss these types of topics with a calm, cool and thoughtful demeanor.  We even want to do this to the point of helping others remain calm and thoughtful as well. Many of those ideas and techniques are found at ITCZ 101 . In the article, It's Ok To Be Wrong , we showed how one can eradicate the fear of being wrong. Especially, if we are engaging in conversations that have the potential to go sideways. With that, we also want to reinforce the idea that it's ok to be right, as well. Yes! It's Ok To Be Right As Christians we have so much material to read, stu...

One of the reasons we may not engage others with the Gospel or biblical wisdom is a fear of being wrong about some detail. That fear of being embarrassed or humiliated in front of a group can completely shut a Christian down from sharing their faith. There is however, an antidote to this fear. Wrap your mind around this idea... "It's ok to be wrong!" As we go about our day, as Christians we should be ready to tell others what the Lord has done for us.  There is nothing to fear, especially if you prepare yourself. If you're not ready, you can be! Focus on Coming to the Truth If we get wrapped up in a philosophical question and we realize that we have wandered off on some tangent that is more, "uniformed opinion," than truth, do this... acknowledge it! Now, that's not hard is it? Step one is to acknowledge to ourselves that we are wrong. Step two , we want to have a mindset of always seeking the truth. If we know our goal and are committed...

We can become more effective delivering the Gospel and teaching the scriptures if we use compelling strategies. Although we can win arguments and be correct about the truth of the scriptures, that alone is generally not effective. So let's discuss an important strategy. Activate thinking for the win. If we want to be  In The Cool Zone  and effective, we will not be focused on looking for agreement when we present the scriptures. We want to focus on activating the thinking process in others. If we can do that, then those we are trying to reach can begin to evaluate the merits of a scripture or salvation in Christ. The reason for this is, the mind is where transformation occurs. So if we can get someone to think then we essentially are helping them to truly listen. Then he said, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." - Mark 4:9 NLT The mechanism for growing in the Lord is being transformed by the renewing of our mind. We need to begin to thin...

Can you remember an argument you had where a person you were trying to correct refused to agree that they had done the thing you said they did? Even though there was no disputing the details? I have. In one particular encounter, when it happened, it took me by surprise. So much so, the entire encounter changed the way I think. Here's why: It didn't matter how clear the situation was, he was not going to agree that he had done anything wrong. Then the unexpected happened! Let's do this in story format for fun. The names and some details have been changed to protect... everybody! :-) Jack And Tom Jack was the manager of our team. One day a member, we'll call him Tom, was in a tough situation with a client where it was appropriate to refuse our services. It was a common practice to refuse service under these particular conditions. However, when Jack came over to back Tom, he put Tom in a terrible position. Instead of confirming the denial of service, he ...

It is appropriate that we are ready to answer questions from Believers and non-believers. However we do not need to accept the premise of a question. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. - 1 Peter 3:15 NLT Here is a fantastic definition of what a premise is: A premise is the assumption of an argument that is meant to justify the conclusion the one making the argument is hoping you’ll come to. If one fails to establish the premise to his argument, one almost always fails to convince others of his conclusion. On the other hand, if one establishes a premise one will more than likely get others to agree with his conclusion. - from the article, "Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument" by Steve Deace,   Townhall.com We want to do what Jesus did and change or correct the premise of questions we get asked, to what should have been asked to lead to salvation. Je...

Listening is a superpower that you just cannot do without. We hear about it but we may not think about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Listening is not a passive ability. Therefore, we have to actively engage it. Listening requires focus and must be practiced for it to be developed. The power of listening requires a thoughtful approach and a strategy. There is a reason we have trouble being good listeners. In much the same way that our curiosity has been stolen , our ability to be a good listener has been taken as well. Since our culture is designed to drive curiosity from us, it has also taken our ability to listen with it. You can't have one without the other. The importance of being a good listener cannot be over emphasized. It is a core function of learning, reasoning and understanding. It is a superpower for knowing the Lord and a superpower for communicating. Listening Is Commanded Jesus insisted that we be expert listeners. Anyone with ears ...

This one strategy will eliminate nearly every frustration and much of the confusion when discussing the scriptures. Periodically we end up in philosophical discussions about life. When discussing or debating the merits of the Word of God, with other Christians or non-Christians, why is it difficult to get our point across?  Remember the age-old debate about who's responsible in a conversation? Is it the speaker or is it the listener? Who is responsible for a misunderstanding? There are reasons that both can contribute to any confusion. So let's talk about a solution. There is a strategy we can follow to help both parties in a conversation. It is relatively simple but does require some focus and practice and it cannot be stated enough. It is this:  Stay on topic! The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing. - Proverbs 15:2 NLT Why Were We Talking About This? Have you ever been caught up in a debate and before you knew it the topic shifted so many t...

Have you ever wanted to share the Gospel or scriptural wisdom but couldn't come up with an ice breaker to segue into your topic? A great way to do this is to open with an attention grabbing statement or question. So what kind of attention grabber is good to open with? It would depend on your topic. A good idea is to open with your conclusion. It can also be a statement or in the form of a question. Have you ever wondered why there is no evidence for evolution and yet it is the only origin philosophy taught in public schools? I think it's scary they teach evolution in public school even though there is no evidence to support it.  Your Attention Please For those of you who hold an evolutionary philosophy, I know that I now have your attention. For those who are unsure if there was a creation or an evolution or some combination of the two that explains our origins, I probably have your attention as well. I bet even a creationist would be wondering what I was goi...

Our goal in delivering the Gospel or the Word of God in any particular situation is not necessarily that we are heard, but that others are listening, curious and thinking. Let's take every opportunity to put folks in the best position we can so they can thoughtfully consider what we are sharing. When sharing your faith it's a good idea to do what you can to keep the other person engaged, curious and thoughtful. One way to do that is to let them have a place of power. Ok, now what does that mean? The place of power is simply how you position yourself and the other person when engaging in a conversation. Here are a couple of examples of the place of power. Sit or stand lower than the other person.  Open posture.  Ask questions.  Listen very closely. Recap what you understand they said and meant. Creating Opportunities To Connect The purpose of letting someone be in the place of power helps them relax and keeps their thoughts out in front of their feel...

While we are going about our daily business we are going to have opportunity to engage fellow Christians and those who do not know the Lord. Those who are not in the Lord, or non-Christians, are inherently going to have difficulty with the things of God. The scriptural things we have available to engage non-Christians with, are limited in the sense of content that is effective. Can we talk about the scriptures to non-Christians? Sure we can. Yet, if we do not bring the Gospel to the conversation at some point, we are not setting them up for success. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise. - Proverbs 11:30 NKJV Before Understanding... Salvation Topics such as the scriptures, history, current events, religion, politics, science, etc. are fantastic mechanisms for engaging and raising curiosity but until the Gospel is offered, there is no intimate engagement of the Spirit and the unsaved person. Having read the bible or having general ...

We know that presenting the Gospel is a primary objective. So how do we do that? As discussed in the article, Deliver The Gospel , we need to know what the Gospel is. In the article, The Holy Spirit Leads we find that we plant and water but it is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction.                               So what's our strategy then for planting and watering? Curiosity! Part of being In The Cool Zone is having a healthy curiosity about the things of the Lord. We discussed in, Curiosity… The Hijacked Virtue , that we have had our curiosity taken from us. When we take it back and take it seriously we open up a whole new world that the Lord has been leading us to affect. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. ... whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. - 2 Corinthians 3:6, 16 NLT   Stirring Up Curiosity In Others Curiosity has also been stolen from t...

Question: What is your elevator pitch for the Gospel? Answer: "What's an elevator pitch?" :-/ Ok, let's start there! An elevator pitch (EP) is a quick overview of a topic that expresses a thought or idea in a quick and concise manner. The pitch only takes about 20-30 seconds. So even the tightest window of opportunity to deliver the Gospel becomes easy to do. The EP does require a little planning and practice. However, just like doing mental reps to galvanize your heart , the EP becomes a faith boost because the preparation builds confidence. Mind Tools has an excellent piece on Crafting an Elevator Pitch . This should give you a pretty thorough introduction. Thank you, Mind Tools! Review, ITCZ 101 - Deliver The Gospel to nail down exactly what the Gospel is. Then craft your pitch. Practice it and get it down to approximately 30 seconds and you have yourself a powerful witnessing tool. Preparation Meets Opportunity When an opportunity presents its...

When we are going about our day it's not too hard to get caught up in the daily events that consume our time. It's just normal life but let's not let the work of the day take away from opportunities to share the Gospel. The Abundance Of The Heart Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak. This is the foundation for being ready to deliver the gospel at a moment's notice. When the opportunity presents itself the heart, when full, must speak. A heart full of the scriptures does not fear to speak the Gospel. It craves every opportunity. Delivering The Gospel We were instructed by Jesus to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove . Let's develop a strategy of delivering the Gospel and teaching the scriptures that can accomplish both of these goals and master it. First know what the Gospel is. The entire chapter of 1st Corinthians 15  is a great start and deserves a read through. Be sure to keep verses three and four locked and loaded for a c...

Let's continue our review in Matthew where Jesus was sending out the 12 disciples to deliver the message that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. He gave them a detailed plan and summarized with the following scripture. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. - Matthew 10:16 KJV Let's take the second half of this scripture and go at this in a similar way as before. We'll take a quick look at the word "harmless." Harmless - The same word is innocent, meaning unmixed, pure as in wines or metals. Of the mind, without a mixture of evil, free from guile . Figuratively, innocent: harmless, simple. So pretty easy stuff here. It is true that we should be harmless but let's think of that as the ability to help others engage in friendly conversation and keep them engaged for as long as possible i.e. a friendly conversation about the Gospel.

It probably doesn't take a lot of convincing for us to buy that God is working in our world to save humanity. The Lord, rightfully so, is understood to be powerful, faithful and active. You could say he has every tool at His disposal to bring His will to bear. I'm good with that. Now how do we get in on the action? We have been charged with building ourselves up in the Lord and building up others as well. The work consists of having our mind renewed to think like Jesus thinks so we can deliver the Gospel, serve our brothers and sisters and teach others how to do the same. So this begs the question, "if we are builders, what's in our tool box?" Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. - Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT Work Hard, Work Smart Goal number one, once we belie...

When Adam and Eve sinned, death entered into the species of mankind. Through propagation of the species sin and death is passed on to each generation. Did you ever wonder why if death entered in, then why didn't they actually die in that moment? Well, they did die. The part of their being that died instantly was their spirit. The death of their spirit separated Adam and Eve, and therefore mankind, from God. Without a living spirit within to communicate with the living God, a relationship was not possible. In a cascade effect from sin entering in, the fall of mankind impacted all of creation. God cursed the creation and the redemption of the universe is tied to the redemption of mankind. Whoa! God Is The Only Source Of Life The Spirit of God is the source of life. Sin destroyed the spirit of man and the effect was a soul and body that although not dead began a process of expending the life that was present, unto a final death. And you were dead in your trespasses and ...

A key part of getting In The Cool Zone is coming to the Lord in a sincere way. We want to always approach others in a sincere manner as well. Your sincerity is a super power and it comes from a thought process that is seeking the truth. Truth Is Armor The first piece of armor listed in the Armor of God is truth. Seeking the truth in all things, in every encounter keeps us from trying to, "win" arguments or "always be right" about a topic. We do not need to force what we know into a topic, situation or discussion. We can sincerely have a discussion and have no other objective other than seeking and delivering the truth. Other powers to add to sincerity are forgiveness, listening, curiosity and a willingness to learn. There are many more super powers to discuss but for today, let's raise our awareness on our sincerity and seeking the truth.