Skip to content

discipleship

What is the Gospel?

Today in the “No More Spectators” class at First Alliance Church, we had a great discussion around the question, “What is the Gospel?”  While open to everyone, this class has been of special importance to those of us going on this “simple church” journey together.  The thing I love most about “simple church” is that the emphasis ends up not being on “church” at all–but on all believers becoming active participants in the Great Commission (as apposed to “spectators”). In our journey from spectator to disciplemaker, perhaps no issue is more crucial than understanding the Gospel. So what is the Good News anyway? How would you explain it? We concluded with this video. Enjoy… [vimeo http://vimeo.com/12425590] For more great discussion about “The Gospel” and it’s centrality to christian faith, check out The Gospel Coalition.

No More Spectators

This Sunday will mark the third week of the No More Spectators class at First Alliance Church.  While not a “book study,” the class name as well as many of the big ideas were taken from a book written by Mark Nysewander with the same title.  Mark spoke several months ago at our church and passed his book along to me.  Like Robert Coleman’s book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Mark issues a challenge to all believers to engage in the Great Commission following the model that Jesus gave us.  I especially like how Mark compares and contrasts “spectator” Christians and disciple-making Christians.  Steven Lagen, from First Alliance Church, has written a short summary of the book which I have included below. ———– Summary and notes of Mark Nysewander, No More Spectators (USA:  Sovereign World,… Read More »No More Spectators

Discipleship Happens In Small Community

Discipleship Happens in Small Community. This is another “starting point” for me.  For the longest time, I thought that to “go and make disciples” necessitated entering into a teacher/student relationship in which I was primarily educating my  pupil (or being educated) about what it means to follow Jesus via a Bible study or a discipleship curriculum.  While this is a way of fulfilling the Great Commission, I have recently realized that it’s not the only way that God makes us into His disciples.   In fact, I have concluded that small community has been the driving force of discipleship in my life.  How about for you? Look no further than Jesus’ example to see this principle in action.  Jesus had a relatively small group of followers, 12 disciples and 3 with whom He spent greater… Read More »Discipleship Happens In Small Community

Where to Begin?

Do you every look at an enormous building or structure and wonder what the person in charge thought about his or her first day on the job?  I often imagine a funny scenario where the person walks onto the bare job site, takes out his or her tape measure, takes a measurement, and immediately tells someone to, “start digging here!”  Of course the reality is that it’s months and sometimes years before digging begins (I was a civil engineer major for one semester after all!)  Construction begins only after the end result has been planned. As I begin the task of “planting a church,” I’ve been thinking a lot about the end.  While the construction of a church would seemingly be the goal, I’ve concluded that God is not calling me to build a church… Read More »Where to Begin?