#3 Discipleship Under Grace: An Outline

Characteristics of a disciple

Bear fruit

“This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit showing yourself to be my disciples” John 15:8.
It is no effort for an apple tree to produce apples, nor an orange tree to produce oranges. The same is true for someone who is born again. Your spirit is made new and righteous according to 2 Corinthians 5:10 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” Our new nature is thus one that is no longer after the fleshly things, but after the spiritual things, because our spirit is totally renewed and made alive to Gods potential in us. The fruit that we bear will thus be a natural result of this act of faith and not something we do in order to attain it.

Fruit may come in the form of the fruit of the spirit, as found in Galatians 5:22-23. It may come in the form of gifts flowing through you, such as prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of wisdom and words of knowledge as set out in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

All of the above are unlikely occurrences in someone who has just recited a prayer at the back of the auditorium, there are exceptions of course, but history shows that people who bear much fruit are those who have been mentored into and taught how to best manifest Gods power through them. They have been taught on how the principles of healing work; they have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and have been guided through the bible into an understanding of what they are going through.

Remember: The goal is not fruit. The goal is a changing of the heart and a renewing of the mind. Fruit will be a natural and exciting product of these two elements combining in the life of any believer.


Multiplication

Acts 6:1 “And in those days when the number of disciples was multiplied…” Acts 6:7 “The word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly …”


Another characteristic of a disciple is multiplication. The pattern in the book of Acts gives us a good idea of what it meant to be a disciple – the disciples of the day preached the good news of Jesus Christ and the reality of this good news meant that more people joined them and their numbers increased!

Our aim is for every tribe, nation and tongue to hear and receive the gospel. It is to raise up leaders, who can carry on with the good works in the absence of the initiator. Success is largely dependant on whether there are successors or not. Discipleship thus ensures the sustainability of a particular work of God in a given environment.

Multiplication is thus a spin-off of effective discipleship and equipping. Disciples in the book of Acts did life together. They ate, lived and worshiped together. This meant that they gleaned off each other by learning from each others mistakes and profiting from each others wisdom, causing them to be encouraged in replicating these insights in other people.

Multiplication can thus also be seen as a fruit of effective discipleship in a believer. But, it is once again not the results we must focus on. The result of multiplication is only an indicator of a change of heart in individuals, through the Holy Spirit.

Freedom

John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed in Him, Jesus said,” If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”

In this verse Jesus paints a picture of progressing into being a disciple and what the end result will be. First, you have to believe in Him. This is a prerequisite to being a disciple; you must first be a believer – believe it or not!

Secondly, He said that “if you hold to my teaching” (NIV) or “abide in My word” (Amp), only then are you really His disciples. This then puts a clear separation between a believer and a disciple. A believer believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth (Romans 10:9-10), whereas a disciple holds to the teachings of Christ, which broadly entail: To love the Lord you God with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).Something which most Christians today still struggle with and thus a watershed that can separate the strong in the faith from the not so strong.

The third step in the progression is to “know the truth”. Knowing the truth does not come merely from hearing, being exposed to or aligning oneself with the truth. ‘Knowing’, comes from embracing, engaging and meditating on the truth. It comes by the Holy Spirit opening up your eyes to the various truths contained in the scriptures, which reveal Jesus as the way the Truth and the life (John 14:6).

Lastly, having an intimate knowledge of Jesus, through relationship and revelation, ultimately brings freedom. Freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1), freedom from sin (Romans 6:22), freedom to embrace, fully, all God has for you in Christ Jesus, in order to be an effective witness to a lost and dying world!

Living a life of freedom and liberty is the life Jesus intended for each one of us and one which marks a true disciple. “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:16-17 NKJV)

Within every believer the Spirit of the Lord rests and when this Spirit is activated by faith, then freedom reigns in and through us and the fruits of the Spirit will abound.

Love

John 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”

The discipleship relationship rises and falls on the love one has for the person you are discipling. We are representing Jesus, who embodied love. God is love and we are His ambassadors (1 John 4:8).

Love is also an indicator of maturity. Maturity comes with the taking up of responsibility and the ultimate form of responsibility is to love your neighbor as yourself.

If we don’t share God’s love with others, then the chances are that they will not see God as a loving God. They will in turn, not disciple people into God’s love, but rather into a callous, regimented religion, that is a far cry from God’s intended plan.

This love is mostly seen as the agape or brotherly love, which we show towards one another and co notates affection. Another form of love is the phileo love, which represents tender affection and showing signs of love.

Love is the trademark of a disciple: “He who does not love (show good will towards) his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:14 NKJV emphasis added)

Love is a fruit of the revelation of God’s unmerited favor towards you through the sacrifice of the one man Jesus Christ: “But God demonstrated His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NKJV).

If we do not act in love then we act in vein. We are building our own kingdoms instead of the kingdom of God and will end up hurt, when rejection or non conformance is shown by the people who we have come to care for. This is unhealthy. We must, therefore, examine our motives and check our hearts, because if love isn’t the motivator, then it is probably power you are after.

Hardships

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”( 2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV).
After Paul has spoken to Timothy about teaching others in the way he himself was taught (see introduction), he then goes on to mention that it won’t come without hardships.

The Amplified bible says it as the “hardships and sufferings which you are called to endure”. Thus, with the calling of being a true follower, student or disciple of Jesus, there will be hardships and suffering along the way. In fact, if you don’t bump into the devil somewhere along the way, it means you are going in the same direction!

The disciples and apostles in the days of the Acts church endured endless hardship and strife. In fact Paul lists the problems he went through: Beatings, imprisonments, riots, hard work, sleepless nights, hunger, persecution and being falsely accused (2 Corinthians 6)

It is not God who brings these hardships upon you; they are the attack of the enemy upon the calling and the destiny that is placed on the life of every believer. Hardships should be a sign to every believer that they are treading on enemy territory; they should be counted on as pure joy (James 1:2) and should prove to strengthen your resolve and forge your character as a true disciple.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Yes, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” It is therefore quite safe to say that a good trade mark of a disciple is one who endure hardships from time- to – time, but an even better mark is one that comes out the other side stronger and praising God for the opportunity to learn through circumstances. “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…” (2 Corinthians 1:10 NIV)

Go will always deliver us out of the darkest situation. It is often such situations that turn believers into disciples, as it brings them to a realization that they need God so much more and that there is so much more of Him to need.

Random Pics from Argentina





Team Argentina: CBC Second Year students





Work project in Buenos Aires



 



Praise and Worship at the final evening service in Lujan



One of the little 'chicos' who came to bible club

 

Last day: Went to the zoo - yes, that's a real tiger!



Faithful Missionaries: Nancy and Joe Mcqueen were our gracious hosts

A giant picture book: The kids loved it!

Advert: Miracles and Healings with Charis Bible College! (No pressure!)

Kids club action

Puppet shows in the park





Mission Argentina continued

The city of Lujan provided it's own unique challenges, but it also came with it's own unique opportunities! One of our main ministry focuses was with children, during the afternoons. The church we were working with had a school attached to it and so many of the children from the school would join us for afternoon activities. We averaged around 40 children every afternoon and I think they blessed us more than we could ever have blessed them. We would play games with them, do crafts, read them stories and pray with and for them! 



Some of the children in our afternoon program (Wegele)



Their hearts were open to the gospel and many of them dedicated their hearts to Christ and received His love with openness. Children are usually a good representation of what the situation is like at home, and we had a mixed bag. But one thing is for sure, that God's love and compassion for children stretches beyond any domestic situation, their faith is so pure and trust so sure that there is always hope for even the worst case!

Another adventure that our time in Lujan provided for was street evangelism. We broke up into groups of three or for, with an interpreter, and went about handing out fliers for the evening services and ministering and praying for people. An amazing statistic was that over ninety - percent  of the people we offered to pray for wanted prayer and allowed us to minister and prophesy over them - the soil was ready! 



One particular lady our group came across on the street, had just come from the doctor. She had just been diagnosed with clinical depression, complicated further by heart problems. When we started praying for her she had a severe headache as well (probably from the terrible diagnosis). As we started praying for her physical ailments her headache let up and she began to relax, sensing that her heart was beating properly again. However, it was when she accepted Jesus into her life, that a smile returned to her face. She seemed overjoyed that she was no longer carrying her burden alone and that someone actually loved her and cared for her.



The lady who got saved and offered us money! (Wegele)



 I am sometimes sceptical about the sincerity and honesty of healings and salvations, especially when working through translators, due largely to my previous experiences in China. So it wasn't until, out of great excitement, this lady started offering us money for the gift of life she had just received, that I was certain, even her depression had fled at the name of Jesus! Needless to say we didn't take  her money, but she made her point, she was changed!  

It takes more faith for someone to believe that their sins are forgiven and get born-again, than it does to receive a simple healing. I thus emphasise the salvations on this trip, not to puff up our accomplishments, but so that we can rejoice together that people are coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus everyday and we will see them again in eternity!

I hope these posts excite you as they do me, I hope you are encouraged to step out in faith in your environment and put God's word to the test, it hasn't failed yet! Remember He never sends the equipped, but He equips the sent ...

Look out for more pictures, videos and posts from Argentina and other great things happening all over!



The Basilica de Lujan (Wikipedia)



Mission Argentina: An Overview

I am finally back from a massively blessed and highly productive mission trip to Argentina. We worked mainly in  and around the nations capital, Buenos Aires and also in a town called Lujan, just outside the capital. Our main objective was to encourage and strengthen existing works, already established in the cities and help them gain more influence and be more effective in their very unique ministry environment.

The majority of Argentinians are Catholic, some people may view this as a good thing, but from a perspective of knowing a living and vibrant God, Catholicism can only be placed on the shelf with other religions, who don't encourage relationship with their creator, but rather on rituals and good deeds!I have no doubt in my mind that there are some, who indeed have a personal relationship with Jesus, but on the whole this is unfortunately not true. So, YES, like anyone who is not born again, most Argentinians need Jesus.

The first pastor we worked with was Pastor Jonathan and his wife Rosa. They are natives of Peru, but felt God calling them to Argentina. They have a small church on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We held three nights of meetings with them consisting of praise and worship, testimonies, teachings and ministry time. There were many salvations (the greatest miracle of all) and great a great many needs were ministered to. Gods compassion on the people was overwhelming and His love was the greatest factor to be administered.

Many testimonies came from the time spent with Jonathan's church, but none as overwhelming as the woman who walked in on one of our skits. This woman had been handed a flier, earlier in the day, to attend the meeting that night, but she had thought nothing further of it. That night, however, she had made up  her mind to kill herself. Her plan was to walk out of her apartment and throw herself in front of the first bus she saw (the buses are an adventure at the best of times, when traveling on them, so she wouldn't have had to look too hard). Her apartment was right above the church, as she made her way down to the street she heard the music from one of our skits (Everything), a very powerful portrayal of Gods love. She then looked into the church and stayed until the skit was done, straight after which we had an altar call. The woman immediately responded and gave her heart to Jesus. She was delivered from the spirit of suicide and immediately her whole countenance changed as she began to experience the joy of Christ!

After six days in Buenos Aires, we took  a bus to a town called Lujan. This town is most famous for it's massive gothic cathedral called The Basilica de Lujan. This cathedral came into existence in the 1800's when a statue of the virgin Mary fell off the cart that was pulling it. The people decided that it was a sign that Mary wanted to stay in that place and so they proceeded to build the Basilica around the statue. It is a major pilgrimage destination for Catholics still today, attracting millions of devotees every year. Here we focused on children's ministry and evening services at a big church led by Pastor Jorge. But, more about this and other amazing stories in my next post tomorrow ... (follow this link for more information on Lujan)

University in Buenos Aires

The Basilica