Growth & Development

A Primer on the Discipleship Process

Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

Problems, everybody hates them, but where would we be without them? From birth we all have had to face problems on a daily basis. In the process we have learned how to progress from flailing helplessly to rolling over to walking.

We can look back nostalgically on our childhood through young adulthood and say that despite the discomfort most of our problems and challenges were ultimately our friends. Without them we would not have developed the character and competencies so necessary for a mature and successful life.

We just wish the day would come when we could finally graduate and move on to a problem free life. But like everyone with a diploma knows, the real world and adulthood are laden with problems and pulling into the driveway at night can be no easier than backing out in the morning.

But the good news is that God uses problems in our lives to work His purposes. In essence, problems form the curriculum of the discipleship process. They are structured to be the stepping stones to spiritual growth.

In fact, if you read the Gospels with this in mind, you will notice that Jesus specifically and frequently engineered problems for His disciples. He was continually challenging them with problems. He sent them out on mission trips with no support or provision. (Luke 10:1-4) He feigned abandonment in a storm. (Mark 6:48-49) He asked them to feed a multitude on the spur of the moment with no resources. (John 6:5-6) He challenged them to try again, even in the face of prolonged and repeated failure. (Luke 5:4-6 & John 21:15-18) They were confronted by people with physical maladies and asked to heal them. (Matthew 17:15-16)

It is no different today. Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ must enroll in a curriculum with similar challenges and problems. But as in any apprenticeship process, to endure and even prosper, one must keep focused on the “why.” The ultimate goal of Christ’s discipleship is that we be transformed into His image.

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Dealing with the Stain of Sin

3 Comments / Growth & Development, Overcoming /

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

What do you do if you have confessed your sin and received God’s forgiveness but continue to be afflicted with the after effects of your transgression? The after effects are the stain of sin – the residual vexation in your soul over what you have done. The stain of sin often is the shame, embarrassment or feelings of failure that continue to plague you. It can be a self loathing and inability to forgive yourself for the stupid choices that you’ve made. The stain of sin can also be an obsessive preoccupation with reliving your sin, which dangerously can become the tool of the flesh and the devil to subtlety lure you back into sins lair.

The quintessential verse in the Bible promising God’s unmitigated forgiveness process for repentant sin is quoted above from the first epistle of John. As an apostle, John had been privy to Jesus’ many teachings on the forgiveness of sin. He had been a witness at the foot of the cross where Jesus paid its awful price through the shedding of His blood. (see 1 John 1:7) And after the resurrection, he had seen first hand Jesus’ merciful forgiveness completely restore his buddy, the repentant denier, Peter.

It is important to note from John’s verse that forgiveness of sin has two key aspects. They are the forgiveness and the cleansing. In simple terms, the forgiveness part is God forgetting our sin and the cleansing part is God helping us to forget it.

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The priority of spiritual habits

Growth & Development, Prayer, Relationship with God /

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read.” Luke 4:16 (ESV)

“As was His custom” – four simple words that communicate volumes. What does that phrase, applied to your life tell everyone about you?

In many ways our customs define us because they tell us what things we have decided to give priority to in our lives. The ideal is to establish regular practices and habits that impart energy, provide stability and/or add meaning to life. When we think about daily routine – our dietary habits, ways in which we keep informed and engage with media and our exercise routines or the lack thereof all come to mind. But the most important customs to establish in life are the spiritual ones.

Jesus was a creature of habit when it came to His spiritual life. He made a commitment to habitual daily, weekly and even annual practices that nourished His personal relationship with His Heavenly Father. These practices also became the platform from which He launched a good portion of His ministry. Daily prayer, early in the morning or late at night (Mark 1:35 & 6:46), weekly engagement in worship and the Scriptures each Sabbath at the synagogue and regular attendance at the annual feasts in Jerusalem were the benchmarks of His spiritual life.

If Jesus, fully God, yet fully man, made daily communion with God and weekly engagement in worship the priority in His life, how much more should we? Paul, following in Jesus’ footsteps, began each week in the synagogue as well. “As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people,” (Acts 17:2 NLT)

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Why God relates to us differently

Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” Luke 22:35-36 (NIV)

This is a curious passage of scripture, one which could make someone who is familiar with the nature and teaching of Jesus to do a double take. What in the world is Jesus talking about here?

This advice seems contrary to everything we know about Jesus from both His teachings and His dealings with His disciples. It appears to contradict His many exhortations to faith in God’s provision and to trust in God’s protection. The very idea of now being told to essentially lookout for oneself after the comfort of experiencing God’s miraculous interventions seems ludicrous.

But the reality is, Jesus’ manner in relating to His disciples is about to change. He is preparing them for His impending arrest, crucifixion and death. In the next breath He tells them: “It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me.’” (vs. 37)

This change in the rules of the game ushered in a very difficult time for the disciples. No one suffered more than poor Peter. First he took Jesus’ advice about the sword too literally. At Jesus’ arrest he overstepped the will of the Lord and wielding his sword cut off a man’s ear. Jesus had to rebuke him saying “No more of this!” and healed the man. Then Peter ended up denying Christ three times and going out into the night weeping bitterly. (vs. 47-62)

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Traits of a Real He Man!

Growth & Development, Relationship with God /

“Here are the men who served, together with their sons: From the Kohathites: Heman, the musician, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, son of Elkanah . . ..” 1 Chronicles 6:33-34 (NIV)

When reading the Bible there is a temptation to pass quickly through the seemingly endless lists of genealogies. But contained therein, as with any genealogy, are clues to discovering hidden treasures of historical significance if one is willing to dig deeper to find out more.

In reading through the first book of Chronicles this week I came across one list of “son of’s” that caught my attention. I had never noticed before that the Prophet Samuel, who ledIsrael as its last judge and ultimately ended up anointing David as the King of Israel, had a grandson named Heman who was a musician. That piqued my curiosity and so I began to poke around in the cross references to see if I could find out more about this Heman.

What I discovered about Heman is that he was a real “He Man” and someone every man should want to emulate. His name, Heman, means faithful and his life was marked by that very trait. He was an amazingly multi-talented man gifted not only musically, but also as a prophet and a leader in David’s kingdom. In addition he was a man richly blessed by God as a father and he passed on to his sons his passion and skills in serving God. We are told that some of them followed in his footsteps in “the ministry of prophesying accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.” (1 Chronicles 25:1) Heman is one of the few men in the Bible who exercised authority and influence concurrently in both a priestly and prophetic realms while also serving in an official governmental capacity answerable directly to the king.

As a very talented musician, proficient with both percussion and stringed instruments, Heman was also a priest as a descendent of Aaron. And in addition to possessing outstanding leadership qualities he was a man whom God’s hand was obviously upon. (1 Chronicles 25:5) David therefore appointed him and Asaph to be in charge of all the worship in the tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant resided. (1Chronicles6:31-32) In that Tent of Meeting, which served as the center ofIsrael’s worship until Solomon built the temple, rotating music teams under Heman and Asaph’s supervision provided praise to God 24/7.

If that were not enough, Heman, like his grandfather Samuel, was also a “seer” or prophet. In fact, that gifting was so remarkable that David appointed him as his official seer. In that role Heman related directly to David, served as his personal counselor and had his ear whenever the Lord would reveal things to him. (1 Chronicles 25:5-6)

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