As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“39 percent of all Christians are not engaged in discipleship at all. And just one-third of Christians (33%) is categorized by Barna as a disciplemaker, actively helping someone grow in faith and move closer to Christ.” - Barna
“Mark Ward and Tim Miller from Shepherd’s Theological Seminary explore repentance in depth as an expansion of Miller’s article, ‘Is Repentance a Change of Mind or Something Different?’” - Word by Word
“The majority of Christians ages 55+ strongly agree (45%) or somewhat agree (42%) ‘It is important for me to see continual progress in my own spiritual life.’” - Barna
“there are two kinds of Bible poverty in the world: first, the poverty of those who don’t have God’s Word in their own language; and second, the poverty of being surrounded by Bibles, but not reading them.” - Randy Alcorn
“I’m also realizing that I too often take confession lightly. Maybe one of these quotes I’ve recently encountered will help you think about this important step in our Christian walk.” - Chuck Lawless
In his classic work, How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler writes, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” In order for good books “to get through to you,” consider some of the following…
“I still wish the editor might have found something positive to say. But ultimately, I was thankful for the correction because it led to a vast improvement in my writing and a new watchfulness.” - P&D
Your oldest child heads off to college. A friend you led to Christ and have been discipling moves over 1,000 miles away. Your work contract ends and those you have seen and witnessed to daily for years fade from your life. Our time on earth often passes in cycles—family cycles, ministry cycles, and work cycles. We go from one phase to the next. What has been will be no more. What will be in the next phase is often unknown. Solomon wrote of these changes: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
“The Bible does teach the need for God’s gracious intervention to change the spiritual apathy in His people: sometimes individually, and sometimes corporately.” - P&D
“did you know that [John] Newton had his initial conversion experience while still engaged in the slave trading business? That he continued to captain a slave ship for more than 5 years while growing in his faith?” - Michael Brown
Discussion