As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“the old pipeline isn’t providing enough pastors to fill the empty pulpits. ‘We’re not seeing young men go into undergraduate Bible training. Very few are populating the ministerial classes in any college I know. So where do we find the guys?’” - GARBC
“Without Timothaine missions, many churches would fail to prosper and may even falter. …. If Pauline missions doesn’t exist, then the ends of the earth will never be reached….Both Timothaine and Pauline missions, therefore, are necessary.” - 9 Marks
“In general, the regulative principle calls for inflexibility on the elements and flexibility on the forms. Don’t mess with the elements. God has spoken. But you can exercise prudence with the forms.
“Are Christians evangelizing less, leading to a decline in church membership? Or is the decline a result of rejecting pragmatic ecclesiology and shallow views of conversion?
“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
Posted previously in 2010.
Men and women, young and old, rich and poor—they all gathered at the square by the water gate. They wanted to hear the Book of the Law read. Ezra was more than willing and read from dawn to noon while everyone stood with rapt attention. Teachers helped translate and explain words grown unfamiliar after decades of neglect.
“Prominent Christian researcher George Barna spoke at the Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit Friday, discussing his new book Raising Spiritual Champions: Nurturing Your Child’s Heart, Mind, and Soul.” - CPost
“But if our understanding of the Great Commission is primarily a call to evangelism, we’ve forgotten a key piece: theology. Jesus’s final command isn’t a call to make converts but a call to make disciples.” - TGC
Read the series.
According to the Talmud, “The Men of the Great Assembly said three things, ‘Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence for the Torah’” (Avot 1:2). But the bonds between rabbi and disciple varied.
Read the series.
We have previously looked at how Elijah and Elisha set the tone for the relationship of a rabbi to his disciples. We also noted how the miracles Elijah and Elisha performed perhaps set the tone for Jesus’ miracles. In today’s post, we distinguish between the contemporary usage of “discipleship” and actual discipleship as demonstrated in the Gospels.1
Discussion