150th Post!

So, I couldn't decide what to do with this post. I debated on making a bigger post, posting a video of me preaching and multiple other ideas. And then it hit me: a big announcement. So, without further ado, here we go:

Beginning January 1, 2013, my Tumblr account (www.operationworld.tumblr.com) will be up and operational. It is currently working, but it will change on the first day of the new year. Starting on the 1st, #Operationworld will become a hub for prayer. Every day will have multiple posts going up to help anyone who visits in prayer for the nations. It will feature daily posts from:

-Operation World, a ministry of GMI that helps you pray for the entire world over the course of the year. I got the name for my Tumblr from them, but am in no way affiliated with them. I just think "Operation World" is a perfect name for what they do, as well as what I want my Tumblr to do.

-Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry that will help us pray for the persecuted church every day.

-Joshua Project, a ministry that posts an unreached people group to pray for each day

Also, my other blog (www.lttchurch.blogspot.com) will return with a weekly letter from me to a part of the Church in some portion of the world.

Hopefully you will join me for this new ministry that I'll be working with. It may be sketchy for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to provide a kind of "prayer hub" for people to come to and pray for several different needs. Let's make 2013 a year of increased prayer for the nations and for our Lord's Church!

Have a Heart

So, the world didn't end on December 21, 2012. Shocker. While I would have loved to have been able to go see Jesus, I'm not upset that the world didn't end. After all, "to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)." Life is a good thing. In fact, it's a great gift of God.
The truth is, though, that the world as we know it will end. Some unknown day (Mark 13:32), the world will end. With that end of the world will come a judgment day.
Every person will be judged on their deeds. Since we are all sinners that have rebelled against our great God, the verdict for every single one of us, left to ourselves, will be guilty. Some, however, have received the gift of salvation in this life, and will be declared "not guilty" before God on judgment day (courtesy of the blood and death of Jesus Christ).
Unfortunately, not everyone will come to Christ. There will be lots of people who will die between now and judgment day, and those people will not have received grace. They will not have let Jesus' blood cover their sins and they will not have believed in Jesus as Lord. They will die, be judged guilty before the holy God of the universe, and will be sentenced to an eternity in Hell. That's a never-ending future in a literal Hell.
And you and I know what can keep them from this. You and I, fellow Christ follower, know the great gospel of Christ. You and I know the truth of Jesus. You and I know the sweet goodness of our Lord and Savior. Yet, like a kindergartner on the playground, we want to keep it to ourselves and fail to share the greatest gift we could ever receive.
Oh, that we would have a heart for the damned and doomed like is described in Ezekiel 21! Read with me please:
"Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming.'" -Ezekiel 21:6-7a, NIV

Oh Church, may we groan! May we groan before the lost with broken heart and bitter grief. We know that bad news is coming! Let us actually care! Oh Lord, please help us to have this heart for those who are hurtling toward destruction! Please let us legitimately have broken hearts, weeping for those who don't know Christ. Please let us bitterly wail into the night for those that do not know our Lord. Pray that we feel this way! We have the truth of Christ, let us want to share it and prevent this impending doom!

A Letter to You, Self-Centered Christian

Dear Christian,

Should you go to church? Should you be in a bible study (or two or three)? Should you give money, or fast, or put the Jesus fish on your car? It depends. Are you going through the motions, doing it all for yourself?

In Zechariah 7, the prophet Zechariah is talking to God about Israel, wanting to know if a certain period of fasting should continue. God's response was as follows:

"Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?" -Zechariah 7:5-6, ESV

God ain't interested in us just doing stuff for our benefit. Sure, He wants us to find pleasure in Him. If the point, however, behind your prayers and church attendance and tithes is getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, a pat on the back or a check off on your cultural Churchianity checklist, then don't bother. Don't go through the motions just to benefit you; instead, your Christian walk should be God-focused.

When you pray, is God the center of your prayers? If not, make Him the center.

When you go to church, is it to truly worship the holy Lord of all, or is it to give you a "Jesus energy boost," like chugging an energy drink of religion to get you through the week?

We must keep our focus on Him, not on ourselves. He's Creator; we're creation. He's master; we're slaves.

As my friend Won Kwak posted on Twitter yesterday (as a quote from another person),

"To me, Christianity was more about being a good person and a means to seek comfort... I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn't know Jesus."

We must know the Lord, not just know about Him in an effort to seek comfort. We must make the goal to know and praise Him. All of the comfort and behavior change will naturally flow out from that.

Sincerely,
A Self-centered, Wanting-to-know-God-more Disciple

Who Is Your Confidence In?

Ever feel like God wants you to do something, but you feel you aren't capable of doing it? Welcome to the life of Moses.

In Exodus 4, Moses claims that he is not "eloquent..because I am slow and hesitant in speech." He said this to God because God had decided that Moses needed to be a spokesman for Him before Pharaoh. Moses tried to tell God that this wasn't a great idea, but God wasn't feeling the same way. God told Moses that He was in charge, that He gives people the ability to see and hear and speak. Moses still didn't buy it, and God allowed Aaron (Moses' brother) to speak for him.

Yet, in Acts, I found an interesting passage. In the middle of a sermon on Israeli history and God's goodness, Stephen drops an interesting line:

"So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his speech and actions." -Acts 7:22, HCSB

Here, we have an intriguing tidbit of Moses' backstory. Before he was the "slow and hesitant speaker" in the desert, Moses had been trained in Egypt growing up, and was considered a great speaker. Moses claimed he had never been a good speaker, but he was lying. He was, in fact, a good speaker. HIs problem wasn't in his ability; his problem was where he placed his confidence.

Moses was putting his confidence in speaking in himself, and the idea of speaking before one of the most powerful people in the world will make anyone "slow and hesitant." Instead, as God tried to make him see, he should have put his confidence in God.

God makes us how we are, and gives us gifts that we can use. We may not think we have them, but if we put our faith and confidence in God, we will allow us to be able to do whatever He has called us to do.

Who are you putting your confidence in? Yourself and your skills, or the One that gave them to you?

School Shooting and a Call to Christians

My heart is broken. This, my readers, is a sad day. For those of you that haven't turned on the news today, I'll fill you in: this morning, a 20-year-old man went into a Connecticut elementary school and shot almost 30 people (confirmed at the time of me writing this; I pray that no more are added to the number), many of them children.

When tragedies like this arise, it brings many questions to the forefront of our minds. Why would he shoot those people? Why little kids? How did he get in? Where is God, and why did He allow this to occur?

I'm not writing this post to answer any of that. I don't know the answers to any of these questions, especially when it comes to why God allowed this to occur. If anyone tells you they have the answer to that, they're lying. We don't get it, and likely never will.

All I know is a few things: God is sovereign over all. This didn't sneak up on Him. Simultaneously, people are sinful and naturally inclined to do evil. Sometimes this evil ends up being something that words cannot properly express.

So, today, I do not call for Christians to start debates. I do not believe now is the time to get into massive amounts of discussion about God's soveriegn control, man's sinfulness, and how all of that correlates. There's a time and place for that, but now isn't the time for us to argue about that. Now is also not the time to rant about gun laws and restrictions.

No, now is the time to love and pray, and give it all up to God.

Now is the time to pray for the families of the victims.

Now is the time to pray for the survivors.

Now is the time to pray for public officals and service workers that are dealing with this.

Now is the time to pray for the shooter's family and friends.

Now is the time to pray for our world, and the brokeness that needs fixing.

Now is the time to lift all of it up to God and say, "God, fix this. I know all is in your timing, but we are yearning for your return. God, we are heartbroken, and we know you are good. We don't understand why this has happened, but may you, in some way, be glorified in this."

May we, as Christians, put down our stupid issues and just love these people. May we be His hands and feet in this tragedy. May we be the crying shoulder for the broken, the comfort for the saddened, and the light to this world.

May we shine bright, Church, in this dark world. We carry the gospel of light in this world; may we hold the light up in grace and love during this time of mourning in our nation.

We don't have the answers. All we can do is pray, trust in God, and show His love toward those affected. Let us do that.

Money and Possessions: It's All About the Heart

"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field?  Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!”  When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?”
“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”
 
Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things." -Acts 5:1-11, HCSB

Every now and then, the Bible gets intense. Everything will be going smoothly, then BAM! Things get real. Quick. This is one of those times.

The book of Acts flows smoothly (relatively) from the beginning to here: Jesus ascends to heaven, the Holy Spirit descends to the Church, Peter preaches, the Church grows, the disciples do some other stuff, the Church grows more. It's a pretty fluid deal, until we get to Acts 5. Here, we see a man and wife named Annias and Sapphira, respectively. They didn't apparently jive with Acts 4:32-37, which speaks to the massive generosity of the early Church.

They sold a plot of land, and then decided to keep part of the profit. This isn't wrong, but it appears that they gave the money they gave a) under the guise that they were giving all the proceeds, b) making a show of their giving, or c) both. Regardless, the issue here is the same: they had a heart problem.

The whole attitude for giving in Christ is found in Matthew 6, specifically verses 1-4. Here, Jesus makes it clear: giving is a heart deal. We aren't to make a show of ourselves when giving, saying "hey, look at me! I'm holy and give so much!" That defeats the point of giving; we are to make much of God, giving Him what is already His. Making much of ourselves in giving takes the focus off of the Gifted and puts it on the gifter (whom is giving to God what was already His to begin with).

Also, if they simply wanted to hoard, Matthew 6:19-24 is Jesus' answer to that. He talks here about gathering up treasures and such here on earth, and how stupid and pointless this is. We're all going to die (or be raptured); there ain't a single one of us taking our crap with us. If Annias was wanting to hoard, then his problem was Matthew 6:24; he had made himself a slave to money, not God. One cannot be a slave to two masters.

Are you a slave to money, or God? Are you giving to make much of you, or to make much of God? What's at the core of your approach and attitude to money and possessions?

Do It All For His Glory

"Now this is what the Lord says—
the One who created you, Jacob,
and the One who formed you, Israel—
'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are Mine.

I will be with you
when you pass through the waters,
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
You will not be scorched
when you walk through the fire,
and the flame will not burn you.

For I Yahweh your God,
the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior,
give Egypt as a ransom for you,
Cush and Seba in your place.
Because you are precious in My sight
and honored, and I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you
and nations instead of your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north: Give them up!
and to the south: Do not hold them back!
Bring My sons from far away,
and My daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone called by My name
and created for My glory.
I have formed him; indeed, I have made him.'"

-Isaiah 43:1-7, HCSB

 

This, my friends, is a beautiful passage. It was written as God speaking to His nation, Israel, but I believe it can be extended to His current nation, the Church (1 Peter 2:9-12).

 

There are a lot of great things in this passage, such as the fact that God is always with us, or that He redeemed us, but I want to focus on a line at the end: "everyone called by My name and created for My glory."

 

If you are called by the Name of God (which is another focus for another post), then you are created for His glory. Actually, everything is ultimately for God's glory, but we aren't going to get into that right now. Let's just focus on the fact that Christians, who are "those called," are "created for God's glory."

 

Christians, our task is to glorify God. Not to be a good Christian, but to glorify the God of the universe. We are to do everything with the goal of glorifying Him. When we do our jobs, it's to His glory. When we take finals (looking at you, college students like myself), we do it for the glory of God. When we do anything, it is all for the glory for God.

 

It is by Him and for Him that we do all things. Whatever we do, whatever talents and gifts we have, we do it for Him. So let's give Him the credit, gang! Let's do everything with the purpose of lifting up the Name of God and glorify Him!

Filth and Truth: How Grace and Works Combine

"Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you." -James 1:21, HCSB

This passage is in my all-time favorite book, James. James is a short, six-chapter book toward the end of the New Testament. It was written by Jesus' brother, which is pretty cool. What makes James my favorite book, however, has nothing to do with its size or author; I love how "real" James keeps it. James encourages us to take our theology and put it to work. Jesus knowledge is fantastic; necessary, even. Yet, if you do nothing with it, you're just a filing cabinet. I'd much rather use my info to do God's work than be a spiritual file folder (even though that's not always what I do!).

This verse is classic James: a mixture of deep truth and a practical, "Just Do It" attitude. It starts off by saying that we should "[rid] ourselves of all moral filth and evil." I'll get right on that!

See, James doesn't pull punches. If I had written this, I'd have probably said "try to push all sin out of your life, continuing to get better at it as you grow." James just tells us to do it. And honestly, we cannot. There is no possible way to perfectly follow this, or even follow it at all on our own. Check out the second half of this verse:

"...humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you." This half is the key to the first half; the truth of God's Word, His gospel, is the only thing that can save us from our sin, ridding us of all moral filth and evil. The only way that we can escape the clutches of sin is to humbly receive God's gift of grace and accept this glorious Word.

Without God's Word, we remain trapped, trying as hard as we can to fulfill the first half of the verse. But that is the beauty of this passage, and of the entire book of James: we cannot work righteously without God's working through and in us, and we cannot live out God's truth without working in response to this truth, walking in a righteous manner and following God.

This, my friends, is the gospel! A saving grace and truth, a miracle, and a changed heart that works as a result of that, running away from sin and toward holiness and righteousness. Christian, rejoice in this! It's amazing!

Milk Jug Evangelism

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" -Acts 1:4-5, ESV

Here we have a scene at the beginning of Acts, where Christ is speaking to His disciples just prior to His ascension back into heaven with the Father. He directly tells them not to go out and tell people of His gospel, but to "wait for the promise of the Father...the Holy Spirit."

He did not want them to tell people the good news without the Holy Spirit being with them. Why would that be? It's actually pretty straight forward. How does one come to faith in Christ? It is by the grace of God, through faith. The Spirit is the Being behind all that grace and faith, working over hearts like Ty Pennington on a messed-up house.

It is by the Spirit's working that we are saved, and it is by the Spirit's power that we are able to share this great gospel with others, and it is by the Spirit that these people may come to faith in said gospel. If I haven't made it clear enough, it is the Spirit that does the work in evangelism; we are merely a vessel for Him to do His work through.

If you had an empty milk jug, how much good would that do for a bowl of dry cereal? Not much; nothing is going to come out of that milk jug, and no change is going to occur to that bowl of Fruit Loops. Yet, if that jug has milk in it, then that milk can pour into the bowl and change everything about the cereal: taste, consistency, protein levels, etc. It is not the jug, but the milk inside that does the changing. Similarly, it is not the Christian, but the Spirit inside that does the work.

Oh, and by the way, we don't have to wait like the early disciples did. If you are a Christ follower, then you have already been baptized by the Spirit and now have the power of God inside of you. Spreading the gospel is now something you can do, because you already have the Spirit! Rely on His power to save lives, not your own! You and I cannot save anyone, but the Spirit inside of us can! Be encouraged, as all you are is a vessel.

As long as a milk jug holds milk and pours it when it is supposed to, it is doing the job it was made for. As long as we hold the Spirit (which we do) and pour it out when we are supposed to (which should be a lot), then we are doing our job. Be a milk jug, and leave the rest to the Spirit. That's part of why we have Him.

Excellence in Christianity

A few months back, the Christian rapper/poet Propaganda released a new album under the title "Excellent." The title track discusses what it is like to do things with excellence, based largely on Colossians 3:23, which says:

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.." -Colossians 3:23, HCSB

OK, so... how does this play out practically? Lemme tell ya. Hang tight.

1. Work hard. This passage says to do everything "enthusiastically," like we're doing it all for Jesus. That means your homework, your work, your lawn mowing, your everything... is done for God's glory. Not easy, huh? I mean, if you're giving your all in all of this stuff, how can you keep from being exhausted? I don't know, but I know what will help.

2. Rely on His strength, not yours. If we rely on ourselves, we will burn out and be exhausted. Habakkuk 3:19 discusses how the Sovereign Lord is our strength. Christian, the Spirit of God lives in you! The Lord over all, the God that runs this show, is in you! He will give you the strength to do His work. If He wants you to accomplish something, He will give you the ability to do so. He's sovereign over all; do you think he can't handle giving you the strength to do His will?

3. Rest. There's a reason that the Sabbath day existed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). God's example in Genesis 1 of a day of rest is intentional; He didn't need to rest, but He was showing us that we do. I know this is hard, and I don't even do this. If you are reading this in the United States, in particular, then you know how our culture is. We are constantly on the go, and the idea of going all out for God sounds like just amping up our already psychotic business. We hardly have the energy to do our jobs halfway, much less with a Colossians 3:23 level of excellence. Yet, we must find a way to rest. I was recently told to get a hobby, in order to avoid burning out. We must all find some sort of Sabbath day, and rest. If we don't we'll fall over under the work.

4. Realize that you will fail. Hey, guess what? Even if you follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above, you will not  work at a Col. 3:23 level at all times. We are in a broken world, and we will stumble. That's a fact, Jack. I was recently encouraged with this word: "we will fail." I know, right? Not very encouraging on the surface, yet I'd like you to ponder on this. In Philippians 3:13, the apostle Paul mentions that he was not fully mature in Christ. This seems obvious. Of course he wasn't. He's mortal, Bryan. Yet, think: this man was in prison for sharing his faith. He was leading guards and prisoners alike to faith in Christ. Does this seem like an immature believer? Of course not! Yet even this man admitted that, at times, he failed and didn't live up to his calling. He didn't meet the level of Colossians 3:23 at all times, either. Paul understood that, and we must to. We must not be afraid to fail. We must do what we can to follow Christ, and then rely on His strength to pick ourselves up off of the ground when we fail.

I know this is hard. I struggle with this as much as (or more than!) you. Trust me. But we're in this together, gang. Let's push forward and live a life of excellence. Our reputation as believers must stand out, and living according to this passage in Colossians is a great way to do so. Let's do it. Be excellent, and understand when you aren't.

Are You a Doulos?

After taking a bit of a break from blogging over the Thanksgiving holiday (hope yours was great!), I'm back this week to focus in on a single word that appears over and over in the New Testament: slave. More specifically, the word we are looking at is the Greek word "doulos." Now, I've been told that since I haven't formally studied Greek, that I should refrain from talking about it. Yet, I was listening to a sermon preached by Louie Giglio (pastor, Passion City Church, Atlanta, GA) on November 15, 2012, and one of his points from James 1:1 was about being a doulos for Christ, and I just really loved what he said. So, without further ado, I'm going to go against what I've been told at times and share a bit about what I've learned about this word.

Doulos is featured in the New Testament 120 times, most notably a combined 57 times in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Also, almost every Pauline epistle includes the word (all except the two Thessalonian letters). The word is typically translated into English as slave or bond-servant. The implication of the word is not necessarily one of just servitude. Often, the word is referring to a person who has voluntarily gone into the service of an individual.

This person may have had a debt or a some need, and the only way that they were able to get rid of their debt was to give themselves into another's will. Christians, this is us! We had a massive debt: our sin put us so far into the red that we'd never be able to work our way out. We could never receive enough wages for our good, as we aren't naturally good. We are, according to Romans 3, "unrighteous...no one understands...no one seeks God...all have turned away." It goes on to say even more, but the point has been made: we were born into a God-hating, sin-loving flesh that, as Romans 3:23 makes clear, was heading for death. Not even physical death, but eternal death. We had no hope.

Our only way to avoid this fate is to give ourselves up to God and His will, becoming slaves to the Lord of the universe. And yet, through this servitude, we will find ourselves free. We are now free from sin, free from death and free from and eternity of punishment. Our servitude and giving in to the Lord God is precisely the way to become free.

Jesus says, in Matthew 6, that no one can be a servant of two masters. He says that you'll either love one and hate the other, or vice-versa. I would even argue, based on the book of Romans, that all of us are slaves to something. We are either slaves to sin, or slaves of God. Will you give yourself as a doulos to Christ and His will, or are you going to stay underneath the heaping trap of sin's slavery?

Be freed, and join the household of God, where it is better to be an outside doorholder than to be in the house of anyone else (Psalm 84:10)!

Ya Scared, Homie?

"And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." -Matthew 22:39, ESV

How often do you want to do something nice, but back out due to fear? Here's an embarrassing story from a few weeks ago...

I was riding the bus, en route to one of my classes. I was sitting near the back of the bus, wearing a flat-billed trucker hat. A girl was sitting behind me. Now, as I was sitting in my seat, I realized that a yellow jacket was buzzing around the window that our two seats shared. It kept going back and forth between her seat and my own. She was obviously frightened of the stinging insect. So, what did I, manly man of God, do in this scenario?

I backed away from the window, also scared. Yep, that was my move. Kids, don't follow that example.

You see, I had a hat on that was more than capable of killing the wasp, all without putting myself in considerable danger. Alas, I was too afraid over potential danger to pull the trigger and do the heroic (and loving) thing to do.

Loving people often goes like this. We think about saying something nice, or sharing the gospel, or offering to help, and then we hold back. We think, "what if they reject my offer?" or "what if they get offended by a compliment?" or "what if they think I'm being pushy with my religion?" To compare it to my yellow jacket story, we are too afraid of being stung to act on our "love."

Yet, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." We have a spirit of love and power, not fear. We must remember that when we go through life, or the adversary will keep us afraid of as many loving acts as he can.

Fishing: A Weirdly Fitting Verb

"Follow Me," He told them, "and I will make you fishers of people!" -Matthew 4:19, HCSB

Jesus called the first disciples to be fishers of men, and the same calling exists for today's followers of Christ. Has anyone ever felt like this is kind of a strange thing to say?

I mean, we all take it for granted, since Jesus was talking to fishermen, but think about the statement. He is essentially saying, "hey, you people. Come follow me, and I'll make you into people that throw nets at people and bring them into the boat." Is that not weird?

Yet, when you think about it, fishing is the perfect verb for going out in the manner that the Great Commission requires. Let's look at this...

I like to fish on occasion, but my brother absolutely loves it. When it isn't hunting season, he is typically at the pond or lake "rippin' lips" (or as the average human calls it, fishing). Two distinct aspects of this match up with making disciples of all nations:

1. My brother doesn't fish at home. Sure, there's a X Box game that he plays from time to time, but if he wants to literally catch a fish, it ain't happening in his room. Instead, he has to go to where the fish live. He must leave the house and go to the pond. In the same way, we must escape this Churchianity approach to fishing that involves us sitting in a sanctuary or bible study and assuming that a nonbeliever will stumble in. Sure, this happens more often in this scenario than in literal fishing; I'm pretty sure a fish has never flopped through my front door. Yet, if we really wanted to fish for men, we must get out of our comfort zones, get out of our little Christian bubbles and get in the world. Sure, the pond is dirtier than the house; that's just something we'll have to get over. If our Savior left Heaven for Earth, we can get out there and get in the world.

2. Fishing is an action. Not only must my brother go to a pond to catch fish, but he must physically do something. He has to cast his line, select baits, avoid sticks when reeling, and set the hook when he gets a bite. Similarly, simply being in the world doesn't equate to fishing; you're just enjoying an afternoon at the pond. A great deal of work must be done in order to be a true fisher of men. You must be willing to tell the gospel to any that hear it (like casting a bait), and you must disciple once that person is a believer (reel them in toward a closer relationship with God). Sure, your lines will get tangled. Fishing isn't always easy (in my experience, it can be hot, laborious work that often leaves you out of bait and no fish in the bucket). Your Savior will prepare you to this work, though. His Spirit is inside of you, Christian, and you are more than capable of fishing. So get out there and get fishin'. You never know when your last day at the pond will come.

Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama,

Congrats on your victory! It was a close, hard-fought race, and you prevailed. I cannot imagine the grind that is the life of an American presidential candidate. If I had to guess, you are probably very tired and relieved. If I had to guess, you're probably just glad the election is over. I know I would be.

Yet, the rest will not be long (if you're even able to breathe for a day or two). Before you know it, your second term will start, and all eyes will be on you to move "forward," as your campaign stated the goal is. The American economy is still sputtering, with 7.1% of the nation unemployed and 48% considering themselves to be either "struggling" or "suffering," according to Gallup. The national debt is over sixteen trillion dollars, and climbing. Iran is regularly threatening us, and the Middle East continues to be consumed with war.

Our schools are struggling to keep extracurriculars, and college tuition is rising as jobs for these college grads are disappearing. Global temperatures are rising and ice caps are melting. Gay rights, abortion and marijuana use are among the social issues that our nation is currently divided over.

Not only is our nation divided, but our Congress is, as well. The Senate is controlled by your Democratic party, while the House belongs to the Republicans. This election, each part of Congress only fell under a stronger majority. Thus, our legislative branch is likely to be even more gridlocked now than during your first term.

This is just a snapshot of what awaits your second term. The American people want you to "fix" all of this, and more. Sure, you're not super-human. It would be hard for you to do even half of that, much less all of it. Yet, the expectations will be there.

As you look to move forward, we will all either agree or disagree with you and your decisions. You'll do some things I agree with, and you'll do some things I disagree with. Yet, regardless of your decisions or political party or how liberal or conservative you are, I will pray for you. In fact, Mr. President, I'll be praying for you a lot.

I'll be praying for you as you face expectations. I'll pray that you are able to manage the pressure and stress, and I'll pray for you to make decisions based on what needs to happen, and not based on other people's expectations.

I'll be praying for your family. I'll pray that they are also able to handle pressure and expectations. People say some cruel things, so I'll pray that they (and you, as well) are shielded as much as possible from the hateful, awful venom that people will spew.

I'll be praying for you to have wisdom. I'll pray that Ecclesiastes 7:25 would apply, and that you'll "[turn your] heart to know and search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things." 

I'll be praying that you are able to rally this nation and lead us to unity with each other. I'll be praying that our nation would be able to look to you as our leader, our face and our voice to the rest of the world.

I'll be praying that you would be honest and truthful, straight-forward and direct with us. We need a leader that will be real with us right now, not a guy that beats around the bush.

Most importantly, I'll be praying for your heart, Mr. President. Ultimately, this next term will end in four years and then you will never be president again. Therefore, I will pray most of all for something that will affect your life now and for eternity. I do not know if you are a Christian; some people say you are, some say you aren't. Therefore, I'll simply pray for your heart to be drawn closer and closer to God's. If you are already a follower of our God, then I pray that you continue growing closer to Him. If you aren't already saved by the grace of God, then I pray that you would be, and that our God would wrap you in His arms, making you into the man of God you need to be.

This country needs you, Mr. President. Since we're both basketball fans, I'll lay it out like this: it's the fourth quarter. The Lakers are trailing to the Heat, 99-101, with 0:50 left. Kobe has the ball. He needs to lead his team down the court and be the leader to get them to overtime, or better, the win. Mr. President, we're losing in the fourth. We need you to be our Kobe, and I pray that you lean on God to give you the strength to do just that.

 

Praying for you,
Bryan Watts
Jesus Follower and American with a keyboard

"First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."



-1 Timothy 2:1-2, HCSB

Discipleship, Part Five: Conclusion

So, this is the fifth part and seventh post in my Discipleship series. If you've stayed with me the whole way through, congrats! I'm not positive I'd read seven posts that some goober on the Internet machine wrote, regardless of topic. Alas, today we draw to a close on this series. Our final topic for the series feeds off of my post from last week, Discipleship, Part Four: Teaching. We will look briefly at one question today: how do you balance teaching with the other three aspects of discipleship? As a refresher, let's re-cap the four elements of discipleship, then we'll dive in.

4 Elements of Discipleship

1. Commitment: be personally invested in your disciple
2. Modeling: you set a good example for your disciple
3. Personal Attention: you pay direct attention and care to your disciple
4. Teaching: teaching biblical knowledge, doctrine and life to your disciple

OK, so how does one balance these? We learned that both are necessary to discipleship last week, so we have to have both. But just how important are they? A few points to close out the series:

-Biblical knowledge isn't the key to spirituality: We looked at this last week. You have to do more discipling than just teaching; if knowledge-giving was the key to discipleship, then the best advice I could give would be to send my disciple to [insert your local Christian book store] to get a few commentaries and such, then watch 'em go. Obviously, the first three elements are needed along with the fourth.

Additionally, the personal side of discipleship is needed, as one can teach without discipling. When I preach on occasion, I may have 150-200 people listening to me. I am not discipling 150 people. I may be teaching, as well as aiding their spiritual walk, but that is not direct discipleship. Jesus preached to a lot of people in His ministry, but had a significantly smaller amount of disciples.

-Non-teaching isn't good enough to stand alone: Ponder with me for a moment. If I wanted to be a doctor, how would I go about it? What if I had a skilled doctor that cared about me, was dedicated to leading me, showed me how he does his job, and kept up with me on a day-to-day basis? Am I any closer to being a doctor? Of course. In my time watching and being around this doctor, I have gotten glimpses of what being a doctor is all about. I've learned some things, and probably have a pretty good idea of what this whole doctor lifestyle looks like.

Yet, what happens if I take that and try to become a practicing doctor? Will I be able to be licenced? The obvious answer is no. Why is that? I have no medical school diploma, which would be the evidence that I have knowledge in the area of medicine. I would be familiar with things I had seen with my doctor-mentor, and I would have a general idea of some different things. But what happens when I run into a disease I have never seen, or I need to prescribe a medicine that I have never heard of? The results would be disastrous.

The same goes for discipleship. Our disciples can learn by watching and being with us, no doubt, but a lack of real, intense teaching will prove disasturous for them in their walk. We won't always be their for them when they run into something they've never learned about. Also, guess what: we may model something contrary to God's Word. Even with the best intentions, we are still imperfect, sin-scarred beings that will be that way until we die and resurrect to be with God. We will mess up, and we will show them the wrong thing to do at some point.

There must be teaching, as the Word of God is essential to discipleship, and you are not capable of true discipleship without it.

-A balance must be found: In our very first post in this series, I referred to discipleship as spiritual parenting. A good parent will have commitment to their child, will model how to live life to their child, show their child personal attention and have concern for their child learning about life. Think about a parent that does the first three without teaching: the child will not survive once it moves out, as the parent never told it how to live. If the parent teaches, but never shows love or commitment or care, the child may go on to physically live, but it will be a socially warped human, having never seen how someone shows commitment, love and compassion for another human.

We must have a healthy balance. Nutritionists suggest a balanced meal; too much bread will leave you with a protein deficiency, while too much meat will leave you with no energy from carbohydrates (yes, I simplified all of that a lot. Bear with me, science geeks.). The ideal meal features elements of both, and so should discipleship. Keep the Gospel/Great Commission as the focus, apply the Scripture that went along with each element of discipleship as needed, and you are on your way to spiritual parenting.

Being a parent is never easy, and you'll mess up along the way (and like biological kids, they may very well tell you so). Don't let that scare you; you've got the Spirit of God inside you, and He will make sure you are capable to do this work. He wouldn't have sent us on this mission otherwise.

All My Fountains

So, I wanted to write a post, but didn't know what to write about. So I opened up my bible and picked the first verse I saw that was underlined, which was....

 

As they make music they will sing,

“All my fountains are in you.”

-Psalm 87:7, NIV

 

And thus, I'm reminded of how God is in charge. It "just so happens" that I spent last Friday night and most of Saturday as a leader on our annual fall retreat for the youth/student ministry. While on that retreat, we sang "All My Fountains" by Chris Tomlin on multiple occasions.

 

This song holds a very special place in my heart, as I was in attendance at Passion 2011 when Chris first introduced this song. As I belted the lyrics mindlessly along with 26,000 of my closest college-aged friends, I was in the moment. I just sang along and read the words off the screen.

 

Then, John Piper got up as the speaker for that session. He proceeded to ask all of us in the crowd if we had thought about what it would mean for all of our fountains to be in God. He asked if we had really meant those words, if we had really meant a devotion and love for the Lord our God that was so overflowing that it pours out of us like a fountain, or if we had merely read the words and sang them back, like some sort of parrot that repeats things with no cognitive element or reflection upon the meaning and implications of such a song.

 

I was floored. I had never thought about it. I had been trained to sing the words off of the screen, and yet I had never really thought about them as I sang them.

 

From that moment on, my approach in corporate worship has changed quite a bit. I have started to focus more and more on the meaning of the songs I sing, and I am getting more and more focused on worshipping God in those scenarios as I grow in my walk with Him.

 

God isn't looking for mindless lyric-reading; He wants you and all of your praise. He wants you to worship and sing, making a joyful noise unto Him. He wants all of your fountains to be in Him, and to overflow from your heart into the lives of others.

 

 

Discipleship, Part Four: Teaching

We have finally arrived at the fourth and final portion of discipleship: teaching. This is, interestingly, the aspect of discipleship that most people often think of first, and yet also feel the most incapable of done. Perhaps this is why there is a thorough lack of discipleship in the Church today. Today, we will briefly look at the teaching aspect of discipleship, and hopefully answer a few questions:

-How important is biblical training/truth?
-Can you be mature without knowledge?
-Can you be knowledgeable without maturity?


1. Knowledge is important, but not everything

The Bible is the Word of God. It is the most reliable and consistent way for us to know about Him and what He has to say. Thus, we absolutely must do everything we can to dive into His Word and learn, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. But...

"Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that 'We all possess knowledge.' But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know" -1 Corinthians 8:1-2, NIV

As we see here in 1 Corinthians, knowledge can only get you so far. If you know how to build an engine, that's great. But if you don't use this knowledge, what good does it do you? The same principle applies to biblical knowledge: you can be an authority on the life of Christ, but if you never live your live in a way that reflects that, then your knowledge is wasted.

We will look more into this next week in our Discipleship series conclusion, but I will just state a short preview: in discipleship, you must balance your teaching with the intangible, other three aspects.

2. Maturity comes through knowledge

"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." -Ephesians 4:11-16, NIV

This passage begins by telling us that God gifts people with the ability to teach. This we know; some people are better teachers than others. Yet, did you catch why? Paul writes that the reasoning behind having teachers is so that the Church will become mature.

Think about it: if you don't know how to live like Christ, then how can you? It is through knowledge of God and His Word that we get to achieve a greater maturity in Him.


3. You can have knowledge that doesn't lead to maturity

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both nowand to the day of eternity. Amen" -2 Peter 3:18, HCSB

Knowledge isn't the only goal in our discipleship. Look at the Pharisees in Jesus' life: they were experts on the laws of God. They knew them in and out. Yet, Jesus blasted them regularly. Maybe the best example of this is in Matthew 5, where Jesus outlines multiple laws, and then takes them to a new, more internal, heart-based meaning.

You see, if we simply fill our disciples with knowledge, we are only making Pharisees: people that know about God, but not how to conform to Him (Romans 8:29) and live live like Him. Our goal is to lead people to be like Christ, not just know what he said. As Peter so eloquently said in the passage above, we are to grow in both grace and knowledge. Knowledge is good and important, I cannot underscore that enough. But without growing in grace, without growing in the love and joy and peace of Christ, we are not being disciples of Christ. We are merely reference machines. We must approach the knowledge of God like this, and likewise, lead our disciples down the same path.  

You Are A Mist

When was the last time you enjoyed the little things? I mean, really enjoyed them? When was the last time you savored that morning cup of coffee, sipping it slowly and taking in its smell? When was the last time you took a new route to work, just to see a different view? When was the last time you picked up a fall leaf, feeling the different textures in your hand? These kind of things are only around for so long. And so are you.

"For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." -James 4:14, ESV

 As fall advances in on my home in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, there are more and more mornings that are chilly. Often, when I go outside in the morning, my warmer breath creates a fog in the cool, crisp air. When I was a child, I used to pretend I was a train (or smoker, take your pick). Now, this is a reminder. Just as this fog quickly disappears into the fall air, my life will disappear from this earth. I have no idea when my last day is, or when I will die. I have no idea whether I will be remembered by anyone, and I have no idea if my life will matter to a single person. And frankly, it doesn't matter.

"Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." -Philippians 1:27, HCSB

This is the verse that I try to preach to myself as often as possible. You see, our life on this earth is short. We are but a mist. Yet, we also know that the bible says to "live [our] life in a manner worthy of the gospel." So, no matter how uncertain our future is, we march on, living in the glory of the cross of Christ, living to glorify Him.

James goes on to talk about how we should remember that the Lord is sovereign, and that our lives should reflect that (James 4:15). I think that combines well with Philippians 1:27. God is in control of our vapor-like lives, and He wants us to live worthy of the gospel. Thus, it seems logical that we should live our lives, no matter how short they may end up being, all for the glory of Christ and His gospel. After all, "every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17)."

There are lots of little perfect gifts in this short life we live: coffee, leaves, fishing on a cool morning, the smell of gasoline... I could go all day. Savor them. enjoy them. Take the time to take them in, because you don't know when they will be gone. But there is one huge, unbelievably massive gift that we have also received from the Father of lights, and we must keep our lives in a manner worthy of it.

Discipleship, Part Three: Personal Attention

So far in our discipleship mission, we have looked at the commitment and modeling to disciple. Today, we look at a third component: personal attention.

"So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." -Acts 20:31, NIV

We are briefly going to look at two lessons from this verse, as applies to discipleship:

1. "Each of you": Paul was talking to the Ephesian elders in this verse, and he reminded them that for three years, he constantly warned every single one of them against people with false teaching. This idea of warning and caring for each one shows that he didn't see the Ephesian church as just a body of believers, but as individual lives. Each one of these elders had Paul's attention, and he explicitly warned them against these things that could damage their walk with Jesus. We do the same; we don't get to just lump our disciples together as a group, and only address them as a group. Our disciples require individual care from us. Everyone has different needs in their walk with Christ, and must be treated as individuals in that walk. Your disciples will not all be at the same place in their walk, with the same level of growth. Everyone takes an individual focus from their discipler. Give it to them.

2. "Night and day with tears": Paul didn't just warn each of them, but he warned them at all times of the day, and with plenty of emotion. He maintained this emotional, personal care at all times, no matter the time of day. Every person we disciple will need our compassion and care at different times, just as the Ephesian elders did. We must be willing to give anyone our personal attention at anytime, and earnestly mean it. If your disciple needs you, you must genuinely give them your attention, no matter when. This isn't about when discipleship is convenient for you; Paul didn't mention his office hours with the Ephesian elders here. He didn't say "I warned all of you every other Tuesday, from 5-6 and at an occasional lunch meeting." No, he warned them all the time, as he was always looking out for each of his people at all times, all the while holding a passion for them and their well-being. People don't cry unless they care at a deep level.

Everyone is different. They have different lives, different problems, different sin struggles, different walks with God and different needs. The biblical discipler gives each of them the individual, personal attention that reflects this variation in needs and people.

Hearing Doesn't Mean A Thing

"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." -Romans 2:13, New International Version

When you were a child, how often did your parents/guardians say "go clean your room?" Probably a lot, right? Every parent has to tell their kids to clean their room. I've yet to meet a kid that regularly just does his chores.

This is similar to how God's Word works at times. He tells us how to be holy in our lives, because we won't do it otherwise. Just like a kid with a messy room, we will walk around in our filth until our Father tells us not to.

There's a catch, though. How many times did your parents tell you to clean your room, only for you to ignore them? You see, it doesn't do a whole lot of good to just hear the direction from our Father; I can hear my boss at work give me things to do all day, but if the milk is never stocked, he may as well have never told me.

It's the same way with our righteousness. We can listen and hear God's righteousness all we want. We can attend Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night church. We can attend conferences and simulcasts. We can bring a composition book to takes notes for all of those events in. Yet, if we never obey what God says, it doesn't matter; we're just wasting time and paper. We're killing off the rain forest, one wasted sermon note at a time. Simply hearing God doesn't mean a thing. He intends for us to obey.

Just like a good Father on Earth, there is punishment if we ignore His commands. At the end of this age, there will be a massive trial. Some people will be like OJ, getting away with murder. Literally. For eternity.

Some other people will have heard God's commands, including the one that says "follow me," and all they did was compose a clever tweet or Facebook status. A tweet with no action that acted as a smoke screen, blinding them to the impending doom.

So, let me ask: do you hear, or do you obey?

Discipleship, Part Two: Modeling

Commitment to your discipleship of someone is vastly important, as the last two posts in this series have shown. Commitment is only a pierce of the puzzle, though. Today we will look into a second part: modeling.

"For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me... Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ... Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us... Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you... and you became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit. As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia... For you yourselves know how you must imitate us: We were not irresponsible among you; we did not eat anyone’s food free of charge; instead, we labored and struggled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us." -1 Corinthians 4:15, 11:1; Philippians 3:17, 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 (HCSB)

Noticing a theme here? Paul really wanted his disciples to imitate him as he imitated Christ. He wanted them to look at him and mirror how he walked with God. But just what about our lives should we model for our disciples? I'm glad you asked, because Paul has that answer, too.

"Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love,  in faith, in purity." -1 Timothy 4:12, HCSB

So, basically, everything. Your words? Yep. The way you act with people and tasks? Yep. The amount you love God and people? Yep. The depth of your faith in the Lord? Yep. Your purity in your day-to-day life? Yep. All of it. Their eyes are on you, and you are to live in a way that they can reflect those things as they see them in you in their own lives. No pressure.

To close, I want to remind you: you will screw up. At some point, you will fail to be a perfect model. When you do, admit it. The apostle John did as much in 1 John 1:8, when he said that we deceive ourselves if we pretend we are perfect.

Your disciples need you to be real with them. I don't mean that you sin to relate or "increase your ability to disciple." We never sin for any kind of "good" reason (see Romans 6:15). Instead, be honest. You aren't perfect. Confess and repent, so your disciples can mirror that, too.

The Gospel

[This is the script from my October 8, 2012 speech in Communications 287-003 at the University of Kentucky. The assignment was to give a 4-5 minute informational speech with no persuasive element.]

Do you fear death? How do you cope with that fear?

That's a loaded question, isn't it? According to Hanson's 2005 article entitled "Fear of death and muddled thinking- it is so much worse than you think," the average American spends 15% of their total life wealth on medicines to make them live longer. That's an awful lot of money, all in order to push the limits of one's life span.

Fear of death, at least to some degree, is fairly common. It is also common to find ways to cope with fears, including this one. Many people trust in different things to deal with the impending end of life.

Today, I want to describe how Christians deal with their future death. I do not aim to convince you or persuade you; I want a good grade, and this is an informative project. Honestly, I'll probably still get some bad peer reviews for this.

Regardless, I'm here today to inform you on what Christians call "the gospel," which is their belief on how to deal with death. Specifically, we will look at why people are going to die, and what God does about that.

I will stating the rest as if it were fact, simply to save time from having to say "Christians believe" before every sentence. You can be the judge of the view; I'm just telling you what Christians believe.

In the beginning of time, humans were in a good relationship with God. All was good. God was running everything, and people were OK with that. Then, these people felt the need to go against what God had said. This feeling that people know better than God is called sin. More specifically, Wayne Grudem, in his 1994 book Systematic Theology calls sin "any failure to conform to the law of God in act, attitude, or nature."

Christians believe that God is the great King of the universe, ruling over literally everything. Trip Lee, in his 2012 book The Good Life, states that "there is no small sin against a great God." You see, Christians believe that not only is God the King and Ruler of all, but to go against His rule is to directly rebel against Him, which is sin. Just like an earthly government has punishment for rebellion and law-breaking, the eternal God has eternal punishment for people's sin and rebellion.

That punishment is called Hell, and every person that has ever done anything wrong in their life, no matter how big or small we may think it is, is headed directly for an eternal punishment. We are all, thanks to our rebellion, destined to die and go to a literal Hell. Fortunately, God wasn't cool with that.

Jesus came to earth, as Trip Lee says, "on a death mission." The entire point of Jesus, God's Son, coming to earth was, as 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "to save sinners." The entire point of His 30 years of sinless, rebellion-lacking life on this planet was so that He would qualify before God as a substitute for sinners. He died and took the punishment that sinners deserve before the Judge of the universe.

If the Son of God stayed dead, though, this ain't good news, is it? Instead, 3 days later, Jesus overcame the clutches of death and rose to life. Not like a zombie; I'm talking full. Normal. Life. And with that defeat of death, Jesus gives the same defeat to everyone who trusts and believes in Him.

I personally am convinced that I was a hopelessly doomed rebel, hurtling toward Hell. Then Jesus, my Savior, gave me a new life in Him, and I no longer fear death. Instead, I look death in the face and rejoice in my God that saved me.

So, to close, I ask again: do you fear death?

Discipleship, Part One: Commitment, Pt. 2 [More Than A Teacher]

Last time I had a Discipleship series post, I wrote about Paul's heart with the Thessalonian believers, and how he approached the discipleship concept of commitment. We talked about how he truly loved and cared for them, and therefore had a massive commitment. There's more to the commitment of a discipler, though. Today, we'll wrap up this commitment idea with a few more parts of Paul's life that pointed toward a committed approach to discipleship.

1. Be Concerned
"And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?" -2 Corinthians 11:28-29, ESV

If there was ever a group of believers that I wouldn't want to commit to, it would be the Corinthian church. These people were, for lack of a better description, a hot mess. Both of Paul's letters to this church were loaded with Paul saying, "what the crap are you doing?!" Yet, even with their consistent tendency to act stupid, Paul was genuinely concerned for their well-being. He was "daily" anxious for their well-being. Every day, Paul was thinking of them and how they were doing. When he found that they were weak, he felt weak. When they were treated badly, he was ticked off about it. This man was legitimately in-tune with their issues, and really cared about how they were.

We have to do this, too. If you are discipling someone and don't care about their day-to-day life, then I'd argue that you don't really care about them. You may care about their spiritual knowledge, which is commendable, but that isn't all there is. People have daily lives and struggles that need someone to walk them through. Your disciple is walking their first steps; don't leave them to fall on the concrete alone. Walk with them, guide them, and help soften their inevitable fall. That takes commitment.

2. Work Hard
"I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?" -2 Corinthians 12:15, HCSB

Paul gave himself to his disciples. He spent, be it money, time or energy, on them. He was spent on them. There was no part of Paul that he wouldn't give to his disciples. That's how committed he was to their lives and spiritual walks.

We should mirror this. A person's spiritual and physical needs should be met however possible. Don't be stingy toward your disciples; give any of you and/or your possessions toward their discipleship. Their walk with our Lord is worth that kind of commitment.

3. Deal With The Hard Stuff
"This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." -2 Timothy 2:10, HCSB

Paul endured for his disciples. The fact is that discipleship ain't always rainbows and sea otters; every now and then, it's going to suck. Your pursuit of their spiritual growth will have its difficult moments; ask any parent of a child if they ever endured an unpleasant time while raising their children. I promise you, it will happen. They will disappoint you, ask you difficult questions and may even rebel against you. That will be hard, and to endure through these trials will require a high level of commitment. The reward for that commitment is clear, though: "so that they may also obtain salvation...with eternal glory."

The salvation and eternal glory is the goal for every disciple that you have. Your job is to lead them to Christ and in Christ, walking alongside them as they grow in Christ. This will take commitment, but is there any reward better than their eternity with Christ?