Tag: <span>disciple-making</span>

Can You Please Help Me Get the Word Out?

A little over a year ago, a friend of mine, who is a board member of a mission agency, shared some disturbing news with me. Their mission group serves over 80 remote churches. The pastors and elders of these churches were lamenting to the director of the mission that they did not know how to disciple people. I’ve heard this often from other churches and Christians as well.

But this news really hit me hard! Excitedly, I told my friend, “Making disciples is not rocket science! But we’ve complicated it so many ways that many Christians feel like it’s out of their grasp.” My friend and I discussed the simplicity of disciple-making for the next hour.

When I got home after that meeting, I couldn’t let this issue rest. So, I started writing and over the next few days wrote the little book, The Simplicity of Disciple-Making and 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It!

In this short book, I offer a simple, biblical definition of disciple-making and discuss the ways we’ve complicated it. Then I give very practical solutions and methods for making disciples of Jesus Christ. I believe anyone who calls Jesus “Lord” possesses all they need to lead others to Christ and help them grow in Him.

But the Lord continued challenging me about disciple-making. In prayer one day, I distinctly heard Him ask me to trust Him to mobilize and equip one million disciple-makers. Since that day, I’ve prayed daily that God would bring this about.

I also established a website: www.skillsforfollowingjesus.com in which I offer a BIG Challenge to followers of Jesus to disciple others. As of this writing (July 5, 2020) 4,742 people have accepted the challenge to disciple others. This is extremely encouraging, but we still have a long way to go.

Jesus is coming again soon! I’m sure of it. But my heart aches for the sinful state of our country (and the rest of the world). For this reason, I’ve joined thousands of other followers of Jesus who are praying daily for spiritual awakening. We desperately need to turn to Jesus Christ as a nation and it needs to start with those of us who know Him.

In order to put feet to our prayers, I want to get a copy of The Simplicity of Disciple-Making and 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It! into the hands of a million people. The book is so short and simple you can read it in a couple of hours. I’ve had so many followers of Jesus tell me how its message resonates with them and gives them the tools and courage to disciple others.

If you have any ideas for helping me get this book in front of other followers of Jesus, please let me know by leaving a comment associated with this blog post. And please pray with me for spiritual awakening and that the Lord would help us mobilize and equip one million disciple-makers. The Lord is coming soon!

Thank you, Rob Fischer

Who Modeled Christ for You?

by Rob Fischer ·

Many of us think of discipleship in terms of a course, class or curriculum. This is unfortunate. The reason I say this is that discipleship is a highly relational lifestyle. Jesus chose twelve men “that they might be with Him.” (Mark 3:14) Then, as His twelve disciples followed Him around, He showed them by example what it means to be His follower (or disciple).

Yes, Jesus taught His disciples too, but if you read through the Gospels, most of His personal teaching was in a boat, on a mountain, walking through a grain field, in a house, etc. His teachings were primarily focused on how to live and He gave them in the context of living.

In this way, Jesus demonstrated how to make disciples of others. So it should be no surprise to us when Paul says, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) Paul also tells Timothy not to worry about the fact that he’s young, “but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)

Making disciples is highly relational. Making disciples is representing Christ to others through our life and words.

I was reading 2 Timothy one morning and chapter 1, verse 5 caught my attention. There, Paul reminds Timothy that the faith in Christ he has today is largely a result of the faith that Timothy’s mother and grandmother modeled for him.

After reading that, I began thinking about all those who modeled Christ for me:

My parents
The McClellan brothers who were two carpenters who led a Boys Brigade program
My sixth-grade Sunday school teacher, Buzz Sawyer
My senior-high Sunday school teacher, Dick Plaep
The Youth for Christ director, Larry Anderson
Two guys (whose names I can’t remember) that I worked with in a warehouse in Minneapolis

And there have been many others. I’m so thankful for them and how they demonstrated for me through their lives and words what it means to follow Jesus. In fact, over the past few years I’ve made it a point to find these influencers and disciple-makers in my life and thank them for representing Christ to me.

Let me challenge us to do two things:

Write down the names of those people who represented Christ to you and try to contact them and thank them for their positive influence in your life.
Live your life and speak your words in such a way that you are representing Christ well for others. In fact, pray each day that God would use you to represent Him to others through your life and words.

How to Experience Extreme Joy and Help Others Grow in Christ

by Rob Fischer ·

Steve and I had been meeting weekly for a couple of years in a discipling relationship. Our weekly meetings usually took on the form of a hike or snowshoeing experience. But on our treks, we discipled each other in a mutual and reciprocal way.

Then, about two months ago, on one of our hikes, Steve said to me, “Rob, you’ve been pouring your life into me these past couple years, now I need to find another guy and do the same with him.” So, Steve talked to his friend Frank and now Steve and Frank are discipling each other.

Meanwhile, I wanted to find someone new to enter a discipling relationship with and the Lord put my 16-year-old grandson, Jack, on my heart. So I asked Jack what he would think about meeting with me weekly to disciple each other and he readily agreed!

Jack and I have been meeting each week now for nearly three months and I’m so excited to see what God is doing in his life! Before we started meeting, Jack wouldn’t pray aloud in front of others. He does now. Before we started meeting, he wasn’t reading the Word. He is now. And most importantly, he’s growing in his relationship with Christ and love for Him.

But last week he amazed me! He and his best friend Dillon had gone on a long bike ride together. During their ride, Jack told Dillon about his times together with me each week. He told him, “I’m really growing spiritually, and it’s really fun meeting with my grandpa.”

But this is the part that got me. Jack then asked Dillon, “Would you like to meet with me each week and we can do what my grandpa is doing with me?” And Dillion said, “Sure, that sounds great!”

Do you see what just happened? Discipleship is both a personal journey of growth in Christ and a multiplication of new disciple-makers.

I’m so proud of Jack (and Steve and Frank)! And I’m experiencing so much joy as I watch what God is doing in their lives! You can experience this same joy as you engage in a discipling relationship. If you’re unsure how, read my little book, The Simplicity of Disciple-Making and 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It!

Here’s a Novel Idea…

by Rob Fischer ·

A few months ago, I decided to add a very specific prayer to the time I spend with the Lord each morning. It goes like this, “Lord, please help me to represent You well today through my life and words.” I’ve found that prayer to be simple but profound!

What I’ve discovered is that praying that prayer makes me more aware of people around me. You see, I ride the line between extrovert and introvert, so I’m normally content on a plane, at the doctor’s office, or in line at the grocery store not talking to the person next to me.

But since I’ve been praying that prayer, God has been doing an exciting work in me. As I’ve become more aware of who’s around me, I find that I’m more likely to engage them in conversation. Sometimes, it’s just to greet them warmly and smile.

“So what?” Well, by making those tiny changes in the way I’m seeing and engaging with people, I find that God is giving me more compassion for those around me. I’ve also had numerous opportunities to talk with people about the Lord. This is how I imagine Jesus lived when He was on earth. (E.g., the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Philip, Matthew, and many others.)

For instance, the day before yesterday, I was in a shop that sells art. The proprietor approached me and began explaining what I was looking at. I immediately detected a faint accent and asked her where she was from. “Linz, Austria,” she said. So, I began speaking German with her and you should have seen her eyes light up!

We talked about the beauty of Austria and some of our memories from there. We simply had a very pleasant conversation that lasted perhaps five minutes. When I left, I told her in German that it had been a pleasure to meet her, to which she said I had made her day. I was humbled and awed by that simple encounter.

This may shock you, but I don’t think God intends for us to verbally share Christ with every person we meet. It’s just not feasible. Sometimes it’s simply a pleasant exchange, a kind gesture, a generous tip, or some other expression of God’s love for that person. We’re representing Christ to that person.

I’m not trying to weasel out of a genuine opportunity to talk to someone about Jesus. I just don’t think that it’s possible to do so in every encounter.

I urge you to begin praying that prayer, “Lord, please help me to represent You well today through my life and words.” And see what happens!

Here’s the punch line. If you’ve read any of my other blog posts or my little book, The Simplicity of Disciple-Making and 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It! then you may recognize that prayer. Because that prayer defines what it means to make disciples.

If we are consistently representing Christ through our life and words, then we’re discipling others. Think about it.

©Rob Fischer

You Don’t Need Any Training to Do This…

by Rob Fischer ·

Why do we think that we need training in order to disciple someone? Did you know that all we really need is a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ and our story of how He has changed us?

But we’ve complicated disciple-making by telling ourselves we must go through a lengthy program or class in order to tell someone about Christ, or disciple another follower of Jesus.

But what did Jesus do? What did He model for us? Because that’s what we should be doing. Afterall, that’s what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. We imitate Him.

Look at the woman at the well in John chapter 4. Jesus didn’t even give her time to clean up her life after she met Him! Instead, she left her water jar at the well and hurried back into town. She spread her story all over town, “Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

Her question, “Could this be the Christ?” sounds like doubt to us, but it wasn’t. It was like saying, “Come see yourself whether He is the Christ, or not.” We know this because John wrote that many from the town believed in the woman’s testimony about Jesus (vs. 39).

This wayward woman had an encounter with Jesus, believed in Him and immediately (despite her reputation) went and told others. And her testimony was very effective—perhaps even more so because of her reputation.

Or consider the man possessed by many demons in Luke 8. This man lived among the tombs. He wore no clothes, terrorized the villagers, and was plagued by the demons who lived inside him. Jesus healed him, casting out the demons.

Immediately, the man regained his right mind. He was clothed and sitting at Jesus’ feet when the townspeople came out to see what had happened. When they asked Jesus to leave, the healed man begged Jesus to let him go with Him.

But Jesus said, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” And the man obeyed Jesus and told all over town what Jesus had done for him.

Again, this man had no training. He hadn’t had time to clean up his past life. He simply told his story.

What’s your story? How did Jesus invade your life? What has been your experience with Jesus since coming to know Him?

You don’t have to know the answers to all the questions. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar. Simply tell your story and let God use you. Jesus is in you and with you by His Holy Spirit. He has already given you power and authority to tell others about Him.

And this is the essence of discipleship: representing Christ to others through our life and words.

disciple-making

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