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Straight talk ....
continued
continued
► WHAT WE DO
● MENTOR pastors in the art of
preaching and teaching the Gospel
as the means to spiritual growth
● TEACH grace-centred courses to equip
church leaders to grow their churches
spiritually and numerically
● DISCIPLE Christian leaders using the
Grace4Life course for their own
personal growth in grace
● TRAIN Christian leaders to disciple
others using the Grace4Life course
IF you could do only one course with us,
which one would we recommend?
Grace4Life - no contest.
What is so different about this course?
One benefit of age is that ministry-wise,
you've been round the block a few
(hundred) times. I've been in "The School
of Hard Knox" for over four decades now,
so at least I know what doesn't work.
For years I scoured the Christian market-
place for the perfect discipleship program
- something that would really "work," i.e.
deeply change the people I served - not
yet understanding I was equally needy.
Exasperated, I gave up. Every program I
tried seemed to put us under a heavy
burden of "do this and live" spiritual
disciplines. The disciplines were good
things, mind you. What was lacking was
the grace foundation to ensure those
good things were not done in our own
strength or for wrong reasons - to earn
a sense of God's ongoing favour and
acceptance - or to make one feel (or
appear to be) mature or worthy as a
Christian.
The unspoken, and I trust, unintentional
implication of many discipleship programs
is: "our obedience to God leads to a
relationship with him" (law) - rather than
"our relationship with God leads to a
loving obedience to him" (grace).
Under the law/legal model, those who
can buck up and be faithful in the
disciplines tend to be proud and look
down on others, but those who can't
seem to make it work feel condemned. If
that sounds confusing or harsh, when
you're finished here, have a look at the
"Two Discipleship Models Compared &
Contrasted" chart, and read the 1 page
follow-up article by Jerry Bridges - The
Compelling Power of Love. Those two
bits from the Grace4Life course will clarify
where I'm coming from.
● MENTOR pastors in the art of
preaching and teaching the Gospel
as the means to spiritual growth
● TEACH grace-centred courses to equip
church leaders to grow their churches
spiritually and numerically
● DISCIPLE Christian leaders using the
Grace4Life course for their own
personal growth in grace
● TRAIN Christian leaders to disciple
others using the Grace4Life course
IF you could do only one course with us,
which one would we recommend?
Grace4Life - no contest.
What is so different about this course?
One benefit of age is that ministry-wise,
you've been round the block a few
(hundred) times. I've been in "The School
of Hard Knox" for over four decades now,
so at least I know what doesn't work.
For years I scoured the Christian market-
place for the perfect discipleship program
- something that would really "work," i.e.
deeply change the people I served - not
yet understanding I was equally needy.
Exasperated, I gave up. Every program I
tried seemed to put us under a heavy
burden of "do this and live" spiritual
disciplines. The disciplines were good
things, mind you. What was lacking was
the grace foundation to ensure those
good things were not done in our own
strength or for wrong reasons - to earn
a sense of God's ongoing favour and
acceptance - or to make one feel (or
appear to be) mature or worthy as a
Christian.
The unspoken, and I trust, unintentional
implication of many discipleship programs
is: "our obedience to God leads to a
relationship with him" (law) - rather than
"our relationship with God leads to a
loving obedience to him" (grace).
Under the law/legal model, those who
can buck up and be faithful in the
disciplines tend to be proud and look
down on others, but those who can't
seem to make it work feel condemned. If
that sounds confusing or harsh, when
you're finished here, have a look at the
"Two Discipleship Models Compared &
Contrasted" chart, and read the 1 page
follow-up article by Jerry Bridges - The
Compelling Power of Love. Those two
bits from the Grace4Life course will clarify
where I'm coming from.
If you happen to be on the prowl for a
discipleship tool that will "work," then let
me issue you what will be a rather
odd-sounding invitation:
"Try Grace4Life - the
discipleship course that
doesn't work!"
That's right, it doesn't "work" - if by that
you mean we guarantee that Grace4Life
will produce on-the-surface successful
got-it-all-together Christians. On the
contrary, G4L teaches us to "live weak."
We want you to develop such an
aversion to living and ministering in your
own strength, mantra will be Paul's: "So,
I will boast in my weaknesses so that
the power of Christ may rest on me, for
when I am weak, then I am strong."
- 2 Cor.12:9,10
DANGER!
If you have come to a place of feeling
rather holy and good about yourself,
you'll find that World Harvest people are
dangerous company. What we teach is
designed to shatter what J.I. Packer calls
the "delusive and ungodly will-o'-the-
wisps" of our own holiness. (See his
article, "The Context of Sanctification" in
the Sample Lesson Bits link. And, while
you're there, work through "The Paradox
of Spiritual Maturity". It's sobering stuff.)
Real spiritual growth (becoming like Jesus
rather than merely learning more facts
about him) grinds to a halt when we feel
we haven't much sin to repent of. A
typical "growth" pattern is that after
conversion, we strive to move as rapidly
as possible from the embarrassing
position of novice. Then, when we feel
we have achieved a respectable
measure "rightness," our chief purpose
in life becomes setting everyone else
straight. Jesus was crucified by people
like that - like me.
May we never outgrow David's prayer:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my inmost thoughts; see
if there be any wicked thing in me..."
Dr. Dan Allender, my favourite Christian
psychologist, draws a striking application
from Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and
the publican:
"Growth never feels like maturity. If
you think you're mature, you're not. If you
think you're not, you may be, but you'll be
the last one to know. Growth feels like
death. Are you thirsty? Thirst will produce
sanctification. The Pharisees were not
thirsty; they had no needs. The Publican
had nothing but need."
discipleship tool that will "work," then let
me issue you what will be a rather
odd-sounding invitation:
"Try Grace4Life - the
discipleship course that
doesn't work!"
That's right, it doesn't "work" - if by that
you mean we guarantee that Grace4Life
will produce on-the-surface successful
got-it-all-together Christians. On the
contrary, G4L teaches us to "live weak."
We want you to develop such an
aversion to living and ministering in your
own strength, mantra will be Paul's: "So,
I will boast in my weaknesses so that
the power of Christ may rest on me, for
when I am weak, then I am strong."
- 2 Cor.12:9,10
DANGER!
If you have come to a place of feeling
rather holy and good about yourself,
you'll find that World Harvest people are
dangerous company. What we teach is
designed to shatter what J.I. Packer calls
the "delusive and ungodly will-o'-the-
wisps" of our own holiness. (See his
article, "The Context of Sanctification" in
the Sample Lesson Bits link. And, while
you're there, work through "The Paradox
of Spiritual Maturity". It's sobering stuff.)
Real spiritual growth (becoming like Jesus
rather than merely learning more facts
about him) grinds to a halt when we feel
we haven't much sin to repent of. A
typical "growth" pattern is that after
conversion, we strive to move as rapidly
as possible from the embarrassing
position of novice. Then, when we feel
we have achieved a respectable
measure "rightness," our chief purpose
in life becomes setting everyone else
straight. Jesus was crucified by people
like that - like me.
May we never outgrow David's prayer:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my inmost thoughts; see
if there be any wicked thing in me..."
Dr. Dan Allender, my favourite Christian
psychologist, draws a striking application
from Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and
the publican:
"Growth never feels like maturity. If
you think you're mature, you're not. If you
think you're not, you may be, but you'll be
the last one to know. Growth feels like
death. Are you thirsty? Thirst will produce
sanctification. The Pharisees were not
thirsty; they had no needs. The Publican
had nothing but need."
I hope I'm not frightening you away
with all this talk about self-examination.
Sorry, but the more fright you feel, the
greater your need of it. I've been doing
battle with my old heart for so long - and
have walked with so many other men
and women through their battles - that I
know the importance of being painfully
honest with oneself and with God.
Without it, our souls dry up and (worse)
we forfeit the power of the Holy Spirit for
nurturing those God has put under our
care. Everyone loses. We lose our joy
and Jesus loses the glory he could be
getting from our transformed lives.
As my story explains (About Us: The
Tragic- Happy Tale of the Gospel Lost &
Found) I know all too well the powerless-
ness of a life that is afraid to let the light
of the Gospel illuminate and cleanse all
the dark corners of my heart.
Okay, so, what is this Grace4Life
course?
It is a very simple Gospel-based 12-
lesson study designed to bathe our
hearts in God's unconditional love for us
as his sons and daughters. It creates a
safe environment in which we can do
battle with our deeper sin-patterns -
the real roots of the things that defeat us
and hurt our relationship with God and
others. It gives us the rock-solid Gospel
tools to help us repent of our sins and, in
reliance on the Holy Spirit (rather than
our moral willpower), walk in newness of
life. The good news is the Good News
that the same Gospel that saved us
sanctifies us as we preach it to ourselves
every day.
HERE is our paradigm for growth:
● Faith in Jesus gives us the Spirit
(Gal.3:1-5).
● The Spirit empowers us to love
(Gal.5:22 - "fruit").
● When we love, as Jesus said, we
fulfill the whole Law and the Prophets
and so prove to be his disciples. (John
13:34, 35)
Simple? Well, Yes and no.
In principle, the Christian life is simple; in
practise, exceedingly complex. But my
hope is that you will join our band of
merry men and women that brave a
great Gospel adventure.
I'm ready to give it a go. How about
you?
***
with all this talk about self-examination.
Sorry, but the more fright you feel, the
greater your need of it. I've been doing
battle with my old heart for so long - and
have walked with so many other men
and women through their battles - that I
know the importance of being painfully
honest with oneself and with God.
Without it, our souls dry up and (worse)
we forfeit the power of the Holy Spirit for
nurturing those God has put under our
care. Everyone loses. We lose our joy
and Jesus loses the glory he could be
getting from our transformed lives.
As my story explains (About Us: The
Tragic- Happy Tale of the Gospel Lost &
Found) I know all too well the powerless-
ness of a life that is afraid to let the light
of the Gospel illuminate and cleanse all
the dark corners of my heart.
Okay, so, what is this Grace4Life
course?
It is a very simple Gospel-based 12-
lesson study designed to bathe our
hearts in God's unconditional love for us
as his sons and daughters. It creates a
safe environment in which we can do
battle with our deeper sin-patterns -
the real roots of the things that defeat us
and hurt our relationship with God and
others. It gives us the rock-solid Gospel
tools to help us repent of our sins and, in
reliance on the Holy Spirit (rather than
our moral willpower), walk in newness of
life. The good news is the Good News
that the same Gospel that saved us
sanctifies us as we preach it to ourselves
every day.
HERE is our paradigm for growth:
● Faith in Jesus gives us the Spirit
(Gal.3:1-5).
● The Spirit empowers us to love
(Gal.5:22 - "fruit").
● When we love, as Jesus said, we
fulfill the whole Law and the Prophets
and so prove to be his disciples. (John
13:34, 35)
Simple? Well, Yes and no.
In principle, the Christian life is simple; in
practise, exceedingly complex. But my
hope is that you will join our band of
merry men and women that brave a
great Gospel adventure.
I'm ready to give it a go. How about
you?
***
