During the 12th night of the Fasting Praise and Prayer Crusade, brother Theodore, in his slot dedicated to Building a spiritual nation, continued on the sub-theme of making of disciples following the example of the Master Jesus.
Recalling the general and pastoral way of making disciples tackled the day before, brother Theodore specified that it consist in going from responsibility to responsibility. In other words, the one made into a disciple is the responsibility of someone who loves him, teaches him, cares for him. Once he matures he becomes responsible for others and is in turn to love them, teach them, care for them. Brother Theodore noted that such maturation is expected within three years. If that natural process is not taking place, and you are not doing for others what they have done for you, you are abnormal, you might be tares, the seed of the devil.
Having settled this, the speaker moved to the second way of making disciples: training, apprenticeship. In this way, there is an intentional training of people in view of ministry just as the Lord Jesus told the first disciples “Come follow me I will make you fishers of men”. In the light of this, the making of disciple in this way consists in following a man in view of being made into something you know; it is entering somebody’s life to be trained to become something you have been told already. It is training for a service, and that making of disciple is final.
From the passage Mark 3v13-19, he noted that, in this way of making disciples there is selection. You call people, establish the program of the training, spell out the goal of the training, establish the capacities to be acquired during and after the training, and you choose those that will enter the training on the basis of potential. Indeed, the Lord Jesus had made a lot of disciple, but He selected some to become apostles, commented the leader.
You make a lot of disciples, but when it comes to selecting people to serve God, you choose those who have potential, brother Theodore emphasized.
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One thing that the twelve had in common is that they were people who came to Jesus not for the ministry they had received, but coming to Jesus had cost them all, as can be seen in Matthew. 19v27
Brother Theodore then proceeded in outlining the criteria to enroll in such disciple-making:
- What your ministry has cost you the disciple-maker, should be what it will cost those you select.
- The school of training is the life, the ministry, the program of your master. You train servants of God in the matrix of your life. Training here is availability, because Jesus selected the 12 to be with Him). Jesus was to later on send the 12 to go and preach. On this the leader commented that the vocation is the master’s mission, his ministry; and those who make you their inheritance are those you give an inheritance. Those who truly enter somebody’s life in this way, are imparted some of his spiritual authority, just as the 12 were to cast out demons. Indeed, brother Theodore added, true spiritual authority does not consist in standing before men, but to stand before demons and impose them obedience.
- The level of training in this category depends on what you see for them. For example, Peter was not trained like the others, and his training had some different aspects.
- Peter unlike the others had received from God the revelation of who Jesus was. You occupy a place in the life of a servant of God from the revelation of what that man is before God and this revelation is given by God alone. True knowledge of a man is to know what that person is before God. God reveals men to the men whom He intend to plant in our lives, brother Theodore added. He added that this kind of revelation is given according to heart dispositions, it does not come from natural bonds. If you don’t see anything in a man, it is simply because you have no place in his life, the leader emphasized.
- The second thing that distinguished Peter was faith in Jesus. A faith that pushed him not to hide or be afraid, and which enabled Jesus to dismantle him.
Brother Theodore rounded up his message with a short comment on the women of glory who followed Jesus. He said that each of the women of glory responded to the love and ministry of Jesus with a total gift of themselves. Once they received the love, they gave their all, not expecting anything in return.
DAILY PROCEEDINGS:
RECOMMENDED READING
- Disciples of the Jesus-Christ to make disciples for Jesus-Christ
- Personal Spiritual Revival
- The Ministry of Fasting
- Life-Changing Thoughts on Fasting (Vol 1)
- Practical Helps in Fasting Long Fasts
- Building a Spiritual Nation
