by Brett Fuller

Eccl 7:1 says, “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.”

Solomon is writing in a literary style called “parallel”. A parallelism happens when distinct concepts run along parallel paths within the same segment of literature, conveying similar ideas but with different verbiage. In the aforequoted passage, Solomon compares a good name with perfume, and death with birth; likening the greater worth a good name possesses over perfume, with the day one’s death has over the day of their birth.

Removing the morbidity factor, Solomon is saying the aroma of a good name will last longer and smell better than perfume, and the lauding over a life well lived at a memorial service will far out weighs the potential with which each person is born.

The day of our birth when our potential is at its greatest. The day of our death is when our potential is at its least. The goal of our lives should be to make sure we make the most of the “middle” so that instead of people saying what we could have been, they are amazed at what we became.

Let’s live in such a way that this scripture goes from being a target to a testimony.

by Steve Murrell

Got the following questions from someone I do not know who is writing a paper for a class about whether discipleship “has value in today’s context.”

Here are my quick answers to his questions:

Q: What is a disciple?
A: A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, “fishes” for people and does this in fellowship with other disciples, while carrying a cross.
(Discipleship is not complicated. Difficult, yes. Complicated, no. It is so simple that a carpenter described it to uneducated fishermen 2000 years ago in one sentence – Matthew 4:19.)

Q: Do you have to be saved to be a disciple?
A: Yes. But since evangelism is the starting point of making disciples, the discipleship process starts long before one is saved.

Q: Are all Christians disciples? If not, what are the differences?
A: All should be, but unfortunately not all are following Jesus, fishing for people or fellowshipping with others. And not all are carrying a cross.

Q: Does church membership make one a disciple?
A: No. Most churches spend a lot of time and energy developing a membership process, but no time developing a discipleship process. Therefore they are good at making members, but weak when it comes to making disciples.

Q: What does a disciple’s life look like?
A: Following Jesus (devotion). Fishing for people (evangelism). Fellowship with other believers (community). Carrying a cross (self-denial).

Q: Is being a disciple important in today’s culture or to one’s life?
A: If the Bible is important, then discipleship is important. Of course, if the Bible is no longer valid, then discipleship is an outdated concept and a waste of time – so we might as well do whatever it takes to build a crowd and call it a church.

Q: Who is responsible for making disciples?
A: Every person who is a follower of Jesus – no matter how old, no matter how long they have been saved, no matter where they work. Every believer should be a disciple and every believer should make disciples – EVERY believer.

Those are my quick, knee-jerk answers. If I had time to edit, I might change some of these answers, but I’m out of time and gotta go pack for my Manila-HK-Paris-Innsbruck flight to participate in the Every Nation Europe Cross Culture Conference. Let me know what you think and how you would answer my friend’s questions.

Steve Murrell is a missionary, pastor, and the author of “The Reluctant Leader” and “The Accidental Missionary.”

by Steve Murrell

I put on my consultant hat and met with some Bethel World Outreach Center leaders last week to talk about discipleship.

When the Sunday attendance and offering numbers are up, most pastors call it a “win” and take a day off. But, not the Bethel team – because to them, doing church is not about counting people and counting money – it’s about making disciples.

If you are serious about making disciples, then having a full auditorium and a full offering plate just doesn’t cut it.

So, how do we make sure we are really making disciples, and not just filling a building, doing church or running a religious business?

To answer that question, I wrote the word “EVERYTHING” on the Bethel whiteboard. Then I emphatically said…

EVERYTHING we do must be about making disciples, EVERYTHING…

-      -the sermons we preach

-      -the topics we choose to preach about

-      -the way we write our sermons (team work)\

-      -the way we do altar ministry

-      -the way we do children’s ministry

-      -if/how we do membership

-      -how we do foundations

-      -the announcements we make

-      -how we take the offering

-      -how we schedule our time

-      -what we count

Everything listed above either underlines or undermines the discipleship process.

Jesus said he would build his church. He told us to make disciples. Too many pastors and church planters are confused about this. They are trying to do Jesus’ job and neglecting theirs. They get so busy building a church, that they have no time for discipleship.

If we make disciples, Jesus will take those disciples and build His church.
Are you doing church, or are you making disciples?

Steve Murrell is a missionary, pastor, and the author of “The Reluctant Leader” and “The Accidental Missionary.”

by Paul Barker

A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured blind skiers being trained for slalom skiing. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught on the flats how to make right and left turns. When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners skied beside them shouting, “Left!” and “Right!” at the appropriate times. As they trusted and obeyed the sighted skiers, they were able to navigate the course and cross the finish line. They depended solely on the sighted skiers’ word. It was either complete trust or total catastrophe.

We are the blind skiers attempting to navigate the slippery slopes of life. But fortunately, we have a trustworthy guide whispering directions in our ears. If we trust Him, we will finish the course. And we can trust Him because He is worthy of trust.

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” (I Samuel 15:29)

Faith is many things, but its very essence is total trust in God’s character.

Paul Barker is the Director of the Every Nation Leadership Institute-North America and the author of PaulBarker.org.

by Jeff Bullock

I taught my son how to mow the lawn (garden for my european friends) yesterday. During the instruction moment I found myself thinking, “I can do this job myself much quicker and much easier.”

Some thoughts:
Experience
Because of experience I could see better where to cut with each pass. He missed patches of grass, not knowing where to look.

Strength
Some of the grass was quite tall making it difficult for him to push the mower.  It was much easier for me…I was stronger.

Time
It took him much longer to mow than it would have taken me.

Frustration
At times I found myself a little frustrated that he couldn’t do the job with the same level of quality.

Watching and Evaluating
From time to time I went out to see how he was progressing. After he finished I had to go back over with him the areas and patches he had missed.

I realized this moment paralleled discipleship.
Teaching someone to do something takes much more time than to simply do the job myself. It can seem frustrating because of a lack of experience, being spiritually weaker, having to watch and evaluate and in the end help cover the mistakes made during the process. It’s not surprising so few engage themselves in making disciples.

At the end of the day, I was very proud of my son.  He persevered and completed the job.  He was tired, sweating but deeply satisfied at a job well done. Now, however, we both will be more productive…

Jeff Bullock is the author of “The Pub” and is currently planting a church in Budapest, Hungary.