Men in Ministry, 10,000 Disciples, One Man at a Time

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…..” Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28 18 and following. Men in Ministry, how do we do it? Is it a wallet thing? Give money so that others can do the job? Teach a Sunday School class? Lead a ministry? Go every church service? Sit next to a visitor in service and talk to other men at the end of service?

All these suggestions, plus others, are correct, but not enough.

One Man at a Time

Jesus said make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Baptizing is a one on one event. It takes an individual commitment from a man then the baptism is one man at a time.

Making disciples is also a one on one process. It is making a disciple. A person can make a commitment and be taught in a group or a service, but to become a disciple it takes one man with another. Jesus called His Apostles one man at a time.

The question then becomes: how do we get to the entire city of San Francisco, all 400,000 men, one man at a time?

Men in Ministry, first a couple of social realities that we will want to put to work.

1. A commitment one man to another, face to face, has the absolute highest likelihood of being honored to the fullest.

2. A one on one relationship has the greatest opportunity to be intimate and real

So what is the idea?

The idea, like all good ideas gives birth to a simple plan.

1. Be committed to walking with the Lord
2. Be an obedient follower of Jesus and Pastor Beiser
3. Attend all Glad Tidings Services
4. Pray every morning and study, the Pastor designated One Year Bible, every morning
5. Ask a man to have coffee one day per week at a Starbucks or similar location
1. Pray together to start
2. Discuss the day’s reading
3. Discuss what is going on in the man’s life
4. Pray for each other as you close the meeting
5. Invite the man to upcoming church services or events
6. As appropriate invite him to an upcoming men’s event
7. Once every few months have a social time with the man and his spouse
6. At the end of a year evaluate, with another leader, if the man is ready to disciple another man, following the same plan.

If we start with just 10 men in a disciple relationship with 10 men the first year. The numbers multiply and get ridiculous quickly. What would it be like to have 10,000 men in disciple teaching and training? That would change neighborhoods and the City of San Francisco. We can do that in 10 years!

How do you pick the man to disciple or how do you find a man to disciple you?

A. Pray to the Holy Spirit for the direction, He will answer your question.

B. Ask a leader for suggestions.

Here, we have the formula for a minimum of 10,000 disciples changing the City of San Francisco, forever, for Christ!

  Glad Tidings Men In Ministry

Be Holy

We are commanded by God in 1 Peter 1:16: “Be Holy, because I am Holy.” It is a command from God. It is not a suggestion. It is clear that the expectation is one of full time 24-7 holiness. Men in Ministry, God is holy all the time! Wow! This is quite an expectation!

Let us think about God and some of His promises. He promises to be with us, always. He sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper and comforter. God tells us in Deuteronomy 31:8: “It is the Lord that goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”  This is a promise. We see the promise fulfilled in many parts of the Bible. God has given us many examples of people who have turned back to God and He answered their prayers, beyond any expectation.

Men in Ministry, “Be Holy,because I am Holy.”

In the last weeks and months probably years, Pastor has preached, taught and exhorted us to be Holy. I took notes as I do. I reviewed the notes afterwards, often times, looking up the Bible references and in some cases chose the references as memory verses. Pretty much, as I studied I felt more and more inferior.

How could I become Holy like God commands?

This went on for months. I will never say that God was distant, He was not. My prayer life was full, the Bible each day jumped out at me, but I could not shake this feeling of inferiority to God. Now I am nothing, Jesus did it all, but still God tells me clearly He does not want me to feel inferior. What should I do?

This past Sunday sitting in Glad Tidings listening to a particular great sermon, God said: “You need to fast.”  I asked some specifics, fast what and how long? God answered Fast all but water for 3 days. I starter the fast. By the way, the sermon had nothing to do with fasting it was all about faith.

I fasted and as usual during a fast the flesh struggled to win out and eat. Thanks to the Holy Spirit the fast prevailed. Thank you, God! I broke the fast with the best home made spaghetti and meatballs on the planet. I made it; however, I did not have an answer from God.

The next morning during the daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 16-18, I received part of the answer: “Ask God for the victory today.” I said: "I pray every day I turn everything over to you, every day." The reply: "Ask Me for the victory every day." So I put on it on an index card and placed the card on my desk, next to my One Year Bible. This is where I start my day. As I am writing, that will change, I am taping the message: “Ask God for the victory todayI”  to the front of my One Year Bible.

That was the first part of the answer. The second part of the answer came this morning as I began to write about the time spent fasting. The second part of the answer is surrender!

“ Be Holy, because I am Holy” 1 Peter 1:16

Surrender

1. Pray everyday, Paul says pray continually
2. Study His Word every day
3. Fast
4. Thank Him
5. Praise Him
6. Listen to and study sound preaching
7. Listen to His voice and obey Him

Glad Tidings Men in Ministry

Fear the Lord, You Will Never Forget Him

Men in Ministry, I recently read a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In the work, he makes the statement: “Satan does not fill us with hatred to God, but for forgetfulness of God.” A while ago I read an excerpt from an interview with Jimmy Baker. The interview was conducted after he had served his time, in prison, and

had reconciled with the Lord. The interviewer asked: “When did you stop loving God?” The answer came quickly, “I never stopped loving God I stopped fearing Him.” Bam! Can these two statements be related?

The Bible in Proverbs 9:10 tells us: “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” How can I possibly forget God? If I fear Him, how can I forget Him? This may be the better question.

God is minimized in American Society. The references to God are many. Most of the references are totally irreverent. The man up there, the big guy, not to mention taking His name in vain.  We hear the reference when someone dies, “they are in a better place.” If the person who died, is not born again, the place they are in is far from better than earth. They are in hell, burning in a relentless fire.

 

Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” Acceptable is relative, however, “with reverence and awe,” leaves no room for interpretation.

Psalm 89:7 “In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.” Our God deserves reverence, no, our God demands reverence. The fear of the Lord is important to our life with Him. First God loves us more than we can imagine. God is love! He gave His son for us so that we might have eternal life. There is no greater love than this.

Fear of the Lord will keep us from forgetting God. The devil and the flesh

have placed these irreverent statements in the mouths of the wicked to minimize God. If everyone who dies is in a better place, what is there to fear. You might as well forget God. Matthew 10:28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The fear of the Lord is not fear that comes from an unpredictable parent or boss. God is 100% predictable. He tells us everything about Himself in His Bible. Fear of the Lord is a wholesome fear. It is a fear for us when we sin and do not repent. Then, fear Him! In the garden, one day God said to Adam and Eve: “Where are you?” Adam answered: “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked.” Adam did not fear the Lord because he was naked. Adam walked with God in the cool of the afternoon for years and years, all the time Adam was the same naked as he was on this day. Adam feared the Lord because he knew he had disobeyed the Lord. This is a good time to fear the Lord.

Back to the two statements, one referring to forgetting God the other fearing God.  When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, did he forget God? When I sin do I forget God?

Men in Ministry, if I fear Him, I will never forget Him.

Glad Tidings Men in Ministry

Freedom

Men in Ministry, as citizens of the world we cherish our freedom, often times to death.

The Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their

Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Liberty we can equate to “freedom.” The definition of liberty “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life.” “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” 2 Corinthians 3-17. Freedom is vital to all people. Is freedom as it is defined in society the same as freedom defined by God?

Men in Ministry, first I am a Christian then I am an American, first I am a Christian before I am anything. Christian we have to agree on this as the foundation for all our living.

I am a Christian I follow God’s commands: “Be Holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 The root definition of holiness: Holiness is the voluntary choice to limit my freedom to bring my thoughts, my motives and attitudes into alignment with the character of God.

First I am a Christian. I am commanded to bring all that I do into alignment with God’s character and where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Does freedom, as defined by society, seem out of alignment with these three statements?

We live in the world, but we are not of the world. We are citizens of heaven and simply ambassadors to earth. Are my worldly freedoms limited?

Christianity is a relationship with Jesus. It is not built on rules. Rules create limits. If I love the Lord, it will be my hearts desire to live according to His purpose. I have a loving relationship with Jesus; therefore, I am free. He only wants what is good for me here on earth and for eternity.

I voluntarily limit my freedom to bring my thoughts, attitudes, motives and actions into alignment with God’s character. I do this because of whom God is and because of my relationship with Him and His relationship to the people around me. Let us add to this 1 Corinthians 8:9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” If I do something that causes another person to sin, I am sinning. God tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:“When you sin against your brother in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”

The pursuit of worldly happiness, using all my worldly freedoms, will leave me empty. It may also cause others to sin.

Pursuit of holiness will fill me. Holiness brings intimacy with God. Holiness like Christianity is not a series of rules it is a loving relationship with Jesus and all our neighbors.

Men in Ministry, as citizens of heaven, we need to be passionate about freedom until death.

Glad Tidings Men In Ministry