CHOOSE : TO DISCIPLE

Having only a bird's eye view at a recent UM basketball game, I choose to watch the monitor----that is when I didn't have an eye on one of my 5 grandboys who were with us. Interestingly enough, the ads often caught my attention more than the runaway game.

Disciple Design certainly caught my eye. The design of the ad alone spoke volumes---especially for this perfectly-sharpened pencil loving Christian.

Is there a design for a disciple? 

Allen Bible Church calls it "marks of a disciple"---marks that guide their lives individually and corporately. Their Seven Marks design are the guidepost for church members living out their mission of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19); loving God supremely, loving others sacrificially & strategically  transforming our world with His truth.

It takes more than a little baptism water to make a disciple----it takes discipline. 

Choosing to disciple seems to go a step further by reaching out to others and coming alongside them in their walk of faith. A divine design for all.

Come and Go

Come ye. Go ye. 

Come ye unto me. (Matthew 11:28) Go ye into all the nations. (Matthew 28:19)

All who have come unto Him are called to "go" whether it's across the yard to neighbors or across the globe to foreign soil. "Go" and share the love of Christ.

"G0-ers"-- long-termer stands with a short-timer!

Stateside---short term if you move a lot or long term if you remain in your neighborhood. International---short term if you go across the waters for weeks or months---long term if you reside there indefinitely, a year or more. 

Coming and going, as God directs.

Diversi-TEA

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,....(Matthew 28:19, KJV)

I have shared God's love in rural Hungary, the mountains of Mexico and by the river in Cherkassy, Ukraine. As I taught in those mostly remote areas, I was the one who learned so much. Probably the most.
A paraphrased childhood ditty encapsulates for me the truth of sharing God's love:

God's love in your heart wasn't put there to stay.
For God's love is truly His love when you give it away.

As I prepare to teach from 2 Timothy 4:1-8, I am learning the importance of sharing God's love through "heralding the word, in season and out" as a herald of His truth. May others "hark the herald" and learn.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
We're a diverse world. One doesn't even have to cross the ocean to engage with "international" folks.

Where does one "go" in the world? Wherever God sends you. For me, it is going to be around the corner behind a lectern in a fellowship hall.
For you, it might be a your neighbor's doorstep---a great place to share love and a cuppa diversi-TEA.