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The Disciple's Cross
In the MasterLife I Bible Study, you learn the basics of being a disciple of Christ. A disciple of Christ is someone who makes Jesus the Lord of his or her life. A verse that helps me remember this is Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself and take his cross daily and follow me.” So the first principle is to DENY yourself. This means denying control of yourself and giving that up to God. The second principle is to take up your CROSS. This means that you choose to carry a heavy burden as the price for following Christ. The third principle is to FOLLOW. It is not enough to give up your pride and endure great pain, you must also be willing to follow our one and true Savior.
Spend Time with the Master
Imagine a circle for me. This circle represents our lives. It is empty inside. How do we fill that emptiness? With CHRIST, who redeemed us with His Blood. A verse that helps me remember this is John 15:5 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” So as long as we remain in Christ, we can do great things and bear much fruit. Apart from Christ, we are powerless. By Spending Time with the Master, we receive the direction needed in our lives.
Live in the Word
Now imagine a long triangular wedge coming down from the bottom of the circle, with WORD written on it. A verse that helps me understand the importance of Living in God’s Word is John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teachings, then you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Knowing God’s Word and having it in our hearts frees us from the trappings of the world. This requires us to read it every day and hold it near and dear to our hearts.
Pray in Faith
Now imagine a long triangular wedge extending upward from the top of the circle. On it is written PRAY. A verse that helps me understand the importance of Praying in Faith is John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given unto you.” Anything we pray in God’s will be granted to us, especially through consistent practice.
The vertical relationship
These two triangular wedges plus the center circle represent our vertical relationship with Christ, where we focus on heavenly matters.
Fellowship with Believers
Now imagine a short triangular wedge going to the right from the right of the circle with the word FELLOWSHIP written on it. A verse that helps me understand the nature of Fellowshipping with Believers is John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all men will know that you bear much fruit.” Kind believers must love kind believers, or there won’t be any kind believers at all. Going to church is not enough to satisfy this requirement of fellowship. You must choose to become part of the church, part of the Bride of Christ, in order to receive the full benefits of being a disciple of Christ.
Witness to the World
Now imagine a short triangular wedge going to the left from the left of the circle with the word WITNESS written on it. A verse that helps me understand the significance of Witnessing to the World is John 15:8 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” The fruit we bear in others is proof of our faith. Faith is dead if you cannot reveal Christ to nonbelievers. This does not mean that you convert everyone you meet, but that as a disciple of Christ you will naturally show Christ’s love to everyone you encounter.
The horizontal relationship
These two triangular wedges plus the center circle represent our horizontal relationship with Christ, where we focus on earthly matters.
Ministries associated with each focus
Each focus has a ministry associated with it, which is demonstrated by a further smaller triangle wedge at each point. The ministry of teaching/preaching goes with the WORD, which is disseminating the word. The ministry of worship/intercession goes with PRAY, which is celebrating who God is and acknowledging that we need His help. The ministry of nurture goes with FELLOWSHIP, which is being kind and caring for your fellow disciples. The ministry of evangelism goes with WITNESS, which is spreading Christ’s name and love throughout all of the nations of this world.
Minister to Others
A special ministry ties together FELLOWSHIP and WITNESS. Ministering to Others can also be called the ministry of service. A verse that helps me remember this is John 15:13 “Greater love no man has than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” We are disciples by showing love to our friends, believers and nonbelievers alike. We talk with them, we console them, we hang out with them, we serve them, etc. And when it comes down to it, a disciple of Christ never hesitates in going the extra ten miles to help out a friend. This could mean doing as something simple as giving directions to a random stranger. This could mean something as simple as buying a five dollar pickle jar for a four month old pregnant college girl you’ve never met before. This could mean something as simple as spending twenty dollars on a twenty-minute phone call to cheer up a lonely friend in Spain. It could also mean giving tough love to someone to make them understand the error of their ways. It could also mean challenging others to realize their true potential. It could also mean playing the part of a fool so that others may become wise.
Painting the picture for reference
Do you understand?
Let’s make sure you fully understand what I am getting at. In order for you to be a disciple of Christ, you have to lose yourself. Then you have to be willing to be incessantly insulted for following Jesus. You stay indoctrinated by reading the Bible everyday. You answer all your doubts, big and small, by handing them off to some external force. You have close yet equal relationships with all believers, except for that one special believer who is more equal than the others because he or she is your spouse (or you hope that he or she will be one day). You share the good news with the rest of the world, even to the most remote areas of the world with seemingly impossible language and cultural barriers. Finally, you would not hesitate to lay your life down as a martyr for this divinely inspired mission.
D2's heresy
As an ideology, Christianity may be The Greatest Brainwashing Conspiracy in the annals of recorded history.
In the MasterLife I Bible Study, you learn the basics of being a disciple of Christ. A disciple of Christ is someone who makes Jesus the Lord of his or her life. A verse that helps me remember this is Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself and take his cross daily and follow me.” So the first principle is to DENY yourself. This means denying control of yourself and giving that up to God. The second principle is to take up your CROSS. This means that you choose to carry a heavy burden as the price for following Christ. The third principle is to FOLLOW. It is not enough to give up your pride and endure great pain, you must also be willing to follow our one and true Savior.
Spend Time with the Master
Imagine a circle for me. This circle represents our lives. It is empty inside. How do we fill that emptiness? With CHRIST, who redeemed us with His Blood. A verse that helps me remember this is John 15:5 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” So as long as we remain in Christ, we can do great things and bear much fruit. Apart from Christ, we are powerless. By Spending Time with the Master, we receive the direction needed in our lives.
Live in the Word
Now imagine a long triangular wedge coming down from the bottom of the circle, with WORD written on it. A verse that helps me understand the importance of Living in God’s Word is John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teachings, then you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Knowing God’s Word and having it in our hearts frees us from the trappings of the world. This requires us to read it every day and hold it near and dear to our hearts.
Pray in Faith
Now imagine a long triangular wedge extending upward from the top of the circle. On it is written PRAY. A verse that helps me understand the importance of Praying in Faith is John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given unto you.” Anything we pray in God’s will be granted to us, especially through consistent practice.
The vertical relationship
These two triangular wedges plus the center circle represent our vertical relationship with Christ, where we focus on heavenly matters.
Fellowship with Believers
Now imagine a short triangular wedge going to the right from the right of the circle with the word FELLOWSHIP written on it. A verse that helps me understand the nature of Fellowshipping with Believers is John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all men will know that you bear much fruit.” Kind believers must love kind believers, or there won’t be any kind believers at all. Going to church is not enough to satisfy this requirement of fellowship. You must choose to become part of the church, part of the Bride of Christ, in order to receive the full benefits of being a disciple of Christ.
Witness to the World
Now imagine a short triangular wedge going to the left from the left of the circle with the word WITNESS written on it. A verse that helps me understand the significance of Witnessing to the World is John 15:8 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” The fruit we bear in others is proof of our faith. Faith is dead if you cannot reveal Christ to nonbelievers. This does not mean that you convert everyone you meet, but that as a disciple of Christ you will naturally show Christ’s love to everyone you encounter.
The horizontal relationship
These two triangular wedges plus the center circle represent our horizontal relationship with Christ, where we focus on earthly matters.
Ministries associated with each focus
Each focus has a ministry associated with it, which is demonstrated by a further smaller triangle wedge at each point. The ministry of teaching/preaching goes with the WORD, which is disseminating the word. The ministry of worship/intercession goes with PRAY, which is celebrating who God is and acknowledging that we need His help. The ministry of nurture goes with FELLOWSHIP, which is being kind and caring for your fellow disciples. The ministry of evangelism goes with WITNESS, which is spreading Christ’s name and love throughout all of the nations of this world.
Minister to Others
A special ministry ties together FELLOWSHIP and WITNESS. Ministering to Others can also be called the ministry of service. A verse that helps me remember this is John 15:13 “Greater love no man has than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” We are disciples by showing love to our friends, believers and nonbelievers alike. We talk with them, we console them, we hang out with them, we serve them, etc. And when it comes down to it, a disciple of Christ never hesitates in going the extra ten miles to help out a friend. This could mean doing as something simple as giving directions to a random stranger. This could mean something as simple as buying a five dollar pickle jar for a four month old pregnant college girl you’ve never met before. This could mean something as simple as spending twenty dollars on a twenty-minute phone call to cheer up a lonely friend in Spain. It could also mean giving tough love to someone to make them understand the error of their ways. It could also mean challenging others to realize their true potential. It could also mean playing the part of a fool so that others may become wise.
Painting the picture for reference
Do you understand?
Let’s make sure you fully understand what I am getting at. In order for you to be a disciple of Christ, you have to lose yourself. Then you have to be willing to be incessantly insulted for following Jesus. You stay indoctrinated by reading the Bible everyday. You answer all your doubts, big and small, by handing them off to some external force. You have close yet equal relationships with all believers, except for that one special believer who is more equal than the others because he or she is your spouse (or you hope that he or she will be one day). You share the good news with the rest of the world, even to the most remote areas of the world with seemingly impossible language and cultural barriers. Finally, you would not hesitate to lay your life down as a martyr for this divinely inspired mission.
D2's heresy
As an ideology, Christianity may be The Greatest Brainwashing Conspiracy in the annals of recorded history.
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