Discipleship matters, even though it seems to be a dying ministry in many of our churches today in the USA as well as overseas. Programs, no matter how good will never replace the age old command from Jesus Himself to make disciples. Programs will put the wrong men in church leadership just because they show outward signs of a leader. Church leaders are God made through discipleship one on one and only comes from time invested in them from a faithful man or woman. Jesus, the Bible says, learned obedience from the things He suffered and as we get into the act of discipleship we also find there will be suffering as we learn to obey and lock in for the long haul. Because it takes time many revert to a program not one on one teaching, and the church suffers here as well as on the foreign field.
Jesus took time with the 12 and from time to time pulled them back when they got out of hand; this I think is one of the harder times in discipleship but a must if the foundation of a church is to be something that will last more than just a season then fade away. It was hard in the early days for me to see this man in the photo with George fall away from where I had placed him in my plans for the church. Just because he was a big man in the tribe did not impress Jesus the head of the church and as teaching developed more and more with George and Bob things surfaced showing God had other plans. Today the love for this man can still be seen from us all but through discipleship other leaders were placed in the first church plant. Discipleship matters so let’s go and make disciples. Jack Housley