It Is Called Ability Giving

       Last Sunday Pastor Joe of ACTS Church gave as his sermon a sermon on ability giving. This is not the same as the Tithe or Law giving. It is giving according to your ability to give. There is noi set level of giving attached to this. Just what you are able to give.
       Most of us think of giving as financi
al so ability giving is giving a portion of what youi are able to make this past week.
       If you are a writer than a portion of your check that you receive.. that portion that is a sacrifice for you. For giving for a Christian seems to be the equivalent of the lamb or dove offered to God in the days of old by the people of Israel.
       Or if you are able to sell a product this past week and have recedived the payment. A portion of that. According to your ability. It is called ability giving.
       The example of the widows mite in the days of Jesus is an ability offering. She gave of her ability. The rich people gave off the top and probably never missed what they gave. But the widow gave more  than off the top..
       Or if you do internet marketing and you get money from this type of business, give according to your ability.
        Remember, it is called ability giving.

Basic Discipleship Truth

  We need to be aware if we are going to disciple someone that we ourselves have something to share. It is going to be a one on one relationship you will be setting up.

   You don't have to be perfect. In fact, it is best if you don't have everything together quite yet. The person you are discipling needs to see you struggle. How else is that person going to understand the Christian life and see Christian Growth?
    Of course you must realize that this is all possible because of the resurrection. If Christ is not raised, then what we do in discipleship is useless and just spinning our wheels, so to speak.
    Pastor Joe, the pastor of ACTS, A Church That Studies, has talked about the ascension. He states Christ ascended to heaven and opened the gates of heaven so that we can partake in the heavenly blessings that come down. That sounds about right.
     But we do need to be a Christian ourselves. We can't transmit something we don't have. We need to have a relationship with God because of the death of Jesus. And that death must have been as a payment for your sins.
     Jesus said if He be lifted up He will draw all men to himself. Yes. But after they are drawn someone needs to come along side and walk that person through what he needs to know. The Bible study. The prayer. The daily behavior. The attendence with fellow believers. 'Forsake not the assembling of yourself together as is the habit of some.'
      Just some basics.

   

More On Discipleship

Another way to look at discipleship is to think in the area of being pleasing to God. We all want the creator of the universe to be pleased with us.
   We become very much like then person or thing we spend a great amount of time with. If we work and don't spend time with our family, we become workaholics. We may lose our family.

   That is not good.
    So we need to be spending time if we truely want to be discipled and be like Jesus, we need to spend that time with Jesus.
   Jesus spent a good three eyars and more with his disciples. They heard what he said. They ate what he ate. They slept where he slept. And one day they became disciples and did what he did.

Wrong Ideas About Discipleship

More about discipleship. Maybe it would be better to say what discipleship is not.
   I know a church that has a pastor who thinks that discipleship just happens . He is telling his people that they are all to be making disciples and he feels the whole things is taken care of by small groups and Bible Study Fellowships, and witnessing.
   That may be part of it but it is not discipleship.
   First off a disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ. A person can not follow someone they have not studied and know. Discipleship is a process, not a moment in time.
    Discipleship is two people sharing life together, the good times along with the bad times. Two sharing failures as well as successes. It is putting life in boot leather.
      It is being free to cry and cheer in each others presence.
      It is not leading a person to the Lord and then leaving him to figure out the rest. To find out how the Bible relates to life.
       I believe that when you set up a disciple there should be at least eight years between the two of you and no more than eleven. Too close and it is too soon for the discipler to have enough to share. Too long and there is the problem of relating to the needs expressed.

    Discpleship is sharing life and wisdom with another person. You can't do that if you make a convert and run. You must stay and work with the person until they can turn and duplicate.
    Complete the process.

Discipleship Is Needed

Pastor Joe has a vision for the ACTS family. We need to get a program going of discipleship. So the question is, what is discipleship? Yes, it includes Bible study and prayer.
  As I see it discipleship is a one on one relationship between two people. Our example for discipleship would be Jesus. He had twelve and of those twelve he had three. And those who were his disciples ate with, walked with, talked with and observed Jesus.
     It has been sugegsted you have an eight to ten year age difference between the two of you. Man should disciple men and women should disciple women.

     This sounds like a good way to grow the church. Small groups are not discipleship. Needs groups are not discipleship.
      Go slowly. but move forward.
   Pastor Joe states we will need a gifted person to take on the training and leadership to duplicate in the life of others. I think he means we need a trainer who is a Christian who is gifted by God, the Holy Spirit, with the exact gift of discipleship
   True, all Christian should be discipling yet we aren't.
    God has given to the church gifted individuals to train and build up other believers. I think this is what Pastor Joe is talking about.