A conversation I had this summer with my brother-in-law:

Me: “How was fishing this morning?”

Brother-in-law: “Um, it was fun in a different way. It was a lot of work.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Brother in law:

“Well, I never got to fish. I took a friend and his kids out fishing.

They’d never been fishing before so I spent the whole time baiting their hooks, netting their fish they caught, retrieving fishing poles the kids dropped overboard. So it wasn’t fun per se. More rewarding than fun- but so fun to see their faces as they caught their first fish.”

Way back in 2011 (remember 2011? That was a simpler time.) we began a series of posts on the concept of STORY.  From the beginning, people have loved stories.  Oral traditions gave way to literature which evolved into all kinds of media dedicated to the simple idea of telling a story.

And you have a story.  And most of you just thought to yourself “My story is boring.”  Well, if you are a follower of Jesus and you think your story is boring, then I guess you think that the fact that you used to be dead and now you are alive is boring.  That’s what Paul tells the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 2:1-10.  You were dead and now you are alive.  Not “you were sick and now you are well.”  That might make a decent story, but not as good as “I was dead but now I am alive.” 

At some point in our church experience our story became our “testimony.”  Now there’s nothing wrong with the word testimony.  As a matter of fact the dictionary says a testimony is “an open declaration or profession, as of faith.”  R3Ally.org is the LAST place you will see anyone criticized for openly declaring their faith.  But what happened was “your testimony” became something it was never supposed to be:  BORING.

Your story is not about how much fun you used to have sinning and how now you don’t do that stuff anymore.  Your story is that you were DEAD and now you are ALIVE.  That you were HOPELESS and now your life is defined by your HOPE.  Your story is that you are a part of the most exciting, most revolutionary, most important thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind.  And that story is exciting. 

Next week we will look at how you can tell your exciting story effectively.

by Michael Smith

Community Pastor, Fellowship Bible Church NW Arkansas

mismith@fellowshipnwa.org

It has been one year since our R3 Discipleship conference.  This Sunday, January 29, we will gather for worship, interaction, and encouragement to follow through on our commitment to reproducing disciples of Jesus.

This workshop will feature two identical sessions at 9:30 and 11AM in the Family Center Auditorium at Fellowship Bible Church of NWA [same location as the conference last year] and is open to all.

For more information contact Clark Nolen at clnolen@fellowshipnwa.org.

As I look back on my life as a parent, raising four “fearfully and wonderfully made” children, I have to remember the rough start that I had.  For some reason I wanted to put all of them in a box, with the same expectations that if I guided them, disciplined them, and encouraged them all alike, I would get the same results: mature, capable, Christ-like, productive adults.

Through many mistakes along the way, I came to understand and appreciate their uniqueness and my inability to pour into them without a different map used on each individual child.  Oh, I was going to the same destination with all of them (mature, capable, Christ-like, productive adults but each road we traveled together was different and uniquely planned for them.  Some of the roads were fairly smooth and straight most of the time, some had steep hills to go up, others were very curvy and couldn’t be taken at a high speed.  Wisdom was something to pray for daily and I had to remember that “God looks at the heart” and I was looking at “the outward appearance.” (1 Samuel 16:7)  I planted seeds and continued to pray for the soils of their heart to be good and I waited for the fruit to be produced by God. 

Now that I am discipling women, some of whom are spiritual children, I can draw a similar parallel to parenting them.  The goal is the same for each woman, to produce a mature, capable, Christ-like, reproducing disciple.  Each woman that I disciple is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”  They are uniquely designed with talents and gifts that God wants to develop and use.  God is “looking at the heart” and I only see the “outward appearance.” 

The way that I get to this “Christ-like” destination may look different for each woman even if I have a box that I think fits all sizes.  I am learning that God is creative and gives us wisdom as we ask.  Wisdom to understand what each women needs from me as I continue to plant seeds for God to reproduce in others through them.  I continue to pray for the soil of their heart to be good and I wait for God to produce the fruit.  With my spiritual children, as with my natural children, growth takes place differently in each one of them.  The journey that I get to travel with them develops patience, perseverance and faith in me. 

If you are frustrated today with the person that God has put in your life to disciple, stop and ask yourself these three questions:

•   Do I need to be creative with the road map that I have been using with them?  Ask God for wisdom! (James 1:5)

•  What is my responsibility in planting and watering the seed in their lives towards this Christ-like destination? (2 Corinthians 3:6-7)

• Am I living in the expectancy of the harvest that I can trust God to produce? 

by Jan Stockdale

Women’s Ministry Team Leader

Fellowship Bible Church of NW Arkansas

email her at jastockdale@fellowshipnwa.org

2011 was a banner year for r3ally.org, our first full calendar year of existence. We moved form 3 posts a week to 5, and continued to bring some of the best original content on discipleship to the web.

In January we hosted our first ever R3 Discipleship Conference.  The Conference audio has been one of our most popular links an can be found here.

Our most popular series this year in terms of traffic was the wheel series by John Marquette. That seven-part series can be found here.

If you have suggestions, articles you think we should highlight, or would like to share from your own discipleship experience please don’t hesitate to contact us via twitter, Facebook, or email.  Our hope and prayer is that God will use this blog to promote discipleship and help to equip His people to do what He has called them to do: make disciples!