Jesus commanded the church to “Make Disciples!”  in Matthew 28:19-20.  With that in mind, my staff and I have been working to try and figure out what our process for making disciples as a church should look like!  We have not even got close to the process part yet!  We began by trying to answer the question:  “What is a disciple?”  We wanted to answer this question so that even a non-disciple could understand.  This is our rather lengthy definition:

A disciple is a person who has entered into a change relationship with God through Jesus and is in process of ongoing change to become more like Jesus everyday, who when confronted makes the choice to not sin, out of love for Christ and out of that love shows love to others by sharing the Gospel that has changed their life and eternity!

So what do you think?  Do you have anything to add or take away?  We really want to get serious about Northwood being disciples and making disciples!  Thanks for your insight and prayer!

Do you love God or do you love loving God?  I think that a lot of people would say that they love God, but I think a more truthful statement may be that they “love loving God.”  Many people think and say that they love God, but the reality is – they love the idea or concept of loving God.  We should love God and we should appreciate being loved by God, but if we really love God and appreciate being loved by God, then we will show it by the way that we live in relationship with Him!

Stop and take a few moment to think about who or what you are really loving.  Are you really loving God or loving the idea of loving God?  If you find yourself loving the idea of loving, then take a few moments to get yourself re-adjusted so that you can enjoy being loved by Him and so that you can begin to grow your love for Him.

You will know that you are getting this “love thing” right, when you find yourself looking and acting more like Jesus!  Just a little something to think about and hopefully in your thinking, a little something to help you grow your love in the right direction!