0
Back to Articles
One day back in 2010, I was sharing some fear and anxiety about my career with a brother in the Lord. After listening to me and feeling my vibe, this guy quoted Jesus, from Matthew 11:28–30, Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
I needed Jesus’ rest but wasn’t quite sure how to receive it. So I set out to understand. Rest is only one of the many great promises with which God our Father blesses His children. I thought that if I could figure out how to encounter rest, maybe what I learned would unlock all His other promises.
From those stirrings came my first book, BE: The Way of Rest. Its goal is to help followers of Jesus encounter Him and His promises so personally that their daily lives are tremendously, qualitatively different. “My life is fuller, greater, and richer because of Jesus.” If you haven’t read that book yet, I encourage you to do so.
Once we apply the lessons of BE, we discover an abundance of stories waiting to be told about the goodness of our Father, the life of Jesus, and the electricity of the Holy Spirit. The people in the Bible had incredible stories to tell: the woman at the well (John 4:7–42), the man born blind (John 9:1–41), the paralytic (Mark 2:1–12) . . . Like them, if anyone is in Christ today, that person is a walking miracle. The Holy Spirit of God has entered their life! They have been adopted into the Father’s family. How do they not have a story, or many stories, to tell? None is easier or more personal than their individual story.
Many great ways of sharing Jesus exist. I find, though, that a lot of Christians hesitate to talk about their story because they don’t know it as well as they think they do. Fear keeps others silent. And still, others fail to share because they don’t understand how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in harmony with us to save souls. I wrote GO: Flex Your Story Power to train Christians to communicate their experience and engage in reaching the lost more confidently. GO equips and frees believers to know and faithfully share the good news of Jesus naturally, within the relational and conversational flow of their lives.
MAKE: Unlock People is the natural end of the process: What do you do once someone says yes to Jesus? Traditionally, we encourage them to go to church and join a Bible class or homegroup. Why is that? Why aren’t those of us who have been Christians for a while trained to make disciples of those who are newer in the faith? Why aren’t we confident to raise up others to walk in the abundant life of Jesus?
Pulpit ministry is great. Serving is helpful. Bible studies can be beneficial. But nothing has more influence on a person’s growth and development in the kingdom of God than personal discipleship. And those of us who are skilled in the faith have the high privilege of imparting love and wisdom to souls who are suffering a drought of both.
My prayer is that this trilogy of life-changing books will serve to transform you, your church, and your community as you BE; GO, and MAKE disciples for Jesus.
