Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Ministry

Discipleship and Its Importance

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 26 May 2008
Filed under: Ministry

I've been spending the past few weeks putting together a curriculum for the Steps Discipleship Training Ministry division of Trailblazin Ministries and I must admit that it has been some experience. The process of gathering materials has been an experience, and it's really gotten my juices flowing in how I want to continue to mold and shape Trailblazin Ministries into what the Lord desires for it to be. One of the things that has always been at the forefront of my mind has been the discipling of individuals so that they can be assured of their salvation and built up in the faith so that they can chew on spiritual meat instead of drinking milk. Steps DTM is going a long way in making that vision a reality because it is equipping the saints with the gift of teaching to best use their gift for the glory of the Lord. I don't want it to just stop there though.

Now wanting to simply leave it at that has really gotten me thinking about doing much more. What am I thinking of? Very simply, I think it would be great to have a Steps DTM for the layman who is just interested in growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures, but has no desire to write for the website, nor do they need the in-depth teachings on exegesis or hermeneutics that are in the course of study right now. In many ways what I'm seeing is a course of study that is geared toward the new believer of the Christian who has not progressed in the faith since being born again. First and foremost, I would love for them to be able to rest assured in their salvation and then be able to properly articulate their testimony to others (how they were a sinner saved by grace, as opposed to being a person who just decided to "try Jesus"). From there, I envision showing them the basics of confession of sins to the Lord, staying in fellowship, and how to study the Bible. With that, I would also provide many different resources that can help them to establish the habit of studying the Bible and praying. Then it'll move into showing them how to share their faith and do evangelism. That's really what I see happening.

What's more, I don't see this being something like Steps DTM is right now where people have to register to get access (although there would be some kind of registration for contact purposes); instead, this is something that would be available to the public and freely accessible on the website so that anyone can come along and start growing in the faith. It really is my heart to see people grow in the Lord and I want to do whatever I can to make those kind of resources available so that they can make it happen, especially if they're not in a church that offers something like this. I think I'm doing myself and the Body a disservice if I limit my "discipleship training" to only those who have a desire to write for the website; this is the kind of thing that should be made available to any and everyone that needs and wants it.

I think that with that in my sights, I want to do whatever I can to make it happen, even if it starts out as something small. So, please keep me in prayer as I start to formulate the ideas for this "open" discipleship training ministry and for the first class in the Steps Discipleship Training Ministry. Discipleship is important because it's more than something we "do," but it's a way of life. We must live as disciples and stay before the Master's feet yearning to know more about Him, instead of looking at our walk as an obligation.

I think this is something the Body needs and I want to make it happen. Sure it's been done, and I'm not reinventing the wheel, but I do want to reach my demographic. So, thank You, Lord, for provision and purpose. Amen.