[CS-FSLUG] Disciples or Christians
Keli of Coxsackie
keli at parchmentpress.net
Wed Dec 26 09:28:28 CST 2007
The Apostles - they were not Supermen... They themselves were a rag-tag
bunch
— a few fishermen, a tax collector, a political activist… no one of
great significance. Yet the
Master looked them square in the eyes and told them:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a
lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to
all in the house. In the same
way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good
works and give glory to
your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
“Us? Is He talking about us? The light of the world? A city? Us?”
Yes, He was talking about them, and those who would receive them, and
the communities
full of wholehearted disciples that would result from them forsaking
their old lives for
His sake and the Gospel’s sake. There would be many “cities” set on
hills, shedding light for
the world around them to see.
A people who cry out for grace each day to do his will.. Normal people
with faults and iniquities that the Master needs people to overcome
(with his grace) to put all of his enemies under his feet!
later,
Michael Markuson (aka Keli)
Parchment Press
52 S River St
Coxsackie, NY 12051
Don Parris wrote:
> This is interesting. I established Matheteuo on the basis of
> discipleship. The whole point was to take a slightly different
> approach - more personal for one thing, to discipleship than what I
> have seen of most modern churches. I mean, let's face it. I know Jesus
> put in some 'classroom time', simply teaching the theoretical stuff.
> But He also devoted a fair amount of time to demonstrating, and
> allowing/encouraging/etc. the disciples to practice what He had taught
> them. I don't know, but I just feel the classical 'classroom' setting
> just fails to convey the lessons effectively.
>
> As for the difference between Christians and Disciples, I grew up in
> the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. :-) I do feel strongly that
> 'disciple' is a much better term. Ironically, I've encountered people
> who seem to equate 'disciple' with the 12 'apostles', and believe they
> could never be a disciple. Of course, some people will find any old
> stumbling block to prevent them from following Jesus anyway. ;-)
>
> Blessings,
> Don
>
> On Dec 19, 2007 12:14 PM, Keli of Coxsackie <keli at parchmentpress.net
> <mailto:keli at parchmentpress.net>> wrote:
>
> He brings up a GREAT point that I was wondering if everyone can say
> something about!
>
> Does the Master want Disciples or Christians?
> What is the difference?
>
> Which one do you want to be?
>
> Myself - I personally thought for 27 years that it was okay to be
> just a
> Christian then I discovered that
> in the Great Commission that he wants Disciples and that requires
> obedience.
> For the last 9 years I have strived hard to be a Disciple!
> Not works salvation but works are necessary in the body.
>
> I am with a community of believers that are disciples (and we do not
> refer to ourselves as Christians).
> The term is often misused anyway - It used to be a derogatory name for
> the disciples.
>
> later,
> Michael Markuson (aka Keli)
> Parchment Press
> 52 S River St
> Coxsackie, NY 12051
>
>
> Stephen J. McCracken wrote:
> > Hi, Micah,
> >
> > It's nice to know you're still in the land of the living.
> >
> >
> >> I've been thinking a lot lately, having been rather disturbed at
> >> modern trends in Christianity....
> >>
> >
> >
> >> In my opinion there are two primary reasons for this problem, with
> >> perhaps many more side-reasons:
> >> * Hypocrisy in the church
> >> * Failure of Christians in knowing the reasons why the faith is
> >> reasonable and understanding the full implications of the
> worldview in
> >> light of the fact that it is indeed reasonable
> >>
> >
> > Personally, I think the first point is a result of the
> underlying cause.
> > I think it may have to do more with the lack of a true discipleship
> > program for Christians. This results in a superficial Christianity
> > that, in turn, doesn't differentiate itself from the world that
> much.
> > People don't see anything attractive in a superficial
> Christianity and
> > so are leaving. I guess this is more to say that I think there
> is more
> > to lack of knowledge as a reason for what is happening that your
> second
> > point implies.
> >
> >
> >> "Lay-people" in the church are rarely asked for ideas, in my
> >> experience. We just need more, new ways to make Christ shine in our
> >> modern culture as an attractive alternative to secular humanism.
> >>
> >> In light of that, one thing I plan to do Very Soon is set up a
> wiki
> >> for the express purpose of getting Christians together to
> brainstorm
> >> ministry ideas. I plan for it to be a private wiki -- i.e. no open
> >> Internet registration....
> >>
> >
> > This will lock some out. I would at least put a contact point for an
> > "application" somewhere more open to draw others in. I guess
> this also
> > implies a mechanism to verify who gets in and who doesn't. Private
> > implies closed and one thing you are trying to combat is the
> un-ability
> > for some to be involved in the discussion (e.g. "lay people").
> >
> > If you don't have a good way to verify who people are that are
> going to
> > be involved, I doubt the usefulness of a closed board to allow
> more open
> > discussion. If I can't verify with a great amount of certainty the
> > intentions and such of the people applying to get in on the
> discussion,
> > I don't see that I would be sharing more sensitive information
> than I
> > would on an almost open board.
> >
> >> Would you all be interested in giving some design advice for
> this? I
> >> plan to use TWiki, but could possibly be open to other ideas.
> Twiki
> >> is organized by "webs" and pages.
> >>
> >
> > It depends on how you want to organize it, but Twiki has a limit
> of two
> > levels in the tree: The Web and a Topic. If you want more
> levels, you
> > need to look for other than Twiki. I did a search once and came
> up with
> > a couple of options that allowed more depth than two levels to
> the tree,
> > but I can't remember the options right now.
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > sjm
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
>
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>
>
> --
> D.C. Parris
> Minister, Journalist, Free Software Advocate
> https://www.xing.com/profile/Don_Parris
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris <http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris>
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