In my last post, I began to tell you about another crucial step in this journey – one that changed everything for me.
This crucial step was my participation in a small group discipleship study called Impact Discipleship. The material was written by Ken Adams, pastor of Crossroads Church in Newnan, GA. This is the study brought to our dealership by our controller shortly after he started working here in the spring of 2002.
As soon as he mentioned it during our first interview, I told him I was interested. I had been consistently having a quiet time studying my Bible every morning for the past six months and I was learning a lot, but I was also extremely eager to learn more. I saw this as my chance to do just that.
The Structure of the Material
- Five daily lessons – Each member of the group completes the five days of material (15-30 mins. per day).
- Weekly Meeting – The group meets for 60-90 minutes, once per week to review the material.
- Memorized Scripture Verse – Each member recites the weekly memory verse for the group.
- Personal accountability – Each member answers very direct, personal accountability questions from the group.
- Prayer requests – These prayer concerns get more personal over the time the group is together
The group meets for a total of thirteen weeks like this to complete the first book. There is a total of four books in the series, all with the same structure.
As you can probably imagine, the group becomes very close to each other through this process. This is certainly a strength of the program. But the part that truly changed the course of my life was the material itself. Simply put, the material focused on the life of Jesus and how the Bible teaches that our mission in life is to be the same as His.
The three core verses that I still dwell on to this day are the following:
The material taught, directly from the Bible, that we are to model our lives after the life of Jesus. First, we are to BE disciples of Christ, learning about Him and His teachings and loving God with all of our heart soul, mind and strength. Second, we are to BUILD more disciples by taking our faith to the world as we go through our daily lives.
Whereas I had previously separated my faith, business, family, and personal lives from each other in compartments like in a Dixie plate, with none of the various compartments touching another, I learned that God’s plan is different! In all aspects of my life, He wants control. He does not just want 10% of me. He will not even accept 25% or 50% of me. He wants ALL of me and the life I live. This was revolutionary to me. It was not something I had been taught before and I needed time to sort it out.
What do you think? Does God have all of you or just the portion you are comfortable giving?
Do you believe He can do more with all of you than you can?
What parts are you holding back?
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