First thing, this blog will always be about Jesus Christ the Son of God and His Word (this redundant statement can be considered redundant). It is dedicated to sharing the Word of God with those who strive to become His disciples. Most of what appears here from me will focus on encouraging readers to become His disciples and assisting their growth in spirit through the practical application of His Word to their daily lives. Consequently, it will reference Scripture from the Holy Bible as the Source of Truth. Each entry will focus on some aspect of discipleship that will, prayerfully, provide insight for those who seek to conform to the image of Christ. Material in this blog will initially come from my book, “Discipleship and Discipline”, copyright March, 2005.

In the book, “Discipleship and Discipline”, by William H. Hicks copyright March, 2005, is written the following taken from the introduction:

“This book is written to challenge the church to be what it is meant to be: the greatest, single most potent change agent in the history of the world- past, present and future- because the church was made to change the hearts of men. The church has lost sight of its vision, if not of its mission. We are fragmented by denominations, by doctrinal infidelity, by stultifying institutional rictus and structural decay. Mega-churches proliferate and compete for numbers but do nothing to reach and teach the individual souls God says “all are mine.” We are charged by Christ to have two (2) elements to our job description as disciples: we are to make disciples and we are to be His witnesses. The church is failing at making disciples, failing at teaching the professed followers of Christ “all that He has commanded us”. The church is fragmented, disjointed, at odds with itself and with His Word. It is failing to “equip the saints for the work of service”. The church lacks power because few are following His instructions on the imperative and method to make disciples. Consequently, witnessing has been relegated to attending church on Sunday at 11:00AM which remains the most segregated hour in America. We can do better. We must do better. Each of us who confess to be followers of Jesus Christ must first become His disciples and then we must apply the discipline of disciples to the making of other disciples and to our task as witnesses for Him. This book is a call to the church to assess itself, to “re-form” itself to conform more precisely to the change agent Jesus Christ called her into being to be.

This book is written to provide prayerful guidance into how you may begin to apply these principles to your life. It is written in the hope that the Holy Spirit will “lead you and guide you into all the Truth, and that the Truth will make you free”, free to live your life in Jesus Christ and that Christ will live His life through you. Ultimately, it is written so that we may have a practical, scripturally sound, biblically based approach to the making of true disciples of Christ; that these might bear much fruit, and be identifiable by the way they walk in the world. The book is written to examine the Scriptural principles and examples of discipleship, the characteristics and attributes of disciples, and the way discipline was a factor in their faithful walk with the Lord. Prayerfully, these practical principles and examples from Scripture will make the concepts and principles real and give insight into their application for those making and those seeking to become disciples. “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is a light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life,…” (Proverbs 6: 23).”

In this blog, I’ll explore these and other spiritual principles and insights in the hopes that light will be shed into lives of those who read this material and decide to commit to the journey of growing up in the most holy faith. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”—I Corinthians 3: 6 – 7