A Cup of Tea With Me

So, what is discipleship?
“Discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciple to teach others as well.” - Greg Ogden

• In looking at the life of Jesus, it is basically “doing life with another person”. It is investing in someone (through the power of the Spirit) in a way that causes them to be more like Christ and more in love with Christ. It also implies a sending out of the disciple to now be the one who makes disciples.

Why do discipleship?

• Jesus did it (Ephesians 5:1 - Be imitators of God)
• Because Jesus Commands us to do it. (Matthew 28:19-20) - This is a personal call on each of our lives! It is incredible to know that in doing this we are in the center of God’s will for our life…what a sweet place to be
• Because we love Jesus and we desire to be obedient…not out of compulsion (1 Peter 5-1-3 and 2 Corinthians 5:14)

Jesus’ ministry on earth
His ministry was not all about appealing to the masses of people, instead He invested in a few people that would go out and spread the Gospel after He was gone.

• “We need to have enough vision to think small” - building the church up solidly with only a few people at a time.

I have been wanting to share this with you for a while. It will most likely be a series of posts. I took a bible study, through my church this summer. It was very good, even if I did not get to attend every lesson. I had the folder and worked through it.

The lesson was taught by the wife of our University Minister, and they use this same lesson to teach their students how to disciple. Mind you, this is not discipling. I will get into that later. She used copies of chapters of books. I cannot share those for several obvious reasons. So, here is a list of the books that she used:

• Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time
• Disciples Are Made, Not Born
• Becoming a Titus 2 Woman; A Bible Study with Martha Peace

I have not read the books completely, only the chapters she shared with us, but they are on my reading list.

Let me start out by sharing the difference between discipleship and evangelism. Both are necessary.

Evangelism is the outreach. Telling people about Christ. Leading them to salvation. This can be done one on one, or in groups. You may plant the seeds, but you may not be the person to lead them to Christ. That does not mean you should not evangelize. We are to take the Good News to the world.

Discipleship is teaching them to live Christ-like lives.

Matthew 28:18-20 (AMP):
¹⁸ Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
¹⁹ Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰ Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).
(emphasis added)

I am going to end this post here, as I do not want the posts to be so long that I loose you. Look for more on this topic soon. I will be sharing the handouts only. I believe that most of the neccessary information can be found in there. However. I encourage you to pick up and read the books listed above. What I have read of them has been very informative.

Matthew 6:30-34 (AMP):
³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹ Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?
³² For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³ But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
³⁴ So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

I used the same image as Amy Deanne. Maybe one day I will actually have time to make my own to share.

God Bless you all and have a wonderful Wordfilled Wednesday!

I thought I would clarify something.

I am not trying to be one of those moms who say “It is not my fault. I cannot do anything about it.” It IS my fault, and I HAVE to do something about it. However, the way I approach this has everything to do with the outcome, as well. You see, if I just go off, and throw things out, then I am a “religious nut” and I just turned my kids and husband against Christianity, and satan wins. If I do nothing, I allow satan to have a hold on our lives, and satan wins. To me this is a loose loose situation.

I am praying for God to reveal what He would have me do, that is after I pray for forgiveness for reading that book, and not His Book, or talking to Him.

When I was a teenager, I was very into heavy metal, horror movies and anything to do with the occult. I remember saying “Oh, Mom, just because I listen to this band or watch this movie or read this book, it is not going to affect my life.” “I am not going to turn into a mass murder, because I like to watch Freddy Kruger.” “I am not going to kill myself because there are subliminal messages in Ozzy’s music.”

I am bipolar, many of my long time readers know that. I have anger issues. I have had dreams were I AM a mass murder. I know it was just a dream, but it was so real that I woke up crying. I have had dreams, where I murdered my children. I stood there, crying over their beds, with the bloody knife in my hand. Yes, it was just a dream, but it felt SO real. I could not think of anything but guilt for days after that dream. I have been suicidal. I wanted to kill myself, many times, not just the time that I talk about in 2005, where God saved me.

Where am I going with all this?

I have always believed that you could listen to what you want, read what you want, watch what you want, and as long as you know right from wrong, that it will be ok.

I have always had a draw, in my life to the occult. I have been fascinated by  magic for as long as I can remember. I have even tried dabbling in it, myself.

I have stuck by my previously mentioned beliefs. Even after becoming a Christian. I have still honestly believed that a book is just a book, a movie is just a movie, a video game is just a video game.

I have read all the Harry Potter books. When I picked up this last one, I had a feeling that I should not be reading it. I just knew in my heart that I should put it down. I did not.  I read the entire book in 3 days. I know some of you read it faster, but I was wrestling with my conscience. I KNEW I should not be reading that book. Yet I did it anyway. I have not felt ANY peace in the past three days. When I was reading it, the ringing in my ears was louder. I had nightmares. Not because the book was scary, but because I was opening a door in my mind that was supposed to stay shut. This world of magic is one of the ways that satan uses to attack my faith. While reading this book, I did not pray once. Nope, none. I just read.

I have found that when my kids start talking about their video games they play, and the killing that they do, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. It gives me chills.

I watch a movie with my beloved,  and I feel physically ill afterward.

I now know that all the things that were just things, as long as you know right from wrong, are all things that satan will use against us.

My struggle now is, “How do I change the happenings in my house, after I have turned a ‘blind eye’ to it after all these years?” Do I just get rid of the video games that we have spent thousands of dollars on? (The thought that we have spent that much money alone, makes me ill.) Do I turn off the music channels? The cable? I do not think that is the answer. I want to find a way to talk to them so they will REALLY listen, not laugh at me, like I did my mom. Any suggestions?

But I had so many fun MeMes to do that I did not get my planned post(s) done. I will post them tomorrow, or after work.

Love,
Melly

I was tagged by Angie from Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe for this MeMe. I have done it before, but I thought it would be fun to do again. I did change the name from 5 Things I DIG About Jesus, to “5 Things I LOVE About Jesus”. You can repost it as what ever you want, however, I grew up in the 1970s and the word “dig” makes me think of John Travolta and greasy hair. :s :

5 Things “I Love” about Jesus:

1. A variation on what I posted last time. Jesus died for our sins, that we may have salvation and that we may be closer to the Father. How amazing is it, that He would come down, be tormented, abused, laughed at, and killed, for US? That my friends is unconditional love!
2. He was very wise. His teachings still speak to us. 
3. He gives us strength, when the world would have us defeated, Christ helps us accomplish His will.
4. He saved my life. His loving grace, kept me from committing suicide, when my heart was not right with Him.
5. He is faithful!

I am supposed to tag 5 more people, but I need to get ready for work, so… I tag all of my readers who have not done this MeMe, or who simply want to do it again.

God Bless,
Melly

Well, it seems I was also tagged by my dear beautiful friend, Becki at A Walk Through the Valley for this meme, also. Becki, I am not sure how I missed it, , but I did so I decided to give it another go. This time I am using the clause in rule # 2. This is what I wanted my middle name to be as a child.

You see, my brother and sister both had “Ray” in there middle names. I was jealous. They were both named after my dad, and I was named after his mom. I got over the jealousy, and never had my middle name changed, but I never lost my love for the name that I was trying to convince my mom to legally change my middle name too. *I am wondering if this was a smart idea, since my “dream” middle name is a lot longer than my real middle name. I do not know if I know that many people to tag. LOL!*

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My desired middle name is Raeanne:

R - Real - I am very real. I have nothing to hide from anyone. My mistakes make me part of what God made me. One of my life beliefs is that step I have taken, every mistake I have made, has made me who and what I am today. I would not change any of them. Ask me anything, and I will be open about my answers.

A - Antique - A little Hubby humor. On my 25th birthday, he sent me a dozen roses with a card saying “Happy Antique Day” because if I was a car, I would be an antique now. Yes, I am antique and proud of it! - I love my hubby!

E - Expressive - I have been told many times that I have one of the most expressive faces. My bible study teacher uses my face as a gauge as to whether she is getting her lesson across the the class.

A - Antiphospholipid Syndrome - I have Antiphospholipid Syndrome. It is a fact of life I must face every morning. I am still learning so much about it that at times, I am blown away. It affects a lot of my life.

N - Never - I am learning to never say “never.” As soon as I say it, God shows me that if it is His will, I will do it whether I want to or not.

N - Nervous - I have many nervous habits. One of which is rubbing my palms on my cheeks. I do not know what triggers it, but I do it, just the same. It drives some people crazy. It used to drive Hubby crazy. I am so glad he has learned to accept it.

E - Excitable - The smallest things make me happy. I get excited about almost anything. A new treat, seeing an old friend, an email from a family member I have not talked to in a while… You name it, it makes me excited.

Now I have to tag one person for each letter of my (dream) middle name:

1. Ang - I am sure she will post this at her life blog, but all my readers need to visit her faith blog, as well.
2. Liz - Looney Mom. Liz can always make me smile, when I visit her blog. Much like me, she has her pain, but who does not? Oh, and she is expecting a grandbaby, any day now. Stop by and give her encouragement for the wait.
3. Katie - Joy Overflowing. A sweet Christian friend of mine.
4. Laura - Opinion Mom. Great blog.
5. TK - Her Comfy Chair. Hope you are feeling better today, Teri.
6. Lynn and/or Dineen - Spiritually Unequal Marriage. I do not know how you all feel about MeMes, but I would love to hear from you (both).
7. Laura - Org Junkie. Another great friend with another great blog.

I cannot believe I actually was able to name 7 people. I know that not everyone likes MeMes, and so if you do not want to do this, I understand.

I was tagged by Angie from Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe for this meme.

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Jo (I almost feel like I am cheating with such a short middle name.) :

J - Joy - I strive to be joyful all the time. I do not always make it, but I try.

O - Overwhelmed - I often feel this overwhelmed with all that is going on in my life, which is why I am trying to be more obedient to God’s word, and the feeling of being overwhelmed will become less. (I wanted to do obedient, as that is my goal, but it is not a fact, so… )

Now I have to tag one person for each letter of my middle name: Becki at Vote for Becki and Heather at Diary of a Hope Filled Mom.

I’ve been tagged by Heather (2 weeks ago…) to share my favorite links!

Just copy paste this and everything below up until my Five links:

Lara thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links. We can post up to five. Then we tell five more people to share their links. If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!

They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…

There are Five Rules:

1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you
5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator. (an active link would be appreciated)

———– end copy paste ———————————–>

My Favorite Links :

1. Blog Mommas
2. Moms Making a Difference
3. Spiritually Unequal Marriage
4. APS Foundation of America
5. Moms of Grace

I’m tagging:

All of my readers.