There are so many wonderful books on Christian discipleship…actually far too many to count, and certainly, way too many to even give you a short list of my personal favorites.
If you’ve been a reader of my blog over the years, you know that it is often my practice to take a well-known book on a subject and blog my way through the material found in that particular publication. My popular eight-month blog series through the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius is a good example of this. There, I used Father Kevin O’Brien’s marvelous guidebook The Ignatian Adventure as our foundational cornerstone and then we blogged our way through the many gems found within.
This new 36-week blog series on 3-C Christian discipleship will use a very similar approach, taking our lead from author Roy L. Comstock and his three volumes on Christian discipleship called Mentoring His Way. A good friend of mine who worked with me during my stint (1995-2000) as a regional representative with the men’s ministry, Promise Keepers, put me onto Comstock’s mentoring books just recently and I’ve decided to experiment a bit, using his material to give us a base for our project.
Comstock’s books take the theme of Christian discipleship, parceling his study into three different themes (one volume for each theme) with four unique characteristics of a godly life assigned to each of his three themes. As a result, Comstock’s Mentoring His Way material addresses twelve important characteristics of a godly life using a multitude of scriptures packed alongside a creative hands-on approach to mentoring followers of Christ.
Before we get going, let me give you here an overview of Comstock’s twelve key characteristics, as listed under his three major themes of a godly life:
Spiritual Characteristics of a Godly Life
Being A Believer
Being Empowered
Being Victorious
Being a Warrior
Personal Characteristics of a Godly Life
Being Physically Pure
Being Love Motivated
Being Extremely Valued
Being Christ-Actualized
Lifestyle Characteristics of a Godly Life.
Having a Servant’s Heart
Serving Christ in the Workplace
Trusting God’s Provision
Living Purposefully
Over the next thirty-six weeks, we will delve into these three overarching themes and the twelve corresponding characteristics of the godly life, going deeper with biblically-based devotional studies that will focus our attention on each important aspect of our faith in Christ. The result will be a whopping 114 blog-session study that will hopefully bring you and me closer to the heart of Jesus and nearer to our goal of Christ-centered 3-C discipleship.
Please note that I will be taking a great deal of liberty with Comstock’s original material, personalizing it through my own experiences and making it into a teaching series that we have been using successfully within our local church in Cedar Rapids, IA. My goal here is to bring my 30+ years of pastoral experience into the mix and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, have a personalized blueprint for 3-C Christian discipleship which can assist the people in my house church to grow in Christ, living their lives to the fullest, for the greater glory of God! My hope is that this blog series might assist you in that goal as well.
We begin our journey (our first twelve weeks) by looking inwardly, toward the spiritual characteristics of a man or woman who believes that true Christianity is so much more than just following the rules and regulations of a religion. You see, true Christian discipleship must begin and end in a growing, vibrant relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Period.
Let’s face it. It’s Jesus, you see, who caused all the buzz in the first place! And it’s Jesus who has spoken things about Himself, and about those who will follow Him, that must be dealt with in an honest and complete way. So, whether you like Jesus of Nazareth or not, whether you love Him or hate Him, whether you accept Christ or reject Him, there really can be no honest discussion about true Christian discipleship outside of Him.
So, join us next time (Monday) as we begin our discipleship journey by pondering on…guess who?
Jesus of Nazareth.
My prayer: Father God, ultimately, it’s Your Holy Word, working alongside the Holy Spirit that teaches us all we need to know about true Christian discipleship. I thank You for other tools that have been developed over the years that come alongside Your Word and Your Spirit, giving us productive ways to internalize the Way, the Truth, and the Life that is Jesus, Your Christ. For Your name’s sake. Amen.
My questions to ponder: As I look at Comstock’s list of twelve characteristics of Christian discipleship, which ones seem to stand out for me today? Which ones seem to be very familiar…areas I’ve spent time and effort on over the years? And which ones seem new and different…themes from which I’m hoping to apply some new truths into my life?
So what is God speaking to you today as we attempt to live the Christ-centered life?
Over a thirty-six week period, you and I will take a deeper look into twelve key characteristics of a godly life. In other words, we’ll take A Journey into Christian Discipleship. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Journey home page for ease of use. ENJOY!
If you like what you’re reading, might we suggest you share this page with others!
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