Christian Discipleship Series

In the Scriptures, Jesus Christ inseparably linked discipleship with carrying your own cross.  Jesus said, "Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27)."  Thus Jesus Christ bore our sins on His cross, but He also said we must bear our own cross.  What does this mean?  The Scriptures reveal there are two essential aspects of the cross of Christ: first and foremost, there is Christ's completed work on the cross, and then there is the on-going work of the cross in our lives if we permit it.  It is critical that we understand both of these aspects of the cross if we want to be Christ's disciples.  This eBook explains how we can carry our cross and lose our soul-life, so that we can know Christ and abide in Him.

What does it mean for a Christian to submit?  The Bible says to "submit to God" (James 4:7); "submit to one another" (Ephesians 5:21); "wives submit to your husbands" (Colossians 3:18); "younger men submit to your elders" (1 Peter 5:5); "servants submit to your masters" (1 Peter 2:18); and "everyone submit to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1).  Although these are all different situations, the same Greek word hypotasso is used in each case.  Therefore, in order to accurately understand what submit means in each situation, we must examine the individual context in which the Greek word hypotasso is used.  Otherwise, when we read the Scriptures and come across the word "submit," we may not understand what kind and level of submission the verse is describing.  This eBooklet focuses on two types of Christian submission: 1) a wife's submission to her husband, and 2) the saints' submission to their church leaders.  Both these forms of submission are "internal" to the household of God; that is, ideally in both cases, the one receiving submission and the one giving submission is born again and belongs to the family of God.  Grievously, however, corrupt men under the guise of Christianity have distorted the Biblical truth about Christian submission and misused their authority: 1) as husbands to subjugate, oppress and abuse Christian women, and 2) as pastors to control, manipulate and defraud Christian men and women.  We pray this eBooklet provides Scriptural clarity on the truth about submission, and sets Christians of every race and gender free from the oppression of sin and sinful men. 

Most Christians today accept without question the idea that every church should have a pastor who is the "head" of their church.  However, they would be surprised to learn that there is no Scriptural or historical evidence to support our modern-day church system of a sole pastor or senior pastor who is the head of the church.  In the New Testament, the term "elder" is always used interchangeably with the terms "pastor" and "overseer."  All three of these words refer to the same person.  The elders of the church are the overseers who shepherd the local church together. It was not until the second and third century that church leaders began to wrongly divide the elders' role of oversight and shepherding into three separate hierarchal religious offices.  Many Christians in our day have recognized that this man-made hierarchy in the institutional church is not only carnal and often prone to abuse; it severely stifles the Holy Spirit's leadership and life in the church; it robs the church from having an actively functioning priesthood of spiritually-gifted believers; and it causes many sincere pastors to suffer "burn-out" and leave the ministry.   This eBook presents how Biblical church leadership functions based on Scriptural teaching on church life.

Most Christians today accept without any question the idea that pastors should receive an annual salary from their local church.  However, they may be surprised to learn that there is no Scriptural or historical evidence that the elders who pastored the local churches in the first century were given a full-time salary to meet all their financial needs and family obligations.  The elders were not full-time Christian workers; they were simply elder brothers in the local church who had a responsibility to shepherd the flock, but still earned their living by working in a trade or profession like any other brother in the church.  Unfortunately, many pastors in our day will not even consider shepherding a church if their expected total compensation package is not "adequate."  This reveals a hireling or mercenary mentality rather than a true shepherd's heart for God's flock.

Many contemporary churches today have two or three Sunday morning services, with each service allowed a one-hour program.  Everyone who attends the service knows the program: first the band plays "worship" music; next there are church announcements; then the tithes and offerings are collected while the band plays some more; then the pastor gives his sermon (the same one to all three services); finally, a closing prayer is given, followed by the band playing once again.  There is neither freedom nor time allowed in the sixty minute service for the Holy Spirit to lead the church any differently from this rigid and pre-planned program.  The meeting is so predictable and boring, it is no wonder that some people are napping, while others are texting or thinking about what they are going to have for lunch.  If you think that church is spiritually dead, you are right.  It should make any sane and Spirit-filled believer wonder, "Is this all there is?  Is this all God has ordained and given us?"  The emphatic answer is: "Absolutely not!  God has given us far more than is being exhibited in the average church service today!"  This eBook reveals how God intends His church to spiritually, creatively and practically meet together under the headship of Christ.

For every person in America who is hostile to the gospel of Christ, there may be ten more who say they believe in the gospel and profess to be Christians.  Of course, this is not true.  Most of these people are not true followers of Christ and do not even know (let alone believe and act on) the real gospel of Christ.  Why is there this shocking discrepancy?   One of the reasons for this great disconnect is what we might call the "curse of mental assent."  This short eBook explains the crucial difference between mental assent and true saving faith.

This short eBook surveys church history and reveals the purity and power of the church is directly related to the purity and power of the gospel that is preached and practiced. A prime example of this connection is the Protestant Reformation, which only restored half of the gospel. In practice, the Reformation restored the gospel of how "the righteous are saved by faith," but never restored the whole gospel of how "the righteous will live by faith." ­The result is most Christians do not know how to overcome sin and live by faith in Jesus Christ who indwells them by His Spirit. Yet this is the central purpose of Christ's death on the cross and the cornerstone of the New Covenant church. In addition to diagnosing the crux of the problem facing today's church, this book presents the remedy - a model of how the New Covenant church would work based on the complete gospel of Christ and Scriptural teaching on church life.

Many people who consider themselves Christians think as long as they asked Jesus to be their Savior sometime during their life, they are guaranteed a ticket to heaven.  They say that they believe Christ died to forgive them for their sins, but as far as Christ's Lordship over their life is concerned, they say they are "working" toward that goal.  Those Christians think that receiving Christ is like buying a car - you can get the basic model, and later you may decide to buy the more expensive model.  In other words, you can choose basic Christianity with Jesus as your Savior, and later you can decide whether to choose the more costly, discipleship option with Jesus as your Lord.  However, as this eBook explains, the Bible recognizes no such option. 

The myth that God's love is unconditional has become widely accepted in the church today.   But nowhere in the Bible does it say God's love is unconditional.  In fact, from Genesis to Revelation, both the Old and New Testaments clearly state that God's love is conditional.  The Bible emphatically says of God: "You love those who love You and obey You (Daniel 9:4)."  This short eBook will examine the reason why some Christians promote this myth, and what the Bible really says about God's love.