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  Mark 16:15 (b)

“... Go into all the world

and  preach the gospel

to all creation.”  MAKE DISCIPLES – NOT CONVERTS:

Dr. Robert E. Coleman writes, “The great commission of 

Christ given to His Church summed it up in the command to

“make disciples of every creature” (Matt. 28:19). The word

here indicates that the disciples were to go out into the world

and win others who would come to be what they themselves

were — disciples of Christ. This mission is emphasized even more when the Greek

text of the passage is studied, and it is seen that the words

“ go,” “baptize,” and “teach” are all participles which derive

their force from the one controlling verb make disciples. This

means that the great commission is not merely to go to the

ends of the earth preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:15), nor to

baptize a lot of converts in the Name of the Triune God, nor toteach them the precepts of Christ, but to “make disciples”—  to build men like

themselves who were so constrained by the commission of Christ that they not only

followed, but led others to follow His way. Only as disciples were made could the

other activities of the commission fulfill their purpose.” (The Master's Plan of Evan-

 gelism, pp. 108-109.) Interesting isn’t it? 

Scott Hildreth, Director for the Center for Great Com-

mission Studies (SEBTS), writes, “The main verb of the

sentence that makes up Matthew 28:19-20 is  μαθητευσατε (make disciples), followed by descriptive phrases

 βαπτιζοντες αυτους (baptizing them) and διδασκοντες

αυτους (teaching them). According to Blomberg this com-

mand calls for a kind of evangelism that does not stop after

someone makes a profession of faith. The truly subordinate

participles explain what making disciples involves. (i). The

first of these will be a once-for-all decisive initiation into

Christian community. (ii) The second proves a perennially

incomplete lifelong task. This includes coming to faith, identifying with the Chris-

tian community, and growing in faith throughout the life of the believer. Rengstorf 

notes that μαθητευσατε always implies the existence of a personal attachment, which

shapes the whole life of the one described as  μαθητης. These descriptions highlightthat the command of the Great Commission is for followers of Jesus to introduce un-

believers to the faith; however, the work is not finished until the whole of life is af-

fected.” (www.globalmissiology.org October 2010. Accessed on May 1, 2013). 

I hope that everybody agrees that the Great Commission re-

quires thinking beyond ‘ just evangelism’ and ‘ just missions’;

thinking radical discipleship and spiritual transfor-

mation; thinking spiritual growth and maturity; thinking

multiplication and spiritual reproduction. In fact, this is

the kind of discipleship Christ is looking for. I am sure that

 Acts 1:8

“But you will receive

power when the Holy

Spirit has come upon you;

and you shall be My

witnesses both in

Jerusalem, and in all

Judea and Samaria, and

even to the remotest

part of the earth.” 

WWW.URFM.ORG, (734) 972-5717, valy@urfm.org

 Volume 14, Episode VII July 2013

 PRAISE:

  F o r G o d ’ s

 faithfulness and

 goodness during 

these hot summer days.

F o r H o l y

Spirit’s inspira-

tion to WRITE 

and to PREACH 

the Word of God.

 PRAY:

For NEW provi-

sions necessary

 for URFM in

2013. For NEW stu-

dents/disciples to

enroll into the

 ADT in 2013.

For deep awak-

ening regarding 

the Great Com-

mission. Amen! 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the

nations, ...” Matthew 28:19 (a) 

A Closer look at the Great Commission (II)

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upon His second coming Jesus expects to unite Himself with mature disciples  – a people transformed into His like-

ness – His heavenly Bride.

DISCIPLESHIP – THE GREATEST NEED OF THE CHURCH:

Crabtree (while serving as Assistant General Superintendent in the Assemblies of God)

says, “I believe that our discipleship, at this point right now, is ineffective.” “There is no

greater need in the Assemblies of God today than for personal, ongoing Pentecostal dis-

cipleship of believers,” said Assemblies of God General Superintendent Thomas E.Trask, according to the Assemblies of God News Service. “Unless we, as a Fellowship, passionately pursue disciple-

ship, the Assemblies of God will continue to lose millions of converts and, ultimately, our distinctive Pentecostalheritage.” ( Pentecostal Discipleship  –   A Desperate Need in the AG. http://ag.org/.

 Accessed on May 1, 2013.) Do we need another warning much clearer and more direct

than this?

Rick Knoth, managing editor of Enrichment Journal, visited with McNeal, (Reggie

McNeal, Ph.D. — a missional leadership specialist for Leadership Network, Dallas,

Texas. For over a decade McNeal was a denominational executive, leadership develop-

ment coach, and has been the founding pastor of a church), was interviewed in “Engaging the Church in God’s Re-

demptive Mission”), to discuss insights from The Present Future and Missional Renaissance as they relate to church

revitalization and transformation. When asked  – What has been the number one failure of the Church in the past

twenty-five years? Reggie McNeal responded, “To create genuine followers of Je-sus.” (http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/. Accessed it on April 29, 2013.) We can con-clude that generally speaking the church, at large  –   is lacking discipleship. I

hope that my readers will take this as a shocking revela-

tion! I hope that we are going to wake up to this striking

reality and stop sticking our heads in the sand like an

ostrich and pretend that everything is fine. We cannot

ignore this reality any longer. Crabtree says, “I pray that

the Lord will awaken pastors and churches to the crisis,”

he says. “We can provide all of the best resources we want, but without spiritual insight

in local situations and the willingness to obey the Lord's command of the Great Commis-

sion . . . without quality disciples; we simply aren't going to have quality churches.” Crabtree continues, “Churches

need to be prepared for spiritual ‘babies’ by training up spiritual mothers and fathers who understand the signifi-

cance of their commitment.”

(http://www.christianpost.com/news.

 Accessed it on April 19, 2011). Amen

brother Crabtree! I second this pray-

er with all my heart. Do you?

David Platt challenges his read-

ers with these words: “I want to be

part of a people who have forsaken

every earthly ambition in favor of 

one eternal aspiration to see disci-

ples made and churches multiplied

from house to house to our communities to our cities to the nations. … This is God’s design for His church, and dis-

ciples of Jesus must not settle for anything less.” (Follow Me: A Call to Die, A Call to Live, p. 180.)

(To be continued . . .)

With LOVE in Christ’s Service, 

Valy Vaduva

Spiritual Mentor

PS:  As I said it last time, I choose to believe that you will continue yourfinancial help for the Great Commission — to make disciples, so we can

fulfill the destiny God called us to accomplish.

Thank you very much!!! God bless you all!!!

PAGE 2 VOLU ME 14, EP ISO DE VII  

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life-transforming training. Get READY and

ENROLL into ADT for MODULE IV (which will

start in September 2013).

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