Disciples are made, not born | Walter Henrichsen (summary)

Disciples are made, not born | Walter Henrichsen

Chapter 1. The kind of person God uses

Essential traits of a person who wants to qualify as “a faithful man” (2 Tim 2:2):

1. He has adopted as his objective in life the same objective God sets forth in the Scriptures (Matt 6:33).
2. He is willing to pay any price to have the will of God fulfilled in his life (2 Tim 2:3, 4; Phil 3:18-19).
3. He has a love for the Word of God (Jer 15:16).
4. He has a servant heart (Matt 20:26-28; Jn 13).
5. He puts no confidence in the flesh (2 Cor 1:9; Rom 7:18).
6. He does not have an independent spirit.
7. He has a love for people (1 Jn 4:10).
8. He does not allow himself to be trapped in bitterness (Heb 12:15).
9. He has learned to discipline his life (1 Cor 9:24-27).

Chapter 2. Jesus as Lord

Jesus is Lord whether we want Him to be or not (Col 1:16-18).

Why we do not want to acknowledge Christ as Lord:

• He may ask us to do something we do not want to do
• We think we know what is best for us
• We are not sure that God has our best interests at heart

What it means to acknowledge Him as Lord (Matt 6:9-13)

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]

Chapter 3. The cost of discipleship

1. The disciple is one who in every area of his life determines from the Bible what is right and lives it consistently.
2. The disciple is one who is in constant touch with people in need.
3. The commandments of God are never whimsical or arbitrary but are designed for our best.
4. In no way can a person get without giving or truly live without dying.
5. The disciple is one who is in tune with the voice of the Spirit of God.
6. One of the fundamental requisites for true discipleship is a spirit of desperation that burns deep within the soul.
7. Jesus used this kind of situation to emphasize the importance of carefully counting the cost of being a disciple before committing oneself.
8. In paying the price for being Christ’s disciple, you too must purposefully destroy all avenues of retreat.