Attitude Shifts for Disciple Making

By David Toth

Go therefore and make disciples . . . . (Matthew 28:19-20).

Perhaps you gave serious thought to Jesus' command and maybe you even made one or more attempts to engage someone. At best, you ended up doing a Bible study and/or filling in the spaces in a manual with little or no life transformation let alone multiplication. Deep down you really want to follow Jesus. You can! Along with your Bible, this book will guide you to apply the four attitudes that made Jesus so effective in His disciple-making ministry. You too can be a successful disciple maker!

You will have confidence to:

     • know what to say and what to do when you are with your disciple(s)

     • guide your disciple(s) to overcome their challenges and issues

     • stimulate your disciples' desire for Kingdom perspectives and Kingdom solutions

     • encourage your disciple(s) into an ever stronger dependency upon the Father     

     • inspire your disciple(s) to embrace a mission lifestyle

You will understand and apply Jesus' attitudes to empower you to make disciples like Jesus made disciples! You will know what to say and do with confidence as you respond obediently to the command of Jesus to go and make disciples! This book will help you to move beyond believing to following Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Toth
• Release date: Aug 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735582009

Book preview

Attitude Shifts for Disciple Making

Attitude Shifts for Disciple Making

Applying Jesus’ Four Attitudes Will Transform Your Disciple-Making Ministry

David A. Toth

David A. Toth

Copyright

© 2020 by David A. Toth

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from David A. Toth.

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Contact: [e-mail]

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Dedication

Marian,

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You gave me a lot of latitude while I wrestled with writing this book. You went the extra mile and did first-pass editing. I could not have accomplished this project without you.

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Love, David

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Tony,

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You went home before me but not until you impacted my life and the expansion of the Kingdom. See you soon.

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David

Author Information

Following2Lead

David has been in ministry for over 40 years. He has served as a pastor, church planting director, and in recent years as a missionary. He has been married for 50 years and has four children and all are following Christ. He and his wife, Marian, are avid disciple makers. His ministry, Following2Lead, focuses on disciple making and leadership formation.

Though David benefits from a strong academic journey, his focus is practical rather than theoretical. He is a practicing disciple maker and is growing in his expertise and still learning from his failures!

Jesus’ philosophy of ministry, the way Jesus approached his ministry, as David understands it, directs his personal life and ministry. Jesus’ philosophy is: Think Big, Start Small, Go Deep. David continues his mission ministry in Eastern Europe and Central Asia under the banner Following2Lead, or F2L.

The author expresses with heartfelt passion that becoming a spiritual great-great-great-grandfather is one of the most fulfilling experiences in his life! His desire is for many others to be so fortunate as to grow a spiritual family tree with even more generations.

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– David A. Toth, DMin

Acknowlegements

I now understand why it is difficult for an author to name those who assisted in the production of a book. There are so many. I will only name one and then I will make reference to others without names.

Marian, my wife, has been the most helpful. I know she would not agree with me but during the last couple years she has supported me in numerous ways that contributed to this book. She has encouraged me and she was always ready to give advice and help me with ideas and word selection. Marian’s contribution to this book is huge.

During the past years, my disciple-making ministry has taught me as much or more than the all the books I have read on disciple making. In particular, I acknowledge the input and value of my personal disciples that I meet with regularly. They have given me real life experiences that have shaped my thinking about making disciples.

Marian and I belong to a house church. Our house church focuses on making disciples. In most meetings, we all share how our disciple making is doing. We are all either making disciples or are being discipled. This regular sharing about making disciples has been a gold mine of ideas and encouragement for this book.

Serving as a missionary in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been a rich resource for this book. Special recognition goes to Ukraine. CRU in Ukraine is ‘Ukraine for Christ.’ I have consulted with their leaders, teams, and followers for the last few years. It was the ministry in Ukraine that made me a fourth generation spiritual grandfather. I pray that a disciple making movement will sweep across Ukraine and then into other countries in the region and around the world.

Start Now!

Jesus Christ’s disciple-making approach is unsurpassed in terms of quality (promoting genuine spiritual transformation) and quantity (duplicatable capacity). ¹ Without apology, Jesus’ approach to disciple making is promoted throughout this book. ² If you are concerned that you do not have Jesus’ divine abilities, rest easy, none of us do! Thankfully, divinity is not required to make disciples like Jesus made disciples.

The most important action is to take the initiative and start now! Take the first step; respond obediently to the command of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples. You will learn more as you read this book and you will gain experience as you apply Jesus’ approach. So, take the initiative and start now!

Do not just believe Jesus, follow Jesus! Jesus’ lifestyle was largely framed by his disciple-making ministry. Following him means making disciples like he made disciples. It is not consistent to claim to be a disciple without making disciples. It is contrary to Scripture and dishonoring to the life of Christ to say that one is a follower of Jesus and not be a disciple maker.

This book is a practical instrument. It is founded on biblical information, primarily on the Gospel narratives and the life and words of Jesus Christ. It is meant to be used along with one’s Bible as a guide to follow Jesus’ disciple-making approach. So, let’s get started now! That means today; right now!

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Start Now Steps

Pray

Invite

Engage

Expand

Pray

The process of disciple making is dependent upon God. Therefore, every step must begin in prayer asking for the Father’s guidance. Jesus, though the Son of God, gave us a compelling example of his dependence upon the Father. Before selecting his disciples to be apostles, Jesus prayed all night (Luke 6:12-13). He modeled dependence upon the Father for wisdom and direction in the selection of the right people. A disciple maker’s first step is to pray, depending upon God for wisdom to select potential disciples.

Pray that God will strengthen you as you embrace the attitudes of humility and submission. This is a bold and dangerous prayer. It means you must set aside your agendas and preferences so you can sacrificially serve others. It is bold because God often uses broken people to do his best work and dangerous because He often breaks his servants to further their maturity. Humility is the foundation for courage and boldness; submission is the foundation for obedience. Both are required to make disciples like Jesus made disciples. In short, being a disciple maker is a lifestyle and it requires a lifestyle change.

Pray for guidance as you obey Jesus’ command to make disciples and thank God in advance for his promise to be with you as you go (Matthew 28:19-20).

Pray that God will help you identify by name at least 8 to 12 people; make a list. They may or may not be believers. It is good to include unbelievers (Jesus often started disciple making with unbelievers). Think about all your relationships: family, church, friends, work colleagues, neighbors, and others. A list of 12 may seem long but many will pass on your invitation as it happened to Jesus.

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Pray that God will guide you as you make invitations.

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Do not obsess about choosing the right people. They will either qualify or disqualify themselves by following or not following. Let people self-qualify. Continue with those who