Recently received email from Duane Jenks:

The Most Practical Way to Become a Disciple:

A Disciple-Making Church

For decades I’ve said that it’s crucial to be part of a Bible-believing church—no longer. I would now rather say that it’s crucial to be part of a disciple-making church. “To be part of a disciple-making church” is a more accurate and transformational concept. Jesus, after all, did not say, “Go and make Bible-believers”—as important as that is. He said, “Go and make disciples.” Such a seemingly small nuance can lead to radically different results over 20, 30, or more years. For example, someone can “believe the Bible” but still be a bump on a log. If you are a “disciple,” though, you can’t wait to grow in your faith and to express your gratitude to God through service. Disciple-making churches are action-oriented. They call, equip, and send people. They regularly call people to put faith in Christ, equip people to grow more like Christ, and send people to live for Christ through love and good deeds. We do not become disciples through a single life-changing event—transformed from darkness to light, yes. But it is dim light. Instead, we become disciples by steady plodding, by the regular intake of God’s word, by a consistent diet of preaching, by constantly rubbing shoulders with fellow pilgrims.
A disciple-making church is the most practical way to become a disciple. The weekly worship service is the most consistently-occurring, well-planned, and well-attended activity of a church. That makes the weekly worship service the #1 disciple-making opportunity of the week. If you want to become a true disciple of Jesus, the most practical path for long term success is to immerse yourself in a disciple-making church.
Yours for changed lives, Patrick Morley, Ph.D