Sail 1: Begin
Step One (or Sail one)
- If students are caught in a secular trap,
- and Christians are called to set them free,
- then a plan to do so… is necessary.
DU (Disciples University) is a plan to take God’s truth into the lives of students, parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, counselors and textbook publishers. DU has a strategy and a set of tactics to do this.
The Secular trap is the religion of secularism (the notion that you can live your life without God) rooted in evolutionary thinking.
Leading people out of the secular trap begins with the definition of the word “DISCIPLE”
Christ defined this word: “Come to me and I will teach you how to fish for men”, so a DISCIPLE is, “one who is willing to follow and willing to learn.”
If a person is willing to accept God’s truth regarding sin, repentance, and salvation, then likely he desires to accept The Great Commission and become a “fisher of men”
Master fishermen love to teach you how to catch fish: Things like: the right timing, the right location, and the right bait. DU offers 12 steps in the process of learning how to fish.
12 Steps:
Sail 1 – Understanding our times. (click here to a link that explains this)
Sail 2 – Understanding master fisherman in recent times.
Sail 3 – Understanding the challenge of fishing in this generation.
Sails 4, 5 & 6 – The ABC’s of Christian thinking
Sails 7, 8, & 9 – The Protests all around us
Sails 10,11 &12 – The Reforms we enter into
Our intended outcome is to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:5-6
Our success lies in the Selection and grouping, then Transferring and Prospering.
If we Select wise teachers, and carefully group the truth we learn into clear communications, and transfer that truth to others, then we will prosper like an influential tree for the glory of God.
Selection:
We must select where we will walk, who we stand with, and who we decide to sit down with.
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
The journey of becoming a master fisherman will lead to prosperity.
NEXT: Sail 2 – Understanding the leadership of master fisherman in our times.
Sail 2: Our Story
Sail 2 – a look at a few leaders in the last 70 years that build the framework of this discipleship plan.
My name is David Ewald. I have been a youth pastor, school administrator, missionary and a common laborer. God has given me many teachers to help me develop these 12 steps. My prayer is that God would use this effort to assist new leaders.
In the following video we talk about leaders in the last few decades who have Rebuilt, Raised up, Repaired, and Restored God’s truth in our times.
- Teachers who taught what the Bible says about end times.
- Scientists who replaced Darwinism as a faulty worldview foundation.
- Street Workers who started Crisis Centers, Adoption groups, etc.
- Creationist who taught Genesis. Men like Whitcomb, Gish, Morris and Ham.
- Worldview builders like Francis Schaeffer and David Noebel.
- Leaders who focused on Worldview, Apologetics and Genesis.
Please watch the following video which highlights a few leaders that God raised up to pave the way for our efforts.
Next – Sail 3 – Our Challenge: To find “Issachars and Noble Women” Important leaders in our times.
Leaders who understant that Christianity is Coherent, Comprehensive, Compelling and Compassionate. Leaders who have Courage, Character, Conviction and Competence. Leaders who love Christ.
Sail 3: Our Challenge
We look for leaders who understand these 3 goals.
Goal #1 – To Find Issachar’s and Noble Women.
- Issachar’s – Men who “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”. 1 Chronicles 12:32
- Noble Women – “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31
Goal #2 – To Find those willing to lead others to use the CPR 12 Step’s.
Goal #3 – To Find those who understand the importance of:
Please email Dave@DisciplesUniversity.com with your intentions to lead. Start the conversation.
Sail 4: Attitude
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5
Attitude -“a settled way of thinking reflected in a person’s behavior”.
Question: What Attitude did Jesus have that was unique?
Answer: “I will always do the will of my Father.” A way of thinking that flowed into all His actions.
Mast 1 – (3 sails) The Attitudes, Beliefs and Concept of Christainity.
Our Lord gave us The Holy Spirit to lead and teach us these ABC’s.
- “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh….sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies,
- The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
- Keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5
Our Lord gave us over 100 metaphors and 40 parables that provide a “settled way of thinking” (attitude) to guide us in all situations of life.
Our Lord’s attitude is found in Philippians 2
“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Next: Sail 5 – The Essential Beliefs that a disciple understands from the Word of God.
Sail 5: Beliefs
Seven Essential Truths found in The Bible:
- the Trinity
- the full deity and humanity of Christ
- the spiritual lostness of the human race
- the substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ
- salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
- the physical return of Christ
- the authority and inerrancy of Scripture.
These seven essential truths keep us focused. Please memorize them.
The following statement of belief from Dallas Theological Seminary goes into detail. This is an important reference for study.
Article I—The Scriptures
We believe that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which we understand the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God “were moved by the Holy Spirit” to write the very words of Scripture. We believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the writings—historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical—as appeared in the original manuscripts. We believe that the whole Bible in the originals is therefore without error. We believe that all the Scriptures center about the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and hence that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read, or understood, until it leads to Him. We also believe that all the Scriptures were designed for our practical instruction (Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2–3; 18:28; 26:22–23; 28:23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13; 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
Article II—The Godhead
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience (Matt. 28:18–19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1–3; Rev. 1:4–6).
Article III—Angels, Fallen and Unfallen
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning”—the highest in rank—sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19; 1 Tim. 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).
We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that, under the permission of God, he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power; that he is the enemy of God and the people of God, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped; and that he who in the beginning said, “I will be like the most High,” in his warfare appears as an angel of light, even counterfeiting the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of doctrine, which systems in every case are characterized by a denial of the efficacy of the blood of Christ and of salvation by grace alone (Gen. 3:1–19; Rom. 5:12–14; 2 Cor. 4:3–4; 11:13–15; Eph. 6:10–12; 2 Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 4:1–3). We believe that Satan was judged at the Cross, though not then executed, and that he, a usurper, now rules as the “god of this world”; that, at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” where he “shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:1–3, 10). We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God, from whence they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Luke 15:10; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:14; Rev. 7:12). We believe that man was made lower than the angels; and that, in His incarnation, Christ took for a little time this lower place that He might lift the believer to His own sphere above the angels (Heb. 2:6–10).
Article IV—Man, Created and Fallen
We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, and that he fell through sin, and, as a consequence of his sin, lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became subject to the power of the devil. We also believe that this spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire human race of man, the Man Christ Jesus alone being excepted; and hence that every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably bad apart from divine grace (Gen. 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Pss. 14:1–3; 51:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:6; 5:40; 6:35; Rom. 3:10–19; 8:6–7; Eph. 2:1–3; 1 Tim. 5:6; 1 John 3:8).
Article V—The Dispensations
We believe that the dispensations are stewardships by which God administers His purpose on the earth through man under varying responsibilities. We believe that the changes in the dispensational dealings of God with man depend on changed conditions or situations in which man is successively found with relation to God, and that these changes are the result of the failures of man and the judgments of God. We believe that different administrative responsibilities of this character are manifest in the biblical record, that they span the entire history of mankind, and that each ends in the failure of man under the respective test and in an ensuing judgment from God. We believe that three of these dispensations or rules of life are the subject of extended revelation in the Scriptures, viz., the dispensation of the Mosaic Law, the present dispensation of grace, and the future dispensation of the millennial kingdom. We believe that these are distinct and are not to be intermingled or confused, as they are chronologically successive.
We believe that the dispensations are not ways of salvation nor different methods of administering the so-called Covenant of Grace. They are not in themselves dependent on covenant relationships but are ways of life and responsibility to God which test the submission of man to His revealed will during a particular time. We believe that if man does trust in his own efforts to gain the favor of God or salvation under any dispensational test, because of inherent sin his failure to satisfy fully the just requirements of God is inevitable and his condemnation sure.
We believe that according to the “eternal purpose” of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always “by grace through faith,” and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ. We believe that God has always been gracious, regardless of the ruling dispensation, but that man has not at all times been under an administration or stewardship of grace as is true in the present dispensation (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 3:9, asv; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4, asv).
We believe that it has always been true that “without faith it is impossible to please” God (Heb. 11:6), and that the principle of faith was prevalent in the lives of all the Old Testament saints. However, we believe that it was historically impossible that they should have had as the conscious object of their faith the incarnate, crucified Son, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), and that it is evident that they did not comprehend as we do that the sacrifices depicted the person and work of Christ. We believe also that they did not understand the redemptive significance of the prophecies or types concerning the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 1:10–12); therefore, we believe that their faith toward God was manifested in other ways as is shown by the long record in Hebrews 11:1–40. We believe further that their faith thus manifested was counted unto them for righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3 with Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:5–8; Heb. 11:7).
Article VI—The First Advent
We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as preannounced in the prophecies of the Scriptures, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end He was born of the virgin, and received a human body and a sinless human nature (Luke 1:30–35; John 1:18; 3:16; Heb. 4:15).
We believe that, on the human side, He became and remained a perfect man, but sinless throughout His life; yet He retained His absolute deity, being at the same time very God and very man, and that His earth-life sometimes functioned within the sphere of that which was human and sometimes within the sphere of that which was divine (Luke 2:40; John 1:1–2; Phil. 2:5–8).
We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah-King, and that, being rejected of that nation, He, according to the eternal counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for all (John 1:11; Acts 2:22–24; 1 Tim. 2:6).
We believe that, in infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sin of the world, bearing the holy judgments against sin which the righteousness of God must impose. His death was therefore substitutionary in the most absolute sense—the just for the unjust—and by His death He became the Savior of the lost (John 1:29; Rom. 3:25–26; 2 Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5–14; 1 Pet. 3:18).
We believe that, according to the Scriptures, He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrection body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers (John 20:20; Phil. 3:20–21).
We believe that, on departing from the earth, He was accepted of His Father and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished (Heb. 1:3).
We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His body, and in this ministry He ceases not to intercede and advocate for the saved (Eph. 1:22–23; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1).
Article VII—Salvation Only Through Christ
We believe that, owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainments in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are sons of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our room and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, nor all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood, or to the merit of the finished work wrought for us by Him who united in His person true and proper deity with perfect and sinless humanity (Lev. 17:11; Isa. 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 3:7–18; Rom. 5:6–9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 6:15; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 3:4–9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:18–19, 23).
We believe that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in Christ and that repentance is a vital part of believing, and is in no way, in itself, a separate and independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts, such as confession, baptism, prayer, or faithful service, to be added to believing as a condition of salvation (John 1:12; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Rom. 1:16–17; 3:22, 26; 4:5; 10:4; Gal. 3:22).
Article VIII—The Extent of Salvation
We believe that when an unregenerate person exercises that faith in Christ which is illustrated and described as such in the New Testament, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life, and from the old creation into the new; being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according as Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, having his place and portion as linked to Him and one with Him forever. Though the saved one may have occasion to grow in the realization of his blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God, he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ, and is therefore in no way required by God to seek a so-called “second blessing,” or a “second work of grace” (John 5:24; 17:23; Acts 13:39; Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 3:21–23; Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; 1 John 4:17; 5:11–12).
Article IX—Sanctification
We believe that sanctification, which is a setting-apart unto God, is threefold: It is already complete for every saved person because his position toward God is the same as Christ’s position. Since the believer is in Christ, he is set apart unto God in the measure in which Christ is set apart unto God. We believe, however, that he retains his sin nature, which cannot be eradicated in this life. Therefore, while the standing of the Christian in Christ is perfect, his present state is no more perfect than his experience in daily life. There is, therefore, a progressive sanctification wherein the Christian is to “grow in grace,” and to “be changed” by the unhindered power of the Spirit. We believe also that the child of God will yet be fully sanctified in his state as he is now sanctified in his standing in Christ when he shall see his Lord and shall be “like Him” (John 17:17; 2 Cor. 3:18; 7:1; Eph. 4:24; 5:25–27; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 10:10, 14; 12:10).
Article X—Eternal Security
We believe that, because of the eternal purpose of God toward the objects of His love, because of His freedom to exercise grace toward the meritless on the ground of the propitiatory blood of Christ, because of the very nature of the divine gift of eternal life, because of the present and unending intercession and advocacy of Christ in heaven, because of the immutability of the unchangeable covenants of God, because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved, we and all true believers everywhere, once saved shall be kept saved forever. We believe, however, that God is a holy and righteous Father and that, since He cannot overlook the sin of His children, He will, when they persistently sin, chasten them and correct them in infinite love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all human merit, He, who cannot fail, will in the end present every one of them faultless before the presence of His glory and conformed to the image of His Son (John 5:24; 10:28; 13:1; 14:16–17; 17:11; Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 6:19; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1–2; 5:13; Jude 24).
Article XI—Assurance
We believe it is the privilege, not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him to be their Savior and that this assurance is not founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness or fitness, but wholly upon the testimony of God in His written Word, exciting within His children filial love, gratitude, and obedience (Luke 10:20; 22:32; 2 Cor. 5:1, 6–8; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 10:22; 1 John 5:13).
Article XII—The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the blessed Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise, dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and that He, as the Indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service. We believe that He never takes His departure from the church, nor from the feeblest of the saints, but is ever present to testify of Christ; seeking to occupy believers with Him and not with themselves nor with their experiences. We believe that His abode in the world in this special sense will cease when Christ comes to receive His own at the completion of the church (John 14:16–17; 16:7–15; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; 2 Thess. 2:7).
We believe that, in this age, certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit, and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand them and to be adjusted to them in his own life and experience. These ministries are the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the indwelling and anointing of all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ of all who are saved; and the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and who are subject to His will (John 3:6; 16:7–11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30; 5:18; 2 Thess. 2:7; 1 John 2:20–27).
We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the filling of the Spirit, and that the deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection (Acts 4:8, 31; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 13:8).
Article XIII—The Church, A Unity of Believers
We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the church which is the body and bride of Christ, which began at Pentecost and is completely distinct from Israel. Its members are constituted as such regardless of membership or nonmembership in the organized churches of earth. We believe that by the same Spirit all believers in this age are baptized into, and thus become, one body that is Christ’s, whether Jews or Gentiles, and having become members one of another, are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian differences, and loving one another with a pure heart fervently (Matt. 16:16–18; Acts 2:42–47; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 1:20–23; 4:3–10; Col. 3:14–15).
Article XIV—The Sacraments or Ordinances
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only sacraments and ordinances of the church and that they are a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age (Matt. 28:19; Luke 22:19–20; Acts 10:47–48; 16:32–33; 18:7–8; 1 Cor. 11:26).
Article XV—The Christian Walk
We believe that we are called with a holy calling, to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and so to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But the flesh with its fallen, Adamic nature, which in this life is never eradicated, being with us to the end of our earthly pilgrimage, needs to be kept by the Spirit constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence in our lives to the dishonor of our Lord (Rom. 6:11–13; 8:2, 4, 12–13; Gal. 5:16–23; Eph. 4:22–24; Col. 2:1–10; 1 Pet. 1:14–16; 1 John 1:4–7; 3:5–9).
Article XVI—The Christian’s Service
We believe that divine, enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit upon all who are saved. While there is a diversity of gifts, each believer is energized by the same Spirit, and each is called to his own divinely appointed service as the Spirit may will. In the apostolic church there were certain gifted men—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—who were appointed by God for the perfecting of the saints unto their work of the ministry. We believe also that today some men are especially called of God to be evangelists, pastors and teachers, and that it is to the fulfilling of His will and to His eternal glory that these shall be sustained and encouraged in their service for God (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4–11; Eph. 4:11).
We believe that, wholly apart from salvation benefits which are bestowed equally upon all who believe, rewards are promised according to the faithfulness of each believer in his service for his Lord, and that these rewards will be bestowed at the judgment seat of Christ after He comes to receive His own to Himself (1 Cor. 3:9–15; 9:18–27; 2 Cor. 5:10).
Article XVII—The Great Commission
We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved that they are sent forth by Him into the world even as He was sent forth of His Father into the world. We believe that, after they are saved, they are divinely reckoned to be related to this world as strangers and pilgrims, ambassadors and witnesses, and that their primary purpose in life should be to make Christ known to the whole world (Matt. 28:18–19; Mark 16:15; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:18–20; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11).
Article XVIII—The Blessed Hope
We believe that, according to the Word of God, the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both His own who are alive and remain unto His coming, and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and that this event is the blessed hope set before us in the Scripture, and for this we should be constantly looking (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:51–52; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 4:13–18; Titus 2:11–14).
Article XIX—The Tribulation
We believe that the translation of the church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel’s seventieth week (Dan. 9:27; Rev. 6:1–19:21) during which the church, the body of Christ, will be in heaven. The whole period of Israel’s seventieth week will be a time of judgment on the whole earth, at the end of which the times of the Gentiles will be brought to a close. The latter half of this period will be the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7), which our Lord called the great tribulation (Matt. 24:15–21). We believe that universal righteousness will not be realized previous to the second coming of Christ, but that the world is day by day ripening for judgment and that the age will end with a fearful apostasy.
Article XX—The Second Coming of Christ
We believe that the period of great tribulation in the earth will be climaxed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth as He went, in person on the clouds of heaven, and with power and great glory to introduce the millennial age, to bind Satan and place him in the abyss, to lift the curse which now rests upon the whole creation, to restore Israel to her own land and to give her the realization of God’s covenant promises, and to bring the whole world to the knowledge of God (Deut. 30:1–10; Isa. 11:9; Ezek. 37:21–28; Matt. 24:15–25:46; Acts 15:16–17; Rom. 8:19–23; 11:25–27; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; Rev. 20:1–3).
Article XXI—The Eternal State
We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19–26; 23:42; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; Jude 6–7; Rev. 20:11–15).
Sail 6: Concepts
Note: As resources allow – all 12 videos will be updated. We are committed to excellence. We are thankful for the volunteers who help us.
The first four concepts:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Truth | Authority | Power | Structure |
A CONCEPT is like a picture frame. A CONCEPT will change the way we think. “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
The first four Concepts: “TAPS”
- Truth – He is Truth
- Authority – He is our final authority
- Power – His power is rooted in His work
- Structure – His Spirit guides us into Knowledge of Him.
Video 1 – Truth
Video 2 – Authority
Video 3 – Power
Video 4 – Structure
The second set of four concepts:
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| a Man | a Book | a Road | a Tree |
- 5. a New Men in Christ grows deeper in the truth
- 6. a New Man picks us a BOOK
- 7. a New Man picks up a book to apply its truth to all areas of a worldview ROAD map
- 8. a New Man picks up a book to apply it to all areas of a worldview roadmap which leads him to a Wisdom TREE.
Video 5 – a Man
Video 6 – a Book
Video 7 – a Road
Video 8 – a Tree
In the last four Concepts ….
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| a Circle | a Train | a Castle | a Trap |
- 9. We understand the form and freedom in a Circle of truth.
- 10. We understand a Train or a sequence of thought, that travels around the circle.
- 11. We understand the foundation of a Castle which stands in the in the center of the circle.
- 12. We understand the Trap that advances a Chritian worldview.
Video 9 – a Circle
Video 10 – a Train
Video 11 – a Castle
Video 12 – a Trap
Please email Dave@DisciplesUniversity.com with your comments regarding these 12 concepts. Each concept can be drawn and explained to others. Try it. It leads to important discussions.
Sail 7: Old Testament
Mast #2 – PROTESTS – When we stand up and speak the truth we are usually surrounded by protests.
“What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
The following videos identify great men and women in the Old Testament times who honored God by taking a stand for His truth.
The Bible Project: Old Testament Books
Please record in your journal those who stood up for truth. Record the context of truth and often the protest against the truth.
Do this for each of the 39 books (videos) Enjoy.
Sail 8: New Testament
The Bible Project: New Testament Books
Lev 19:17 “Let there be no hate in your heart for your brother; but you may make a protest to your neighbour, so that he may be stopped from doing evil.”
Please record in your journal those who stood up for truth. Record the context of truth and often the protest against the truth
Do this for each of the 27 New Testament books (videos)
Sail 9: The Church
Sail 9 – Please record in your journal one or more people from each of the seven periods of Church History who impressed you with their stand for Truth.
| Period 1 – The Apostolic Church… 30 – 100 A.D. | Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew | 1,2 | |
| Ends with the Death of the Apostle John (100 AD) | James son of Zebedee, and his brother John | 3,4 | |
| Philip, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Thomas | 5,6,7 | ||
|
Matthew the tax collector, James son of Alphaeus, and
|
8,9 | ||
|
Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James), Simon the Zealot
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10,11 | ||
| Judas Iscariot, Matthias, Paul | 12 | ||
| Period 2 – The Persecuted Church… 100 – 313 A.D. | Justin Martyr | 100 | 165 |
| Ends with the Edict of Constantine (313 AD) | Tertullian | 145 | 195 |
| Irenaeus | 130 | 201 | |
| Period 3 – The Imperial Church… 313 – 476 A.D. | John Chrysostom | 347 | 407 |
| Ends with the Fall of Rome (476 AD) | Jerome | 342 | 420 |
| Augustine | 354 | 430 | |
| Period 4 – The Medieval Church… 476 – 1453 A.D. | Peter Abelard | 1079 | 1142 |
| Ends with the Fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) | Thomas Aquinas | 1225 | 1274 |
| John Wycliffe | 1302 | 1384 | |
| John Huss | 1369 | 1415 | |
| Period 5 – The Reformed Church… 1453 – 1648 A.D. | Desiderius Erasmus | 1466 | 1536 |
| Ends with the End of The 30-year War (1648 AD) | Martin Luther | 1483 | 1546 |
| John Calvin | 1509 | 1564 | |
| Thomas Cartwright | 1535 | 1603 | |
| Period 6 – The Modern Church… 1648 – 1912 A.D. | Roger Williams | 1603 | 1683 |
| Ends at the Birth of Francis Schaeffer (1912 AD) | Jonathan Edwards | 1703 | 1758 |
| George Whitfield | 1714 | 1770 | |
| John Wesley | 1703 | 1791 | |
| William Wilberforce | 1759 | 1833 | |
| William Carey | 1761 | 1834 | |
| Charles Spurgeon | 1834 | 1892 | |
| D.L. Moody | 1837 | 1899 | |
| Period 7 – The Contemporary Church… 1912 – now | J. Gresham Machen | 1861 | 1937 |
| Ends at the Rapture of the Church | Peter Marshall | 1902 | 1949 |
| C.S. Lewis | 1895 | 1963 | |
| Francis Schaeffer | 1912 | 1984 | |
| Bill Bright | 1921 | 2003 | |
| D. James Kennedy | 1930 | 2007 | |
| Phillip E. Johnson | 1940 | 2019 | |
| John Whitcomb | 1924 | 2020 | |
| Outline revised from Dr. Jesse Hurlbut | The Story of the Christian Church |
NEXT – Sail 10 – The Great N.E.E.D
Sail 10: The Need
Discipleship is the tip of the Spear
(add graphic)
2 Timothy 2:2 (English Standard Version) “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
Paul to Timothy, to Faithful people, who have taught others to teach others, who have taught us.
The DU 12 steps flow from over forty people who taught me and then I along with many others entrust what we have learned. If you study all the links you will be impacted by thousands of people that our Lord has guided into the truth about Himself. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth in all areas of life. Especially the essential truth about Christ.
Sail 11: The 7 Words
The Bible uses seven words that define skills we learn to become productive. We should constantly grow in the art of good communication.
Our preparation reflects the fourth type of soil Christ teaches us. The good soil “the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Mark 4, Matthew 13
Reasons and Answers
Convincing and Persuading
Encouraging and Provoking
Destroying the framework of error
(insert the chart of the seven words) or a link to the chart
Sail 12: The 7 Tactics
The seven words help each tactical group focus on impacting people with God’s Truth.
- Two men and a Bible – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Pastors with Pastors – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Grandparents with Grandkids – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Christian Business Owners – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Noble Christian Women – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Students. Teachers and Parents – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
- Students with Smartphones – a plan of action to reach Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Coaches, Counselors, and textbook committees.
The leaders: (Issachar’s and Nobel Women) network these tactical groups together.
Dave’s Slingshot - (60 seconds each)
Dave’s Slingshot is designed for emails and other communication tools. David R. Ewald, Director of Disciples University adds topics from time to time.
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S – Selection
A wise person told me that “all of life is Selection and Grouping.” Today we need a roadmap through the maze of information. The Discipleship has grouped information into 12 groups (sails) that guide us into a discipleship process that is clear and repeatable.
What could be better than a clear step by step plan to make disciples? D.L. Moody once said, ”Our greatest fear should not be a failure, but at succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” We want to help people succeed at making disciples for the glory of God.
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F – Financial
Are the transactions that get us into Heaven written in financial language?
- Saved – Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Ransomed – Mark 10:45 “to give his life a ransom”
- Debt – Colossians 2:13-14 “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
- Redeemed – Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us
- Reconciled – 2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
- Propitiation – 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the “propitiation for our sins.”
- Purchased (and many other words)
The greatest transaction in the history of the world is described in financial language that we can understand: Jesus took our place. He purchased us. He brought us. He paid our debt. He reconciled us to The Father. He was the ransom for our souls. The Fantastic Grace of a Loving Lord.
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J – Jefferson
What they fail to teach our children about him?
Most children learn that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and that he owned slaves. But they never read what he wrote regarding the contest between the master and the slave. In his book: Notes on The State of Virginia he wrote: “The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.”
- Thomas Jefferson made the motion that slavery be eternally forbidden in the very large Northwest Territory, which was given to the federal government by the State of Virginia.
- Thomas Jefferson was the prime agent in founding the first republic in the history of the world dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
- Thomas Jefferson did much in his day to ensure that the evil of slavery would fade from our American culture.
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L – Logic
Jesus said, “Go everywhere and make disciples”
- Find those willing to do that.
- Give them a step by step process.
- Give them quick access to the steps.
- Give them support as needed at each step.
- Give them the end goal – guide people into a discipleship process that is clear and repeatable.
This “LOGIC” of Discipleship is the selection or four groups, with 3 steps in each group.
Group 1
- Step 1 – Problem and solution.
- Step 2 – Identify those who built a foundation that we can build on.
- Step 3 – Identify those who will lead others into the process.
Group 2
- Step 4 – The Attitude of Christ.
- Step 5 – The essential Beliefs
- Step 6 – The important Concepts or tools that help us communicate
Group 3
- Step 7 – Old Testament examples of those who stood for God’s Truth
- Step 8 – New Testament examples of those who stood for God’s Truth
- Step 9 – Church History examples of those who stood for God’s Truth
Group 4
- Step 10 – Four things we need to be good at – N.E.E.D.
- Step 11 – Seven words that describe the actions we take
- Step 12 – Seven targets and the seven tactical groups we focus on.
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M – Manipulative Peacocks
coming soon
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O – Orwell
Orwell’s 1984 – classic novel on Totalitarian Government
Winston Smith works for the state, and his job is to rewrite history. He comes to see that he knows nothing of the past, of real history: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified”, he says, “every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed…. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
Today, The 1619 Project promotes the teaching that slavery, not freedom, is the defining fact of American history. A total re-write of history.
America is freedom…freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection. (Thoughts from Imprimis by Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College)
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R – Race
RACE – Critical Race Theory
Very important to understand. Our children and grandchildren learn this in schools.
- Heritage video on Critical Race Theory
- Is Critical Race Theory Biblical?
- The Best Argument against Critical Race Theory – Charlie Kirk
- John MacArthur on Critical Race Theory
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U – Universities
Most university professors teach words like: fascist, bigot, racist, sexist and white supremacist. These words are used to stop careful thinking before it can even begin. At one time students were taught to think using their minds, now they are taught to feel passionately and to follow one political agenda. (John Ellis)
Thinkers like C.S. Lewis in his book The Hideous Strength, wrote a story that involves an attempt by an evil organization, the N.I.C.E. (National Institute of Coordinated Experiments), to gain control of the media and of governmental and social structures to spread totalitarian power across Earth. This is what is happening in our schools today.
We expect Universities to teach students to examine all the available evidence before reaching a conclusion… this is called, “disciplined thinking”.
- We must return to Biblical thinking.
- We must learn to integrate God’s Word into all subjects.
- We must not allow our children to let others do their thinking for them.
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DU flag - helps track success
“Whatever you measure you have more of.” Measuring your growth is totally up to you. Luke 14:25-33
Please record the question and your answer in a notebook or in some device. This record will be used in many ways later on.
Sail 1 – Question #1 – Please explain how the 5 R’s in Isaiah 58:12 describe the problem and solution.
Sail 2 – Question #2 – Please list the men and how they paved the way for the W.A.G. Strategy found throughout the Disciples University CPR 12 Steps?
Sail 3 – Question #3 – Please record why you believe we have these 3 goals and why we selected the 8 articles?
Mast 1
Sail 4 – Question #4 – Attitudes: Please summarize the Attitude that Christ had that we are to imitate?
Sail 5 – Question #5 – Beliefs: Please explain why you agree with these 7 essential beliefs?
Sail 6 – Question #6 – Concepts: Please write a summary of each of the 12 videos (1 or 2 sentences each)
Mast 2
Sail 7 – Question #7 – OT – Please write 1 or 2 sentences regarding the person you selected…. in each of the 39 books.
Sail 8 – Question #8 – NT – Please write 1 or 2 sentences regarding the person you selected…. in each of the 27 books.
Sail 9 – Question #9 – Church – Please write 1 or 2 sentences regarding the person you selected…. in each of the 7 periods of history
Mast 3
Sail 10 – Question #10 –
Sail 11 – Question #11 –
Sail 12– Question #12 –
Reference Materials
Topics we discuss with leaders
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| 1. Understanding Good and Bad Churches Understanding the State of the Church | |
| 2. Understanding Good and Bad Education | |
| 3. Understanding Good and Bad Discipleship Plans | |
| 4. Understanding why we search for Issachar’s & Noble Women: Skilled in Thinking, Writing and Speaking – 7 Words, 7 Tactics, 7 Targets | |
| 5. Understanding the Three S’s: Secular Trap, The Strategy of escape, The System of rebuilding (Secularism trapping Jews, Catholics and Protestants) | |
| 6. Understanding the Seven Men who Rule the World from the Grave | |
| 7. Understanding our focus: The N.E.E.D. – Networking, Evangelism, Education, Discipleship | |
| 8. Understanding the false teachers within the church: (Part 1) The Submerging Church | |
| 9. Understanding the false teachers within the church: (Part 2) The Mystical – Miracle – Movement | |
| 10. Understanding the false teachers within the Roman Catholic Church | |
| 11. Understanding the State of the Culture | |
| 12. Understanding the State of Theology | |
| 13. Understanding the State of Education | |
| 14. Understanding the CPR 12 steps | |
| 15. Understanding the WAG strategy: Worldview, Apologetics and Genesis | |
| 16. Understanding the 3 divisions of knowledge: Real, True. Value (or Metaphysics, Epistemology, Axiology) | |
| 17. Link to “Idea Insurance” – a list of topics (password required) | |
| 18. Link to “200 Who Understand” – tracking service for leaders (password required) |