The assumption of Jesus' program for his people on earth was that they would live their lives as his students and co-laborers.

What you present as the gospel will determine what you present as discipleship. If you present as the gospel what is essentially a theory of the atonement, and you say, If you accept this theory of the atonement, your sins are forgiven, and when you die you will be received into heaven, there is no basis for discipleship.

To depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved.

Spiritual formation in Christ moves us toward a total interchange of our ideas and images for his.

The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a specter that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best.

Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.

Of course, we do the righteous deed because of our redemption, not for our redemption.