Learning To Be Disciples
Regular people. Those who want to get closer to Jesus no matter what.
Learning how to do that.
This is what Disciple Conf was all about.
Starting out on Sunday, March 17th, you could feel the energy and excitement in the air as OHBC and multiple other churches from around the country gathered together to sing praises to The One who created and saved us, and then as we immediately dived into studying what God’s Word has to say on the subject of discipleship. Sunday morning we learned what is discipleship: It is a HERITAGE that prepares a son. It is a WAR that pleases the Lord. It is a COMPETITION that pursues victory. And it is a GARDEN that produces a harvest.
One highlight from the conference was on Sunday evening, as Pastor Mark Trotter opened the conference by giving the beautiful Old Testament illustration of True Discipleship from the story of Ruth. 
He explained, Ruth truly “counted the cost” as she fully realized she was giving up her culture, her comfort zone, her biological family – literally everything she had ever known. She understood that making the decision to follow Naomi back to the land of Israel had major implications on her life. But she not only counted the cost, she paid the cost and followed Naomi. But what Ruth found was worth more than any cost she ever paid. She literally found Boaz and had a beautiful marriage, but more than that, Ruth found the reward of true discipleship: the intimacy of a relationship with God. She became a member of the line leading to Christ. She had a heart that wanted MORE grace, just as we must desire to deepen our relationship with Christ. We must not be satisfied just with “fire insurance”, once we are trusting Christ for our salvation, we must desire to deepen our relationship, to get to know Him more, to be more like Him every day.
Each morning from Monday – Wednesday, many participants in Disciple Conf were able to attend the morning class sessions. For these sessions, the conference was divided into 3 main groups.
In the first group, the topics of Philosophy of Discipleship, Seven Stages of Discipleship, Seven Levels of Discipleship, Goals of Discipleship, and Tools of Discipleship were covered in depth for anyone who had never previously been exposed to the concept of discipleship, those who were just starting out in discipleship, and anyone else who just wanted a refresher course in the foundations of discipleship.
In the second group, Kenney Morgan from Midtown Baptist Temple in Kansas City, MO challenged his class with in-depth teaching on the Cost of Discipleship. The key point that he effectively drilled home was that who following Jesus will cost you everything. If this seems like a bold statement, it’s because it is, but it is what Jesus taught (Luke 14: 25-26, 33). True discipleship requires your submission to the Jesus by fearing WHO he is (Fear God – Ecclesiastes 12:13) and by obeying WHAT Jesus says (Luke 6:46-49).
The seven marks of a true disciple of Jesus Christ were covered in this session as follows:
(1) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is established (fixed, set, unmovable, founded) in the Word of God. This means that true disciples of Jesus allow God’s Word to be their final authority on everything, depend on God’s Word to sustain them, and are changed as they live out God’s Word.
(2) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ loves him more than any other person. This means that true disciples of Jesus make their relationship with Jesus the priority, and they will eliminate relationships that do not glorify the Lord.
(3) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will follow Him unconditionally. This means that true disciples of Jesus are willing to carry their own cross – to endure hardship, humiliation, discomfort, heartache, and even death. They are not deterred by the difficulties of persecution.
(4) A disciple of Jesus Christ loves Him more than any other possession. So this reiterates that true disciples are willing to count the cost of following Jesus, they are willing to forsake everything to follow Jesus, and they make following Jesus their main priority in life. This frequently means choosing between hobbies and church attendance, or even work and regular church attendance.
(5) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is useful to Him. This might seem really obvious, but a true disciple will live for Jesus’ purposes! We exist to serve our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, not to live as we want or feel. We must serve His expectation as disciples. Because of this, true disciples live in light of the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor 3; 2 Cor 5; Rom 15).
(6) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will bear fruit for him. Basically, a true disciple will bear fruit in two ways: first, by leading others to salvation in Christ (John 15:1-2, 5), and second, by bearing fruit in their own life (Galations 5:22-23).
(7) A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ loves his people. One of the greatest expressions of Christlikness is to be selfless. True disciples of Jesus love His people more than they love themselves, and they will pursue relationships within the Body of Christ (1 John 3:16, Romans 12:10).
The third group in the morning sessions was the Pastoral Track, held in the auditorium and live-streamed to OHBC’s YouTube channel. In this class, the topics of Pastor as Disciple Maker, Administration of Discipleship, Issues of Discipleship, and Process of Discipleship were covered.
Every evening, the entire conference gathered together again in the auditorium where everyone was challenged by straightforward messages from Paul Clark, a missionary to Bogota, Columbia, as he laid out the Simplicity of the Great Commission, Bearing Fruit That Remains, and the Results of Biblical Discipleship.
For anyone who was unable to attend Disciple Conf, as well as anyone who just needs to re-watch something, all the sessions (main auditorium sessions as well as the smaller morning classes) were recorded on video and are available on OHBC’s YouTube channel.
Leaving at the end of Disciple Conf, the excitement in the air and the general motivation level was even higher than when the conference began. But now the question remains for all of us: How will we take that information we just learned, along with this new kick of motivation and excitement and actually APPLY it to our lives so that ultimately we BECOME true disciples of Jesus Christ and MAKE true disciples also? Our prayer is that we will all learn to do exactly that.