The 1st session at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Denver, was given by Jeff Vanderstelt. Jeff talked about what being a Missional Community looks like. One of the main thrusts of his message was that to be a truly Biblical community we must be in the Disciple making business. This is not just conversion, but training men and women to obey all that Jesus commanded. It is hard, it is at times discouraging and it always takes time. He posted something over at the Acts 29 blog that is a good “cliff notes” version of this morning’s talk.
Here is a excerpt:
Jesus commanded us to make disciples who make disciples. We can make disciples formally and informally. In formal discipleship you need to consider all that you want people to:
Know – key doctrines all people should know
Believe – truths that motivate and transform your identity and behavior
Do – the activities that the gospel leads us to practice
Informal discipleship, in conjunction with formal discipleship is crucial in making followers of Jesus who both hear and obey.
He also gives a list of 5 ways church planters make disciples informally.
Click Here to Read the Rest.
by Dr. Joel Beeke. He and his wife, Melissa, have three children, two of whom were adopted. 
There’s a story told, from Civil War days before America’s slaves were freed, about a northerner who went to a slave auction and purchased a young slave girl. As they walked away from the auction, the man turned to the girl and told her, “You’re free.”
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It is amazing to me! There are people within the ranks of Christianity who have been taught and who believe that Christ will shield His followers from wounds of every kind.
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Tim Challies 
tomorrow (May 25th) at 9am Mountain Time for a free online webinar on forgiveness. Brauns will be taking the audience through a “forgiveness quiz” and will expound upon some common misconceptions about forgiveness. This thought-provoking webinar will help you dig deeper on the topic of forgiveness.
The fundamental reason for this confidence (though not presumption) is that the decisive victory over the powers has already been won by God in Christ (1:19–22; cf. 4:8). Not only has the authority of the powers been broken, but also their final defeat is imminent, and the very existence of the church, comprising Jews and Gentiles reconciled through the death of Christ to God and to one another in the same body, is evidence that the purposes of God are moving triumphantly to their climax (3:10). The powers cannot finally hinder the progress of the gospel, and all things will ultimately be subject to Christ. It is because of God’s victory in his Son that believers are in the battle at all. We are not urged to win the victory; rather, to withstand the devil’s insidious wiles and to stand firm, a posture that will involve both defensive and offensive positions (see below). Believers live in the overlap of the ages, between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’. Christ is already seated in the heavenly places far above every rule and authority; God has placed all things under his feet (1:21, 22), and we have been raised and made to sit with him (2:5, 6). But Christians need to appropriate what has been won for them, and in the present context this means putting on the armour of God and standing firm in the midst of the battle.
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