Jojo Agot

Discipleship Notes: How to Avoid Burnout

You know that sinking feeling at the pit of your stomach when the people you’ve been praying for are not coming to church anymore. You were all doing great, you started your discipleship group filled with high expectations that God will use you to reach many people with the gospel. For months, you were riding the wind of spiritual high. Then one by one, those happy faces started to disappear. One Sunday, there were only three of you left. Few bothered to send you text messages. Some hid their Facebook walls from you.

For most leaders, this is the time when they begin to look inward and ask difficult questions. Some could come up with fairly good answers, others start blaming themselves, others get broken and eventually quit. My heart goes out to those who are too frustrated to try again. If you are one of those who already hit a brick wall in your discipleship endeavors, I pray that you read on and find encouragement in these words. Continue reading Discipleship Notes: How to Avoid Burnout

Why We Protest

Paul David Tripp: You know why you like to protest? Because whenever you protest, you’re saying you’re not the problem!

Some of us will run to our Facebook and Twitter accounts to rip on the deviation of the week, while others will spout off disapproval to our closest friends over a latte. It’s not that this is wrong in and of itself. In fact, protesting is a necessary part of the Christian life. But it can be a smokescreen we use to keep us from seeing the sin that is setting up camp in our hearts.

Trevin Wax

Why Memorize Scripture?

Memorizing Scripture enables me to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist, to protect myself and my family from his assaults. What are you hitting him with? He is millions of times stronger than you, and he hates you, and your family, and your marriage, and this church and God. How anybody walks through this [devil-infested] world without a sword in his hand is beyond me.

—John Piper

All In One Day

a.) Received a surprise prophecy at the morning prayer session. I didn’t see that one coming. Thank God for prophetic gifts in our midst.

b.) Joined the Metro Manila Monthly Staff Meeting for the first time. The atmosphere was exhilarating. Pastor Joel Barrios’ worship was so powerful; Pastor Manny Carlos’ exhortation from Matthew 13: 44-46 was more than a full spiritual meal; reports from all over Every Nation Ministries inspired faith and worship. Glad to see full time missionaries in person- those who are on vacation and those who are being sent out. I introduced myself to Ms Mary Malinao who just got back from Dubai. We both came from the same home town, Ormoc City.

c.) Laughed and cried at Pastor Jun Escosar’s retelling of Victory stories. As a newcomer, I am not really that familiar with the stories of how Victory started. Pastor Jun’s stories inspired faith and awe. Pastor Joseph Bonifacio was right, whenever Pastor Jun gives a lecture, you wouldn’t need coffee to stay awake. His passion (and the sheer volume of his voice) is a natural caffiene.

d.) Overwhelmed at the joint sessions of four Every Nation Schools: World Missions, Church Planting, Local Church Ministry and Campus Ministry. Seeing a roomful of world changers is a real spiritual boost. As I often say, I deeply admire church planters and full time missionaries for their courage to be in the frontline of our ministries.

e.) One big idea: I’m in a company of great men and women of God. I have a room to grow here and I am grateful at the kind of discipleship culture our leaders built.

The Seduction of the Simple

At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.

Then out came a woman to meet him…
She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:

“Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”

With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer stepping into a noose
till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.

Proverbs 7: 6-23

The Ministry of Pain

George H. Morrison, in his daily E-Sword devotional, wrote about pain:

Whatever other functions pain may have, one is that it serves to fix attention. If there is anything harmful working in the body, it is supremely important that it should be localized, and so comes pain and rings the alarm bell, and concentrates attention on the spot.

Pain is the bugle sounding the reveille. Pain is the watchman crying on the walls. We should sleep on while the foe took the citadel were we not roused by the trumpet blast of pain. And though it is hard thus to be roused sometimes, and we are prone to murmur at the summons, yet better, surely, to be rudely wakened, than to be beaten by an insidious foe.

We shall never grasp some of God’s dealings with us unless we class them with that call of pain. Sometimes it were cruel to let us sleep; sometimes the only kindness is to wake us. And there are sorrows and failures and bitter disappointments which we can never hope to understand, until we realize they are God’s stratagems to fix our attention on the things which matter.