TwelveTwelve: The Leader Blog of North Wake Church

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with

Read Matthew 28:19-20 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (CSB) There are two words that struck me while I was meditating on this passage. The first is the word everything, as in, ‘Teach them to observe/obey everything I have commanded you…’ EVERYTHING! How often we get caught up in one or two of Jesus’ commands but neglect the

Why do we "Make Disciples?" It started, in a sense, with the Great Commission given by Jesus shortly before He returned to Heaven: Now the eleven disciples [the original apostles, before Paul] went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

Persecution. Jesus said that His followers should expect it (John 15:20; 2 Tim. 3:12) and that those who experience it are blessed (Matt. 5:10–12). In our First World society, persecution may mean mocking, slander, or alienation from friends and family. However, the church extends far beyond our circles to include dozens of countries around the world. In much of the Majority World, Christians are experiencing persecution in the form of harassment, beatings, and even martyrdom. The Risk of Belief Over the past fifteen years, my work has been primarily focused on evangelism, disciple-making, and church planting in places where those

I considered not turning in a blog this time. The topic just did not ring out to me. Church planting. Yeah, ok. What’s there to say? I looked for help. I asked my daughter what she would write about this. “Uh…that it’s good?” I asked my husband what he would write, he said, “That it’s not a plant (ha ha).” You can tell this is not a frequent topic of deep conversation in our house. I’m a North Waker. I believe in planting churches. I think most, if not all, North Wakers do. North Wake itself is a church

Read the Book of Colossians When I meet someone new, I typically try to have a conversation that gets straight at their roots. Sometimes it’s because I’m trying to find a good angle for sharing the gospel, but sometimes it’s just fun to see how someone ticks! You see, everyone is like a plant or a tree. When we interact with each other, we tend to present our best fruit and flowers and leave the thorns or dead branches out of the picture.  But at the bottom of most plants is a root system that dives down into the

Read:  Colossians 4:7-18   We began our study of the book of Colossians on July 17th and this Sunday (11 weeks later), we will conclude Paul's letter.  If the antiquity of the setting or the loftiness of the theology have made the letter feel a bit impersonal, these final 11 verses bring this divinely inspired book back down to reality.  The list of names and description of relationships within these verses remind us that these books of the Bible we read and study every day were written, transcribed, transported, hand-delivered, and read aloud by real people.  Sure, they had crazy names like Aristarchus and

Colossians 4:2-6 (ESV) Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time [literally: buying up the time]. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Paul encourages