April Newsletter

I hope that this Discipleship Inc newsletter finds you well. One of my goals in the past 18 months has been to help college students understand the importance of reading God’s Word on a regular basis. Therefore, in the last 4 weeks we have handed out 4 ESV study Bibles. 

Here is the story behind two of those free Bibles that were handed out. 

Several weeks ago the following text came to me from a PFW student that received a free Bible. ‘I forgot to ask yesterday, but Jonah is interested in a study bible; I was wondering if you still had some to give out? I would love to gift him one.’

I contacted ‘this friend’ to set up a time to give him God’s Word. We met the following week and Jonah received a free Bible. After showing him how to use it, along with all the features it has, I suggested we meet for a Bible study the following week. He was excited to do so; we have now met for the past two weeks.

Another ESV study Bible was given to a student last week. Shortly into our conversation she asked, ‘How can I know God’s will?’ I told her this, ‘The reason so many people struggle knowing God’s will is that they don’t know God.’ In other words, they don’t read His Scriptures. 

We talked about God’s will for the clothes you wear, what you watch on the Internet, and how you spend your money. I told her 80% of knowing God’s will comes from knowing His Word. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples.” (John 8:31) 

The reason this part of our ministry is so important is because of the many ways Christ uses His Word. Reading the Bible feeds our souls and our “inner being” becomes healthy and strong. Without this regular feeding on the Scriptures, our soul will be malnourished from the ‘junk food’ it gets daily from our culture. 

I believe the best way to promote Bible reading is to help students understand what God has written. This is why I am so passionate about handing out Free ESV study Bibles. This version of God’s Word has many tools to help students grasp what they read. 

This month our ministry is seeking supporters to join us in this pursuit. A donation of $25.00 will purchase 1 ESV study Bible. A donation of $50.00 will purchase 2 Bibles and one of $100.00 will purchase 4 of them. We are looking to purchase 20 Bibles in May by raising $500.00. 

If you are interested in our May promotion you can write a check to our ministry, putting in the memo ‘ESV study Bible.’ You can also do the same by going to our website www.discipleshipinc.org and donating through PayPal. All donations with this notation will go to the purchase of these ESV study Bibles.

“But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever more. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

May the Lord bless you and your family in the month ahead.

Steve 

PS I have added a new tab to our website. It is called, ‘Reading the Bible.’ By going there you will find a more detailed article on this topic. There are also several short YouTube videos by Pastor John Piper on Bible reading.  

I hope that this Discipleship Inc newsletter finds you well. There were a couple encouraging things that happened last month that I would like to share.

The first was a text that I got last week from a PFW student. He wrote, ‘Hey Steve, I wanted to express my gratitude for you and your heart for ministry and sharing what God has placed on your heart to me.’

He then continued, ‘The last 3 times we have met it has been a topic that was incredibly relatable to where I was in life, and I have been able to put that in practice what has been shared. So thank you for walking in humility enough for God to use you as an instrument of truth and love! May God continue to bless your ministry and conversations you are able to have with other college students.’

Those unexpected and encouraging texts are such a blessing to my soul. They reveal His Kingdom work that is not always seen, but still going on.   

Another uplifting event was meeting someone new in Campus Ministry. He is not a student, but took a construction job right out of high school. We met at a large group meeting and for the next couple weeks I kept running into him.   

His story is very interesting. He told me that he went to church with his parents up until the age of 12. When they stopped attending church, he did too. However, on a recent extended business trip he became quite lonely. One night in the hotel he took out a Gideon Bible and started reading it.

This created a hunger within him to learn more about Christ. When I found this out I asked him if he would consider doing a Bible study with me, just the two of us. 

He texted back the next day, ‘That is definitely something that I would like to do.’ We had our first Bible study this past Tuesday; I gave him an ESV study Bible to help him grow. What a joy it was to feed his hungry soul with the “the Bread of life.”   

One final way that Christ has been working is through Bible reading accountability. I continue to hear of students struggling in their faith and Bible reading. When this subject comes up my standard response is to tell them the importance of feeding on God’s Word. 

My next step is suggesting they read the Bible 10 minutes/day. To help them do this I propose to create a weekly accountability plan. I offer to call, or text them, once a week to see how they are doing. By the grace of God there are now a half dozen students signed up for this Bible reading plan.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) 

May the Lord bless you and your family in the month ahead.

Steve