Real Life Theology Podcast

Building a Disciple Making Church: One-to-One, Scripture, and Multi-Generational Ministry

In this session, Matt Wilson shares how Ecclesia Christian Church grew over 11 years from a living-room gathering to more than 2,000 weekly attendees by centering everything on discipleship and community rather than platform-building or treating churches as stepping stones. He emphasizes loyalty to where God places leaders, warns against rushing small groups without qualified leadership, and advocates one-to-one discipleship, slow leader development, and resisting “terrorist” pressure tactics from demanding members. Ecclesia built clear pathways (DNA/core classes), discipleship-oriented serving teams, and an annual Easter-to-Pentecost churchwide 40-day disciple-making initiative with prayer, fasting, meals, and baptisms. Tina describes “Step Into Scripture,” a reproducible whole-Bible, yearly reading and table-leader model that builds biblical literacy across the body. They highlight integrating all generations, empowering students (including “Student Takeover”), and honoring every ability through ministries like Shine for special needs, aiming to equip the church to reproduce disciples.

00:00 Welcome and Warmup

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Obedience-Based Disciple Making

Ajai Lall emphasizes sacrificial obedience, noting Barna research and reporting severe persecution, including 125,000 Christians killed yearly and 14,600 church buildings and properties destroyed in India in 2024. Yet describing continued growth in places like Iran, Iraq, and India. He shares examples of believers worshiping and preaching at a police station after being beaten, a church that planted 109 churches and trained 400 gospel workers, and a former Taliban-involved man who became a church planter in India and abroad. He highlights Jesus’ authority, purpose, promise, and barrier-breaking unity, urging discipleship driven by compassion, action, and love.

00:00 Introducing Ajai Lall

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Jesus Is King: The Discipleship Gospel

Jonathan Storment, argues that entering God’s kingdom requires repentance—surrendering to Jesus as King under His authority. Using stories ranging from a traffic-stop misunderstanding to conversion, he explains that rebellion against authority runs deep in humanity. He warns that American churches can become “sociological, not Christological,” reshaping Jesus to fit cultural, political, or personal preferences. Citing examples like Jefferson’s cut-up Bible, the slave Bible, the Jesus Seminar, and altered Chinese Bible passages, he says some “Jesuses” and gospels must be rejected. Drawing from Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus’ authority and the cost of following Him, he urges leaders to stop editing Jesus and instead be changed by Him—the crucified, enemy-loving King—so the church can again turn the world upside down.

00:00 Welcome and Intro

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This video comes from the 2025 RENEW.org Driven Conference. This video features Orpheus Heyward, teaching on why the Word of God must be preeminent. Heyward argues that Scripture should hold first place in Christian faith, local ministry, and global impact, not competing with Jesus’ preeminence but revealing it as God’s documented revelation. Using 1 Corinthians 2, he contrasts worldly wisdom with God’s wisdom, emphasizing that the gospel’s power does not depend on persuasive speech but on the Spirit’s revelation of God’s hidden redemptive plan. He explains the “natural man” cannot accept spiritual truths, warns against watering down Christianity for comfort or acceptance, and urges churches to remain spiritually grounded in the Holy Spirit’s revealed Word as final authority.

00:00 Orpheus Takes Stage

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View the article at RENEW.org -- https://renew.org/review-the-desecration-of-man/

Renew Review of Carl Trueman’s ‘The Desecration of Man’

Using an analogy of sentient inflatables denying the existence of air pumps, the script summarizes Carl Truman’s book The Desecration of Man and its thesis. Building on themes from The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Truman argues that without God nothing remains sacred, and attempts at self-deification produce a culture defined by transgressing limits and boundaries. The episode highlights Truman’s explanation for alliances among Western radicals and disparate causes as a shared project of overthrowing what prior generations considered authoritative or holy, and it emphasizes his chapter on sex, where sex becomes central to identity while being stripped of sacred limits, reducing people to objects. Truman’s proposed remedy is consecration through robust Christian belief, worship, and practice.

00:00 Sentient Inflatables Setup

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What is “the machine,” and how is technology reshaping our culture, identity, and faith?

Explore more Christian insights on technology: https://renew.org/a-jesus-centered-approach-to-technology/

In this RENEW Review, we examine Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine and its warning that modern culture has traded human roots for efficiency, control, and technological power. Kingsnorth argues that healthy societies once shared a past, a people, a place, and a prayer. Today, he says, those roots have been replaced by science, the self, sex, and the screen. The review explores his idea of the “great unsettling,” his comparison of modern technology to a system that reshapes humanity, and his provocative claim that artificial intelligence may be demonic. It also offers an important Christian counterpoint: technology can become an idol, but human creativity and innovation remain God-given gifts. Instead of embracing naïve optimism or anxious paranoia, Christians need wisdom, discernment, and a healthy middle ground. Discover why this challenging book may permanently change how you view technology, culture, and the screens surrounding us.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

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Book Review: 'Practicing the Way' by John Mark Comer - Transforming Discipleship in the Church In this Renew Review, we explore John Mark Comer's book 'Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Jesus, Do as He Did.' This book is the cornerstone of Comer's ministry, aimed at making discipleship central in churches. We dive into the three core goals of being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did, and discuss practical insights and sage advice drawn from Comer's 20 years of ministry experience. The review highlights the practical, realistic, and theologically sound nature of the book, along with its comprehensive approach to spiritual growth. However, it points out a notable omission: the integration of evangelism into the discipleship and spiritual formation process. This episode provides a thorough overview of how this book can serve as a valuable resource for individual Christians and church communities.

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This episode features a renew review of Kyle Idleman and Mark Moore’s The Missing Messiah, explaining what it means for Jesus to be the Christ/Messiah.

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This episode features a review of The Case for Christian Patriotism. The review distinguishes patriotism from Christian nationalism and argues that Christians should love their country as an expression of gratitude to God and neighbor love while avoiding both naïve idealization and cynical rejection of America.

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This episode features a RENEW.org Review of ‘Does the Bible Support Same-Sex Marriage?’ by Preston Sprinkle. For more information view this article by John Whittaker: https://renew.org/review-of-does-the-bible-support-same-sex-marriage-by-preston-sprinkle/ 

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