by John Woodward

Perhaps the earliest Christian confession of faith is the statement “Jesus is Lord.” Missionary statesman and author, E. Stanley Jones, used three raised fingers (the peace sign plus ring finger) to represent these three profound words.

This theme is woven throughout the New Testament.

• “…preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).” Acts 10:36
• “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rom. 10:9

How does the Lordship of Christ relate to the four phases of Discipleship Counseling? [1]

1. Christ’s lordship initially – redemption

When a person repents and believes the gospel, they received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is a recognition of His authority and saving grace. The believer gives this “pledge of allegiance” at salvation. Therefore, if the counselee is not a born again, the goal is for them to bow the knee and become a citizen of God’s kingdom by grace though faith (John 3:3; 1 Cor. 1:9; Eph. 2:8,9; Col. 1:13

2. Christ’s lordship wholeheartedly – identification

Although every believer confesses Jesus is Lord, the path of discipleship includes the call to wholehearted surrender. The discipler can use Romans 12:1,2 (along with GFI’s Total Commitment page) to guide a person in this process: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (cf. 1 Pet. 3:15). Notice that this appeal is to those who are already saved – “brethren.” Although appropriating Christ as Life in identification (Gal. 2:20) is more than surrender, it is not less than this. This commitment to fully yield to the Lord is not a promise of perfect submission but a sincere relinquishment of our relationships and rights, enabled by the Holy Spirit.

3. Christ’s lordship victoriously – liberation

Jesus Christ “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:4). His ascension further demonstrated His supreme authority: Jesus Christ “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Pet. 3:22). God “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). Because of Christ’s Lordship—and the believer’s identification with Him—the disciple can submit to God, resist the Devil and demons must flee (James 4:7). “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” because He is Lord of all  (1 Cor. 10:5).

4. Christ’s Lordship daily – devotion

Even when the disciple yields to God wholeheartedly (Rom. 12:1,2), this needs to be reaffirmed daily. “And he [Jesus] said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23). As someone has observed, “the trouble with a living sacrifice is it may crawl off the altar!” As the Lord Jesus persevered in submission to the Father (Phil. 2:5-9) so must we. But this is inspired by the indwelling Holy Spirit and motivated by grace., “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

By clarifying these aspects of the discipleship process, several misunderstandings can be avoided:

• Lordship salvation. This confuses phase 1 and 2, implying that unless a believer is 100% surrendered, his salvation is called into question.
• Equating surrender with identification. In Discipleship Counseling, sometimes a counselee has fully surrendered and thereby assumes that is all that is called for to experience the abundant life. However, the good news of identification with Christ needs to be discovered and reckoned personally true (Rom. 6:6-11).
• Teaching grace and identity in Christ without wholehearted surrender. In some cases they have learned about grace and their new identity but have not “sanctified Christ as Lord in their hearts” (1 Pet. 3:15), or continued with yielding their physical members as instruments of righteousness (Rom. 6:12,13). The Life that Christ want to live through us will be a righteous life.
• Teaching spiritual warfare principles out of context. The believer is not trying to attain victory, but celebrates Christ’s lordship and the revelation of being seated with Him in heavenly places (Col. 3:1-4). In James 4:7 “Submit to God” comes before “resist the Devil.”
• Neglecting the need for daily surrender. The present tense command to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) requires yielding to God’s benevolent, gracious control. Otherwise, selfish resistance to God’s will grieves/quenches the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19). Our Lord instructs us, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

It was previously mentioned that three raised fingers were used by E. Stanley Jones to signify “Jesus is Lord.” Perhaps four raised fingers could represent the four phases of discipleship counseling: redemption, identification, liberation and devotion. If so, the thumb could symbolize Christ’s Lordship – submission. And your thumb can touch each of your other fingers, illustrating the relevance of Christ’s lordship in each phase of discipleship.

Let’s continue to joyfully confess “Jesus is Lord” in our personal life and ministry.

[1] The Four Phases of Discipleship Counseling chart was developed by the author and is used in the Discipleship Counseling training at Grace Fellowship International.

For more about E. Stanley Jones, see:
estanleyjonesfoundation.com/

See this article and The 4 Phases chart with further reading suggestions here:
gracenotebook.com/fourfold-discipleship-jesus-is-lord/

March 20-22, 2025

1. Pastoral Counseling Seminar (English and Arabic) Sessions 1 & 2

Notes (click on links to access):

• Wheel and Line booklet
• Wheel and Line booklet (Arabic)
• What Happened to Me?
• What Happened to Me? (Arabic)
• Who am I?
• Who am I? (Arabic)
• PowerPoint (Arabic)

2. Pastors’ meeting

Notes:

• Components of a Meaningful Life
• Paradigm Shift
• The Discipleship Fountain

3. Lifeline Caregivers & GFI Model

• Session 1 (audio)
• Session 2 (audio)
• (See Finding Joy PDF notebook below)

Notes:

• GFI seminar notebook (abbreviated)
• Steps of Spirituotherapy
• Self-Life to Christ-Life
• The Four Phases of Discipleship Counseling
• The Freedom in Christ Process

4. Teacher’s session

Overcoming Trauma: Lessons from the Book of Job (audio)

Notes

• Father’s Loveletter
• The Truth about Your Father, God (FICM)
• Dimensions of Forgiving
• Who Am I in Christ?

Photo album

“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” Psalm 42:8

One of the channels of grace to encourage both counselor and counselee is edifying music. In addition to a playlist you may be compiling, here are recommended resources.

1. Music for the Soul is an excellent online and CD music ministry especially intended to minister to troubled hearts. I have been blessed by their albums. The Soul Care Kit
 contains all 164 of their songs, 62 spoken word pieces, 6 discussion guides, 3 documentaries, and 3 books. (Available for a donation of any amount.) Delivered digitally. See also their Healing Music Guide.
This Guide discusses the power of songs in the culture and the brain science that makes them so effective. There is an extensive section on the use of songs in therapy. www.musicforthesoul.org/christian-counselors-therapists/
2. Be Still Music
   Nona Hovey has comforting piano music albums with contemplative narration. Now her CDs are free online!
   www.BeStillMusic.com
3. Worship Untangled
   Vernon Terrell is composing and recording songs. He serves as president at Grace Ministries International. His first recorded songs are at www.WorshipUntangled.com

Here is a sample from my playlist. God bless this means of musical blessing to helper and helpee.

JBW

An important step in exchanged life counseling is helping the counselee appreciate the amazing, personal, love of God.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1,2 ESV

Often the rejection syndrome from parents (and other factors) causes our concept of God to be distorted. If we don’t believe that God is loving, compassionate, and trustworthy, it is very difficult to surrender to Him and move forward in the personal renewal process.

We see the value of addressing our concept of God and His love as an initial aspect of the counseling process. Here are some recommended resources to evaluate and use:

Fathersloveletter.com features the Father’s Love Letter script and additional resources. Their 30 minute testimonial video, Journey Home to Love has the Love Letter script woven through it and the personal testimonies are very impactful. There’s a children’s version of downloadable posters at www.fatherheart.tv/abbas-kids

Grace Notes that are relevant include:

• https://gracenotebook.com/correcting-your-perception-of-god/
• https://gracenotebook.com/a-testimony-my-fathers-shirt/
• https://gracenotebook.com/a-valentine-from-your-father/

Books:

• He Loves Me!: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, by Wayne Jaconsen
• The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You
  by Floyd McClung

This page from the Steps to Freedom in Christ can be read through by the counselee with discussion and prayer: The Truth of Your Father God

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39 ESV

JBW

That question can come across as either confrontational or instructional. Mark McKeehan does both in his new book, subtitled Understanding Your Identity in Christ.

In the Introduction he writes,

“Years ago, I asked myself this same question because the things I saw in my life didn’t match what I wanted. I wanted victory and joy (I read they were available in the Scriptures) and even though they were sometimes my experiences, victory and joy were not the default of life for me. I would come home from work and my wife would ask me, “How was your day?” I always felt like I said the same thing over and over, but it never seemed to be a “good day.” Why? My life was not terrible, and many good things were happening all around me. My marriage was great, my children were blessings, and our church was growing. As I thought and prayed, I knew the truth. The problem was me! This journey led me back to my original question, “Who am I?”

“I want to take you on a journey to find out who you are. I mean, isn’t that the age-old question? How many times have we thought, “Who am I and why am I here on earth?” You may be surprised that many people live with a false identity. Living with a false identity is a recipe for a defeated life. In the Gospel of John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” We believe the first part but what about the second?…”

The book reads like Mark is sitting across the table from you at a coffee shop. We rejoiced that the it arrived from the publisher just in time for Christmas! The book is available in paperback and e-book from GFI and Amazon. We pray that it will be a blessing to many.

As we posted earlier, one of the best ways to share the “wheel and line” message is to draw it by hand and explain the concepts as they are presented step by step. Sometimes a whiteboard is available, or even the back of a paper placemat at a restaurant.

To encourage this skill (and a more confident knowledge of “the line” presentation), we have prepared a blank template document that can be printed and used as a head start. Here is the document to download:
elcmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/fill_in_line_diagram.pdf

And here is a demonstration video.

One of the best ways to share the “wheel and line” message is to draw it by hand and explain the concepts as they are presented step by step. Sometimes a whiteboard is available, or even the back of a paper placemat at a restaurant.

To encourage this skill (and a more confident knowledge of “the wheel” presentation), we have prepared a blank template document that can be printed and used as a head start. (My biggest challenge has been to draw a round wheel and even lines.) Kristy has done this for us. Here is the document to download:
https://elcmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/the-fill-in-wheel-diagram.pdf

After drawing and explaining the principles and related Scriptures, your disciple will typically ask to keep the page(s) for review. Feedback from our practitioners would be welcome.

And here is a demonstration video.

Raymond C. Stedman (1917 – 1992) was an evangelical Christian pastor and author. He was a long-time pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, and author of several books, including:

• Adventuring Through the Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to the Entire Bible
• Authentic Christianity: The Classic Bestseller on Living the Life of Faith With Integrity
• Spiritual Warfare: Winning the Daily Battle With Satan,
• Body Life: The Book That Inspired a Return to the Church’s Real Meaning and Mission

We appreciate his discernment that man is spirit, soul, and body and the way he taught victorious Christian living through expository Biblical preaching.

On this site’s page recommending Daily Devotionals, we have added this one: “Christ in You.” Dr. Stedman’s archive site states,

“Ray Stedman believed that, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ is the greatest truth taught in the Bible, and yet it is also the missing element in many churches today. Ray wrote, ‘Most Christians in our churches understand that Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins … but that is where most of them stop. Relatively few, it seems, ever go on to grasp the fact that Jesus died for them that he might live in them. It is his life in them that is the source of power, change and deliverance …’ “Christ in you” is the theme running through each month of this devotional.”

For example, the February readings are grouped under the theme of “The New Covenant.” The month is introduced this way:

“The New Covenant is at its core ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ Jesus expressing his character through his people. The incarnation, God clothed in human flesh, remains the heritage of his people. It is you in Christ and Christ in you. With our identity firmly in Christ, we live out an authentic Christianity!”

Explore and share these devotionals here: www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/christ-in-you