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Patty: A Testimony of Spiritual Growth

Posted on December 9, 2024 by gfischool

Testimony Several years ago I came across Dr Solomon’s book, Handbook to Happiness, in a Christian bookstore. Something in the book resonated with me and gave me hope—and that was the message of the cross. I had been a Christian for many years but I had never heard the message of our identification with Christ. I knew that Christ died for my sins but I didn’t know that I, my old man, also died; that I was not in Adam anymore but now my roots went back to the cross. I didn’t need to be enslaved in patterns of anxiety and fear because in Christ I am now a new creature.

One day, I looked up the GFI website and I noticed that they offered personal discipleship in the truths of the cross, and I had a desire to walk through them with someone else who also made them a priority. That’s how I met Cheryl. Together we went through the Life in Christ notebook over a period of 5 months.

Although many of the truths weren’t new to me because of the books I had read previously, the discipleship process helped me understand how to practically put the truths into practice on a daily basis. During the process I learned, in a deeper measure, how to walk after the Spirit and allow Christ to live His life in and through me.

I grew up experiencing a lot of rejection in my earlier years. I learned a lot of coping mechanisms to get by in life. I was always looking outside of myself to meet my needs for love and acceptance, particularly looking for approval from man. I was always wondering if I was “good enough.” I was always striving to measure up to be approved. I saw God a lot like I did my natural father—someone who was there, but was really disinterested and uninvolved.

During this discipleship process I got a new awareness of God as the loving perfect Father He is. I have seen what I already have in my spirit—the in Him realities … not because of my performance, but because of what Christ did for me on the cross. Since I believed, I am now in Christ.

I have seen my particular patterns of my flesh in a new way. I now have the choice to choose whether to walk after old patterns to meet my needs for security and acceptance, or relinquish them and trust Christ to be my Source for everything that I need. It is a moment-by-moment choice of yielding to His Spirit as my Life, as Galatians 2: 20 says, no longer I but Christ. It is a walk of faith moment-by-moment.

As I have been walking with Christ as my Life, in what I have learned in the course [Life in Christ: A Personalized Discipleship Notebook], I am progressively walking in a new level of peace and rest. I am experiencing my value that I have in God—not because of my performance, but because of His performance. I am seeing my acceptance in the Beloved in a deeper measure. I don’t feel I have to strive to meet my needs, but I can rest in what He has already given me in Christ.

I have learned truths and practical ways to walk them out everyday that I will be putting into practice for the rest of my life. This course has helped solidify the truths of the cross in my heart. I know, as I choose to abide in Him, my life will bear much fruit for His honor and glory.

Thank you to my Guide for her commitment and love in walking with me through this process and always being there to help me in any way she could. I am very grateful.

Patty
Canada
November, 2024

Drawing The Line Diagram

Posted on November 2, 2024 by gfischool

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.

Drawing The Wheel Diagram

Posted on October 10, 2024 by gfischool

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.

Ray Stedman: Christ in You

Posted on September 4, 2024 by gfischool

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

International testimonies

Posted on August 3, 2024 by gfischool

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

Testimonies can be so encouraging. They demonstrate how the Holy Spirit applies the gospel at deeper levels in the lives of this who are receptive and responsive.

Here are two recent testimonies. Our associate in South Africa, Nehlsie DeBruto, sent this audio update on WhatsApp. She gave permission for it to be shared publicly. It illustrates how God leads His disciplers and how a crisis can become an opportunity for a senior citizen to discover new dimensions of God’s grace.

And here is a written testimony from a sister in Canada who has received personal ministry from one of GFI’s nine Guides. [“Guides” are those who have been certified as Exchanged Life Counselors through Grace Fellowship International and are accepted into the Guide program. They are then covered by our liability insurance, receive referrals and receive financial support through donations. For more information on how to apply to be a GFI Guide, contact Mark McKeehan at 865-429-0450, mark@gracefellowshipinternational.com.]

I hadn’t heard about the concept of exchanging your life with Christ until GFI counselling. When I was younger I went to Church and I don’t recall hearing about this topic — period. I remember being told do not sin, for you will make the Lord mad and therefore be sent to Hell for eternity. With GFI counselling, with Cheryl as my counsellor, I was able to understand who the true God is. He’s not some big, mean man in the sky who wants absolute obedience in order to be able to forgive and accept you. He accepts us as we are, however, when He comes to live in your spirit, sin no longer had any hold on you; as much as the Enemy will try and make you believe it does, it doesn’t.

Before GFI counselling I thought I was doomed. The way I saw it, my only choice in my ultimate depression was to die physically in order to end the pain I was going through. Since everything else I had tried to fill the void in my soul was ineffective, I was planning to commit the ultimate sin that I couldn’t turn back from. GFI counselling made me aware there is another way, and that is to die to my old self in Adam. Though at first it was a hard concept to wrap my mind around, with GFI’s excellent and unique way of teaching each topic and steps to surrender I was able to die to my old self in the flesh-life and really grasp the idea of what it meant to Exchange your life with Christ.

B.
A new woman!

We recommend books of testimonies as well. GFI publishes three of them:

From Pastors to Pastors: Testimonies of Revitalized Ministries (ed., Charles Solomon)
Discipling The Desperate (Charles Solomon)
Exchanged Lives (ed., John Best)

See also They Found The Secret, by V. Raymond Edman (Zondervan)

The Gospel to Saints

Posted on July 2, 2024 by gfischool

Exchanged Life Counseling applies the message of faith-based sanctification to remedial discipleship and pastoral care. One of the most important passages in the Bible that conveys the message of identification with Christ is Romans chs 6-8. John Van Gelderen of Revival Focus has recently published an excellent exposition of this portion of the Epistle to the Romans. This is from the book’s description:

“Which best describes you: a struggling sinner or a saint reigning in righteousness?
Romans 6–8 is a life-changing portion of Scripture. The sad truth is, many Christians don’t realize it. While Romans 1–5 is the gospel to sinners, showing people the way to salvation in Christ, Romans 6–8 is the gospel to saints, showing believers the way to life in the Spirit.
Just as sinners need the good news of Jesus, so likewise saints need the good news of the Holy Spirit. The gospel to sinners provides freedom from the penalty of sin. The gospel to saints provides freedom from the power of sin. Just as sinners must believe in Jesus, so also saints must believe in the Holy Spirit…” – RevivalFocus.org

This book is now on the GFI certification track reading list. Here are other recommended resources on Romans 6-8.

Romans Verse by Verse, by William R. Newell
https://ccel.org/ccel/newell/romans

The Gospel For the Believer (Exposition of Romans 5-8), by Robert Jones
https://gracenotebook.com/the-gospel-for-the-believer-exposition-of-romans-5-8-chapter-1/
[4 part series]

Dr. John Best’s audio and video teaching
https://grace-fellowship-international.myshopify.com/collections/john-best

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life … knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin … Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6: 4,6,10,11 NKJV

Chaplaincy Training

Posted on June 2, 2024 by gfischool

.Grace Fellowship International now offers an equipping track for Exchanged Life Chaplaincy.

Chaplaincy is essentially a ministry of presence, offering care and support. This no-strings-attached care may lead to discussing one’s personal relationship with God. The most basic spiritual need is to understand the Gospel and receive the gift of God’s salvation through Christ. Similarly, there may be opportunities to go deeper into the basics of how to resolve personal and spiritual conflicts through discipleship counseling. The GFI credential adds Christ-centered discipleship counseling to the chaplain’s tool kit and mission scope.

In his book, Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide, Alan Baker
introduces chaplaincy this way:

“Welcome to the most exciting and fastest-growing segment of specialized ministry: chaplaincy. It is distinct from mainstream pastoral models because the focus is delivering a ‘ministry of presence’ to people outside of a church. While local-church models typically reinforce a wagon-wheel approach, where the pastor remains at the center and the outside community follows the spokes inward, chaplains invert the wagon-wheel model by providing their presence where people live and work along the outer wheel rim. In our current culture, as fewer people identify with a specific religion or attend religious services, Americans may be more likely to meet a chaplain than a local clergy person at a congregation. Chaplaincy is ministry in motion…”

The International Fellowship of Christian Chaplains (IFOC.org) summarizes the role of the chaplain. The chaplain:

Ministers in areas of critical incident stress, grief and loss, trauma, and stress management
Provides counsel, education, advocacy, life-improvement skills, and recovery training
Builds a bridge between the secular and spiritual environments of community life
Brings life changing service in every sector of community life, such as health and welfare, education, transitional living, emergency service, and governmental support

One of the advantages of this ministry role is the diversity of contexts where ministry can be offered. Christian Chaplains and Coaching gives this list of ministry examples:

Community Chaplaincy
Recovery from addictions
Jail, prison, and those recently released or on parole
Disabled and special needs
Troubled teens
Sex trafficking victims
Hospital
Nursing home/assisted living
English as a second language
PTSD
Emergency, crisis, and critical incidents
Marriage and family care
Military and veterans
Police and fire
Urban ministry
Office and workplace environment
Motorcycle ministry
Hospice Care

See the Exchanged Life Chaplaincy certification track here.

May this new equipping path be used of the Lord to deploy many men and women as ambassadors of God’s love, gospel, and wisdom.

New Publication: Life in Christ

Posted on May 10, 2024 by gfischool

Life in Christ: A Personalized Discipleship Notebook

by Lynn Adams and Linda Gammon

This 12 lesson workbook has been field tested for years and recently revised. It is ideal for one-to-one mentoring and small groups for in-depth evaluation, Bible study, and personalized applications.

We know grace is the most powerful force in the universe, but why are there so many anxious and depressed Christians?

Christ is the answer, and the Bible is sufficient, but how do we lay hold of these truths?

The Life in Christ Personalized Discipleship Notebook was designed for this very purpose. The twelve sessions have proven transformational in church and parachurch settings. The notebook contains everything needed: weekly teachings, interactive materials, “Consider This” homework assignments, Scripture verses, and even designated space for written responses. The new discipler may particularly appreciate the structure and ease of sharing in this way.

Here’s What Others Have Discovered

“This 12-week course can and does change lives. It has changed mine. It is not new truth, it is existing truth brought to light. This material uniquely guides the student to come to their own conclusions through the Holy Spirit’s illumination.” –J. S.

“Have you ever experienced burdens beyond your strength, to the point you despaired of living? If you have, where did you seek help? I began this 12-week discipleship course at my local church six years ago. Gradually, my depression lifted, and I experienced joy as a child of God. I understood His transformational grace in a way I had never known before.” –S. A.

“Far beyond knowing that I’ve been forgiven for my sins, the truths presented here are what every Christian needs to know if they sincerely want to abide and find rest for their souls.” –L. E.

This workbook is a good resource for use by grace disciplers, including GFI Workshop alumni, certified Exchanged Life Counselors, and GFI Guides. It’s available through GFI’s online store or by calling the office at 1-865-429-0450.

The Legacy of Paul Travis

Posted on April 3, 2024 by gfischool

Rev. Paul Andrew Travis, 90, of Hendersonville, NC went to be with the Lord on December 21, 2023. He is survived by his wife of thirty-four years, Joyce Travis.

Paul served as pastor and interim in many states. He spiritually influenced hundreds of lives through personal and marriage counseling as well as churches, pastors and by his personal testimony and ministries.

Paul was helped by Dr. Solomon’s conference, then was trained in Exchanged Life Counseling through a workshop and internship at Grace Ministries International in Georgia. Two of Paul’s video lectures are in the Online Lectures Series course at www.GraceStudyHall.org

In 2005 Paul and Joyce joined the field staff of Freedom in Christ Ministries (FICM.org). He is the co-author of Grace That Breaks the Chains (originally, Breaking The Bondage of Legalism).

John Woodward recorded three audio interviews with Paul. They are available here:

Surrendering: Message and Methodology

Posted on February 23, 2024 by gfischool

The yielding of ourselves to God is one of the crucial conditions of victorious Christian living. But we want to keep this in a grace context.

The message

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1,2 NKJV).

Notice that this admonition is to those who have experienced God’s amazing mercy and grace (Rom. 3:1-5:11). This is a response to Christ’s completed work of redemption.

A century ago Samuel Ridout made this observation about surrender:

“The cross is the secret of power. The cross is what we can glory in. It sets us aside, breaks us to pieces, writes upon us the sentence of death, in order that the power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, may rest upon us. The one who has learned death, who has the sentence of death in himself [2 Cor. 4:10], is the one who will have power.

You are to make a complete surrender of your will, strength, time, talents—all that you are and have to be put upon the altar. But who makes this surrender, and what is the altar? If you make the surrender, it is self surrendering self, a most subtle form of self-righteousness. But when we see it is the cross of our Lord-that cross by which I am, I was crucified, in His death; that “I am crucified with Christ” [Gal. 2:20], when we see this, we find that it is not a question of surrender for me, but of the cross which has set me aside, that Christ may be all. Anything short of the cross only fosters pride…”

So we consider brother Ridout’s questions:

1. Who makes this surrender? Answer: The believer and the empowering Holy Spirit. This cooperation is also seen in Christ’s work on the Cross:

“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:13,14).

2. What is the altar? Answer: The place of the living sacrifice is spiritual Jerusalem—the Cross of Christ and the empty tomb.

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:14,15).

The methodology

A few years ago GFI updated Dr. Solomon’s wheel diagrams in the spirit area. Instead of “Total Commitment” as the 5th spiritual blessing, we replaced that term with “new identity.” This makes it consistent with the other grace-based blessings which are bestowed on the believer through the New Birth at salvation (Eph. 1:3).

And we created another wheel diagram about Appropriating Christ as Life. In the soul area we list as a summary, the responses of repent, relinquish, recognize, repent, and rest. Total Surrender is considered here under the term “relinquish.” This diagram is used after the wheel and line as a response. This also fits with the context of Romans: the identification truths (Rom. 5-8) come before the surrender passage of Romans 12:1,2.

Therefore, we see wholehearted and ongoing surrender as essential but in the context of grace, not self-effort, through the enablement of the Holy Spirit.

For more on this topic, see the recent video teaching on Appropriating Christ as Life, and listen to Glimpses of Grace podcast episode #16.

JBW

Exchanged Life Counseling Matters

Forum for Exchanged Life Counseling – Grace Fellowship International

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