Discipleship: Are You Ready for the Challenge?

Welcome to The Equipped Disciple podcast, where we explore the transformative journey of discipleship unto Jesus Christ. Today, we’re diving into the heart of what it means to embark on a dynamic discipleship adventure.

Key Points:

  • Discipleship is an exciting journey of growth and service filled with challenges and rewards.
  • The show will provide encouragement, challenge, and Bible study focused on discipleship.
  • The mission of Cornerstone Disciples: to equip and train believers to fulfill the great commission of making disciples.
  • Exploring the significance of the name “Cornerstone Disciples”
  • Vision for Cornerstone Disciples as an online community committed to discipleship and growth.
  • New episodes are released every Monday, and live video teachings are every Saturday morning at 9 (CT).
  • Importance of financial partnership to expand the reach of Cornerstone Disciples.

As we conclude today’s episode, I invite you to join us on this journey of discipleship. Whether through the podcast, live teachings, or financial support, let’s work together to fulfill the call of making disciples of all nations. Are you ready to answer that call?

Be sure to subscribe for future episodes and connect with us on social media.

Serving Christ, Serving Others.

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Transcript
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Discipleship is an exciting journey that will be both challenging and rewarding.

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It is not a tool of manipulation.

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My name is Vincent Ream, and I hope you’ll embark with me on a dynamic discipleship adventure

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where the aim is to equip and empower you in the great commission of discipleship.

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Let’s discover, unleash, and ignite your calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ, all

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while traversing a transformative journey toward personal and spiritual growth.

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This is all about discipleship unto Jesus Christ.

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That needs to be said because there are many so-called Christians who are making disciples

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unto themselves rather than unto Christ.

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That may be too cynical a statement, but what we see plastered all over social media is

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just that.

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Ego takes over and love for Christ is pushed aside.

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I don’t want that for me, and I don’t want that for you either.

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I’ve been feeling called to a deeper experience and expression of discipleship and a passion

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to bring others along on the journey.

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This has been brewing in me for quite some time, and now is the right opportunity to

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finally bring this to reality.

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Before we get any further though, I want to share a little bit about myself.

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I am originally from Bakersfield, California, but now I live in Junction City, Kansas.

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That may seem like an odd move to some, and I’ll get to how that came to be in a minute.

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I grew up in the church.

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My dad was a pastor, but that didn’t stop me from being a rebellious brat as a teenager

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and getting into all kinds of trouble.

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Looking back at that time, I can see the hand of God protecting me from incidents that should

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have landed me in a lot of trouble with the law, or worse, dead.

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So at 18, I joined the army, and leading up to that choice, and even through all of my

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rebellion, I still wanted to be a California Highway Patrolman, but you had to be 21 to

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do that.

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So I thought I’d kill a few years in the army and get some college money.

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Well, I met my wife when I was home on leave from basic training and from job training.

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The exact day was December 19th, 1997.

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We got married the following April, on April 8th, 1998.

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So we’ve been married for 26 years now.

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We have four kids and currently three grandchildren.

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So what was supposed to be an experience to kill time and get college money turned

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into a 20-year career.

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And that’s how we ended up in Kansas.

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And I’ll be honest with you, it wasn’t my first choice, but it is nice and quiet here.

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I enjoy living in a smaller city that doesn’t feel so rushed.

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I like the slower pace of life.

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But enough about that.

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So the name of the show is The Equipped Disciple.

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However, the ministry is Cornerstone Disciples.

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What is Cornerstone Disciples?

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Cornerstone is an obvious reference to Jesus.

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That is one of the many ways he’s referred to in the Bible.

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He’s called the Chief Cornerstone.

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That is the one that we are to build out from, to build on.

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We are to be disciples of his.

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And he commissioned us as believers to make disciples of the nations.

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It’s from that Cornerstone Disciples came to be.

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I want to share my passion for following Jesus, being his disciple, and hopefully be a resource

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for you.

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The mission of Cornerstone Disciples is to equip and train believers in Jesus Christ

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who will answer the call to make disciples of the nations.

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Now, this begins in community, and it extends out to ignite the flame of Christ’s love,

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illuminating the world with acts of selfless devotion.

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Cornerstone Disciples is meant to be a beacon of hope, guiding those with a heart for service

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to the path of discipleship, unified in the commitment to nurture and empower one another

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to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Our tagline is, Serving Christ, Serving Others.

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Having served in the army for 20 years, my time of service is not over.

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The new mission of service is even more significant than the last, and I know others share the

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same passion to follow Christ and fulfill the commission he gave to us.

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I know there are many of you out there who have the same heart, and I want to give you

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a place to find encouragement, but also a challenge.

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We all need to be challenged and pushed, but in a way that isn’t destructive.

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I know the question will come up, what about the local church?

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Isn’t this their job?

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Well, yes.

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There isn’t always enough time for those on staff to devote themselves to training and

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equipping in a free-form yet focused manner.

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What does that mean?

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The staff in a local congregation has many different things that they are responsible

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for, and there are larger considerations that have to be taken into account.

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That means there isn’t always time to focus on the disciplines of discipleship.

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Some local churches are good at this, but from my experience, most aren’t.

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So what’s missing?

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In a word, challenge.

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I’ve mentioned this already, but it’s the point of what’s happening through this ministry.

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I always want to be challenged to grow and be a better version of myself.

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That doesn’t just happen sitting around.

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I believe people are looking for a challenge.

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That’s what I believe is missing in most discipleship journeys.

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There is a fear of offending that holds us in captivity that we aren’t meant to live

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in as believers in Jesus.

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Challenges, they don’t hold us hostage, and the accountability inside those challenges

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isn’t constraining.

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Challenges offer freedom to grow.

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The vision I hold currently is to grow this ministry into an online community of believers

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in Jesus Christ who are committed to discipleship, who understand the cost of discipleship and

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choose that journey anyway.

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So I’m starting by doing a podcast as well as going live on YouTube each week to share

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a teaching.

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More specifically, the podcast will take on topics and issues that are directly related

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to discipleship with challenges for you that are designed for your growth.

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The live teachings on YouTube are designed to get you into the Bible, and hopefully you

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will be doing that daily.

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If not already, you will be going forward.

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You can expect new episodes of the podcast to be released each Monday and live videos

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every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Central Time.

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I chose Saturdays for these videos because they are live and I want to interact with

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you during those, but I didn’t want to take away from you on Sunday morning when we are

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typically with our local group of believers.

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I’m looking forward to interacting with you, whether through live teaching or on social

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media and eventually as this ministry grows, I want to start doing meetups online where

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we can have face-to-face conversations.

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As we move forward, I would like you to partner with us financially.

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I’m not asking you to redirect your current giving from your local congregation, but rather

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to go a little beyond that with a small monthly donation that will be used to increase the

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reach of Cornerstone Disciples.

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I truly want to see people equipped and trained to fulfill the commission of making disciples

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of the nations.

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With that, we’re working to become a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, which means your

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donations will be tax-deductible.

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More significantly, that means that you can trust.

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I’m not simply asking for a financial partnership to line my pockets personally.

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There is accountability in place with that.

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When we reach this goal, I will make a special announcement and the goal right now is $220.

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That is what we need in donations to finish this out and make this happen.

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Again, Cornerstone Disciples exists to equip and train believers in Jesus Christ who will

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answer the call to make disciples of the nations.

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Is that you?

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