M. Div Keith Martens

A Field Guide for Followers of Christ M. Div Keith Martens

The Field Guide for followers of Christ is for those pursuing a life of discipleship under the Lordship of Jesus Christ to advance His Kingdom on earth. It contains instructions for personal ministry and is a helpful and convenient guide for individual or small group use in personal ministry settings, in evangelism and missions outreach, on prayer teams, or in settings where you have the opportunity to minister to individuals with the love and power of Christ. The primary emphasis is upon the person and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ who is both present in us and with us when we gather in His Name. Therefore, the material provided in this Field Guide is not a program or series of steps to follow. We pray it will guide you into having a dynamic and interactive encounter with Jesus Christ through the counsel and empowerment of the Holy Spirit along with others He has gifted in His Body, the Church. You will be able to experientially participate with Jesus in His life and ministry of proclaiming the Good News and seeing others set free. From observing the Gospel accounts, we see that the most essential characteristics of Jesus' life and ministry that we must understand and practice are: Consistent and purposeful dependence on the Father through the Holy Spirit's counsel and empowerment. Expressions of authority and power evident in His teaching, healing, and encounters with Satan and the Kingdom of darkness. Obedience to the Father to advance His Kingdom through the declaration and assertion of God's truth. Similarly, in the Book of Acts we observe how the early church continues the ministry of Jesus. They, too, demonstrated a vital dependence on the Holy Spirit to empower and guide them in every area of life. Instead of a simplistic presentation of Gospel or a programmatic approach to evangelism, we see these early disciples continuing the same ministry Jesus began - preaching not only the message about Jesus but the Good News of the Kingdom which was central to Jesus' teaching. They also continued Jesus' ministry and the commission He gave them to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead as part of their message of the Good News. Their message, as the Apostle Paul says, was given with not only words but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power that led to believing faith. The power and authority of Christ is now available to all believers through the Holy Spirit who was sent to them (Acts 1:8; 3:1-9;13:9-12;16:16-18).