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Former host of Music Thru the Night, Moody Radio network and National Religious Broadcasters

Hall of Fame Award winner

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Intro

God specializes in giving people a fresh start. –Rick Warren

Mark Alan Williams
Aug 25, 2019
5 min read

A fresh start in life can be so attractive and most of us would admit that we’ve longed for one at various times. Thankfully, God specializes in giving people a fresh start. Through Jesus Christ we can have a fresh start, a clean slate and a new beginning in life.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.

On New Year’s Day, people make resolutions, and while I’m not opposed to them, it was 30

years ago this month that I yearned for something so much more. I had made resolutions to

improve myself, but I had failed. I needed the kind of life change that comes only through a

personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, it was on Sunday, New Year’s day, in 1989, that I attended church and heard that through Christ, I could have a new life and a fresh start. That same day, I prayed to accept Him as my Lord and Savior.

Since then, I regularly ask God to convict me of my sins and empower me to confess and turn

from them quickly. As I do so, I know I’m forgiven and it’s wonderful to know that because of Christ, I can have a clean slate.

But, there’s another type of fresh start that God gives me and that is renewed hope. I often find myself depleted and in need of hope and encouragement in life. I pray and recite Bible verses and soon I am filled with His peace, and my faith is strengthened (Romans 15:13).

Most of us want a fresh start in life when we have failed or have regrets. We may experience

despair or feel that we are beyond hope and too far gone to believe that a come-back or a new

beginning is possible.

But, that isn’t true, because through Christ, we can have a new beginning and a fresh start; because of God’s extravagant love (1 John 3:1).

However, we need to come to Christ, because apart from Him we are lost. Indeed, we need a fresh start, but we also need forgiveness, because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23, 6:23). We need to make peace with God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). He alone died for our sins and was raised from the dead to give us a fresh start and a new life (Romans 5:8, 10:9-10).

Jesus is our hope for a fresh start. When we come to Him for salvation, He comes into our lives and makes everything new, and we become born again (John 3:3-8).

Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (NIV)

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)

It seems like a contradiction, but we’re actually blessed when we need a fresh start. Because,

when we’re at the bottom, the only way to go is up and when we’re empty, we’re perfectly

positioned to be filled.

As we realize our inability to help or save ourselves; we are blessed, if we recognize our need for God (Matthew 5:3). This is the best place to be, because it’s in our humility that we are

candidates to receive God’s grace (James 4:6).

God can give us a fresh start when life seems barren.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (NLT)
Psalm 40:3 says, “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” (NLT)
Psalm 98:1 says, “Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!” (NLT)

Becoming a Christian, doesn’t mean that we won’t have problems, or have to face negative

consequences as a result of our sins; but that God will walk with us through difficulties and He will use them for our good (Romans 8:28).

Sometimes, we need a fresh start, because we are discouraged or even worn out. But, who better to restore hope to us than the One with inexhaustible resources?

"Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31 NLT)

How wonderful to know that God specializes in giving people a fresh start through Christ. We

can come to Him and know that He will be faithful to extend mercy and love to us each day.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (NLT)

Could you use a fresh start in life?

Please click here if you would like to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior now and

read more about the next steps that you can take to grow spiritually in your new faith.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word!

If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or

otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance.

Thanks for your help!

God specializes in giving people a fresh start. -Rick Warren CLICK TO TWEET

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What Does it Take to Make Disciples?

Mark Alan Williams
Aug 17, 2019
3 min read

Back to Basics

Do you want to make disciples? I hope so! Jesus’ marching orders to His followers were

to “go and make disciples.” (Matthew 28:19). He couldn’t have been clearer about our

Great Commission. Yet for various reasons, we get sidetracked doing other things, or we

think we cannot do it and we should leave it to the “professionals.”

But every Christian should be involved in disciple-making.

In this article I’d like to look at what it doesn’t take to make disciples, and what it does

take.

Brazilian DJJ discipleship group watching one of our videos

First let’s look at what it doesn’t take to make disciples:

1. It doesn’t take emotion.

We’re all emotional, some more than others. Believe me, I’m not against emotion.

But Jesus didn’t say “Go and feel like making disciples.” He just said to go and

do it.

2. It doesn’t take following a set of rules or standards.

The devil, called “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10), will tell you

that you don’t have “the right stuff.” I don’t care who we are, there are reasons

why we’re “unworthy” to be used by God, just like the original apostles were

“unworthy.”

Peter was a betrayer, St. Paul was a persecutor and killer of Christians, and all of

the disciples deserted Jesus when he was arrested and tried.

So don’t listen to “the father of lies!” (John 8:44).

3. It doesn’t take a lot of biblical training or theological education.

Now let’s be clear, it is generally good to have Biblical knowledge and solid

biblical theological education. I’ve had a ton of it myself: I graduated from

Moody Bible Institute, Talbot Theological School, and Fuller Seminary.

But all of those degrees can be a smokescreen that hides the truth which is that

they aren’t precursors to being a disciple-maker. After all, none of the New

Testament disciples or other early church leaders had this kind of education, since

it wasn’t even available. Yet they “turned the world upside down” with disciple-

making (Acts 17:6).

Bottom line: If you’re looking for excuses to not be a disciple maker, there are plenty of

them out there. But none of them are legit.

So then what does it take to make disciples?

Here’s what it takes to make disciples:

1. A willing heart.

To be a disciple-maker, we must first be willing. Does that sound simplistic? It

would be if it weren’t for the fact that many who claim to be Christians are not

willing to obey one of His most basic commands to “go and make disciples.”

2. An obedient heart.

Willingness is not enough, obedience is enough.

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord"; will enter the kingdom of

heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

(Matthew 7:21 NIV)

CONCLUSION:

So my question to you is, “Are you obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples?” And if

so, what are you doing? Perhaps you’re teaching a children’s class, leading a small group,

evangelizing, or serving in other ways. That’s great.

But perhaps you’d like to be more directly involved in making disciples. If that is the

case, then I would say to you that it is helpful to have a tool.

It’s helpful to have a tool.

That’s why we started Discipleship Journeys with Jesus (DJJ), to provide a free tool for

disciple making that makes it far easier to “make disciples.” Thousands are being discipled using these studies based on biblical journeys with Jesus. You can join with them.

It’s possible to drive a nail using a rock or some other hard instrument. But it’s much

easier to drive a nail with a hammer for a tool.

In a similar way, DJJ is a tool that makes it much easier to make disciples. If you can

read the Bible and answer questions based on a Scripture passage, then you can use it to

make disciples.

So why not download the materials and get started making disciples now? You can

disciple:

Your children
Your grandchildren
Your coworkers
Your neighbors
Your classmates
And so on

“Go and make disciples.”

If you have questions, please let me know through the Contact page on this website.

Help Spread the Word!

If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media

or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical

guidance. Thanks for your help!

Additional resources about related subjects on this site:

NOTE: Social media is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won't

miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You'll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to

Unlock Heaven on Earth.

Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try. –Esther Thomas

Mark Alan Williams
Aug 10, 2019
4 min read

Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try. For every goal or objective that’s been

achieved, one has made a decision of their will to invest and expend the necessary resources to complete the task.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.

Every accomplishment begins with a decision to try, but also for me, an admission of my lack of ability and complete dependence on the Lord. God presents an opportunity for me to serve Him or to work on spiritual growth, and initally I experience some fear and doubt. Then He helps me to make a decision to try and I’ve found that if I am willing to take a step of faith and trust Him, He will help me. He is faithful to give me His grace and power to reach each accomplishment that previously seemed impossible.

Recently, with God’s help I’ve been working on contentment and I’ve found that in addition to Scripture memorization, listening to Gospel music every morning is extremely helpful. Both habits fill my mind with truth about God’s character and increase my contentment. I know that for each accomplishment that honors God, I can count on His help to reach every goal.

For every accomplishment there is a price to pay. One must sacrifice resources of time, money and effort for each gain; whether we are seeking fame, fortune or to advance the Kingdom of God.

One must first decide what accomplishment is worthy of our pursuit. We can evaluate how we spend time and money to see what is most important to us.

We can ask:

Every accomplishment takes planning, work and effort. A deficiency in any of these areas will

affect the success of our goal. But, the good news is that even if we have failed, we can learn

from it and try again each day, and with fresh resolve and God’s help continue until we reach the desired outcome.

As Christians, each goal and accomplishment should be in harmony with God’s will and Word. In other words, each accomplishment should honor Him.

We need wisdom to know what goals honor God, and thankfully we can ask for that, along with His guidance. Then we can trust Him to provide the knowledge we need; and to lead us according to His Word and will.

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (NIV)

Psalm 143:10 says, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.” (NLT)

"Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." (Psalm 25:4-5 NIV)

Some goals have specific time frames while others are more fluid. For example a goal of debt

reduction usually requires setting specific deadlines. But, working towards contentment is an

accomplishment that is ongoing and less tangible to measure.

Both are Biblical and God honoring, but with debt elimination, we can see when our goal is

reached, whereas with contentment our progress is more subjective.

Our success in the accomplishment of our goals requires prayer and accountability. In addition, we need God’s help and His Word to find promises to help us.

We can prayerfully seek Bible verses that are relevant, appropriate and faith building for the

goals that we set.

Philippians 4:13 says, “For I can do everything through Christ, [a] who gives me strength.” (NLT)
Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (NIV)
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (ESV)

For every accomplishment that we try to achieve for spiritual growth and progress; we can besure that we will face temptation and trials, to hinder and discourage us. Therefore, we need to watch and pray, and look for the way of escape when tempted. We can also fight using the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Matthew 26:41 says, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (NLT)

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)

Each accomplishment begins with the decision to try.

Often times, that requires that we take a risk and attempt to make a change. While change is

never easy, and we may enter unfamiliar and uncharted territory; with each success, we will

grow in our faith and confidence in God’s faithfulness.

“Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” (Colossians 1:10 NLT)

What accomplishment would you like to make?