Christian Growth from A to Z: A Practical Discipleship Manual For Both New & Growing Christians

By Doug Lowery

This thorough and biblical discipleship manual will prove to be practical and edifying to those who are new believers and will challenge those who have known Christ longer to go forward to greater Christ-likeness and spiritual maturity. These four biblical alphabets can be used in many settings: personal study, one-on-one discipleship, small groups, Sunday school class curriculum and Christian school and home school Bible study material. “Christian Growth from A to Z is a wonderful help to lead a Christian from salvation to maturity in Christ. This is an excellent help for those mentoring new converts or students in Sunday school and other class settings. I especially appreciate the focus on knowing God and His attributes. It is evident that this work comes out of the many needs that Brother Lowery has seen after many years of ministry.” -Dr. Les Ollila, Chancellor, Northland Baptist Bible College

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ambassador International
• Release date: Nov 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781620204641

Book preview

Christian Growth from A to Z

© 2007 Doug Lowery

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Cover design and Page layout by David Siglin of A&E Media

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eISBN: 978-1-62020-464-1

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Information

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Alphabet of Knowing Christ Personally

Summary

Chapter 2: The Alphabet of Having Assurance of Salvation

Summary

Chapter 3: The Alphabet of Growing in Christ

Summary

Chapter 4: The Alphabet of Overcoming Temptation

Summary

About the Author

About the Publisher

Dedication

Christian Growth from A to Z is, of course, dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory; but, I also wanted to dedicate this book to a very special person in my life. Many wonderful friends and relatives mean a great deal to me and have impacted my life. However, no human being is more special to me than my wife, Donna. She is the most godly and consistent Christian I know!

We were married on April 22nd, 1972. This book was completed just a few weeks short of our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. What a wonderful wife, mother, and pastor’s wife Donna has been through these years. We have always been close, but since being together all the time in our traveling ministry, we have grown in our love and appreciation for one another. Being together nearly 24/7 has had its moments—and there are times when she was glad I went golfing with someone! One of her greatest qualities is her patience with me.

Donna is an example of a growing Christian. She loves the Lord, her husband, children and their mates, grandchildren, all of her relatives, and she dearly loves God’s people as well as the souls of the lost. She has truly been a help to me in the two churches where we served, and is my faithful co-laborer in our new itinerant ministry. Her sweet singing voice has blessed the hearts of thousands of people. I have found a virtuous woman, and her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10)!

Acknowledgements

Many eyes have looked through the over two hundred pages of this book before its publication. I have personally read over each chapter a few dozen times looking for mistakes, checking to make sure Bible references were correct, improving the wording of sentences, and making changes here and there at every reading. My wonderful wife, Donna, has been a tremendous help in the area of grammar and punctuation. She has given many hours of her time in front of the laptop helping to fine-tune the manuscript. This process began in August of 2002, when I scanned the sixty-five pages of The ABC’s of Christian Growth (see Introduction) into my laptop and was completed in April of 2007, when the book was e-mailed to Ambassador-Emerald Press in Greenville, South Carolina.

There are two other ladies that I want to give special recognition for their expert help with the tedious, but vital proofreading process. Tracy Gearhart and Linda Piepenbrink gave many hours to see this book come together in its final form. Both of these godly ladies are associated with Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin. Tracy worked with me while she was on the staff of Maranatha and then Linda stepped in and helped with the final editing process. I am so grateful to Linda and Tracy for their keen eyes, editorial skills, and their part in making this book what it is in its completed form.

Introduction

Knowing Christ as our personal Savior is the most important thing in this world. However, coming to Christ in salvation is just the beginning of our new lives in Christ. We must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18a).

I struggled with growing in Christ the first three and a half years I was saved (read my testimony on the opening pages of The Alphabet of Having Assurance of Salvation), because I had no one to help me in the discipleship process. My parents took my sister, Dianne, and me to a liberal Protestant church all through the years we were living at home. One short note from the college student who led me to Christ was the extent of the follow-up that I received. With no training in those early years of knowing Christ, I drifted, doubted my salvation, and descended into a backslidden condition. God, in His mercy and providence, brought me to a place of dedication, called me to the ministry, led me to a wonderful Bible college, showed me that I needed to be in a Bible-preaching church, and gave me a godly wife and four precious children. God’s promise in Philippians 1:6 (Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:) has, and is, being fulfilled wonderfully in my life.

In 1978, I self-published and printed 5,000 copies of The ABC’s of Christian Growth. This sixty-five page booklet was motivated by a strong desire to help disciple the new converts who were being saved in our new church in Corona, Queens. Donna and I went to Queens and established Faith Baptist Church on the first Sunday of September, 1974. God blessed His Word and our faithfulness with the salvation of souls in our services and through personal soulwinning on the streets, in the parks, and in the homes of people throughout the area. All 5,000 copies of The ABC’s of Christian Growth were sold or given away by 1988, shortly after going to Calvary Baptist Church in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. There have been many requests through the years for a copy of the book, but the demands of a busy pastorate and the lack of funds for a reprinting prevented me from filling those requests.

When Donna and I were about to begin our full-time itinerant ministry (Heart Lifting Ministries), the Lord put it on my heart in August of 2002, to expand and improve the book and get it reprinted. I was thirty years old when The ABC’s of Christian Growth was printed and had been a pastor for only four years. Now, currently fifty-eight years old, I have been a pastor for twenty-three years, an evangelist for five, and have much more to say from my own personal growth and ministry experiences. I scanned the original sixty-five page booklet and started making changes. Because Donna and I spend a lot of our time on the road, much of the book was composed on the laptop when it was Donna’s turn to drive. Many evangelists have a truck and fifth-wheel trailer or motor home, but we have elected to stay in homes, motels, and prophet’s chambers in church buildings. Christian Growth from A to Z has literally been written all over this country! An interesting fact for you—The ABC’s of Christian Growth was written in New York City, and the completely edited version of Christian Growth from A to Z was e-mailed to Ambassador-Emerald Press from Queens, New York City, in April of 2007.

This book has been renamed, expanded and improved from its original format, and I trust the Lord will use it in the lives of hundreds and even thousands of people. The thing that should stand out the most in this book is the number of Bible references throughout its pages. I wanted to back up every statement with Scripture! Also, I have added sermon illustrations, sermon outlines, song lyrics, and practical application throughout Christian Growth from A to Z.

I wrote the book with one main thought in mind, Doug, what would you have liked to have read when you were newly saved in April of 1963? What do new Christians need to know? The subtitle of this book, A Practical Discipleship Manual for Both New and Growing Christians, captures another major thrust and motivation of this book. This book is not just for the brand new believer! It is written to edify and equip God’s people whether they have been saved five days or five decades. Too many Christians grow cold and indifferent in their walk with Christ and their Christian growth becomes stagnant. It is my prayer that every reader comes to a knowledge of Christ if they are not already saved, and that every reader of Christian Growth from A to Z grows in Christ through this book.

— Doug Lowery, Author

The following lyrics capture my desire for every reader:

Grow, read His Word each day; Grow, believing as you pray;

Grow, be faithful and obey; Grow, Christian, Grow!

Grow, victory through Him win; Grow, forsaking all your sin;

Grow, and find His joy within; Grow, Christian, Grow!

Grow, trusting Him alone; Grow, with Jesus on the throne;

Grow, making His will your own; Grow, Christian, Grow!

Grow, daily in His grace; Grow, enduring in the race;

Grow, until you see His face; Grow, Christian, Grow!

Grow, Christian, Grow!

A gospel song by the author.

Go to www.heartlifting.org for information regarding the author’s music CD and Songbook.

CHAPTER 1

The Alphabet of

Knowing Christ Personally

KEY VERSE: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Salvation is one of the most marvelous subjects in all of the Word of God! It is ocean-like, with great depth and breadth. The wonders of God’s saving grace cannot be fully explained or understood. Although preachers throughout the centuries have attempted to expound on the depths of John 3:16, they have never reached the ocean floor of God’s love. We can know Christ for decades and still not completely comprehend the greatness of His love for us. This depth is one reason that the Christian life never grows old or dull. We can always go wider, farther, deeper and higher in our understanding of Christ’s love for us. The Apostle Paul prayed to that end for the saints in Ephesus: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Speaking of oceans, the Prophet Jonah found himself on the storm-tossed Mediterranean Sea, bound for Tarshish. In fleeing from God, he disobediently headed in the opposite direction of Nineveh, the city to which God had sent him. This dramatic story is recorded for us in Jonah 1. Verse 17 says, Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. From the dark dungeon of this whale’s belly, Jonah cried out to God. He concluded his prayer with worship: But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). Yes, salvation is of the Lord. The false religionists of the world insist that you must do. Biblical Christianity, however, triumphantly cries, Done! Jonah was saved physically by a direct act of God. God prepared a great fish (a whale according to Matthew 12:40) to swallow Jonah and to deposit him safely back on shore. We are saved spiritually and eternally by a direct act of God. He prepared a Savior to rescue us from the sea of sin.

You may be asking, What exactly is salvation anyway? How is it obtained? How is one born again? This biblical alphabet answers these questions and many more. Many doctrines are combined in this one broad subject of salvation—doctrines such as redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, atonement, adoption, justification, and regeneration. These and other terms will be explained and illustrated.

Salvation is the...

Adoption of the sinner into the family of God.

Danny and Kristen Lowery delighted our family in December of 2006, when they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to an orphanage in Ethiopia and had the thrill of holding their five-month-old son for the first time. Through the wonderful process of adoption, Caleb Daniel Eyobel (his Ethiopian name) is now officially a Lowery. Did you know that every true Christian has been adopted into God’s family?!

Many have the biblically uninformed opinion that everyone on earth is a child of God. This liberal theological view supports the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity and even goes so far as to say that all people, regardless of their degree of sinfulness or their religion (or lack thereof), will go to heaven. This view, of course, is false. We are all God’s creation, but we only become His children by being born into His family. Letter B will deal with the fact that we must have a second birth if we ever hope to see or enter the kingdom of God.

In John 14:6, Christ emphatically declared, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus clearly proclaimed, Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:13, 14). These words (and verses like Acts 4:12) do not indicate that all men are heaven-bound! Also in Matthew 7, Christ said, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:21-23).

Romans 8:15 asserts, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We were not born into God’s family when we were born into this world; therefore, we have been adopted into God’s family (Ephesians 3:14, 15) by the wonderful grace of God (Ephesians 2:8, 9) and through the regenerating power of God’s Spirit (Titus 3:5). Now that we are adopted, we can cry, Abba, Father. What a thrill, blessing, privilege, and great responsibility we have to be the adopted children of God. We can relate to the emotion that Mephibosheth must have felt when he was welcomed into the palace of King David. Saul, throughout 1 Samuel, had made many attempts on David’s life. Jonathan (Saul’s son) and David were best of friends. The book of 2 Samuel begins with David mourning the deaths of Saul and Jonathan after their deaths in a military battle. Now, David wants to show kindness to a descendent of Jonathan. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet (2 Samuel 9:3). Mephibosheth was the grandson of David’s mortal enemy, but now he is treated as one of David’s sons. Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons (2 Samuel 9:9 and 11).

Salvation is a...

Birth from heaven.

Our first birth is of man and puts us into the family of Satan (John 8:44), but the new (or second) birth is of God and places us into the family of God (John 1:12, 13). The new birth is an event, not a process. Just as we were all born on certain days, so we are born again the day we receive Christ by faith. John 1:11-13 says, He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We may not remember the exact date and time of our new birth, but we should remember that the Savior entered our lives at a specific time. We should also remember some of the circumstances surrounding that event. According to 1 Peter 1:23, the incorruptible seed of this new birth is the Word of God. The life-giving (regenerating) power is the Holy Spirit (John 3:6; Titus 3:5). We are spiritually dead before we are saved. God’s Spirit actually brings us to life! We are made alive in Christ after believing in Him. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1).

A dialogue between Christ and Nicodemus, a religious leader of his day, extends from John 3:1 all the way to John 3:21. Not only did Nicodemus have the unique privilege of being the first to hear about the new birth, but he was also the one who first heard the wonderful words of John 3:16. This twenty-one verse conversation does not clearly state that Nicodemus trusted in Christ that night, but the following verses give us an indication that he probably did believe on Christ at some point: And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand (John 19:38-42, emphasis mine).

Too often the religious feel that they have always been Christians, but God’s Word teaches that we become the children of God when we receive Christ (John 1:12). I became Donna Smith’s husband on April 22, 1972, at the Bible Baptist Church of Corinth, Mississippi, at four o’clock on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I was not always her husband, and my friend, you have not always been God’s child. As Christ so clearly stated, Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:7).

My sincere prayer is that you have been born again, and if not, I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will reveal that to you.

Salvation is the . . .

Cleansing of sin with Christ’s blood.

A preacher was on his