One of the things I love to do is disciple men. I could spend hours each week meeting with brothers in the faith and encouraging them to fight the fight. The church needs men who are faithful examples of Christ-like perseverance. Men who care about doctrine. Men who are willing to roll up their sleeves, stop complaining about the church, and start building the church. So, over coffee (in my case a vanilla creme -- don't judge me!) or a sandwich at Subway, or simply a walk around the church, I pour my life into men that, I pray, God will use to build this local church here at Mount Vernon.
But what about ladies? My discipleship of women is less direct. Preaching is an act of discipleship. As I open up Scripture and apply it to all of our lives, women hear and, I trust, grow. I'm often involved in marital counseling--as I meet with men and women I seek to see both grow in their knowledge and love for Jesus. I pour into my wife and my wife will often invest in women at the church. But all of this is indirect, and yet I want every woman at Mount Vernon to be discipled. I have to be careful, though. As a man, there are important and clear limits to how I can disciple women. It is why I pray that the Lord uses the godly women at Mount Vernon to invest in one another's lives and that He brings even more to share in this work.
With that said, I'm very thankful that my friends at 9Marks have published an e-Journal that addresses pastoring women. There are wonderful essays on a pastors role in discipling women, equipping women to disciple women, the special challenges young mothers face, as well an answer to the question, "Can women be pastors?"
This is good stuff. Please join me at Mount Vernon as we equip men and women to do the work of the ministry and build the church for the glory of God.
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