What is the most important part of Discipleship?

The most important part of Discipleship is Commitment! Jesus could not have made disciples had they not committed to follow him. The commitment Jesus asked for was simple. Follow me! As people followed him they were discipled. They learned to be imitators of Jesus!

The strength of what we teach is also based on commitment! It is not as strong as the 3 year commitment that Jesus required, but it has been proven very effective. We have been able to effectively disciple a couple hundred people over the last 3 years as a result of getting the following commitments! We have found that, if a Christian will commit to write out their testimony and commit to share it daily, that this commitment sets the stage for the Holy Spirit to disciple them! The first thing we challenge people to do in our discipleship teaching is to commit to write their testimony and be a part of a Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Book or their own Testimony Flyer.

The second thing we do is challenge people to carry 2 copies of the Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Book or their Testimony Flyers in their hand every time they leave the door of their home and every time they get out of their car. The third thing we do is challenge them to ask the Holy Spirit to help them in the giving away of the Testimony books or Testimony Flyers! The forth thing we do is challenge to the practice what was taught in that session. In session 1, we taught on As You Go: Love The commitment to carry the Testimony Books or Flyers and the Commitment to Love, As They Go is joined with the commitment to ask the Holy Spirit to help them.

This sets the stage for the Holy Spirit to be active in their life! If a person is always carrying the Gospel message with them in the form of a Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Book or Testimony Flyer and always practicing loving people as they go, then they are always trusting in the Holy Spirit to help them! This gives the Holy Spirit total access to all their Time and Daily Life! Sons and Daughters of God are led by the Spirit of God! What we accomplish during our 12 Discipleship Sessions is getting a strong commitment from the person being discipled to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them into Living a Witnessing Lifestyle! When the Holy Spirit comes upon us we will be His Witnesses!

Watching the 12 Discipleship Videos is Good, but on their own it is not enough to make a disciple! It is the joining together of the videos and the commitment to write, carry and use your testimony that will help you to be a strong disciple of Jesus!

What Leaders are saying about using Real Life Stories Books

In the year of 2012, God strategically and divinely connected Pure Gospel Tracts  with Step by Step Ministries. God ordained a meeting between myself and Jim Barbarossa, better known as The Shofar Man. I thought I was going to this meeting for the sole purpose of purchasing some Tallits, but God the Master planner and strategist had an extraordinary purpose much bigger than either of us knew at the time.

Our church was hosting a One New Man conference, and I was led to invite Jim and Carla to attend. They attended the conference, and a divine connection was instantly made between the two ministries.

Jim invited my wife and myself to one of the Unity Gathering meetings that he and Carla were facilitating. During this meeting, we were introduced to a new concept of believers in 5-fold ministries, working together without competition, personal gain, or agendas to evangelize the world. We were introduced to Step by Step Ministries, which was like no other ministry we had ever come in contact with.

Jim exposed us to the Evangelism Ministry that God downloaded to him and Carla.

We were told in these meetings that every believer has a testimony that should be written and shared for the glory of God. We were given free evangelisms tools such as Real Life Stories Volumes 1 and 2. We were strongly encouraged to pray over and distribute these books as we go about our daily lives.  After attending several meetings, Jim asked my wife and I to write our stories to be included in Real Life Stories Volume 3. I immediately wrote mine, but my wife was reluctant and took a while. My wife hesitated because she didn’t think her testimony was significant.

This was a big step for both of us.

Being a part of Real Life Stories Volume 3 was such a blessing and gave a spiritual sense of accomplishment. We enjoyed giving out books that conveyed the transforming power of God that is available to everyone. Jim and Carla consistently attended services at PGM and taught the congregation this newfound way of Evangelizing. They later encouraged and challenged the members to submit their testimonies. As a result, Real Life Stories Volume 5 was birthed.  The real work was just beginning.

Now came the task of encouraging the members to get out of their comfort zones, press beyond fear, go to total strangers, and give them the books. Jim and Carla asked if they could facilitate meetings at PGM to instruct and encourage us to evangelize through passing out Real Life Stories Volume 5. We started the meetings. We have since then distributed over 35,000 books. We have taken cases of books and displays to the cleaners, car repair shops, fitness clubs, liquor stores, gas stations, and men’s and women’s shelters. We even have a display on the front desk of Gary’s City Hall. We are so grateful to God for uniting us with Step by Step Ministries. 

God has taken our ministry to a whole different level. We know that God is pleased with our efforts, and we will continue to fulfill the call of the Great Commission. We strongly encourage you to do the same. God doesn’t need a whole lot of people to fulfill his will. He just needs a group of committed people who have a mind to WORK!!!

Is This What Life Is Really About Salvation Tracts?

I owned a successful fleet of semi-trucks. I served six successful years in the United States Army. I graduated from Airborne and Ranger School. I reached the rank of Staff-Sergeant. I thought, “Life has to be for something else, for something better than this.” I was considered to be a medium-class productive member of society who owned a successful fleet of semi-trucks and contributed positively to the economy.  Prior to that, I served six successful years in the United States Army.  I had the privilege of graduating from Airborne and Ranger School and was honorably discharged with the rank of Staff-Sergeant.  Any time I saw someone in need of help, I always volunteered to help without expecting anything in return.  I always made sure not to hurt nor take advantage of anyone.  Anyone who knew me knew they could depend on me for anything they needed help with.   

As a young entrepreneur, I had the ambition for success.  I was about to achieve what many strive to achieve; a stable and comfortable financial income to supplement a comfortable lifestyle.  I realized that once I accomplished what I set out to do, I would be in a position where I could retire at an early age, which would be 32 at that time.  I began to ask myself, “Is this what life is really about, becoming successful, retiring, traveling, and that’s it?  That’s what society teaches us that life is about?  How sad and boring that is!  Life has to be for something else, something better than this!” 

I then realized I had been blinded by pursuing what I had been taught to pursue since I was young.  My parents, school, TV influence, friends, and neighbors; from all of them, I learned to pursue financial

Stability, a beautiful family, and success. Once I had achieved it, I realized they were wrong.  I found it easy to achieve all that, and it was when I achieved it that I realized I must really find out what life is really about.   

As a cultural born Roman-Catholic, I never really attended church or prayed.  All I did everyday was to thank God and symbolize honor and respect towards Him by sliding my right hand, forming a cross as I touched my forehead, down to my heart, then to my left shoulder and finishing in my right shoulder.  That’s what I was taught to do ever since I could remember.  I didn’t know how to actually pray to God.  But when I found myself in the life situation I described, I finally found myself talking to God.  I looked at the sky and asked, “God, if You exist, is this what life is really about?  Is this it?  Get rich and enjoy life?  It can’t be!  It was too easy to accomplish success, and now that I’m about to accomplish, what I consider, full and permanent success, I find it boring to keep on living with no more challenges in life! Many would call it financial freedom.  If this is it, life is boring and has no purpose!  What is life really about Bibles Tracts ?”  

If there was anything negative or bad about me at that time, it would be that almost every weekend I would get drunk with beer, eat pizza and chicken wings, and watch boxing on HBO.  That was pretty much my ritual on weekends as a form of relaxation from every week’s hard work.  My wife, at the time, would support me with it.  She seemed to be proud of the life I had provided to her and our children.  Her only complaint was that I would put my business before our family.  She was right, but I just couldn’t understand it at that time.  I felt that if I didn’t put business first, I would be putting at risk the comfortable lifestyle I was providing.  

To my surprise, I later realized God did hear me when I started to talk to Him. After the first time I began talking to God, I kept telling and asking Him more things.  I suddenly felt in my heart to ask Him if I’m really supposed to go to a church, and if so, which church should I go to.  I asked God such questions because I literally would not trust any man or any church organization.  I knew God heard me speak to Him when my business began to do poorly.  I actually began to lose business, and my company fleet size began to decrease.  I had begun toread the bible and realized that God was actually testing me according to some stories I had read from the bible.  In other words, I knew God began to test my faith because I was asking Him to show me who He is.   

I ended up losing my business, my marriage, and my properties.  But in the midst of it all, somehow, I just knew God was in control of everything in my life.  Just by believing that, a great peace came over my life.  But more than that, the peace had come inside of me.  I now know, it is the Spirit of Christ that came in me when I prayed for Him to be my Lord and Savior and told Him I want to follow Him with all my heart.  My wife at that time did not take me losing my business lightly and began to act and behave very strange towards me.  Little did I know, she had been actively involved with witchcraft for a long time.  Since I was always focused on my business, I never realized the weird things she used to do had to do with witchcraft.  Eventually, she did not want to be with me any longer.  I returned to school to pursue my bachelor’s degree and also became involved with an evangelical church.  My new lifestyle did not suit her needs, and she could not accept the fact that I would have joy and peace through the new changes in our life.   

I began to serve in the church I attended five to six days during the week. God introduced me to the manifestation of His divine power by allowing me to be exposed to life miracles, signs, and wonders.  After being in the Army for six years and owning my own company for another five years, being introduced to my real boss filled me with excitement and motivation.  When I realized that everything written in the Holy Bible is true, I committed myself one hundred percent and began to devote myself to serve the Lord.   

I am now an ordained minister of God who serves our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ everywhere I go.  Eight years after losing my business, I am finally starting my own trucking company again, but this time with the help of God.  Now, the purpose of the company I’m starting is to support the Church of God.  The difference now from before is that before, I did everything for my own benefit.  Now, I do everything for the benefit of others in the name of our Lord,  Salvation Tracts, and God Jesus Christ.  I used to be a good person before I met our Lord Jesus

Christ…a good person on my way to hell.  Now, I know I am not good, for only Jesus Christ is good.  All I can do now is continue to live righteously to glorify and honor our only and true God and enter heaven when I leave this world. God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ - Christian Tracts.