Spirit Informed Discipleship

Guiding New Believers into Community and Christ’s Victory

I meant to post this on Wednesday but as the pastor of a small church my life can get extremely busy extremely quickly. So I pray that you will hear what I'm trying to say even though I don't have time to fully articulate it.

Something is deeply wrong when our Pentecostal discipleship is indistinguishable from churches that don't believe in the Spirit's power, except for that one obligatory chapter we add about Holy Spirit baptism. Why do we lead people into a supernatural encounter with God, then hand them the same discipleship materials used by traditions that believe miracles ended with the apostles?

I am convinced that many of our problems stem from inadequate systems of discipleship. Allow me to briefly lay out the two streams of discipleship I've seen in our movements and why I believe both are insufficient.

Error 1: Baptist with a Chapter on Holy Spirit

The majority of charismatic / Pentecostal discipleship is completely indistinguishable from any cessationist discipleship material except for a chapter on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. A major flaw in our stream is the lack of work put in to viewing scripture, God, and the restoration of all things through the reality of Pentecost.

The sheer volume of dispensationalist theology that I see in discipleship materials is overwhelming, and many teaching these ideas don't even realize the system they're passing on. It's no wonder so many people begin discipleship courses with excitement but fail to finish them.

What they are taught often feels completely disconnected from the life of God they have already experienced. New believers who were excited about the love and grace they experienced and the budding relationship with Jesus in their lives suddenly find themselves trudging through systematic theology that feels completely divorced from the God they met. No wonder so many drop out or become passive consumers rather than active participants in the life of the Spirit.

There is also little emphasis on the victory Christ won on the cross, on how He is reconciling all things to Himself, or on the reality that He has defeated the powers of darkness.

While the average Pentecostal/ Charismatic had their prayer life baptized in the Spirit, their theology and discipleship never was.

Error 2: Super Spiritual with No Roots

In many newer charismatic streams, discipleship for new believers starts with an over-realized eschatology. The first lessons often focus on inner healing and the "Father heart of God." While those themes can be helpful in the right place, making them the entry point for discipleship creates shallow foundations.

The other entry point of discipleship focuses on identity and power. The message becomes that believers can now get God to do what they want, control the circumstances around them, and essentially we become Jesus on earth.

That might sound inspiring at first, but it trains people to treat the Christian life like a set of tools for personal breakthrough rather than a relationship of dependence on Christ.

This approach insists that Jesus came primarily to show us what we could do empowered by the Spirit, rather than to demonstrate the victory He won through His death and resurrection. By reducing Jesus to a mere example, this teaching overlooks the heart of the gospel: that Christ has already triumphed over sin, death, and the powers of darkness. When discipleship loses sight of that victory, it leaves people unstable, unrooted, and vulnerable.

A New Way Forward

I propose a new way forward. Let's acknowledge what God has already done, and feed that move of the Spirit before we get overly cerebral.

Think about what just happened to someone who comes to Jesus: they've had the most supernatural encounter of their lives. They were dead and now they're alive. They met the living God, whose Spirit revealed Christ to them and brought them before the Father. For the first time in their lives, their spirit has become alive because they are following the Holy Ghost.

How do we keep that move of God happening in their lives?

Start with Spirit-led community, not curriculum

In Acts 15, James understood the most important thing for new believers is to live in a way where they can thrive in the Christian community. He sent the letter saying basically that you all are freaking people out with what you're eating. If you don't mind, could just stop it? Also, everybody is grossed out by how you're sleeping around. Do us a favor and stop that as well.

What's important to remember is that these people got these instructions after they were baptized in the Holy Ghost. The Pharisee believers wanted them to learn doctrine, history, theology, and begin to conform. The apostles and the elders knew the most important thing was that they would continue to cooperate with Holy Spirit and stay connected to their spiritual community.

They taught them how to stay connected to the Church.

Teach Spirit-cooperation Before Esoteric Doctrine

Way before we start teaching atonement theories, we need people to learn why it's important to keep coming to church every week. They will learn way more doctrine sitting under the preached word and creating relationships with other believers than they will by some book of rules.

But more fundamentally, we need them to learn what Holy Spirit has been doing in their lives so they can recognize how he leads them in the future. What does it feel like when God is speaking to you? How do you know when the Spirit is prompting you to pray for someone? When you sense God's presence during worship, what is He inviting you into? Learning to cooperate with Holy Spirit is the most important lesson a new believer can learn.

Why I Wrote This

I wrote Faith Foundations for New Believers: A Guide to Spirit-Filled Growth for New Christians and Those Who Lead Them because new believers need a discipleship pathway that actually connects to the life of God they have just experienced. There are so many discipleship materials out there that are really good. And even though I have a Master of Divinity I felt completely ill equipped to write a little book like this. In fact I had three other books I wanted to write in short order, but Holy Spirit wouldn't let me.

The Holy Spirit gave me a clear assignment. He made it abundantly clear that I was not to write anything else until I finished this book. I don't have any kind of promotional rollout. I don't know how to start a book club or get people to pre-order. I'm just being obedient to Holy Spirit in a way that I hope new believers can learn to be as well.

Faith Foundations is my offering to help restore discipleship to its true foundation. Rather than starting with systematic theology or over-spiritualized identity teachings, it guides new believers through recognizing the Spirit's work in their lives, connecting meaningfully with Christian community, and growing in dependence on Christ's victory. It's designed for both new believers and leaders who disciple them.

We need good theology, and I would settle for even coherent theology. But more than that, in a time when I've often pointed out what is broken in our tribe, I wanted this book to be my humble offering of a new path forward. My prayer is that it helps people begin their walk on the right footing so they can learn to cooperate with Holy Spirit, value being a part of the local church, and grow in the power of Christ's victory.