You can make a difference this New Year, but not if you pursue the American Dream. Live a comfortable life, work at a good job, enjoy good health insurance, own a two-car garage, provide a good education for the kids, and then enjoy a retirement program that will allow you to kick back and take it easy. That is the typical American Dream, but it is certainly not God’s plan for Jesus’ followers. Yet, the vast majority of professing Christians choose this plan as their life’s goal. The contradiction with Scripture is real. Jesus’ life contradicts it at every step. The Savior invested His energy, His days, and heart into a small group of people. Jesus was the trainer of the twelve, the discipler and equipper who consciously poured His life into a small group. After His ascension, that well-trained group would continue His unfinished task. Leaders, life-changers are not born. Leaders are made. Life-changers are developed.

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