Todd Engstrom

Category: discipleship

  • When Life Seems Strange

    Leaving The Austin Stone for the Greater Austin Mission Society has felt uncertain, disorienting, and foreign, and I kept telling myself life should not feel this way. But Scripture calls us strangers and exiles on the earth, and the discomfort may not be a sign of failure. It may be the beginning of growth.

  • Jesus Has All Authority—Stop “Releasing” People to Do Ministry

    If you are in Christ, you have been commissioned, and you do not need a second opinion or a stamp of approval to make disciples. A friend recently told me he wanted to do that in his home but was not sure he had permission. Elders carry real authority, but it is mediated, not ultimate,…

  • Extra Ordinary Prayer

    Praying with groups across Austin these last weeks, I have found embers of the Spirit’s presence but not yet a fire. Extraordinary prayer is just extra ordinary, so whatever is ordinary for you, add something extra. It is not a destination, it is a direction.

  • Lost and Led: Learning to Trust Jesus in the Unknown

    Even the best human guide will eventually fail us, or give good counsel at the wrong time. I learned that standing lost in the lobby of my daughter’s dance competition, the only dude in a sea of ladies. Jesus is the one guide who is always leading, and even when He seems silent, He is…

  • Building a Disciple-Making Culture

    This post was originally published at the SEND Network website here. Building a Disciple-Making Culture Many people much smarter than me have wrestled with the question “what is culture?”  At the heart of it though, culture is composed of beliefs, values and practices shared by a group of people.  Building a disciple-making culture in the…

  • The Essentials of Disciple Making

    The following article was originally posted on the SEND Network site here. I am ecstatic that much of the conversation in church planting and church leadership has been moving towards the topic of discipleship. Books are being written, conferences are being themed and leaders are calling the church to consider the core mission of the…

  • Church Discipline – FAQ

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…

  • The Outcome of Church Discipline

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…

  • The Process of Church Discipline

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…

  • The Heart Behind Church Discipline

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…

  • The Theology of Church Discipline

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…

  • A Primer on Church Discipline

    Much of what I have written here in the past focuses on the formative work of discipline in the church – discipleship.  Within Scripture, however, we also find another form of corrective discipline, commonly called “church discipline”.  This series forms the basics for a primer I wrote for The Austin Stone to understand church discipline.…