पञ्चमहयजन(Maha Yagna): Five Daily Disciplines for the Devotee of Jesus

By mikaku

What follows is the Nepali version of the "Five Daily Disciplines for Devotees of Jesus"  (पाचवटा  प्रतिदिन् अनुशासन). For the one who has given their life to the Lord Sri Jesus, these yagnas are acts that can be done daily as an expression of devotion (bhakti) and faith (biswas).  I will include below the Nepali and English translation.

पञ्चमहयजन

[Five Great Sacrifices / Disciplines]

१. इश्वर यजन [Discipline of God-worship] 

तपाईंको प्रेम जीवनभन्दा श्रेष्ट छ, यसकारण मेरा ओठले तपाईंको महिमा गर्नेछन. (भजन ६३:३) [Your love is better than life, so my lips with glorify you. (Bhajan 63:3)]

२. शास्त्र यजन [Discipline of Scripture Study]

तपाईंका वचन मेरा गोड़ाका निम्ति बत्ती, र मेरो बाटोको निम्ति उज्यालो हो. (भजन ११९:१०५) [Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path (Bhajan 119:105)]

३. पितृ यजन

[Discipline of Honoring Parents and Elders]

आफ्ना बाबु र आमालाई आदर गर, कि जुन देश तिमीहरुलाई परमप्रभु आफ्ना परमेश्वरले दिनुहुन्छ, त्यहाँ तिमीहरुको आयु लामो होस्. (प्रस्थान २०:१२) [Honor your father and mother, so that you will live long in the country that the Lord your God gives you. (Prasthaan 20:12)]

४. मानुष्य यजन [Discipline of Service to other People]

समस्त व्यवस्था एउटी वचनमा पूरा भएको छ, "तैंले आफ्नो छिमेकीलाई आफूलाई झैँ प्रेम गर्." (गलाती ५:१४) [In one word the entire law is completed, "Love your neighbor just as yourself." (Galaatee 5:14)]

५. सृष्टि यजन [Discipline of Creation Care & Stewardship]

आफ्नो निम्ति पृथ्वीमा धन-सम्पत्ति नथुपर, जहाँ कीरा र खियाले ती नष्ट पार्छन् र जहाँ चोरहरुले गर फोरेर ती चोर्छन्. तर आफ्नो निम्ति स्वर्गमा धन-सम्पत्ति थुपार, जहाँ कीराले वा खियाले नष्ट पार्दैन, र चोरले पनि चोर्दैन. किनकि जहाँ तिम्रो धन हुन्छ, त्यहीँ तिम्रो मन पनि हुन्छ. (मत्ती ६:१९-२१) [Don't keep treasures for yourself on earth where insects and rust can destroy and where thieves can break into your house and steal.  But keep for yourselves treasure in heaven where insects and rust cannot destroy and where thieves do not steal.  For where you treasure is, there your heart will also be. (Mattee 6:19-21)]

At TriEak Parmeshwar Mandali, we have had a fruitful summer of study on these topics during our weekly satsangs.  I recommend utilizing these for the creation of storying sets.  That is, we have found many narratives from the Holy Scriptures that can be used to illustrate and teach the above disciplines.  

Quadragesima - A Reflection

The Church has now begun an annual season of reflection, confession, repentance, fasting and seeking the Lord Jesus.  Traditionally known as "Lent" or "Quadragesima", this period of 40 days leads up to the Holy Week, Good Friday and our annual commemoration of Christ's Resurrection.  You may not be observing Lent in a traditional way, but I hope that you are doing something during this time that the Spirit of God can use to draw you closer to Himself.  I also hope you will take a moment to enjoy Adam Young's lovely little video called 40 to set you in the mood.

Discipleship Triangles for Yeshu Bhaktas

Recently, I've been working on adapting the diagram that I showed you last week for use in thinking through discipleship issues, spiritual disciplines, and the like -- especially with regards to South Asian Christ-followers.  Here is what I've come up with.  Would welcome your feedback:

Instructions for teaching about the Discipleship Diagram:

This diagram is intended to help us teach several things:

1.      It provides us with a list of key spiritual disciplines and arranges the disciplines into three categories.  This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list of disciplines, but does cover the basic ones that I teach.

2.      It provides English and Nepali (Sanskrit) terms for many concepts that are very important for teaching about discipleship.

3.      It helps us to get some idea of how the spiritual disciplines are related to other vital areas of our spiritual life. And, importantly, depicts discipleship in a non-linear way rather than a typical, Western step-by-step manner.

Part A: Truth is the Core

Truth is at the center of our diagram because it is at the center of all things.  The difference between a Christ-follower and everyone else begins with their relationship to Truth.  Christ-followers are those who have heard, believe, and obey Truth (Rom. 2:8, Eph. 1:13, 1Pt. 1:22).  Others are ignorant of the truth, reject it, and even oppose and suppress it (Rom. 1:18, Eph. 4:18, 2 Tim. 3:8).  But the Bible says that freedom (Jn. 8:32), sanctification (Jn. 17:17), renewal (Rom. 12:2), and salvation (1 Tim. 2:4) all come from Truth.  Thus, Truth should be a central concern for the Christ-follower and the one who is trying to disciple others.  Also, since the Bible is God’s revelation of Truth, it must play a central role in all discipleship (2 Tim. 2:15). Disciple-makers must understand their task as essentially about the impartation of truth to others.

Part B: TriEak Parmeshwar

The Bible reveals that Truth is not a WHAT but a WHO. God is truth and all truth flows from Him.  He is the God of Truth (Isa. 65:16) who cannot lie (Heb. 6:18).  His Son, Jesus, said, “I am the Truth (Jn. 14:6).  The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” who will guide us into “all truth” (Jn. 16:13).  Clearly, our relationship to Truth is the same thing as our relationship to God.  In fact the most foundational Truth is that God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is TriEak Parmeshwar, the 3-in-1 God.  God is Truth and thus God is at the center of our discipleship. Thus, we may say that the disciple-maker's efforts to impart truth and her efforts to introduce someone to God are one and the same.

Part C: Regeneration

The beginning of our relationship with God is called regeneration.  This is what Jesus was talking about when he said that we must be “born again” (Jn. 3)  When this happens, our old, sinful, darkened, and shameful life passes away.  Everything becomes new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  Our sin and shame is taken away.  Satan and all evil spirits are rendered powerless against us. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. New spiritual and eternal life begins.

Key elements of regeneration from discipleship perspective include experience, sacrifice, and surrender.  Experience (anubhav) refers to a person encountering God as living and real.  Prayers are answered, God’s power is displayed through signs and wonders, God communicates through dreams and visions, the love of God is manifest in Christ-followers who serve and bless others. This also refers to the experience of regeneration – the result of the Holy Spirit indwelling a person.  Sacrifice (balidan) refers especially to the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension.  A person experiencing God as living and real must be presented with the message of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished and promised.  Surrender (sharaana) is something of a culminating piece of regeneration.  The person God is regenerating will finally give their lives to Him in faith.  The Nepal/Sanskrit word we are using her is “sharaana” which literally means to “take shelter in”.  Surrendering to God through Christ means that a person runs into the shelter of Jesus’.  The disciple-maker must carefully consider the one(s) she is discipling. Are experiencing God as living and real? (not the same as believing God exists -- one can be a theist and ignore God, but cannot both experience and ignore God).  Are they being told the story of Christ?  Are they being meaningfully called to enter the shelter of Jesus?

Parts D & E: Discipleship Roots and Spiritual Disciplines

The regenerate person begins to experience transformation into Christ-likeness.  There is a sense in which this can be automatic.  Often the experience of regeneration will overflow in a zealous pursuit of God through worship, prayer, or other disciplines.  However, over the long-run of a Christ-follower’s life, this transformation process must be intentionally nurtured.  This may be called discipleship because it refers to the process of following Jesus as a teacher we desire to imitate (Luke 6:40). 

There are three roots for the discipleship of Christ-followers.  The first root, devotion (bhakti), is rooted in the soil of an individual’s personal relationship with God.  Growing from this root are Prayer (prarthana), Bible Reading / Study (shastra), Worship (puja), Meditation (dhyana), Fasting / Penance (uposhya), Confession (swikar), and Joy (anandena).  The second root of discipleship is spiritual fellowship (satsang).  The soil for this root is the relationship Christ-followers share together before God.  Springing forth from this are fellowship (sangati), corporate worship (upasana), the teaching ministry (shiksha), sacramental life (samskara), Body-connections (sharir-sambandha), accountability (sahadharma), giving (daana), and joy (anandena).  The final root is service (seva) which grows from the soil of Christ-followers who are engaged together with a world that needs the Truth.  From this root grows disciplines of service (seva), giving (daan), proclaiming the message of Christ (prachar), missions (prerit), intercession (antar-binti), and joy (aanandena).


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That's it. Again, would love your feedback and suggestions.  This is in the initial stages now and I'm sure will undergo many revisions.

A Chronological Survey of the Whole Biblical Narrative: Reading Plan for New Disciples

 The following is a reading plan that I developed for some newer disciples / followers of Jesus to help them get a good picture of what is going on in Scripture from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.  Our English Bibles do not follow a clear chronological order (particularly in the Old Testament), so many people who read the Bible straight through aren’t able to, say, summarize the Biblical narrative as a whole.  This is a bit of a problem as I believe that developing a healthy understanding of the Bible’s story (and my/your place in it) is an essential component of discipleship. 

     I post this here because I want you to be able to make use of it if you find it helpful in your personal discipleship or in your relationships with others.  You’ll notice that the plan focuses mostly on narrative while giving only a brief sampling of other genres.  In most cases, I’ve also provided a very brief description of the content as a way to introduce someone to the material.  You will likely want to make adjustments here and there in order to fit this plan to your disciple-making context. 

A Chronological Survey of the Whole Biblical Narrative       

Order	Name of Book	Chapters to Read
1.	Genesis	1-50
2.	Exodus	1-40
3.	Leviticus	This is a law book that emphasizes that the Israelites were to be a holy people.  You may want to skim through some of this.  To get a taste of what’s going on in the book read: 8-10, 18, 20, 22-24, 26.  Some of the details here will help you understand what is going on later in the Bible.
4.	Numbers	This book contains census information and laws with some stories here and there.  To get a good picture of this book, read:  6, 9-17, 20-25, 27, 30-36.
5.	Deuteronomy	The book is essentially several sermons preached by Moses to the Israelites at the end of his life.  It is called “the second reading of the Law” because Moses goes over all the material in Leviticus again since a new generation who has never heard it has arisen.  I suggest reading: 1-13, 16-17, 20, 26-34.
6.	Joshua	1-11, 14, 22-24 (The other chapters basically describe how the land was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel.)
7.	Judges	1-21
8.	Ruth	1-4
9.	1 Samuel	1-31
10.	2 Samuel	1-24
11.	1 Kings	1-22
12.	2 Kings	1-25
13.	1 & 2 Chronicles	You can skim through both these books. They cover the same information as in 1&2 Kings.  If there are particular people—for example, David—that you are interested in, you can read those parts more thoroughly and thus get a few more details that you didn’t get before.
14.	Daniel	At the end of 2 Kings (and 2 Chronicles) the people of Israel enter the period of their history known as the Exile.  The book following 2 Chronicles (Ezra), however, picks up their story after the Exile.  To get an idea of what life was like during the Exile you’ll want to read chapters 1-12 of Daniel first.
15.	Ezra	1-10 (This book picks up the story after the Israelites return from exile.)
16.	Nehemiah	1-13 (This book continues the story after the Israelites return from exile.)
17.	Esther	1-10 (Gives some information about the Jews who did not return to the promised land after the Exile.)
Much more remains in the Old Testament that you have not read. Really famous books such as Psalms, Proverbs, and Jonah remain as well as many other that are very important.  I would suggest, however, moving on to the New Testament at this point.  Between the end of Nehemiah and the beginning of the New Testament (Matthew) is a gap of about 350-400 years that the Bible says little about.  Historically, we know that the Persians (who ruled the world during the period described in Ezra and Nehemiah) were soon defeated by the Alexander the Great and the Greeks.  Sometime later, the Romans became the dominating world power.  At the beginning of the New Testament period, Rome was in control of all the known world including the regions of Judea and Galilee where Jesus spent most of his earthly life.
18.	Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John	These books, known as the four “Gospels” all describe the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus.  They are four different people giving different perspectives (think of reading four different biographies about the same person).  Reading them all will help you to develop a really good picture of Jesus’ life.
19.	Acts	1-28 tell the story of the first followers of Jesus Christ after his ascension and how God began to accomplish his global mission of redemption through them.
Upon completing Acts, I would encourage a person to review the whole Biblical narrative with a mentor or spiritual leader/director*.  Can they summarize the essential elements of the Bible’s story?  If so, then a good next step would be for them to go back into the Old Testament and begin reading the books they skipped or skimmed. Make sure they have access to Biblical tools that will allow them to place whatever book they are reading into the larger Biblical narrative.  That is, they need to be able to find out that Haggai was written to the Jews after the Exile before they can begin to really appreciate the contents of the book (many English Bibles have basic introductions that will work fine, but you shouldn’t assume that non-English translations have these—in any case, here is a concise set of introductions that you can point people to). [* I have found a film called The Hope to be quite a good resource for helping disciples summarize the Bible’s story.  I don’t like everything in the movie (they make a few theological leaps that I wouldn’t make), but I love the concept and think the execution isn’t bad.  What is more, the film is available in a variety of languages from their website.]

Okay, that’s it.  I hope you find this reading plan helpful.  If you have any comments or questions, I’d be happy to hear them.  You can download a free PDF version of this reading plan by clicking here.