"Therefore go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19).

All Christians are called to be disciple makers. But exactly how do we make disciples?

In recent years, Gallup researchers have reviewed decades of data on the topic of followers. Why does a person follow the most important leader in his or her life? Gallup's research uncovered three universal needs: trust, compassion, and hope.

1. Trust

Years ago, a pastor friend told me of his congregation's relocation. They had outgrown their facilities, could not expand where they were, and did need to move. One leading member also thought God had told him their new location. The pastor knew that location would involve enormous struggle and expense, but because of that one member's passion and influence, the church moved there.

"Why me, O Lord?"

This prayer of lament will slip through the lips of one out of every 100 Americans above the age of 65 years as they face Parkinson's disease. That number will jump to five by age 85. A Parkinson's disease diagnosis spirits the depth of this persistent anguish.

One day while riding in the car with my teenage daughter, I was trying to listen to a football game on the radio. The signal kept fading in and out, and the announcers' voices were covered with unpleasant static. She finally asked, "Dad, how can you understand what is going on with all the static? Why don't you just change the station?"

Sometimes in the midst of our busy days, it is difficult to hear God's voice.

Recently* I was in a service where new members were received into the fellowship of a local congregation. It was a wonderful reminder of something that is all too easy to forget, especially in this age of polarizing rhetoric, labeling, and pigeon-holing commentary. I pray that the insightful words in the covenant of church membership, written so carefully by our early leaders, was not lost on those new members standing before the altar.

The ritual begins in a familiar way:

At certain points on our life’s journey, we make unforgettable pauses to prepare ourselves for the succeeding stretches. One of the names we use to qualify those pauses is “orientation,” such as — life orientation, school orientation, professional orientation, and so on. They become points of reference that we frequently turn back to as we review other events, evaluate progress, consider change, make projections, or simply take the pleasure of reminiscing about companies, places, achievements, and learned lessons.