My name is Mark Calhoun.  I’m so glad you stopped by.

Just so you know, Disciple Life began as a burden upon my own heart, for the lukewarm and powerless condition of the Evangelical church in America, and for so many professing Christians who think they are saved—because they ‘prayed a prayer’, ‘accepted Christ’ or ‘invited Jesus into their life’—but who don’t really follow Him.

I used to be one of those.  I thought I was saved for many years, long before I was truly born again by God’s Spirit.  Like many, I too had been led to pray the infamous ‘sinner’s prayer’ and ‘accepted Christ as my Savior.’ But my confession lacked true Spirit-wrought conviction of sin, and was void of any real repentance—the kind that God grants, and which results in life.

Consequently, I continued to live in sin and for myself for 16 years after that. Yes, I had invited Jesus into my life ... that is ... to be my Savior. But I didn't want Him to be Lord of my life. Consequently, my invitation amounted to nothing more than taking Him along for the ride, hoping He'd bless my plans, while providing me an escape from hell.

Throughout those same 16 years, many well-meaning pastors sought to reassure me that I was indeed saved—just because I had prayed ‘the sinner's prayer’ and ‘accepted Christ into my life’. Today I frightfully understand that had I died during that period of my life, I would have heard firsthand those terrifying words from Matthew 7:23: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!’”

But God graciously intervened in my life, in 1989, when I was awakened by the Holy Spirit to the awful truth about myself, and to the horrible reality of God’s wrath and the certainty of judgment that awaited me upon my death.  God encountered me in the beauty of His holiness, and the sense of His manifest presence literally floored me.  I cried and begged for His mercy for three long weeks.

The awful conviction of sin that I experienced, as a result of that encounter with God, radically changed the whole course of my life.  The things of this world lost all of their charm.  The dream of a prestigious position and of someday having a million dollars in the bank, along with the security such things provide, went out the window of my heart.  Earthly things all paled in comparison to the One Thing I now desired—Jesus.  He became my treasure in the field, for whom I gladly sold all to possess only Him.  He became my Pearl of Great Price, for which I forsook everything to own.  He became the One Thing needful, which I have chased after ever since.

Today there are many who profess salvation because they prayed a prayer and accepted Christ, but have not been regenerated or truly born again by the Holy Spirit.  More than likely, they have since been assured—by well-meaning but deceived men—that they are eternally secure.  They probably seldom pray or commune with God; are probably too ashamed to follow Jesus or speak about Him with friends or in public, and probably are in pursuit of the American Dream more than the heavenly vision.

The cost of following Jesus is just too high; too hard, and requires giving up too many things.  There’s too much at stake; too much to lose; reputations on the line; savings that would be threatened; careers that would be interrupted; relationships that would need to be abandoned.  It’s just too much to give up for the One who gave up everything for us—but who keeps calling: “Follow Me!”

Sadly, mainstream Evangelicalism has catered to such sentiments, by unwittingly lowering the Scriptural bar of what constitutes true salvation.  In too many cases and too many places it has been reduced from Jesus’ call to ‘repent or perish’ and ‘count the costs’ and to ‘Follow Me’, to a simple invitation to ‘try Jesus’  or ‘invite Jesus into your life’ or ‘accept Christ’—so not to offend anyone.  Salvation is offered in return for the weakest confession of sin and slightest acceptance of Jesus as Savior.

As a result, many who are on the broad way which leads to destruction (hell) believe they are on the narrow way that leads to life.  And unless God intervenes in their lives, as He graciously did in mine, they really will hear, first-hand, those dreaded words mentioned above: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me!’”

This is the main reason Disciple Life exists—to warn professing but worldly and self-seeking Christians of the danger they are in, in a loving attempt to bring about true spiritual awakening in their lives, and then to encourage and equip them to follow Jesus as His disciple. It should be the mission of every church in America. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."—Matthew 28:19-20.

Check us out!

With that said, if you are a first time visitor let me encourage you to take a few moments and get to know us by checking out the links that are positioned just to the left side of this article.  There you’ll learn what drives us, our burden, our purpose, and our beliefs.

Our aim is to encourage seekers to know and follow Jesus Christ, and to refresh those dear saints who suffer, because they already do.  My prayer is that your visit with us might be more than just a surfer’s happenstance.  I hope it will be, instead, an uplifting and life changing event.  I am honestly praying you might be encountered by the Living God, even right now, by way of what you read and experience here.

Before you leave, please be sure to sign up for our weekly e-devotional so we can stay in touch.  Please encourage us in return by signing our guestbook, and letting us know you were here and how we might pray for you.  If we can be of counsel to you please feel free to contact us. And, if you feel so compelled, we sure could use your prayer support.  I can also be reached through my facebook page.

God’s richest blessings to you!

Mark Calhoun
Founder, Disciple Life Ministries