All throughout the twenty-four years of being a follower of Christ, I have collected powerful discipleship quotes.
Here are the following:
1. “Change the campus, change the world!”
The mother of all classic quotes. This was the very first ‘mantra’ ever launched way back in the 80’s by the master of quotes, Rice Broocks. It was so vivid because most of us were still university students at that time.
2. “Every nation in our generation.”
This is the most recent adage that Rice Broocks contributed. So simple yet profound that we named our worldwide movement after it. A powerful one – not only because of the name we got out of it, but also the mission of discipleship that is wrapped around it.
3. “A Bible and a passport.”
This was so real to us that a high percentage of our young people would want to go to the mission field. Most of us would apply for a passport, and be sure to be ready when he calls us to other nations. I don’t really know exactly who started this quote in the 80’s, but I could not think of anyone else but Pastor Steve Murrell.
4. “Why don’t you go home; take off your clothes in front of a mirror, then tell me if you are a boy of a girl?”
We were so much into helping others walk with God and become champions that we were all concerned about one another. So Pastor Steve asked me if I could help out this certain student named, Francis. While talking with him, I realized that there are fundamental issues I have to clarify before I proceed into this thing.
Ferdie: “Are you a boy or a girl?”
Francis: “I don’t knowww!”
Now, that was the start of a loooong journey to becoming a real man.
5. “Your Momma ain’t here!”
In one of our early exposure to Men’s Meetings, a young man in the Anson’s Arcade church venue was asked to share what’s in his heart to the expectant audience packed with disciples, young men full of testosterone. It was quite an inspiring exhortation that when he ended it with the quote mentioned above. Men…it was etched or shall I say, tattooed in our brains. To the middle-aged men today who were there during that time in the late 80’s; they could all point out to Jerry Santiago as the author of that phrase.
6. “If your son is acting like a monkey, it’s because he sees a bigger monkey in the house.”
I could sense that the short stint that the Lord allowed Omeng (Cervantes) and I in ministering to the Chinese youth in Dasmariñas Village, Makati was coming to an end. We were approaching the chapter on the Holy Spirit in the Purple Book that I knew some parents are a bit worried about, doctrinally. The spokesperson told me while surrounded by all the parents of these teenagers that his son was not really into it. “In fact,” he said, “ I have never even seen him read his Bible at home.” At the back of my head, I was thinking that this concerned father was treating Omeng and I as ‘hired’ teachers. Without hesitation, an aphorism just came out of my mouth!
7. “If you will not stop taking advantage of the girls here, I’m going to squeeze your b*@#s! You understand?”
Rico Ricafort was one of the youth pastors we had who made so much impact in many of our young people’s lives. He was a ‘shepherd’, indeed. A couple of teenagers were smooching inside a car in the parking lot before the youth gathering one Friday evening. When Rico found that out, he sat down with the boy and gave him a youth pastor’s straight-to-the-point advice.
Similarly, just a side note here, Joseph Carodan told one of the athletes regarding purity in the midst of fame in the sports world. “This (pointing to person’s heart) and this (pointing to the person’s crotch), belong to only one woman – your wife!”
8. “Every member a minister”
Denis Sy, the senior pastor of our San Juan congregation, once traveled with me to Bogota, Colombia back in 2002. We visited one of the larger Christian local churches in the world with a discipleship-based culture. We came back to Manila armed with a vision and a strategy wrapped into one.
9. “Discipleship is relationship”
This statement hit the nail on the head. The right to disciple is earned through a framework of relationship. Joey Bonifacio, not only coined the term; he even entitled one his blog sites with it.
10.“It’s all about discipleship, stupid”
I was caught surprise when Julius (Fabregas) and I discovered the philosophy of ministry of the Fellowship Church, Dallas, Texas. ‘It’s all about the weekend service, stupid.’ I approached one of the pastors and suggested the above-mentioned cliché. I liked it so much that I named my Word Press site, ‘It’s all about discipleship, Genius!’
+1 This has been Joseph Carodan’s version of the Great Commission to simplify it for the athletes to understand. Whether he is doing the offering, preaching a sermon, or teaching in our school; he would always use this to wrap it up. I think he has been using this like an exclamation point or a period in a sentence for five years!
“We’re gonna rock this nation!”
"It's All About Discipleship, Genius!" 
