This study describes the lives of the twelve disciples called by Jesus Christ for training, repentance, and transformation into effective and spirit-filled apostles. They were charged with establishing the Church of Jesus Christ in the hostile world of Jewish, Greek, Roman, and many other groups of intense unbelievers.
They were laymen, untrained in deep Jewish doctrine but practiced as businessmen and filled with zeal for the Jewish Messiah to return. They wanted to be a part of his new kingdom and expected major roles in ruling Israel. They became the first of many converts to see that the Jews had missed the heart of God's message and the new message was that they would die to their own minds, wills, and emotional structures and replace it with the will of their Father through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus taught them for more than ten thousand hours of practical ministry, teaching, and supernatural endowment during their time together. This is considerably more hours than it takes to achieve a doctorate in theology today. In this time, they were still incapable of standing up to the Jewish authorities, until endued with power from on high at Pentecost. These secrets, which the apostles found in their ministries, will help the disciple who is serious about transforming his or her life and knowledge of the Gospel into effective ministry.
