Discipling By Jesus

About Discipling By Jesus

The only real answer is Jesus. The only real problem is Sin. The only real work is the Cross. In the end, we only have Him. Discipling by Jesus (DBJ) is a group "co-devotional" practice for encountering the crucified Christ. By working through His Word & Spirit, Body & Blood we explore greater depths of the Father’s love as we surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Publisher

Ernest Prabhakar, Robby Butler

Category

education · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 May 2020

Latest episode

11 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

148 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Sept 2026

   The Jagged Edge of Trust

   What does it mean to trust God with your whole heart when you do not know how to love the people closest to you? Ernest Prabhakar and Robby Butler approach the closing chapters of Turtle Island through that question, reflecting on a separate conversation with author Erik Fish and on the unfinished work of discipleship in their own homes. Robby wonders whether resting in God can become passivity. He describes awkward family conversations, the influence of childhood wounds, and his longing to love without trying to manage everyone’s reactions. Ernest hears an invitation to entrust the heart itself to God—and to share its unresolved pain without demanding that someone else fix it. Erik’s accounts of presence at Burning Man become a starting point for exploring what it costs to enter another person’s world. Ernest proposes different ways of understanding incarnation, moving from cultural adaptation toward the vulnerability of the manger, Gethsemane, and the cross. Robby returns to the love that makes listening possible, and to a daily practice of naming fear, confessing the lie beneath it, and asking God what he wants him to know. Their conversation does not resolve every difference. Instead, they work toward a distinction between grasping for reassurance and admitting need with open hands. From the Psalms to the Council of Jerusalem, they ask whether community can hold both shared confidence and questions that remain painfully unfinished. The season closes with gratitude, prayer, and room for another conversation. In this episode Trusting God, waiting for healing, and the concern about passivity Childhood wounds, family friction, and learning to listen with love Reflections on Erik Fish, Burning Man, and culturally attentive presence Incarnation, vulnerability, and the relationships that support them Daily practices of naming fear, confession, and listening to God Sharing unresolved pain without blame or demands for reassurance The Psalms, Gethsemane, and the Council of Jerusalem as images of trust amid uncertainty Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of childhood and religious trauma, family conflict, divorce, emotional distress, and crucifixion, with a biblical reference to wishing for death. The speakers explore challenging personal theological interpretations of suffering and discipleship. A personal book-club conversation about Turtle Island by Erik Fish; not affiliated with the author or publisher.

2. 

   8 Sept 2026

   Letting Go Without Letting Go of Each Other

   What if the fruit of discipleship depends on our willingness to release the very things we have worked to grow? Chapters 14–16 of Erik Fish’s Turtle Island bring Ernest Prabhakar and Robby Butler back to the questions left open in chapter 13—with a banana plant, a bitter cup, and an unexpected coffee metaphor along the way. Robby begins with a conversation with a neighborhood salesperson that became an invitation to listen for the voice of love. Ernest appreciates the book’s stories of relational outreach and its willingness to hold hope for healing alongside the heartbreak of unanswered prayer. The image of a banana plant giving way to new shoots offers another possibility: perhaps faithful growth includes leaving something behind that can nourish what comes next. That possibility becomes personal. Ernest wrestles with stewarding an insight without requiring others to validate it. Robby reflects on inviting connection within his family, attending to irritation, and learning how resolved conflict might deepen a relationship. Together they explore holding convictions and boundaries while remaining curious, present, and willing to grieve the ways they have hurt one another. The larger question remains: what happens when a relational movement grows prosperous, influential, and responsible for the society around it? From everyday discernment to house churches in Thailand and the history of monasticism, they ask how discipleship might mature without demanding a perfect system—and how to relinquish control while staying in relationship. In this episode Opening spiritual conversations through invitation and shared experience Healing, unanswered prayer, and living with hope and heartbreak Banana plants, new shoots, and what remains after a season ends The bitter cup of holding convictions without compelling agreement Family tensions, curiosity, grief, and repairing relationships Training, spiritual maturity, and openness to the Spirit beyond familiar patterns Movement growth, prosperity, and the challenge of becoming a dominant culture Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of family conflict, emotional distress, trauma, healing and unanswered prayer, crucifixion, religious persecution, and a brief reference to domestic violence. An extended coffee metaphor includes references to animal digestion and excrement. A personal book-club conversation about Turtle Island by Erik Fish; not affiliated with the author or publisher.

3. 

   5 Sept 2026

   Can Discipleship Outgrow the Living Room?

   When a living-room gathering grows into a church with a stage and a professional pastor, what has been gained—and what has been lost? Chapter 13 of Turtle Island prompts Ernest Prabhakar and Robby Butler to pause the chapter-by-chapter pace and sit with that question. Ernest admires the relational discipleship in Erik Fish’s stories, but finds himself troubled by the transition from inspiring testimony to instructions, theological boundaries, and lasting structures. If people encounter Jesus, where can they go to grow as disciples? And how can those communities endure across distance, time, and generations without accumulating the assets and control they hoped to avoid? Robby pushes back, pointing to multiplication, shared life, and trust in Jesus as possibilities that may not resemble a durable church network. Their disagreement becomes personal as well as practical: Ernest names the emotional cost of trying to solve a problem within a frame that feels inadequate, while Robby reflects on empathy and validating another person’s experience. The conversation stays open. From the temple courts in Acts to house churches, borrowed infrastructure, and a tentative proposal for digital continuity and more disposable physical structures, they ask what evidence would help them understand each other—and what faithful discipleship might look like beyond the models they already know. In this episode Chapter 13’s movement from living-room community to professionalized ministry Prayer, going, gathering, and ongoing disciple-making The tension between testimony, theological instruction, and authority Emotional triggers, problem framing, and making room for empathy Sustainable gathering places and the resources that support them Multiplication, institutional growth, and competing definitions of success Digital tools and communities designed to pass on their good without preserving every structure Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of trauma, emotional distress, family tensions, biblical violence, religious authority, and persecution, with a brief reference to peyote ceremonies. A personal book-club conversation about Turtle Island by Erik Fish; not affiliated with the author or publisher.

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