Choco De Jesús - Love Them Anyway: Finding Hope in a Divided World Gone Crazy

THIS BOOK IS designed for individual study, small groups, and classes. The best way to absorb and apply these principles is for each person to individually study and answer the questions at the end of each chapter and then discuss them in either a class or a group environment.

Each chapters questions are designed to promote reflection, application, and discussion. Be sure to order enough copies of Love Them Anyway for each person to have one. For couples, encourage both to have their own book so they can record their individual reflections.

Heres a recommended schedule for a small group or class:

Introduce the material. As a group leader, share your hopes for the group, and provide books for each person. Encourage people to read the assigned chapter each week and answer the questions.

Each week, introduce the topic for the week and share a story of how God has used Pastor Chocos principles in your life. In small groups, lead people through a discussion of the questions at the end of the chapter. In classes, teach the principles in each chapter, use personal illustrations, and invite discussion.

Ask people in the group to share their responses to the questions that meant the most to them that week. Make sure you personalize the principles and applications. At least once in each group meeting, add your own story to illustrate a particular point.

Make the Scriptures come alive. Far too often, we read the Bible like its a phone book, with little or no emotion. Paint vivid pictures for people. Provide insights about the context of peoples encounters with God, and help those in your class or group sense the emotions of specific people in each scene.

The questions at the end of each chapter and your encouragement to group members to be authentic will help your group take big steps to apply the principles theyre learning. Share how you are applying the principles in particular chapters each week, and encourage the members of your group to take steps of growth too.

If you have led groups for a few years, you already understand the importance of using open questions to stimulate discussion. Three types of questions are limiting, leading, and open. Many of the questions at the end of each lesson are open questions.

• Limiting questions focus on an obvious answer, such as, What does Jesus call Himself in John 10:11? They dont stimulate reflection or discussion. If you want to use questions like these, follow them with thought-provoking open questions.
• Leading questions require the listener to guess what the leader has in mind, such as, Why did Jesus use the metaphor of a shepherd in John 10? (He was probably alluding to a passage in Ezekiel, but many people dont know that.) The teacher who asks a leading question has a definite answer in mind. Instead of asking this kind of question, though, you should just teach the point and perhaps ask an open question about the point you have made.
• Open questions usually dont have right or wrong answers. They stimulate thinking and discussion, and they are far less threatening because the person answering doesnt risk ridicule for being wrong. These questions often begin with Why do you think... ? or What are some reasons that... ? or How would you have felt in that situation?

As you prepare to teach this material in a group or class, consider these steps:

1. Carefully and thoughtfully read the book. Make notes, highlight key sections, quotes, or stories, and complete the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. This will familiarize you with the entire scope of the content.
2. As you prepare for each weeks class or group, read the corresponding chapter again and make additional notes.
3. Tailor the amount of content to the time allotted. Encourage people to study the passages, and invite them to share what theyve learned.
4. Add your own stories to personalize the message and add impact.
5. Before and during your preparation, ask God to give you wisdom, clarity, and power. Trust Him to use your group to change peoples lives.
6. Remind your class that they will get far more out of the group if they read the chapter and complete the discussion questions each week.

WIDELY KNOWN AS Pastor Choco, Wilfredo De Jess is the founding pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Chicago. Under Pastor Chocos leadership, New Life Covenant became the largest Hispanic church in the Assemblies of God Fellowship. Today De Jess serves in the Assemblies of God National Office as the general treasurer.

De Jess was born and raised in Chicagos Humboldt Park community. When he was fourteen years old, he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior at a small Pentecostal Spanish-speaking church in the community. From that moment, his life was forever transformed.

He remained in that same little church for over twenty-three years before he was appointed senior pastor in July 2000 and the name of the church was changed to New Life Covenant Church. Since then, the church has grown from a weekly attendance of 120 to 17,000 globally through church plants and more than seventy-five ministries, many of which reach out to serve the most disenfranchisedthe brokenhearted, poor, homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts, and gang members.

De Jess has been instrumental in the development of several community-based programs such as the Chicago Masters Commission, an intensive discipleship program for college-age students, and the Chicago Dream Center, which offers various programs and services to assist individuals and families to move toward self-sufficiency and to overcome poverty and its ill effects.

De Jess vision is simple: to be a church for the hurting that reaches people for Jesus.

In 2012 De Jess released his first book, Amazing Faith, in which he shares his life story and this key message: No one is beyond the transforming power of Gods love. When we let Him, God fills our hearts with His love, strength, and purpose, and we become complete. And in 2014 In the Gapa book that describes what we can learn from the courage of nine heroes of the faith in the Scriptureswas published.

In April 2013 De Jess was named one of Time magazines one hundred most influential people in the world and recognized for his leadership and influence with evangelical and Latino audiences. He wants others to understand that his accomplishments are based on a life dedicated to God and Gods purposes. In other words, whatever the accomplishment, to God be the glory! He has written two other books, Stay the Bourse and Move Into More.

De Jess is a sought-after speaker at various church events, leadership conferences, and assemblies throughout the nation and abroad. He resides in Springfield, Missouri, with his wife, Elizabeth. They have three children, Alexandria, Yesenia, and Wilfredo Jr.; two sons-in-law, Anthony Gomez and Anders Hagstrom; one daughter-in-law, Eden De Jess; and four pretty-amazing grandchildren, Charlie, Reagan, James, and Donovan.

WHEN I BEGAN to write the manuscript for this book, our country was suffering from racial division and political polarization. That was before the calendar turned to 2020. I had no idea a pandemic was right around the corner, no one could foresee the widespread protests over police shootings of black people, and I certainly didnt anticipate the rage over our presidential election!