Coach’s New Book Teaches Christians to 'Believe Like Jesus'

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A United Methodist Insight Special | Nov. 13, 2024

Want to work a miracle? Then learn to believe like Jesus, says the Rev. Rebekah Simon-Peter.

A United Methodist clergywoman who heads an eponymous ministry consulting firm, Rev. Simon-Peter is known for her program Creating a Culture of Renewal®. Over the past 18 years, CCR has revived churches through group coaching for pastors and laypeople to discern the specific ministries needed by their communities and to pursue them with passion.

Yet the author of "Dream Like Jesus" and "Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World," says she long has felt an urge to go deeper into what made Jesus such a powerful force for enacting God's realm on earth.

The author said the book's publication on Nov. 4 was timed so that readers could use it as a study from Thanksgiving through Epiphany (Jan. 6), or for Lent 2025.

"We're in this really odd yet pivotal time, with people using Jesus' name to promote white Christian nationalism, to promote white supremacy," said Rev. Simon-Peter. "I wanted to encourage people to tap into deeper resources in the Bible. There's so much more empowerment and agency in the Bible."

After years of studying the gospels and running her ideas past her CCR network, Rev. Simon-Peter said she came to what might seem a radical conclusion: Jesus believed.

"I've long been aware that the kind of faith we're called to practice in the church isn't as deep as Jesus had," she told United Methodist Insight in a Nov. 4 online interview.

"The faith we teach through church embraces discipleship, but it stops there," she said. "We ask people to be apostles, but we only equip them with discipleship faith. What we've been missing are the theological language and faith tools to send forth apostles. It's a bottleneck in the church, and not just the United Methodist Church."

Rev. Simon-Peter's idea may seem heretical to those Christians who claim the age of apostles ended when the last of Jesus' original 12 disciples died. She confronts that critique early in "Believe Like Jesus," sharing personal experiences in which she has seen or participated in miracles in contemporary situations.

"My faith journey has taken me from church basements to sanctuaries to pulpits," she said. "I've witnessed so many miracles in church basements in recovery meetings. I figured that miracles also had to be present among church goers who believe in Jesus"

The key to becoming modern-day miracle workers, in Rev. Simon-Peter's view, is to develop the kind of "miracle mindset" that Jesus accessed through his own faith. The idea of a "miracle mindset" is one of the five core beliefs of Jesus that the author identified when researching her book. She cites them in the book as:

  1. Partnership with God: Jesus believes that he and the Father are one.
  2. Prayer Has Power: Jesus believes that his prayers have power.
  3. Miracle Mindset: Jesus believes the miraculous is possible because he is one with God and his prayers have power.
  4. Life Has Purpose: Jesus believes his life has a compelling purpose, and his larger purpose is to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
  5. Resurrection is Real: Jesus believes that resurrection is real.

One of her early reviewers said the book's subtitle, "Rising from Belief in Jesus to the faith of Jesus," changed her faith view.

"She said she was amazed at the difference that one little preposition made," said the author.

Rev. Simon-Peter told Insight she came to her conclusions after thoroughly reading and re-reading" the "miracle stories" in the gospels.

"Shifting from faith in Jesus to the faith of Jesus, from disciple to apostle, is not as much about what you do as what you believe," the author said. "Think of each of these beliefs as a transforming principle that will take you deeper into your soul, higher into consciousness, and as a step toward experiencing your inner divinity. Tapping into your inner divinity like this will, in turn, fuel your rise from disciple to apostle."

Rev. Simon-Peter acknowledged that the kind of action she describes in "Believe Like Jesus" can be intimidating to Christians for whom following Jesus is more comfortable than stepping into the risk-taking behaviors of apostles.

"To be an ambassador is to be someone who can act on behalf of Jesus, becoming a co-creator of God's kingdom," said Rev. Simon-Peter.

In other words, moving from discipleship to apostleship is nothing less than a spiritual transformation – something the author of "Believe Like Jesus" thinks is a key element lacking into today's churches.

"Spiritual transformation isn't a one-time thing," said Rev. Simon-Peter. "It's an ongoing process of deepening belief and renewal."

As a coach and church consultant, Rev. Simon-Peter said she has written many articles and books aimed at church leaders, but "Believe Like Jesus" is meant for "anybody and everybody who sees themselves as friend of Jesus, but needs to find a way that's empowering, not disempowering."

Rev. Simon-Peter said she also perceives that greater spiritual transformation is what those who call themselves "spiritual but not religious" are seeking.

"Spiritual-but-not-religious folks wanted more miracles, more faith, more connectivity, more trust for their journey," she said. "This book is designed to immerse somebody to be a really spiritual follower of Jesus, to be a friend of Jesus, to access his spiritual depth, to see oneself in the unity of God."

Rev. Simon-Peter cautioned "Believe Like Jesus" readers to "be prepared to have your faith challenged, to be provoked, to really wrestle and see yourself in a new light, to let your mindset shift." The author said she intends her book to give readers "enough inner sense of self to trust that God thinks we're worthy partners."

"Believe Like Jesus: Rising from Faith in Jesus to the Faith of Jesus" is available through the author's website, Cokesbury and Amazon, where it's currently the top new release title in Christian books.

Cynthia B. Astle is Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 as a media channel of news and views by and for marginalized and under-served United Methodists. To reproduce this article elsewhere, please email for permission.