Tomorrow I’m going to put out my thoughts on this and rant a bit. But today I just want you to chew on this:
Gatherings should be meetings that promote spiritual development, not just a time to inspire Christians.
Category Archives: disciple making
leaking roof as window to life
Karl Vaters has posted some wisdom for “small church pastors” (kinda his target) than has broad applications to life… CLICK HERE, read, think, pray and apply. What has become invisible to you?
Decisions
Just over 35 years ago I made a decision to marry the woman who would become my wife.
Each year about this time when I think back, I remember all the officials warning us that cross-cultural marriages fail more than they succeed. I’m convinced it was less hard for us than for those couples who don’t know The Lord. See, by the grace of God, before our first anniversary, we had heard and responded to the gospel of Jesus.
It is His grace that has seen us through the hard times as well as the good. We decided to marry and then, slowly, as we grew together and in Him, we decided to have the gospel influence us each day. It is about deciding to do the things that make marriage last.
I read once that stronger marriages are ones that the couple uses pet names (honey, sweetie and yobo).
I read in another place where stronger marriages find the couple going to bed at the same time.
I know how important prayer together is, and I also know how hard that can be.
As I do premarital teaching prior to a wedding, I emphasize commitment. Deciding to be there: when the seas are smooth and when they are rough, to never give up, to seek Godly counsel and press on together, especially when you don’t feel like it. It’s not about feelings, it’s about decisions.
Anna, my Yobo, has never given up on me. She has pushed me to be a better human and tolerated me when I am at my stupidest and most selfish (far too often). She has pushed me onward, God has used her in my life in such incredible ways, I cannot imagine where I would be without her.
We have made decisions to, in God’s strength, empowered by his Spirit, keep on together, for 35 years.
Thanks be to God for my Sweet Anna.
Filed under being a disciple, disciple making
Seeking depth
Like the Pacific Ocean is a broad and deep body of water, the body of Christ is a broad and deep body of followers of Jesus,
There are no individual drops in the ocean except when the surface wind and tide may cause drops to be thrown onto a passing ship or onto a rock or shore line of rock or sand. That which is deep or not on the edge is less susceptible to separation.
To seek depth by abiding in Jesus brings well being. Be deep. Be in the midst. Don’t risk being alone on the fringe, in the shallow.
This means abiding in Him and being in Christian community.
being in denial can be like dwelling in evil
We must recognize the truth about our life, especially that our lives are more messed up that we will admit to those we love or, even, to ourselves.
Miroslav Volf, in Exculsion and Embrace tells us that “evil is capable not only of creating an illusion of well-being, but of shaping reality in such a way that the lie about “well-being” appears as playing verity. Much of the power of evil lies in the perverse truth that it tells about the warped well-being it creates.” (p. 89)
Let’s tell ourselves the truth about our life. Until we do we live a lie and allow evil to dominate us. We are broken. We need Christ. Let’s admit it and respond to him and receive his mercy.
Briggs on rest
Here’s another rest post, this from Alan Briggs in CO. Read HERE
kingdom travelin' 