Apprentice 2 Jesus

Discipleship/Spiritual Formation

  • What Sort of People Are We?

    If there is one thing I try to maintain in communicating the gospel, it’s this: following Christ isn’t for the lazy. We keep making it too “easy” to think about being a part of a church, or being a “Christian,” but we aren’t doing people any good in making Jesus a friend to “hang out”… Read more

  • You are a model

    And so am I. Isn’t that good news? When do I get my photo shoot? While we may not have “model looks,” we do have a higher calling. Our high calling isn’t about making the cover of a magazine. Our high calling is to live out the Kingdom in front of others so they can… Read more

  • The Practice of Silence

    This weekend I am leading some brave souls in my church in a silent retreat. Here are some thoughts from Dallas Willard as we prepare for the weekend: Silence is a crucial spiritual discipline for American Christians today. Contemporary life also makes it one of the most difficult to practice. Silence is, in every time… Read more

  • What We Love

    “What we love we shall grow to resemble.” Bernard of Clairvaux — Marlena Graves (@MarlenaGraves) February 27, 2013   Read more

  • The Anchor of Our Soul

    19       We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (Heb. 6:19, NIV) The call of Hebrews is the call to press on. It is the call to grow up. We need a maturity in our faith that moves us beyond the foundation… Read more

  • Seething

    13 The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?” “I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.” (Jer. 1:13, NIV) One of my favorite preachers in Bible college was David Owen. He was a Welsh preacher on the faculty and his accent just added… Read more

  • Obedience

    11 Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name. (Ps. 86:11, CEB) Psalm 86 is more like a Psalm of complaint. Some translations give it a nice feel. The Common English Bible and NET Bible bring out more of the “complaint.” “Listen O… Read more

  • Observe

    Reminder: Why the one-word titles?  18 As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” (Matt. 4:18-19, CEB) One of the lost skills in… Read more

  • CAN We Live Differently?

    In light of the violence of this world, I offered some thoughts yesterday regarding the fact we don’t need to live this way. There is a way that is different. But the question to us, as believers, is this: CAN we? Do we WANT to? I see as many believers posting things about “shooting back”… Read more

  • It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way

    The horror of Newtown, CT needs to stay with us. It was a day when even the President couldn’t get through his remarks because of the pain. This horror needs to stay with us because we need to have this conversation no one is willing to have. We are ready to blame others. For those on… Read more