Discipleship/Spiritual Formation – Page 2

Living life WITH God

I have begun a new book called With by Skye Jethani and it is refreshing to my soul. I will have more to post along the way, but I wanted to note this deep challenge in my life. I have lived my life in a couple of different ways:

The need of the hour

The need of the hour is the reality of the Kingdom of God. We need disciples who are bathed in the power of the Kingdom who then live out that power. They are ones taught by Jesus and the world can see it in their character, their words, and their actions. Live in resurrection power.Continue reading “The need of the hour”

The deep need of American Christianity

I grew up Pentecostal. I grew up learning a history of “revivals” and revival movements in North America. What is needed in the white American church today isn’t “revival.” It’s never been “revival.” The need is discipleship. It is to know what it’s like to live out the Sermon on the Mount as we liveContinue reading “The deep need of American Christianity”

The greatest discipleship lessons, pt. 4

I am at post 4,999 on this blog. As I reflect on why I began this blog, I am also walking through John 13-17 in my reading and it gives me a wonderful opportunity to reflect on those great lessons of discipleship. This is why I started this blog: to learn more about spiritual formationContinue reading “The greatest discipleship lessons, pt. 4”

The greatest discipleship lesson, pt. 3

As I approach 5,000 posts on this blog, I reflect on why I got started. Some thoughts begin HERE and then continue HERE. This being post 4998, I find myself in John 15:1-17 with the greatest thoughts on “abiding” and “pruning.”

The greatest discipleship lessons

I am coming up on 5000 posts on this blog. 5000.

John 6 and holy ground

My daily reading from the Daily Office takes me through John 6 regularly and every time I walk through it is the sense I am on holy ground. This is a moving text for me because it drives so deeply into our human motives and the desire of Jesus to strip us of all otherContinue reading “John 6 and holy ground”

The baptism of Jesus and the winnowing power of the Kingdom of God

This is the Sunday commemorating the baptism of Jesus. The reading for our church is from Luke 3:

American Christianity and the crash and burn style of exalting youthful leaders far too early

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast series took a week away from the Mars Hill story and focused on another aspect of what has happened in the last few decades in white American evangelicalism through the story of Joshua Harris. If you are not familiar with I Kissed Dating Goodbye and that saga,Continue reading “American Christianity and the crash and burn style of exalting youthful leaders far too early”

Choosing real rest

I’m choosing to ask, “If I really believed the Spirit of the living God is at home in me, making me a child of God right now, how would I live?” Can we handle the kind of intimacy described in Scripture? Our Western preference for safe distance and individual freedom keeps us from receiving whatContinue reading “Choosing real rest”