Apprentice 2 Jesus

Discipleship/Spiritual Formation

  • The tone deaf church

    My reading today took me through Matthew 20:17-21. It is about disciples who just don’t “get” what discipleship is about. Jesus has just finished talking about his suffering, death, and resurrection and here comes a mom asking about her boys. (As moms tend to do.) Read more

  • Is Jesus worth following?

    One of the great phrases I use from Dallas Willard is this: “There is a cost to following Jesus. There is a cost to not following Jesus.” We need to weigh both costs. Read more

  • The downside of evangelical American Christianity

    My reading has me in Micah for a few days and as I read it I get this picture of Israel that the prophets portray over and over. Israel is “weary” of serving God. They have some sense of obligation, but they are in love with the gods of the age and want to pursue… Read more

  • The practice of devoting yourself to prayer

    Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Col. 4:2) There is a call the Lord keeps putting in front of me in regards to prayer. It is the great invitation to walk in prayer. Through the years I have had the Spirit bring many tools into my life to assist in this desire to… Read more

  • His words are still life

    My love affair with the written word of God has been lifelong. Over the years I have grown in my love and understanding. The written word has led me to the Living Word (Christ), but that written word is still precious to me. Read more

  • The space for discipleship

    I am not good on many names in big market Christianity. I know I have loved Hillsongs worship for decades. A story about one of their worship leaders/songwriters being shaken in his faith was something that got my attention. Read more

  • Renouncing all to follow Christ

    33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. (Luke 14:33) Christ can’t have me following him with all the junk I want to carry. He knows I won’t make it, so he calls me to jettison my junk to obtain his treasure. Read more

  • We seek to justify ourselves

    How simple can it get? In Luke 10 a lawyer asks Jesus a question. Okay, check that. When the lawyer is the one asking the question, it’s never simple. But here is the issue: a simple question was asked. A simple answer was given. Read more

  • True beauty

    “I cannot worry much about your sins and miseries when I have so many of my own. I can only love you all, poor fellow travelers, fellow sufferers. I do not want to add one least straw to the burden you already carry. My prayer from day to day is that God will so enlarge… Read more

  • What is freedom?

    “Freedom in Christ is to be released from perpetual inner conflict into ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (Rom. 8:21) where we are enabled to live, not by our own tyrannical wishes, but for the love of others.” — Fleming Rutledge Read more