Apprentice 2 Jesus

Spiritual Formation

  • Addiction and worship

    Addiction… is a kind of worship, a kind of counterfeit worship. For the soul was created to worship… There is no such thing as an uncommitted person. An addict is the supreme example of trying to satisfy the soul with all the wrong things. The more it’s fed, the more it craves. — John Ortberg, Soul… Read more

  • Soul Satisfaction

    In a very self-driven world, looking out for the true betterment of others seems… odd. I actually got into taking a few selfies this past weekend while we were out, so I’ll be showing those later… So… “YAY ME!” We really are into celebrating ourselves. Oddly enough, living for that self satisfaction is actually soul destroying. … Read more

  • Being busy is not being hurried

    In Soul Keeping, Ortberg points out what we already know: we’re busy. Being busy is not the same as being hurried. Being hurried is much more harmful. You don’t always want to be busy, but you really don’t want to be hurried. Busy We have a full schedule There are many activities It’s an outward condition… Read more

  • “Saving” Souls

    It’s not about the destination that “save” a soul. It’s about the condition of the soul. “If a car no longer works, it doesn’t matter much whether it ends up in a junkyard or the valet parking section of the Ritz-Carlton. we are not lost because we are going to wind up in the wrong place. We… Read more

  • Eye has not seen

    “Your eternal destiny is not cosmic retirement; it is to e part of a tremendously creative project, under unimaginable splendid leadership. on an inconceivably vast scale, with ever increasing cycle of fruitfulness and enjoyment — that is the prophetic vision which ‘eye has not seen and ear has not heard.’” — Dallas Willard It is… Read more

  • Overcoming obstacles in discipleship

    Two key questions that come up for me when I am trying to walk in a discipline: 1. What keeps me FROM this? 2. What drives me TO this? The first question is ready because it brings guilt. “I know I’m supposed to study the Word, but…” We can come up with reasons: “I can’t get… Read more

  • The beauty of communion

    Author of life divine, Who hast a table spread, Furnished with mystic wine And everlasting bread, Preserve the life Thyself has given, And feed and train us up for Heav’n. Our needy souls sustain With fresh supplies of love, Till all Thy life we gain, And all Thy fullness prove, And, strengthened by Thy perfect… Read more

  • Christianity — Rescued “from” and born “into?”

    “The Christian story is not primarily about how God in Jesus came to rescue sinners from some impending disaster. It is about God’s work of initiating us into a fellowship and making us true conversational partners with the Father and the Son through the Spirit and, hence, with each other (1 John 1:1-4). Attaining heaven… Read more

  • On the stronghold of busyness

    “… busyness may sometimes be an excuse for laziness. As Eugene Peterson observes, busy people are too lazy to take control of things, so they fit themselves into other people’s demands. Activities can be an excuse for spiritual inertia or acedia, an unwillingness to accept God as God, that is, his absolute claims on our lives.… Read more

  • Should we keep striving for “relevance?”

    “Modern Christians are not lacking in ‘relevance.’ What they do lack is a disciplined life and a critical mind to resist the temptation to conform to what everybody thinks or does (Rom. 12:1-3).” — Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology  Read more