Apprentice 2 Jesus

Spiritual Formation

  • Matthew 10 — Freely You Have Received

    I am extending the conversation from my Sunday morning message on Matthew 10. There is so much to discuss on “The Marks of Discipleship” that to do justice to this passage would take several weeks of examination on Sunday morning. Instead, I am inviting people to join me through the week as I reflect on… Read more

  • Thoughts on the Power of Blessing

    I am working my way through Matthew 10. As part of my Sunday message this week I am inviting my church to extend the conversation to my blog. To start off, I want to focus on the power of blessing. Jesus told his disciples when they entered a place that received them to give it… Read more

  • True Bible Reading

    The average “Bible consumer” owns NINE Bibles and is looking for more! (Guilty as charged!) “This a mute but powerful testimony to a deep and abiding sense of LACK — a sense that we have not really achieved a grasp of the Bible that is adequate to our needs.” (Richard Foster, Life with God) Read more

  • Prayer — Who Are You Talking To?

    Several years ago the pastors in our city were asked to put together a rotation for each of us to come in and give an invocation at the city council meetings. It has been a privilege to do so. In one two year stretch we had a different mayor who came to our clergy group… Read more

  • The Nature of the Kingdom

    Dallas Willard has left me with one phrase over the years: “The nature of the Kingdom is to ASK.” In Matthew 7, he puts the context of “asking” squarely in human relationships first, not in prayer. The reason is it follows the paragraph about casting pearls before swine. In dealing with people. it is far… Read more

  • A Conversation Fit For Pigs

    Dallas Willard’s point in The Divine Conspiracy is simple. Pay attention to the order. So, if we just start with Matthew 7 and plunge into “Do not judge or you too will be judged,” we are in trouble. If we are still dominated by anger, contempt, and lusting, and have not allowed the Kingdom to… Read more

  • Book Review: The Sacred Meal

    A book I received from Thomas Nelson to review has sat on my shelf far too long. The Sacred Meal: The Ancient Practices Series by Nora Gallagher is a short read on Communion. It is not about the big words (transubstantiation or consubstantiation or any other ones). She reflects simply on the meaning of communion.… Read more

  • The Bondage of Wealth

    Dallas Willard in his book The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God walks us through the temptations that block us from the flow of Kingdom life. In Matthew 6 there are two major obstacles. One is the approval of others. The second is the bondage of wealth. Treasures are not things that have… Read more

  • What Blocks the Flow of Kingdom Life?

    In Matthew 5 Jesus shows us what is true well-being and the goodness of the kingdom heart. We are set free from the constraints of just getting by (living only by the outward fulfillment of the law) and we learn to bear the true fruit of the Kingdom. In Matthew 6 Jesus lays out two… Read more

  • If You’re Not Angry, You’re Not Paying Attention!

    I don’t know if you’ve seen those signs. It’s usually some political season when they come out. It has always struck me as odd. I really try to pay attention, but why would I want to be angry all the time? Anger is an emotion and in certain states it is actually helpful. Anger happens… Read more