Discipleship – Apprentice 2 Jesus

The desire for the old wine

Luke 5:36–39 (NIV) 36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wineContinue reading “The desire for the old wine”

Basic discipleship

What Jesus treated as basic discipleship in his time on earth we’ve made into a rarity and some “specialist” work. In Mark 9 Jesus has come down from the Transfiguration and a father runs straight to him.

We want the transactional Jesus

One of my favorite gospel passages is John 6. Over the years, the depth of Jesus’s words sinks a little more into my heart. This is a place Jesus gets to the heart of what it means to follow him. This is one of those places where Jesus works intentionally to shrink the crowd. HeContinue reading “We want the transactional Jesus”

What have I left for others to follow?

I am working through 2 Timothy 3:10-17 and Paul gives a tough assessment of what is going on in the world and all that Timothy will have to undertake. It is a real assessment that reads like it seems hopeless. What to do?

The cost of following and not following Jesus

This is about the longest break I’ve taken from blogging in a long time. There was a bout with COVID, dealing with a physical injury… and time slipped away.

How I want to live

I think again about “Last Third” living and come across a marvelous quote from Winn Collier’s outstanding biography on Eugene Peterson: “His life and work had been more like tracing a scent than following a map. Discovery, not direction.”

Do I really believe these things or not?

Matthew 13:1–9 (NIV): That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer wentContinue reading “Do I really believe these things or not?”

Do I TRULY believe the Gospel?

2 Corinthians 5:16–17 (NIV)16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! This is Paul’s appeal:

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”