A Follower or a Disciple?
The sun is at its highest and borders on unbearable. I can feel the heat of the sun seeping through my clothing. My lips are dry and all I taste is dust. That same dust hangs in the air from the crowd moving in front of me.
I don’t know why I’ve been following this man around. He came through Jericho a few weeks ago and was teaching and healing people. I’ve never seen anything like it. The leaders in the synagogue don’t teach like this. They just give us rules and condemnation. This man, they call him Jesus, even speaks against the Pharisees. He claims to be the son of Man and I believe it.
Some of his teachings are encouraging. He teaches that I should not be anxious. God takes care of the birds and the flowers and He loves me so much more, so He will take care of my needs. On the other side he teaches about repentance and perishing if I don’t.
Today was some of the hardest teachings I’ve ever heard. He told us that if we don’t hate our family, our parents, and even our own lives, then we can’t be his disciples. He said I have to bear my cross daily. I have to renounce all
that I have to be his disciple.
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Standing on the Edge of Something
This New Year was truly the turning of a page. I graduated from seminary last month and so now I feel like I have this wide expanse before me. The only problem is I don’t know which way to go. I’ve got a lot of ideas rolling around in my head. However, many of these hair-brained ideas lead to the five years that prefaced my coming to seminary. Read more
Four Years of Seminary – Looking Back
It finally hit me this morning. My seminary career is at a close. When I moved here four years ago, I couldn’t envision actually graduating. I came here with the simple leading of the Spirit. No audible call, no clear direction, no vision and no idea of what the future held. I simply knew that this was the next step. Read more
Book Review: Life Together
I had to write a book digest for my Adult Small Groups class and decided I would go ahead and post it. Part of the assignment was to come up with a guiding principle from each chapter. These principles would be used by those starting small groups.
Bonhoeffer wrote this book while working at an underground seminary living with 25 students. He is very systematic and prescriptive in this book. He begins by looking at what Christian community is and is not. He then moves on to discuss how the community is to fellowship at various points of the day. Following this, he looks at how the individual is to go about their individual devotions which in turn will strengthen the community. Bonhoeffer concludes the book by looking at the ministries that the community is to perform for one another and how confession and communion are to occur within the community.
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God Opposes the Proud…That Means Me
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7
How many times have I read passages on humility and pride and thought, “I’m doing ok in this area.” And then I go about my day. There have been other times that I have stared at the word “humility” trying to understand what it really means. Read more
Exercise and Learning Discipline
I’ve never been one for exercise. I was on the track team in high school but I was a discus thrower. We tried to avoid running whenever possible. I’d have spurts in college where I’d lift weights and ride the exercise bike but nothing that serious. Also I never considered what I ate. Read more
Changes and Cliches
I’ve been flying below the radar for the last few months. After a month of looking for a job and coming up empty, I fell into a couple of contract positions. I have the freedom to work from home and when I want. But I also live with the fear that at any moment these contracts could end and I would be back at square one. Read more
In these troubled times…
I have been on an emotional roller coaster the last few months. I had been frustrated with my job and was working through issues. Then in December, a friend of mine died suddenly. Everything came to a head and I found myself in a depressed state for over a month. I would fall asleep by 9pm and wake up late. Some nights I didn’t even eat, I had no energy. Read more
Seminary: A Crucible of Faith
So about a year and a half ago, I got around to responding to a friend’s question of how had seminary affected my faith. Over the last few weeks, I have come back to this question. Some of those things I am still struggling with. The difference now is, my classes this semester seem particularly timely. They are forcing me to take a deeper look at myself. Read more
Jars of Clay
I went to a men’s conference this weekend. The focus was on discipleship. There were musicians leading in worship and speakers compelling us to form relationships with other men in order to disciple them. There were also stirring dramas and videos demonstrating characteristics that we should seek to have in our lives. Read more
