A La Carte: How to persevere in winter seasons / The paper dolls of polyamory / The shame of a prodigal daughter / Fish story / Seek God’s face before his hand / Seven things church leaders need to consider / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (February 10)A La Carte (6/11)A La Carte (12/15)
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A La Carte: Back in my day vs for such a time as this / You are not the only one / Dangers in interpreting circumstances / When consequences are irreversible / To lead quiet and peaceful lives / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (October 12)A La Carte (1/8)A La Carte (11/28)
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Today’s blog is sponsored by the D3 Youth Conference, March 8-9, 2024 at Boyce College in Louisville, KY. Some words become so familiar they risk losing their meaning. For Christians, the term “disciple” carries just such a risk. We read about Jesus calling forth disciples in the pages of the Gospels. We recognize the command to “make disciples of every nation” in the Great Commission. We sign up for discipleship programming at our churches. But what exactly do we mean when we speak of being a disciple of Jesus? Early in the Gospel accounts (Mk. 2:18), we see a recognition that Jesus’s disciples live differently from the disciples of other teachers or schools. The disciples of John the Baptist ask Jesus why his followers don’t fast like those of John or the Pharisees. Jesus’s response clarifies that his disciples live differently because his coming represents an inbreaking of a new sort of kingdom. Whereas the disciples of other groups primarily reflect the teaching of a great master or school, Jesus’s disciples reflect his relationship to the Father and share in his power for ministry. Everyone is a disciple of someone to some degree. Whether you follow the latest new age teacher, model your life after a guru on the manosphere, or just consider yourself a devoted Swiftie, we are all pupils of some sort of life teaching. And in a day when content has become so accessible, we can be influenced by more teachers than any generation in history. Considering our current reality, the question…See AlsoThree Things Jesus Never Told to Make DisciplesTwo Ways to Grow a Disciple-Making Culture in Your ChurchFree Stuff Fridays
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I once heard of a ship that was crossing the Atlantic from Europe to South America, and as it neared the end of its crossing, it escaped a close call that would have sent it to the depths and would have taken the lives of many of its passengers. After departing Dover, the ship had cruised for many days without incident and without mishap. In fact, the crossing had been so smooth and so unremarkable that the crew began to grow lax in their duties. As the ship drew close to the South American coast, the man on lookout nodded off, and as he slept his ship began to approach a particularly rocky and ruinous spot. But as it happened, there was a cricket aboard that ship. Until that point in the journey, no one had noticed its presence, but as the ship drew close to land, the cricket somehow smelled it or sensed it, and set up a shrill call. The lookout awoke, understood that land was quickly approaching, and stopped the vessel before it blundered into the rocks and was lost. In this case, something as insignificant as the chirping of a cricket saved many lives. And I sometimes wonder what you and I may accomplish with what seems to be the simplest and least significant of sounds. I wonder what heaven will someday reveal—what we will hear in the soundtrack of heaven. Maybe the scratching of a pen on a notecard will prove to be the means God used to encourage one…See AlsoWith Blistered Hands and Aching BacksThe Ship Is Always Sailing OnA La Carte (December 13)
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A La Carte: Dancing in an empty theater / Do you assume motives? / Why I’m a better pastor for you than… / Consider your attitude to the local church / Orthodoxy is a friend of the young / Lord’s Supper is not a pot luck / Kindle deals / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (June 7)A La Carte (June 27)Weekend A La Carte (October 25)
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