Tips For Discipling Your Own Children
Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to discipling your own children. 1 - Start before they are born. Get in a routine of reading scripture to them, praying over them, etc. You cannot start too early!
Dwelling in Thick Darkness
“Thank you, God, for dwelling in thick darkness.”[1] As I listened to my 8-year old daughter pray those words a few weeks ago at dinner, I was moved by the way she spoke to God. The way her words were not simply a dinnertime prayer but a personal and deep conversation where she praised, entreated, interceded, and confessed to God. Where she expressed so much of who God is to her.
Acts 2:39 - God Cares About Generations and Nations
In a month of considering how God uses generations for His purposes I am drawn to an easily overlooked verse in Acts 2. We often focus on 2:38 to talk about baptism but what about 2:39? Here is what it says, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." God cares about generations as well as the nations.
The Power of Our Assumptions
When we are trying to understand a passage in the Bible, the assumptions we bring to the text are our starting point. Beginning from them, we draw other conclusions. This is neither good nor bad. It is just inevitable.
A Few Issues With Age Segregated Ministries
It has become extremely popular to have specific ministries for specific ages. It makes sense on one level...I will even say it "works" depending on how it is done. People who are in the same stage of life can easily relate to each other. It isn't a stretch to spend time with people who are going through the same thing you are going through.
Treasure New and Old: What Jesus Might Have to Say About Generational Differences
In my context, I’ve experienced and been familiar with both the old and new generation. I don’t feel either “old school” or “new school” (if there can be such labels) because I feel like my DNA/history as a Christian contains both. In my heart and life, I have to decide what it means to follow Jesus with the culture, scripture interpretation, and practice of faith I’ve inherited negotiating between the old and the new generation. What should remain of the old and what needs to become wholly new?
Why Are We in Our Predicament? Hosea on the Failure of the Theologians
This is a meditation upon encountering the Prophet Hosea. Today is Day 200 of the Year 2022. There are 165 days left in this year. Every year I read through the Bible. To go through the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the Middle Testament (Apocrypha) and the New Testament, I average about three and a half pages a day, which translates to about 15 to 20 minutes at lunch every day.
How To Disciple Children
Save the world, lose your kids. So many of us want to make a difference in the world but we struggle at home where it is most important.How do we help our children grow into strong, mature disciples of Jesus? First, we start with the best definition of Christian maturity that I am aware of from Curtis Sergeant.
Let's Go on a Prayer Walk
Prayer walking is one of the most eye-opening practices I have experienced as a Christian. I had never heard of this or considered it until a few years ago when we planted a church. All those years, I had driven past my neighbors and driven through the neighborhoods in order to "get to church." All of a sudden, it became clear that all of those homes included people who needed Jesus and we needed to find a way to be out and among the people who live near us.
Simple is Reproducible
If you want something to reproduce it has to be simple. Complex approaches aren't as easily reproducible as simple approaches. If your approach to making disciples requires a PhD to pull it off then the number of capable and qualified people who can carry it forward is diminished.
Church Movements Require the Work of the Holy Spirit
Our churches don't need more strategy... our churches need more Spirit. Now, you might be saying - you don't know my church. We need a strategy! I am would say, "You are probably right!" But strategy alone isn't sufficient.
Embracing our Role as Prophets, Priests, and Pastors
In the Bible, leadership is never one-dimensional. In both the Old and New Testaments, God provided different kinds of leaders to serve different functions. In the Old Testament we see patriarchs, prophets, priests, judges and kings. In the New Testament there are apostles, pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, shepherd-elders, deacons, and overseers. While there is some overlap between these various roles, they each have a specific purpose.
Churches Have a Choice to Make
Imagine every evening your family sat at the dinning room table for a business meeting. The parents pull out the finances and assess all the decisions that had been made that day to help the family be "successful." Timmy is in trouble because he keeps leaving the light on in the bathroom.
The Kill Switch in Sectarian Church of Christ DNA
Human beings have an incredibly amount of diversity in our appearance, tied to variations in our DNA. I am out of my depth here but I think I understand the gist of how it works. There are various mutations in genes that are completely harmless. Other mutations cause significant problems. Still other mutations in our genes make survival impossible.
Will There Be a Movement?
I became part of the Churches of Christ for three reasons. The first was our knowledge of and devotion to Scripture. The second was that we are a "unity movement" or at least started that way. The third reason? To somehow partner with God to heal our divided congregations and world.
That time I ignored Lynn Anderson's advice
Somewhere at home there are pictures of Lynn and me, photos from the days before Social media or cell photos, they are lost in some box. I've listened to Lynn all across the country, from St. Louis after his release of They Smell like Sheep to Lipscomb's Summer Celebration, but my fondest memories of Lynn are from the days of the Tulsa Soul winning workshop.
