The Way of Jesus

Category Confusion by John Ortberg - LeadershipJournal.net

Not long ago I was at a church in the South and a recent convert named Mike told me he had a bone to pick with the church. He was drawn to Christianity by the message of grace. "I was told that being a Christian wasn't about anything I had to do; it was about a sacrifice that had already been done on my behalf. But now that I'm on the inside, I'm told I have to do stuff all the time. I have to go to church, I have to read the Bible, I have to give money, I have to volunteer.

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Resurrection and Discipleship: Day 36 of 50

Resurrection and Discipleship

Day 36 of 50 of our Easter celebration.  We kicked the morning off by dedicating five awesome little children.

This teaching looks at the Jewish culture of discipleship, of passing on the tradition, way of life, and faith to the next generation.  We then asked the question "What difference does the resurrection of Jesus have on discipleship?"

The Holy Spirit is the defining difference that the resurrection brings to the discipleship question.  The challenge is to not then lose the culture of training that was deeply embedded in 1st century Christian faith.  We can't say, we have the Spirit now, we don't need training.  Nor can we say, you only need training, culture and tradition.  We need more of the Spirit and more of training.

Easter leads into a celebration of the Spirit in the context of a discipling community.

Dallas Willard on How We Assess Spiritual Growth | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders

May 3, 2010

Dallas Willard on How We Assess Spiritual Growth

It is possible, but often not very encouraging.

An Interview with Dallas Willard

How can churches know if they are being effective at making disciples?

Many churches are measuring the wrong things. We measure things like attendance and giving, but we should be looking at more fundamental things like anger, contempt, honesty, and the degree to which people are under the thumb of their lusts. Those things can be counted, but not as easily as offerings.

Read the rest of the interview here:  www.outofur.com

Growing Older, Growing Younger

Download "Growing Older Growing Younger".mp3  We looked at the journey of discipleship to Jesus from the instructions to both grow up and also become like a child.  This teaching was framed by an essay written by C.S. Lewis entitled "Talking about Bicycles" where he describes four ages 1. unenchanted, 2. enchanted, 3. disenchanted, 4. re-enchanted.  Give it a listen and respond.  Do you relate to these four stages?  The question I am asking myself is how do you travel through disenchantment to re-enchantment?  What helps, what hinders?

shalom.