Category Archives: Discipleship
It Makes A Difference When Things Are Real
Our three year old son, Hudson, is a swordsman. His favorite target for destruction is, of course, ME. The plastic and nerf versions of the sword have yet to inflict much bodily harm, but a few weeks ago that almost changed. We were browsing in one of my favorite Hardware/Army Surplus stores in our area, when Hudson spotted a row of REAL swords. The kind that cut. And for some reasons they were hanging low enough for a three year old to draw. He picked the one he wanted, unsheathed it, and turned around looking for “the bad guy.” That’s me. Fortunately, he listens well and didn’t take a swing and we still remain below our insurance deductible for 2009. There are serious implications when something moves from plastic to REAL.
Our faith is no different. What if Jesus is real? What if God really did send His Son to earth? What if sin is such a big deal that Jesus had to die an unimaginably brutal death? What if Jesus really did beat death and is alive today? If all this is really true, it has serious implications for all of our lives.
This weekend, our church began a series of sermons on the book of 1 John. The book delves into the implications of a Real Jesus. John seeks to confront the false teachings of his day and to give assurance to believers about their faith and future. Interestingly enough, some of the same thinking and uncertainty has snuck into our lives today.
You can download these and other messages from our church here.
Coming Face to Face with Self
Luke 9:23 (ESV) “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Here’s Following Jesus 101: Deny yourself, consider yourself as good as dead, and now you’re ready to get in line behind the One reconciling and restoring the world. It’s a call to come face to face with your own selfishness and put it to death.
The disciples didn’t get it. Just 23 verses later they are arguing about which one of them was the greatest disciple (Luke 9:46). They needed to come face to face with their selfishness.
When you are obedient to the call of God to love, to serve, to give and go, you often come face to face with self and see it for what it is. If your life revolves around pleasing self, you will avoid the call of Jesus and ignore the needs of others.
My Journey:
- I came face to face with my own selfishness as I stood in an orphanage in Zimbabwe looking at 150 orphans, many of them HIV positive, as the director of the home told me they had enough food for one more meal.
- I came face to face with my own selfishness as I stood under a tent in a remote village in Chiapas, Mexico, as a lady received life saving medication that cost less than an American dining experience.
- I came face to face with my own selfishness as I stood in an emergency room with a young man and his family as he lay dying from wounds received in an auto accident.
- I came face to face with my own selfishness when I met a couple in my area who both have had strokes and live in substandard housing.
This Saturday, August 29th, our church will follow the reconciling and restoring One into that neighborhood to put aside self and love, serve, give, and go.
If we don’t deal with self, we may never see the needs around us and be blessed to respond to His call and follow His steps. I couldn’t afford either of those mission trips. I didn’t have time to stop by that hospital. I’ve got plenty of other places that me and my family could be on Saturday, August 29. That is according to self. But what’s going to really matter? That I get all I want to please myself or that I make a difference in the lives of others?
Jesus calls us to a new outlook on life. And it gets better! He gives us a new outlook. He gives us the ability to see beyond ourselves, to hear his voice, to respond to needs as He would.
Father, give us the grace and courage to lay aside self and follow Jesus.
Are You Humble?
If you say yes, you’re probably not. Like the church I heard of that gave a ribbon to the Most Humble Man in the congregation. They ran into a problem when he wore the ribbon back the next Sunday. Humility is something we are all developing. Recently I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll on this topic. He gave eight helpful questions for testing our humility. Take the test:
- Are you teachable?
- How do you respond to correction and rebuke?
- Do you repent quickly and thoroughly?
- How considerate are you of others?
- Do you give and receive service well?
- Are you constantly aware of God’s grace?
- Do you disagree agreeably?
- How much do you need attention and affirmation?
Get the entire sermon here. Those of you in leadership might want to hear the previous weeks message on Humble Pastors.
Lessons for when it seems it couldn’t get any worse
There was once a little bird that got a late start flying south for the winter. So late, that as he flew it began to snow and sleet and the temperature dropped far below freezing. His wings began to freeze to the point that he could fly no longer, so he made a crash landing. He began to realize that he would die in a pile of snow because he could not fly. Then a cow walked over to him and dropped a pile of manure on him. The little bird thought things had gone from bad to worse, but then realized that the warmth of the manure began to thaw his wings out. In jubilation he began to chirp loudly and constantly. He chirped so loudly and constantly that a nearby cat heard him and ran over, fetched him out of the manure and ate him at once.
Three lessons:
- Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.
- Not everyone who pulls you out of manure is your friend.
- When you’re momentarily stuck in a pile of manure, keep your mouth closed.
Proverbs 27:6 – “Wounds from a sincere friendare better than many kisses from an enemy.”
Am I A Spiritual Person?
Our Director of Mission and Ministries on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain, Lonnie Wascom enjoys scoffing at social networking sites and those of us who enjoy them (probably because of his lack of time and inability to get high speed internet at his current location), but he dishes out some great info via an old school weekly email. Here is a thought provoking list he generated recently that grabbed my heart.
Characteristics of Spiritual Christians:
- They do not care who gets the credit as long as God gets the glory
- They do not have chips on their shoulders, but they do take up their crosses daily and follow Jesus.
- They ignore mole hills and by faith move mountains.
- They are not afraid to assume spiritual responsibility.
- The have the ability to adjust without compromising principles.
- They can adapt to a changing world without the world changing them.
What is Lent Anyway?
This week marks the beginning of a major religious celebration around the world called Lent. In our area it means FRIDAY’S ARE FOR SEAFOOD! What is Lent exactly? In Brief:
For Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and other liturgical protestant denominations (those with a continuous history before AD 1500) Lent is the forty day period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. It is to be a season of soul-searching and repentance. It can be loosely traced to the early days of the church, but was certainly less formal (most scholars believe the time of fasting was two to three days and not forty) and of course much more spiritual. Lent, as we know it today, originated in the fourth century and has changed in practice throughout the years. In AD 325, the Council of Nicea discussed a forty day season of fasting and preparation for new converts to be baptized. In the seventh century, Gregory the Great moved the beginning of Lent from Sunday to Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday. He is also credited with beginning the ceremony of marking foreheads with ashes, as a symbol of repentance taken from the Old Testament. The practice of fasting during Lent has become more relaxed over the centuries and in 1966, the Roman Catholic Church restricted fast days to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Having moved to South Louisiana just seven years ago, I have observed that Lent is practiced but not understood by many. Even many irreligious people will give up something of value (if you count chocolate, certain adult drinks, coffee, or some other modern convenience that doesn’t really affect a person’s way of life) and will abstain from meat on Friday. When asked the purpose behind this, the person will say, “I’m not sure,” or take a great guess that would fool everyone if they were playing my favorite board game Balderdash. Herein lies the problem with modern spirituality – it’s long on activity and short on meaning and understanding.
Too often we use religious expression, such as Lent, as a means to fit in, to feel better about ourselves, but not to understand and conform to God’s desire for our lives. In many ways Lent illustrates our lack of understanding about God and His will for humanity. Many people give up for forty days what they know they shouldn’t be doing anyway. In the 2002, movie 40 Days and 40 Nights, a single man vows to stay celibate during Lent, but meets the girl of his dreams and regrets being unable to rebel against God’s commands concerning sexual purity (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) and to “let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4) until Lent is over. As this movie illustrates, some people may see Lent as a window of time to be serious about their faith. I tend to believe God deserves and expects 365 days of devotion and obedience, not just forty.
A somber season of soul-searching and repentance, which includes fasting, is necessary for our generation. I don’t search my soul when I give up my favorite commodity but when I understand and get a glimpse of what God has done for me through Jesus Christ. His suffering, His sacrifice, and His love should make us forget modernity for awhile and focus ourselves on repentance and new life that Christ’s death and resurrection make possible.
So how should we view Lent? One 19th Century preacher called it “The Season of the Cross.” I like that. It’s the cross that is the centerpiece of our faith (1 Corinthians 15:3) and it’s the cross that we are called to carry (Luke 9:23). So, join me during the season of the cross and do more than just mark your calendar and do without some material luxury. Let’s increase our awareness of Christ’s love and His desire for our lives. We may find ourselves gaining more, spiritually, than we could ever give up in 40 days.
Worth Reading: Search and Rescue by Neil Cole
One of the best books I read this summer was Search and Rescue: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference by Neil Cole. If you’re looking for a simple, personal, and inspirational approach to disciple making, get this book. It contains a lot of information from Cole’s previous two books Cultivating a Life for God and Organic Church, but it is repackaged and updated with the theme of Search and Rescue. I would still highly recommend reading the first two. Cole borrows from his experience as a life guard on California beaches to illustrate the task of making disciples. So, you can learn a great deal about rip currents and rescue swimming along with healthy disciple making. Cole shares his tried and true method of disciple making which involves gathering people into groups of two or three to confess sin to one another using accountability or character conversation questions, plant the word of God by taking the challenge of reading 3-5 chapters of Scripture daily, and reach the lost by praying for specific people to be saved from your personal network of relationships. Cole calls these groups Life Transformation Groups, but gives permission to call them what you want, even listing names being used by other churches and organizations. You may want to follow up as I have by purchasing Cole’s LTG cards which describe the process and offer suggested questions for the group. The author’s resources, articles, and newsletter can be found at www.cmaresources.org.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
Allowing the Teachings of Jesus to Go Deep
I’ve been spending some time reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). It’s more than a high moral code, it’s a search light that is truly penetrating if we’ll allow it to be. Here are some questions I will be dwelling on during my study the next few weeks:
- Am I hungry and thirsty for righteousness? Matthew 5:6
- Is my heart pure enough to see God? Matthew 5:8
- Is my life giving light to all? Matthew 5:15
- Do people give glory to the Father after observing my life? Matthew 5:16
- Am I harboring anger toward anyone? Matthew 5:22
- Have I insulted anyone? Matthew 5:22
- Do I consider any other person as worthless? Matthew 5:22
- Is there a brother or sister that has something against me? Matthew 5:23-24
- Is there lustful intent in my heart? Matthew 5:28
- Is there anything in my life that is causing me to sin? Matthew 5:29-30
- Am I resisting instead of serving evil and difficult people? Matthew 5:38-41
- Are my possessions availabe to those in need? Matthew 5:42
- Can I pray for my enemies? Matthew 5:44
- Am I concerned about performing righteousness to be seen and praised by others? Matthew 6:1-2
- Am I praying, fasting, and giving to be seen by men or to be obedient to God? Matthew 6:5-24
- Am I serving my money or is it serving me? Matthew 6:24
- What does my spending say about my heart’s condition? Matthew 6:21
- Am I anxious of worried? Mattthew 6:25-34
- Am I seeking the things of the world or God’s kingdom and righteousness first? Matthew 6:33
- Am I conscious of the logs and specks in my eye when I look at others? Matthew 7:1-5
- Am I holding other people to a standard that I am not willing to be held to myself? Matthe 7:1-2
- Am I asking, seeking, and knocking for good things from heaven? Matthew 7:7-11
- Am I looking for and desiring an easy way over the path of obedience to God? Matthew 7:13-14
- What good fruit is coming from my life? Matthew 7:17
- Am I doing the will of the Father? Matthew 7:21-23
- Am I hearing and doing the words of Christ? Matthew 7:24-25
Good Words on Discerning Calling
Reading John Maxwell’s 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day. It’s a 21-week daily devotional of how Bible characters demonstrated the 21 Laws of Leadership. Week 4 is about Nehemiah and the Law of Navigation (Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course). In talking about Nehemiah’s burden/vision/calling to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem, Maxwell gives some good questions for discerning a personal calling:
– Does a person or a project constantly come to your mind as a concern?
– Do you seem unable to escape the needs of this concern?
– Are you constantly trying to challenge others to be concerned for this person or project?
– Do you migrate to books, sermons, or people that focus on your concern?
– Do you repeatedly give time and resources to meet this particular need?
– Does your concern move you to the point of tears?
– Do you have gifts and abilities to meet the needs associated with this concern?
– Does your concern increase or decrease with time?
“the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah” – Jonah 1:17
This Sunday, we will begin a series of messages at our church on the Old Testament book of Jonah. We will not be covering the science of how a man can live in the belly of a whale or fish for three days. If you are one that must have scenarios here are a few informative articles on the question:
– Jonah and the Great Fish by Don Landis
– Jonah in the Whale by Jimmy Williams
I personally like the humorus story of the atheist who asked a lady if she really believed the Bible to be true.
“Yes,” said the lady.
“Then.” Said the atheist, “tell me how a whale swallowed Jonah, as a whale’s stomach is no bigger than a man’s head.”
“I don’t know,” said the lady: “but when I get to Heaven I will ask him.”
“What if Jonah is not there,” said the atheist.
“Then you can ask him,” said the lady.
Smile.
Lane Corley 