Take time to evaluate

We finished up a series of small group lessons on prayer last evening. At the close of the lesson, we spent some quality reflecting on what we had learned over the last several months. I enjoyed the responses that came from various people, but the one that grabbed my attention was a young man who said "I never considered myself a guy who prays all the time, but I have found myself talking to God throughout the day." From that comment, I knew the topic had penetrated his heart and God was drawing him closer to Himself.

Taking time to listen to the impact of God's Word on someone's heart helps us to know if what we are teaching is changing lives and helping them on the journey of following Jesus.

Works For Me

I tend to be a very relational guy. For me discipling is all about the journey, the relationship. It is not about having the right curriculum, God already gave us that, nor it is about having all the right answers, I don't. As Jesus walked with his disciples he often assessed their understanding of himself, of the Father, of the mission. One of those times, out of his time of communion with the Father, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" This opened the door to a new revelation that the disciples may not have been able to articulate had he not asked. Good questions help those we are discipling to think through what they think, believe and know in the depths of their hearts. Good disciplers practice forming questions until they have developed a habit of asking the right question at the right time to help those they are discipling come to a greater understanding, and a deeper commitment to following Christ.

Filling Cracks in the Heart

We're touring the District this week for the annual SDMI training event. This year, we have been enjoying the company and teaching of Pastor Hal and Debbi Perkins. They are passionate about and committed to making Christlike disciples who, in turn, also make disciples. This is the life to which we are called.

Hal and Debbi are parents of four grown children. Their parenting years started with a set of triplets and grew again with the birth of the fourth several years later. I love Debbi's account of the significant role Hal played in the life of their son David during a particularly difficult time. The video below tells that story, including the impact years later.

Learning the Lay of the Land

I'm taking a class these days on holiness and we're starting, not surprisingly, by reading a number of passages from throughout the Bible, including both Old Testament and New Testament. I found myself thinking of Bible drills, a.k.a. "sword drills," in children's Sunday School and VBS.

Carol told me awhile back about some of her time teaching young children, probably around kindergarten age, maybe even pre-school. She gave them a great start by introducing them to the Bible and helping them begin to know their way around it even before they could read. She taught them about the Old Testament and the New Testament. They learned that Genesis was first, and Revelation was at the end, and Psalms was around the middle that starts with "Ps," which is really weird in English. They knew about the gospels, too, and could find those. Pretty good for pre-readers, eh?

The Bible is a big book, and much larger than any of the others children usually read before late elementary school or beyond. That can be pretty intimidating, but Carol gave them tools to navigate it and began to develop in them a love for scripture from a very young age. What an incredible gift!

Rightly Fierce

I was young and still pretty new to a particular church when I encountered a small group leader talking inappropriately about a certain category of people. I had no idea how to respond; apparently others didn't, either. There are times when my first reaction is an over-reaction, but this did not seem to be one of those times. And even if it were, a rapidly-growing relational barrier between us became quickly apparent to me, and that also needed to be addressed. I had to confront the issue.

But how? I knew the command to initiate reconciliation and I knew the Bible's teachings about members of the body helping each other to grow together in Christlikeness, but had no idea how to actually do any of that. Thankfully, with a bit of coaching, accompanied by motivation from knowing I'd be held accountable for following through with the conversation, I talked with the one by whom I'd been offended, and it went very well. Difficult, yes, but absolutely worth it. Many years later, our relationship is strong.

That was a defining experience in my life. It was probably the first time I'd really entered a difficult conversation to seek reconciliation and lovingly correct another person. I don't think I'd ever even seen that kind of conversation. The experienced helped me to realize how incredibly vital it is that we be both willing and able to respond well at such times.

I read a book last year entitled Fierce Conversations. The word "fierce" does not imply being mean or threatening, but bold and powerful. Fierce Conversations are ones in which we show up completely and well, openly and honestly participating with others to tackle often-difficult challenges in ways that enrich and strengthen our relationships. And I am convinced that the Church needs what is in this book. We need to be genuine, challenging, and respectful as we encounter both speed bumps and mountains in life and ministry, and as we work together to accomplish our God-given mission.

So... care group leaders, Sunday School teachers, parents, grandparents, employers, employees, pastors, teachers, and anyone else who interacts regularly with imperfect people -- if you haven't read it, I'd encourage you to do so.

And if you have, I'd love to hear what you're thinking!

Sunday School Evangelism

Sunday School still brings people to Christ.  Last Sunday, two junior boys approached me.  They told me they don't want to lie or cheat or do other sinful things.  They want to do what God asks them to do.  Both had invited Jesus into their hearts that day.

This all happened when a Sunday School teacher was intentional about discipling her class, and asking life-changing questions.

Your Corner of the World

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

-- Matthew 28:18-20

Though Jesus' disciples had been following him for several years at this point, there were clearly many things they had not yet learned. Still, Jesus sent them out, entrusting to this motley group the most important message in all the world. They were to live this message and to spread it so thoroughly that the whole globe would come to know the hope of Christ. An impossibly large, impossibly difficult task, it would have seemed.

Yet here we are, two thousand years later, with the same message and the same privilege and responsibility of making disciples. What does this command mean? Disciples are simply people who follow Jesus; therefore we are to walk with others, following Christ together, and serving as guides for those who are not yet familiar with the way.

D. Michael Hendersen writes in his book One Conversation at a Time, "When Jesus said, 'Go into all the world and make disciples,' He meant the corner of the world you live in. Establish God's kingdom right there.... In your circle of influence you are channels of God's grace and power to bring truth and justice, love and compassion, peace and harmony, one conversation at a time."

Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore as his people we go in his name and in his power to spread his love and his hope throughout his world... one conversation at a time.

Creating Space

So many of us want to know God, but we struggle in our busy lives to fit in spiritual things. We want to study God in the Bible, interact with God in prayer, and worship God in community with others. Yet too often we find our lives too full of other things, and there is not space for God. Life never seems to slow down, and we can find ourselves drifting away, losing focus of the One who wants to walk through life with us.

For some, there is a sense of obligation to spiritual matters, and a defeated guilt when spiritual things are not part of each day. Friends, this is not the relationship God invites us into!

Henri Nouwen described the spiritual disciplines as "the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God... a time and a place where God's gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to" (see reference). It is slowing down enough to allow God to re-align our souls with his. It is giving him room to work in our lives.

Dallas Willard notes that, just as there are sins of commission (things we do, but we shouldn't) and sins of omission (things we don't do, but we should), there are disciplines of engagement (things we intentionally do) and disciplines of abstention (things we intentionally avoid doing). Further, he suggests that one struggling with a sin of commission (such as backbiting) ought to consider a discipline of abstention (such as silence). Similarly, one struggling with a sin of omission (such as joylessness) will likely grow through a discipline of engagement (such as celebration).

What is God calling you to, right now?

Discipleship is intentional. When we choose to accept God's invitation to be disciples -- that is, Christ-followers -- it is not a decision to be made lightly. Let's be attentive, and stay in step with the Master.