Have you ever had that lost feeling, the feeling of drifting along lost at sea disconnected from any kind of great community? Sometimes I feel like I am wandering, figuring this life out on my own. There are signposts for sure, books I read or teachers I learn from, but when I put the book down or finish the podcast I am left alone once again.

I love the United States. I am grateful for all it has given me, but our lack of deep traditions can frustrate me. And what traditions we do…

Intentional discipleship is surrendering to the Father's will and walking in Jesus' presence.

So how do we live the life of an intentional disciple?  How do we stay connected to Jesus when he is not bodily present with us like he was with his first disciples?  The answer is the spiritual discipline, or practices.  If you read last week’s…

Intentional discipleship is surrendering to the Father's will and walking in Jesus’ presence. 

My last post looked at Jesus the Rabbi and how a first century disciple sat at the master’s feet longing to take on his character.  In John 15:1-8 Jesus uses a vine and…

Intentional discipleship is surrendering to the Father's will and walking in Jesus’ presence.

For a disciple, time in the teacher’s presence is vital, because it is in his presence that the…

Intentional discipleship is surrendering to the will of the Father.

The first of AA’s twelve steps is to admit you are powerless to bring about change in your life, and the second step goes hand in hand with it, to believe there is a “higher power” who is able to facilitate the change you desire. These are also the first two steps in the life of a disciple.  We must be willing to admit that we are powerless to plant and cultivate the seeds of kingdom life in our own hearts, and…

I once posted a blog that looked at some of the troubling statistics that detailed just how little our faith seems to be impacting the way we live our lives?  The root cause of the unhinging of what we say we believe from how we live is a lack of intentional discipleship.  Because we haven’t figured this out we struggle to live up to Jesus’ expectations. If we would commit to a life of intentional…

He was amazed at how quickly he disappeared when he first sat down on the corner. He learned quickly that it didn’t matter what he said, how well or how loud he played that old drum, no one could be bothered to do any more than glance in his general direction, and any who made accidental eye contact, looked away as quickly as possible.  He assumed his presence made them uncomfortable, knowing they lived in a world that is okay with a ten-year-old being forced to survive by playing a drum on…

While waiting for a recent meeting to begin a couple co-workers and I began talking about our sons.  One explained her theory that every boy is either fascinated with balls, trucks or action figures, and asked which category our boys fell into.  Another guy with a son about six months older than mine said that his son is a ball kid.  He went on to talk about how much his son loves sports and hockey in particular.  They take him to games and are starting to get him on the ice.  My…