February 2012 Blog Posts (14)

I haven't blogged in a while. You may not have noticed, but I have.

I've felt guilty about it.

I've thought of a dozen things I wanted to blog about, but then didn't follow through.

That made me even more guilty.

I have feeling guilty . . . 

When I feel guilty for two long, I have a panic attack.

That's never pretty and it brings on more guilt.

And the bottom line is I haven't blogged…

Many small groups in America are not missional. They are good at caring for one another and studying the Bible, which is good . . . but not great! In Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses our need to “confront the brutal facts.”  In…

 But just as it is written, "Things that no eye has seen,

or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things

God has prepared for those who love him."

God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit

searches all things, even the deep things of God.

1 Cor 2:9, 10

In many Christian circles,…

A small group, at its core, is Christ’s body in action. Stop and think about this for a moment. Your small group is the church. Not a subset of the church. Not a supportive program within the church. Not a tool to close the back door. Unfortunately, in today’s world, our mental image of “church” is usually something much bigger or more institutional than a single small group. We say, “I’m going to church,” meaning a building, a mass meeting, or possibly a structured program of some…

Hey everyone, just wondering if anyone else on here struggles with entertainment choices.  I love good old classic rock music, and blues...and movies.  I generally find myslef listening to christian music, but feel pulled back over & over again to the secular music. 

I just was wondering if anyone struggle with this.  I know that most of this music has subject matter that is not good.  Also, when it comes to movies, I am offended by the use of the "f" word and the using of the…

GOD said, "Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees,

each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth";…

Sometimes I have to go out to my shed to get something when it’s dark.  I usually forget to take a flashlight, so when I get there I’m just frustrated because I can’t find what I’m looking for because it is so dark. 

In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Jesus is the light of the world.  But why do we need a light?  Because the world is actually a dark place because of sin and satan. …

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,…

A book you need to read and study to understand tomorrow. www.apocalyptictremors.com

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…

Our Mens Breakfast is currently studying the chronological life of Christ, which takes all four gospels and trys to put them on a time line so we study passages in the order the events supposedly happened. We are using serveral sources and strangely they all dont agree on the exact order of things.

We have reached Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, possibly the greatest sermon ever and certainly the most quoted. One concern I have as we embark on the study of this sermon is that many will…