In the same way that Daniel remained faithful in the midst of pressing secular cultural influences, the church today needs to be self-aware and intentional about practicing real discipleship.
Christian Discipleship: Commodity or Community?
Christian resources are not necessarily wrong. However, I wonder if we are asking how the marketing of discipleship is affecting, and maybe even changing, our message.
Christian Mentoring
Jesus, in His ministry, embodied the perfect mentor as He lived life with His disciples.
Technology Unleashed: A Review of Transhumanism and the Image of God
Jacob Shatzer, an assistant professor and associate dean in the School of Theology and Missions at Union University, addresses the way technology forms us, especially in regards to Christian discipleship
Excerpt from “Walking Through Infertility”
The relationship Christ offers us with him is pure in two senses: pure in that he in his perfect righteousness is our atonement and reconciliation with God, and pure also in that discipleship precludes exceptions or conditions.
Gender & Authority: Finding Doxological Authority in the Church
The Christian blogosphere is inviting us to return to a doxological view of Christian authority—not one that forsakes traditional structures and the importance of accountability, but one that reminds us that all authority comes from Christ, and sometimes voices of truth are speaking from different sorts of pulpits.
Gender & Authority: Authority in the Blogosphere
So, essentially, there is the church, where you go to sit with all your children, trying to keep them from wiggling and running away, listening to a man exposit the Scriptures—however competently depends on so many variables—and then, when you wander out, there is not only the blogosphere, but now also the conferences and books and tribal pull of women gathering together to make their way through life.
Getting Wet
They knew that the life of discipleship was hard and that it took faith, and they were willing to do what needed to be done. But, they didn’t want to get wet.
Imagining Discipleship through Narrative Metaphor
This is a call to unpack important dimensions of who we are and to appreciate the impact that the stories embedded in our imagination can have, both on what we believe and how we live that out.
Discipleship and Narrative Metaphor
If the Bible is the guiding rule of faith for God’s people, then narrative metaphors for discipleship should be those which have some substantial root in Scripture and the story of God’s people.
Discipleship and Imagination
In today’s piece, I will describe how these two “selves” function from a cognitive perspective, including the crucial role our imaginations play in tying the two systems together.
He’s Calling You
The coming kingdom – popular or not; desired by the peoples or not – certainly seems to be of great importance to the writer of Matthew and to Jesus himself
Revelation, Dystopia, and Hope
Revelation is a glimpse into the fear and imagination of early Christians. Today, we too have an invitation to engage in the creative work of living in to discipleship.
What Role Do Bible Scholars Play in Your Bible Reading?
As the Ethiopian eunuch replied when Philip asked if he understood the portions from Isaiah he was reading, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Such guides include pastors and teachers and spiritual mentors of many kinds, but especially for those of us living in a time and place radically separated from the culture and languages of the Bible, such guides must also include biblical scholars.
What Makes a Church Missional?
That word “missional” … it’s everywhere, and it’s overused, and we’re not quite sure what it means, and Microsoft Word underlines it in red because it doesn’t think it’s a real word. What is it? It depends on who you ask.
Engaging All People of God
Our goal would be realized by the Reformed Church in America becoming a thriving, missional, multi-cultural denomination. Evidence of this fruit would be witnessed through sacrificial service, authentic relationships, spiritual transformation.
A Beautiful Crucible: Motherhood as Discipleship
This journey of motherhood is an unpredictable one. I can’t direct or control how my children will turn out. But I can take responsibility for my own growth in grace.
Christmas Confession
As a pastor, I always kind of dreaded the big holidays….I felt like I had prepared a message and service that was woefully inadequate.
Discipleship and Metaphor
The Bible is filled with a tapestry of rich imagery, deep doctrine, and sweeping drama, and, ideally, all of these things weave together to drive us to live a vibrant faith which joyfully embraces the freedom that comes from living as sinners saved by grace and called to thanksgiving. However, I believe we sometimes fail to examine the power of imagery in shaping our understanding of what it is to actually live out our response to the Gospel.
Living Business as Mission
Jesus showed up in extraordinary ways in the ordinary rhythms of life. Of our waking hours over 50% is spent in the marketplace. Do you view work as your primary mission field?
Vulnerability, Discipleship and Community
It may be more or less socially acceptable for us to express our feelings, or to let it be known that we have feelings, depending on our gender, age, social position and the like, but this doesn’t negate the creational reality: we are created with emotions.