People: "What can I do to know God more?"
Me: "Spiritual Disciplines"
P: "What's that?"
M: "Spiritual disciplines are practices or disciplines that you put into place in your life that help you grow closer to God."
P: "That sounds cool, like what?"
"Well, some are things like praying, and fasting and..."
"Fasting, like going without food?"
"yeah, generally fasting would involve depriving yourself of something so that you can use your energy to focus on God for a time."
"I don't do that who depriving thing. What else you got?"
"Like I said praying and..."
"Oh, I pray."
"That's great, lets build on that some. Tell me about your prayer life."
"I pray before I eat."
"well, when I remember, and if it won't embarrass me."
"So have you ever set aside a little time each day just to pray?"
"I really don't have time to."
"what can I do to help you?"
"I'd really like to know how I can get closer to God, without having to do anything differently."
I have not had this conversation, but I have. I am teaching through Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster right now. It is a book that has brought great comfort to my life and has changed how I interact with God. However, I have a difficult time getting others to even try out a discipline. Even those who greatly want to know God more. These young adults express a great desire to not just know about God, but to know God, to experience God. These same adults in their 20's and 30's are so busy with life that, other than Sunday morning and the occasional Wednesday night, there is no place, or no space, for God.
How can we help them slow down?
How can we help this age prioritize God into their lives?
Have you done anything recently with this age group (my age group) that helped them grow spiritually?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
The Glory of The Son-- Compadres
So I am a part of a secret, (but not so secret) loosely connected, group of ministers (and several people who are not ministers) on Facebook. This group prays for and encourages each other. Sometimes it is a healthy place to vent, complain or rant, Sometimes it is a place to go ask questions, get ideas, or seek advice. It is called Compadres and the people in the group are truly compadres. This summer several compadres are blogging through the theme "The Glory of the Son," This is my submission. Below it are links to others who have blogged in this theme as well. It is humbling to be included with this list of bloggers/writers.
NOT SO WITH YOU.
These four
words may not sum up the Gospel, but they should sum up our response to the
Gospel.
Jesus is
traveling with his followers to Jerusalem when Mark tells the story of Jesus'
third prediction of his death. Jesus,
like he has twice before in Mark, tells his followers that he is going to die
when he gets to Jerusalem. So they do
what any rabbi following, messiah loving, Jesus wannabe, students would do--
two of them pull Jesus aside and secretly ask him if they can have the places
of honor when Jesus is in his Glory (Obviously oblivious to what that would entail, and clearly not what disciples should do). So
he tells them, "These places belong to those for whom they
have been prepared.” Who would have ever guessed the two that would eventually be
at Jesus' right and left.
If they only
knew what they were asking they would have never asked it. If they only understood these three predictions
of death, they might would have stopped following. They probably would have gone home; given up;
and continued life as they knew it before they were called by Christ. But they did not get it. Just didn't understand exactly how things
would happen.
So he calls
them all together and tells them the way things should be. “You
know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Not so with you... Hear these words. These are the words that Jesus uses to turn
everything upside down.
This is the way the world works... Not so with you.
This is the way the world defines strong... Not so with you.
This is how the world defines first... Not so with you.
This is how the world defines rich... Not so with you.
This is how the world defines righteous... Not so with you.
This is how the world defines religious... Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among
you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
If you want to be great among my followers
you must be my followers' servant, but if you want to be great among everyone,
must be a slave to everyone.
But Jesus doesn't just tell his followers
that they must. He lets them know that
he must also. "For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And just five chapters later Jesus is hung on a cross. Mark is clear to point out that on each side,
his right and his left, a thief was also being crucified (those two having been
prepared for those places). Here was
Jesus on a cross; a very brutal form a torture and death, bleeding, gasping for
breath, hurting, in anguish, and pain.
And it was there on the cross that Jesus THE SON was in his GLORY. It was there on the cross that
Jesus took the greatest servant/slave role-- a role that only he could take.
And in this flip flopped, turned upside down world the Jesus
calls us to live, we must constantly look at the way the world defines things
and remember four words.
"Not so with you."
It is in these words that we find the Glory of Jesus.
Other blogs
Jeremy Schopper ---- https://
Danny Holman "The Jesus Challenge” ---- https://www.facebook.com/
Carl Jenkins John 6:1-15. The feeding of the 5,000 ------ http://
Johnathan Dobbs 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ----- http://mrjdobbs.wordpress.com/
Scott Elliott Luke 1:67-79. ----- http://
Chris Hodges Matthew 17:1-8 - The Mount of Transfiguration ----- https://chrisrhodges.com/2014/
David Smith John 17.24-26 ----- http://preachersmith.com/2014/
Jeremy Hoover Matthew 10 ----- http://www.jeremyhoover.com/
Allen Carr Matthew 10:40-42 "The Glory in the Welcome" --- http://sacredmargins.com/2014/07/03/the-glory-in-the-welcome/
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