I moved!

I moved to Wordpress! I love it. If you would like to view my new blog click the link below:

http://jonathanbailey.wordpress.com

When Jesus Disappoints Us

I have the opportunity to speak at Four Corners Church on Sunday August 31. There will be two services one at 9 am and the other at 10:45 am. I will be speaking on "When Jesus Disappoints Us."

"1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was."

Why did Jesus delay? Did Jesus heal Lazarus when he heard that he was sick? Why did Mary & Martha have to go through this painful event? Hopefully we will be able to answer these questions and more. I hope to see you there.

Seek the kingdom,

Jon

Eating & Drinking the Life of Jesus

John 6.53-58
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

This teaching by Jesus caused some real problems for the people around Him. It didn't matter if the person was a pharisee or a follower they struggled with the statement. Whenever we hear difficult statements or teachings from Jesus we should rejoice! Because most likely it is rubbing up against our sense of propriety or dethroning our ego. Difficult statements about Jesus separate the sheep from the goats. You find out pretty quick who believes and who doesn't. What Jesus discovers (which He already knew) is there are people on the Jesus train that didn't plan on riding all the way to calvary. But I am not so much interested in that part of the story. I want to talk about eating and drinking the life of Jesus.

Jesus is likening His own body to the manna that came out of heaven. We could stop there and just talk about the amazing symbolism of Jesus incarnation, but what does it mean that Jesus is manna. Nobody really knew what manna was back then, however the Israelites were to consume it daily for sustenance. The Israelites ate and were satisfied. They were commanded to only gather enough for each day, this was to build some discipline in their lives. They were to rely and trust each day on the sustenance brought by God.

I wonder if we have considered the idea of consuming Jesus daily for the sustenance of not only our bodies, but souls?

Experiment 010: Eating & Drinking the Life of Jesus

The experiment this week is to take the remaining days left in the week and consume Jesus each day. Just like the Israelites had to daily gather and consume manna; we should also daily consume Jesus. I offer a few examples of "consumption" to get you started this week.

Wednesday: Read the Sermon on the Mount in one sitting and journal your thoughts and questions. (Matthew 5-7)
Thursday: Take a friend to lunch and buy their meal. Offering hospitality and sacrificing some of your money is great way of taking up your cross.
Friday: Find a quiet place to meditate for 25 minutes on Mark 1:35,36a. Be still and quiet just like Jesus was. Enjoy His presence with you.
Saturday: Read psalm 23 and substitute all of the personal pronouns with Jesus. Why? Because you get this overwhelming sense that your entire life should be wrapped up into His.
Sunday: Find time to eat some bread and drink some wine in remembrance of His life. Thank Him for His sacrifice and for His life. Read Romans 5.10 before you eat and drink.

Seek the kingdom, Carry the Cross, Feast on Jesus,
Jon

Can We Be Dedicated to 5?

Can we be dedicated to prayer?

Can we be dedicated to eating and drinking the life of Jesus?

Can we be dedicated to drenching our minds in Scripture?

Can we be dedicated to serving the less fortunate?

Can we be dedicated to silence and solitude?

This fall LivingZugos.com will be enthusiastically committed to providing creative experiments in these 5 essential disciplines. I really believe if we practice these at least as much as we eat ice cream, play tennis and jog around the block we will, by the Spirit of Jesus be more and more transformed into His glorious image. The World is waiting for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. May we start to show up and make a difference in the name of Jesus.

Can we be dedicated to these disciplines? Is it too hard? Is it to crazy to ask that we put these disciplines into practice? Could a suburban group of people become disciples of Jesus and mean it? Would we be ashamed? Would we only talk about it with each other? Or could we share our lives with others who are desperately searching for something real and significant?

I wonder what would happen?

Prayer in the Middle of the Night

Galatians 2.20
20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Carrying your cross is not an easy thing. It can be painful. Galatian 2.20 is one of my favorite sayings of Paul. It says so clearly what happens when we submit our bodies to the cross; we slowly transform into the image of Jesus. Of course the whole question of how do I submit my body to a cross that is not literal may and should arise. That is what this blog is all about. It is about thinking creatively about ways we can deny our pleasures/passions/desires/flesh/self for the sake of Jesus.  So I have a great spiritual experiment for all of us to try this week.

Experiment 009: Prayer in the Middle of the Night (Approximately 2:20 am)

One night this week before you go to bed set your alarm clock to 2:20 am. The reason you set it for 2:20 am is to remind you to pray what Paul was saying in Galatians 2.20. So how is this taking up your cross? Well, your body at 2:20 am wants nothing else but sleep. So, when you wake up and get out of bed and get on your knees and begin praying, you are asking God to help you identify with the death of Jesus on the cross. It is a way of saying to God, "I am willing to give of my self to your cause, I am asking for you to change me Jesus." It is a way that you let God know that you are serious about following Him, your faith is more than words, it's acting and moving.

We don't possess the power to change ourselves into the image of Jesus; only the Spirit can do that. But we do have a little power in us to direct and say what we will do with our bodies. That means everything from sitting my butt in a chair and reading the gospel stories, using my feet to walk around downtown Dallas and pass out food and offer prayer to anyone who needs it, or using my mind and mouth to meditate on a scripture. Our body is what we have control over and this is what Jesus wants us to nail to the cross.

So, wake up at 2:20 am one night this week and make your prayer something like this: "Jesus, thank you for showing me how to die. I am asking you to help me crucify my flesh this very moment. Please transform my selfish heart into a more loving and selfless heart. Please come and drive out my old life and replace it with yours. Live in me Jesus. Show me how to live out your faith in my world. Thank you for forgiving me and now please free me!"

Then you can hop back in bed and have a good night's rest. Remember spiritual disciplines are not heroic; you don't have to stay up all night trying to prove something to God. You just simply talk with Him for a few minutes and then allow his Spirit to do the rest! I hope you have a great time with this experiment this week! I would love to hear how it goes.

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

What It Means To Be A Disciple of Jesus

I  have the opportunity to speak at Four Corners Church on Sunday July 6. There will be two services one at 9 am and the other at 10:45 am.  I will be speaking on "What It Means to Be A Disciple of Jesus." I am really excited about this sermon and the implications it has on our lives.   

We will be journeying through Luke 14.25-35. In these eleven verses Jesus spells out what it means to be a disciple. They are hard and difficult words, but we need to be challenged and hear His call to "follow me." 

Fasting for Food

On Saturday I received an email alerting me to a day of prayer and fasting for the global food crisis.  You may not have known this was happening around the world because the majority of American suburbia doesn't feel the squeeze.  We can afford to pay an extra dollar or two for our food, however nearly half of the people in the world are living on less than $2 dollars a day.  Let me say that again, 50% of the world are living on less than $2 a day.

So when the price of food doubles in a year, you can see how half the world suffers and can barely provide for its basic necessities. Why is this crisis happening? There are always several reasons that make up a crisis of this magnitude, however the major contributors are the rising fuel costs, rising food demand from populous countries like India and China, and natural disasters that are eliminating major crop yields all over the world. (For more info visit this compassion link http://www.compassion.com/NR/exeres/A1BD84CB-1BBF-443A-B74D-829ABA8D15AB.htm )

So this week I am asking you to join with Compassion and pledge to pray and fast for our hungry brothers and sister all over the world. Pray that God will intervene with fuel costs, and that crop yields will be fruitful. Pray for the rich half of the world to donate money and goods to provide immediate relief to those who are starving. Pray that we will be willing to become less rich and less powerful in order to help people become less poor and less powerless. Pray that this crisis will open the eyes of the more affluent societies, pray that we can see and feel their need and become less selfish and more selfless.

So our experiment this week is to take up our crosses and fast from food on Wednesday June 25 and pray.

Experiment 008: Fasting for Food

I will let you know how I will be fasting on Wednesday so you can have an idea for yourself. I will not eat any food for breakfast, lunch and dinner; I will only drink liquids (water or juice). The following day I will eat a light breakfast maybe some fruit or yogurt so I ease myself back into food. I hope that you will practice this experiment this week. When you feel the pain, remember the hungry children of the world. Identify with them in their pain and ask God to help them. Pray that Jesus will come through His people and show His love for them. You can visit the compassion website and sign up to pray and fast with thousands of others if you like. Also you can donate your money to this cause via the web.

"If you can't feed a hundred people, than feed just one." Mother Teresa

Keep Seeking the Kingdom,
Jon

The Need for Speed

I once heard Dallas Willard say, "You must relentlessly remove hurry from your life." He went on to say this is one of the hidden hazards to our spiritual formation into Christlikeness. Hurry it seems, is certainly not as overtly evil as sexual lust or greed, but it lies at the surface of our lives and devours any kind of meaningful time with Jesus. We are always in a hurry. I am always in a hurry. Therefore being meaningfully present with Jesus is difficult. I am trying to squeeze one more page of my book before I get ready to go to work, or just fifteen more minutes of sleep before church. We squeeze and we squish, and now to make it anywhere on time we have to hurry because we were hurrying. It is a vicious cycle!

Why is a lifestyle of hurry so hazardous to our discipleship? Because it bleeds over into our time with Jesus and it rips us out of God's kingdom, thus we cannot fully seek it.

So a couple of years ago I began to get serious about thinking of ways I could practically take steps toward eliminating hurry from my life. The first I employed was driving the speed limit. One of the hard lessons I had to learn was, my car is not a time machine. It's funny, but how we drive our cars can be a reflection of what's going on in our minds. Are we angry, calm, worried, distracted, or in a hurry? If we are in a hurry our speedometer will be a good indicator. Have you ever noticed though, that you are not in any particular time-crunch but you are still driving fast? You may be cutting in and out of traffic, trying to beat a yellow light, rolling slowly through a stop sign or cutting someone off so you can advance further on the highway. We are so used to being in a hurry that now it is just what we do. Getting from point A to point B in the quickest possible time is the sole objective.

So driving the speed limit for a lot of us will be a crucifixion of our old nature that loves to hurry. I have found that a quiet car traveling the speed limit can be one of the greatest opportunities for prayer, silence and meditation.

So our experiment this week is to drive the speed limit one day this week.

Experiment 007: Crucifying Hurry

Now think about it, once you drive the speed limit you don't have to worry about getting ahead of the next car in front of you, making a red light, looking intently for cops on the horizon as you speed, or ride the bumper of the car in front of you to make a point. This will cut down on hurry and worry, which are big killers in discipleship. Perhaps you will feel a calming peace as you drive and enjoy it so thoroughly that you decide to drive the speed limit everyday.

I hope you enjoy this week's experiment and feel Jesus riding shot gun with you as he molds and shapes you into His image. Let go of hurry. Crucify yourself by driving the speed limit. It should hurt and that's a good thing!

Seek the Kingdom at all Cost,
Jon

Ingesting Scripture: The First Letter from John

It seems to me, most folk sit down and read their Bibles like they floss their teeth. Maybe once or twice a month and we don't like to do it very long.  We get in and we get out! I personally rarely floss. However, flossing is apparently one of the best things we can do for our teeth and gums, and yet for the most part it's often ignored, rarely done or at best loosely managed. Flossing always feels like an interruption. I never plan for flossing; I never get excited about it. And when I finally floss, I do it as fast as possible.

I don't want to over generalize about this, but maybe it's true that most people feel this way when they try reading and studying Scripture. "I never really get excited about it." "When I open the Bible I try to finish my reading as fast as possible." "I know that it is good for me, but it's boring." On and on it goes. One reason for this, I believe, is we "dive-bomb" Scripture. We get in and we get out. Generally most people are not looking to read more than a chapter or perhaps a handful of verses in a sitting. Maybe you're trying the philosophy of reading a Psalm and Proverb a day, or a Gospel chapter and an Epistle chapter a day. Either way we never get plugged into the story of Scripture. The Bible is not just a Holy dictionary that we look into whenever we need some truth. The Bible is a Holy story of real people, living in real towns and villages, facing real problems, and pursuing a real Jesus. When we come to the Bible we want to get lost in the story. We want to know every detail of the towns and villages, the problems these first-century followers were encountering, the back story of all of the characters, etc. This will plant us firmly in Scripture, and once we're there it's not just about pulling out some truth, but finding people and problems we can identify with. We live our story in light of theirs. We see ourselves, not detached from them, but linked by the same life, the eternal life, Jesus' life.

Ok, so what is the experiment you ask? A little something I like to call: Ingesting Scripture.

Experiment 006: Ingesting Scripture: The First Letter from John

What I propose this week is that we make time for Scripture. Not just try to squeeze some Bible time in our busy days, but chisel out some room for studying the Scripture. Remember, "Our practice of spiritual disciplines is kept on course by our emersion in Scripture 1." We need to get lost in the story. Get to know the characters. Walk around their towns and villages, etc. Once you have carved out some time, you want to open your Bible to the First letter of John. Now, I want you to read the entire letter in one sitting. Remember, no dive-bombing. This will help you get acquainted with the story. As you read you want to take notes, underline, star, and journal. There is nothing un-holy about marking in your Bible. When you read, it should be a very active process. You want to tear this letter apart. Ask questions like, "What does that mean?" or "Why would he say that?" or "Who is he talking about?" or "How do I do that?" etc.  After reading it you may want to journal about what it means to you, or write out a prayer to Jesus about how the letter has affected you. 

Things you can specifically look for within the letter that I think are cool are:

-The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5)
-The Great Commission (Matt 28)

This is a Jesus letter through-and-through. It's an amazing commentary on the thought and teaching of Jesus. So, when you read always be thinking about Jesus. This post has gotten too long. I am sorry. I hope that you enjoy this week's experiment and look at scripture in a whole new light! It will be better than flossing I promise!

Keep Seeking the Kingdom at all Costs,
Jon

1 Dallas Willard, or Lee Camp. I cannot remember who said it or where I found it.

Finding Fellowship: Preparing, Cooking & Cleaning

John 21:12-14
"12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples ventured to question Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead."

We have lost something in our technology-driven culture. Time is moving fast (so it appears). We must find a way to slow it down. One thing that I believe is central to the Jesus Way is building times of fellowship into our heavily-scheduled lives. This is what I think we have lost: fellowship with our spouses, friends, neighbors, and yes even the one we call Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus was really into fellowship, think of all the parties, meals, festivals, long walks and my personal favorite is when He cooks breakfast for His disciples on the Sea of Galilee after an early morning of fishing. If Jesus was doing it; we should be doing it. Right? This is what we now have to construct into our daily, weekly and monthly schedules. This may mean that we miss out on some must see TV, but who cares "TIVO" it! The main thing to understand about fellowship, is that It does not happen automatically anymore. This is something we have to fight for.

It is extremely easy to come home after a long day of work, watching the kids, school, etc and plop down on the couch and throw in an oven pizza and checkout for the rest of the evening. There's no fellowship between you and your spouse or roommate. As a substitute fellowship is replaced with information. We exchange the days information and then we are done (much like a text message). This is something that I do on a regular basis and I am trying to break myself out of this way of life. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it is good to "veg-out" and eat a quick bite to eat. I have no beef with this. However, if this becomes a nightly routine and the TV is constantly zapping your brain then you may want to take action! One discipline that Kori and I are trying to keep in our weekly routine is Cooking a meal together. I got this idea from Eugene Peterson's book "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places."

So our experiment this week is for you and your spouse, or roommate to prepare, cook and clean a homemade meal.

Experiment 005: Preparing, Cooking & Cleaning - Finding Fellowship in our Busy Lives.

I would suggest that you both sit down at the computer and go to foodnetwork.com. They have hundreds of great recipes that you can download right to your computer. Once you have both picked one out you both should journey to your local grocer and gather the ingredients. Remember it is important that you complete all three stages of the process together. You don't want to "sub-out" any of the stages to each other; do them together. It could end up taking you 1-2 hours so plan accordingly. I promise that you will not be disappointed when you are finished. You will have enjoyed the meal and especially the time just talking and laughing with each other. You will have done much more than exchanged information, you will have had a beautiful time of fellowship. And for about 2 hours, time will have come to slow walk and you will have been able to savor every minute of life.

Please share your recipes if you have some good ones! I love you all!

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

Walking with Jesus

Mark 1:35
"35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."

Can you picture this? Jesus wakes up after a long and taxing day of healing bodies and teaching minds. He is physically tired but gets up early ('still dark' early). I would not be surprised if this was a regular practice for Him. Anyway, He slips on an outer garment and sandals and tries to escape unnoticed. As He slips out the front, the door gives Him away with a squeak and a creak. Peter hears and knows that Jesus is out for another early morning stroll and prayer session. For a split second Peter thinks about joining Him, but his body wins out and the bed welcomes him back with open arms. It's dark. There is definitely a chill in the air. It's just Jesus and Abba now. Finally in the quietness and solitude of the journey He can fix His mind on things above.

I am sure I took some liberties with the story. There is really little evidence the story unfolded like I described, but I wanted to give a life-like scenario of Jesus and His disciplines. I really believe our disciplines are a lot like Jesus' disciplines. I am sure He encountered the same challenges and difficulties we do. It's important that we study Jesus in the gospels and mimic Him. If we are going to follow Him and be His disciples, the least we can do is practice what He did. Right?

So our experiment this week is to pull our bodies out of bed and take a walk with Jesus & Abba.

Experiment 004: Walking with Jesus

It is pretty simple this week. It usually is. Sometime this week while it is still dark drag your butt out of bed, throw on some clothes and flip-flops and go for walk. When your annoying alarm goes off and you cannot believe 'sleepy' time went by so fast, just remember, it is at that precise point you decide to crucify your body. That is when we put flesh and blood on the statement, "Take up your cross and follow me." As your walking, you may want to think about the scripture verse quoted above, meditate on portions of the Sermon on the Mount, or offer prayers for your family and friends. One of the most important things we can do in the morning is set our minds on Jesus. This is how we do it. I hope that you enjoy the walk this week. I hope that you will envision Jesus walking right there with you. Don't be a lazy bum like Peter and miss out on walking with Jesus. Wake up and do it! And always remember Jesus' words, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20)."

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

PS. Perhaps the girls may not want to walk alone in the dark at night, so perhaps the husbands or friends could walk at the same time but separately. That way both parties could be comfortable as they walk. Just a thought. Don't let fear scare you though, Jesus will be with you!

One Chapter & One Cup

Romans 10:17
"17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

One of the most important spiritual disciplines that we can practice is to read the words of Jesus in the gospels. Perhaps more than any other practice, this fuels our growth and transformation into Christlikeness. Paul teaches in his letter to the Roman disciples that faith is birthed by hearing the words of Jesus. Fortunately for us we have Jesus' teachings and stories captured for us in the gospel narratives. So, this is how we grow. We read what Jesus says, and what we discover is, that He always teaches us to act on what He says (Matt 7:24).

Faith is built much like a brick wall. You need the brick (teaching) and the mortar (practicing). It would'nt do much good to stack a bunch of bricks with no mortar, much like it doesn't do a whole lot of good to just read Jesus' teachings and never put anything to practice. I think for most Christians we got a lot of bricks stacked on top of each other, but nothing is really holding them together. If a little rain or wind comes our way, our wall begins to fall apart. In the same way, if you just put a bunch of mortar together you don't have much form. It's just a big blob. So, the bricks give us direction and form, and the practice makes it stick. Now we can start building.

So our experiment this week is to read Luke 14 and enjoy a cup of coffee while doing it.

Experiment 003: Reading Jesus and being Jesus.

There are few things I enjoy more than sitting down in my big chair with a steaming cup of coffee and reading through the gospels. It is one of my favorite disciplines. So, I propose this week that we sit down and read Luke 14 with a big ole steaming cup of coffee! Make time this week so that you can read the entire chapter in one sitting several times. The main question you want to ask yourself is, "How am I going to put this into practice this week?" This could be your prayer as you read. Ask Jesus to help you act on this teaching in Luke 14. Just by sitting down and reading the chapter means that you are already practicing the discipline of study, but we never study for study sake. We study to learn more about Jesus and how to be Jesus to the world. As you read the chapter this week, it would be great if anyone had questions or comments to post them for everyone to read so we could all benefit from it. I hope everyone has a great week and enjoy Luke 14, it's beautiful passage!

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

Cross Chores

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

When we talk about dying to self, that really means something. There really are things we can do to move in that direction. It is not a passive process, it's and active process! Remember, grace is not opposed to effort, it's opposed to earning (Dallas Willard.) Jesus said take up YOUR cross and follow me. Not His, but yours. It is our responsibility as 21st century disciples of Jesus to bring that archaic 1st century teaching to life, our life. This week that is our goal. Essentially Jesus was saying, you need to die! That selfish, prideful person inside must die. Of course there are many ways to do this and creativity always helps. This week I want to introduce you to cross chores.

Cross chores are those weekly responsibilities we all have to do, for instance, taking out the trash, doing the dishes, cleaning the toilet, making dinner, doing the laundry, folding the laundry, hanging the laundry, etc. Does anyone else find these things highly annoying? Most people do, and that is why in any relationship whether husband or wife, roommates, or if your living with your parents these chores are divided up so no single person has to do all of them. In my marriage, I am basically responsible for all the trash in the apartment, paying the bills, and Kori does the laundry and cleaning. We both split doing the dishes. I am sure you all have a similar set up.

So our experiment this week is to do some Cross Chores.

Experiment 002: Denying Ourselves, Serving Others, Serving Jesus.

I propose that if you have a spouse, roommate or mom or dad that this week you do one of their weekly chores. If it is dishes, laundry, trash, cleaning, whatever, you do it the entire week as a way of denying yourself, serving others, and serving Jesus. It may be simple and not heroic enough for some, but spiritual disciplines are not for heroes. Every time you clean that dish, fold that awkward shirt of your wife's, carry your smelly trash to the can, or scrub the stains off your toilet bowl, think of Jesus. Think of His suffering, His willingness to leave His Dad, to become a helpless infant, to get beat, to get his beard ripped off His cheeks, to get Roman saliva in His eyes, to carry a cross, all for the joy set before Him. As we practice this experiment this week, I know that we will feel the life of Jesus Himself begin to pour into our bodies and we will 'slowly but surely' feel the selfishness and the pride retreating. May Jesus and His Spirit be our guide this week! Have fun!

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

PS. Keep the comments coming, it is fun and helpful to read each others experiences. Love you all!

Life with God: Celebrating Lifelong Discipleship

We have an amazing opportunity to hear Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Ortberg and Ron Sider.  This is going to be a great conference with an intimate setting, plus its in Houston!  I wanted to get a count of who would like to be included in the conference. We get a $10 discount for early registration if we have +5 persons.  

RENOVARÉ Life With God Conference
A Gathering to Mark the 30th Anniversary
of Celebration of Discipline

October 2-4, 2008
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

CONFERENCE DETAILS
- Group Registration (5+ registering at the same time)
- Price: $89.00
-For a cost of $15 per person, we will attend the Thursday night Roast and Dessert for Richard Foster
- For more information, please contact Lyle SmithGraybeal at 303-792-0152, x 122, or lyle@renovare.org .

Featuring
Richard J. Foster • John Ortberg • Ron Sider
Chris Webb • Dallas Willard • Lauren Winner

Workshops Led By
Justin Campbell • James Catford
Anne Grizzle & Martha Moore • Todd Hunter
Gary Moon • Dave Peterson • Juanita Rasmus
Chris Seay • Robert Sloan • Chris Webb


"The word 'DISCIPLE' occurs 269 times in the New Testament. 'Christian' is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus. . . . The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ. But the point is not merely verbal. What is more important is that the kind of life we see in the earliest church is that of a special type of person. All of the assurances and benefits offered to humankind in the gospel evidently presuppose such a life and do not make realistic sense apart from it."

— Dallas Willard, The Great Omission

Silence is Golden

Psalm 131:2
"But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me."

One of the most needed disciplines in our life is silence!  There is so much noise: TV, Radio, Podcast, iTunes, Blue Ray, HD, CDs, DVDs, etc.  With so much noise it makes it very difficult to set and keep our mind on Jesus.

 Jesus is our teacher and model.  One thing He models in the gospels is His need to be silent.  As you walk through Galilee and Judea with Jesus in the gospel stories, you may notice how often He finds quiet places. This is essential for us if we are going to be transformed into Christlikeness.  God spoke through David the great warrior poet and told us to "be still and know I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

So our experiment this week is to be still and silent. 

Experiment 001: Turn off the noise.

Almost all of us travel to work during the week. Most likely we are listening to the radio, CDs or the famous iPod.  Maybe it's sports radio, NPR, right-wing talk, country music, kidd kradick, rap music, praise & worship, or a sermon. One thing i've discovered over the past 2 years, is our cars, trucks, SUVs and vans turn out to be unique opportunities for silence. Our drive to work doesn't have to be a race, it can be a rest.  So, i am proposing that one morning this week we turn off the noise as we journey to work.  This may mean 10 minutes or 45 minutes, it doesn't matter how much, it just matters that we do it.  

What do i do while i am driving? i have two suggestions. meditate on one of your favorite scripture verses, or pray for your family members & friends.  One of my favorites for meditation is Psalm 23, 'the Lord is my Shepherd..." or use the verses quoted in this blog.

If you find that this special time of silence helped set your mind on Jesus then think seriously about how you can incorporate it into your weekly schedule (Luke 14:28-33). Enjoy the silence this week! Let Jesus transform you and shape you as you set aside time in your car, truck, SUV or van  just for Him.

Remember please comment on your experiment this week. Let's create some community on this blog! We may not be able to see each other everyday or week, but at least we can stay in touch. Also, if you want to receive an email when a new experiment is posted please let me know by posting it in the comments section.

 

Seek the Kingdom,

Jon 

"If we desire to have a true understanding of His gospels, we must study to conform our life as nearly as we can to His"

Thomas A Kempis

The Imitation of Christ

(Brought to you by Zach Silvers study time on Monday morning. Thanks Zach!)

Welcome & Introduction

This blog is all about taking Jesus seriously.  It's so easy to go to church and tip the preacher and be done. It seems there is (at least from where i am from) a lot of frustration with Christianity and church.  My goal is just to provide practical applications for Christians who really want to become like Jesus.  We are tired of quick fixes, 7 steps to whatever and church hopping. We need a place to really learn and live with Jesus. And i believe that turns out to be right where we are.  So, hopefully this blog can at least help us move in the right direction. 

You can expect a new experiment every week (probably Monday or Tuesday.) I will call them experiments but my hope is they will become disciplines.  The goal is to try an experiment every week, and if it really fits your station of life, then make it a discipline.  Disciplines help us follow Jesus. Disciplines are not righteousness, but wisdom (Dallas Willard). Jesus said, "take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart" (Matt 11:28-30).  So this is how we learn from Jesus by actually putting into practice what He teaches in the gospels.  

It would be great to get feedback going from people and see how the experiments are going.  Tell about your experience in the comments section.  You may want to say, 'that was really great", or 'that sucked!' Either way, lets just talk about it and create some community and help each other on the Jesus Way.  

A disciple is someone who is learning to be, not so much know. We want to be like Jesus, not just know stuff about Him. A disciple of Jesus is someone who has  decided that the most important thing in life is to be with Him learning to be like HIm.

I hope you will journey with us as we journey with Jesus.

Seek the Kingdom,

Jon

P.S. If you would like to be notified by email when the new post is up just let me know and I will add your email address to the automatic blog send list.