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

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

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.