I searched Google for images using the word “discipleship”. Here is one of the top images I got. Looks pretty peaceful, doesn’t it? I’d love to be walking on the beach about right now. The problem is, if we only have serene, pastel-y, quiet images that guide our understanding of discipleship, we will be woefully unprepared for the actual life that Jesus calls us to live. It is true, that God provides his followers with “the peace that surpasses understanding” (Phil 4). But that’s not the full story. God also explains a life of ...

I’ve never really been someone who participated in Halloween. My decision was more laziness than conviction. I have never wanted to take the time to find a costume. Even as a kid I wasn’t that into it and, as a result, I really have not given it much critical thought, until yesterday. I bought my son a fire fighter costume earlier that afternoon so he could participate in a Saturday afternoon trick-or-treat event sponsored by the neighborhood businesses. He was excited, so excited he put it on right away. We were outside kicking the soccer ...

Are you defined by your sin? Is your view of yourself ultimately shaped by how you fall short of God's commandments? Read this snippet from a confession of sin (we have used this in our church from time to time): Dear Lord, We have left undone those things that we ought to have done; and we have done those things that we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. The first three lines are fine. We haven’t done all that we should have. We have also done things we should not have done. Hopefully, every Christian is ...

I first heard of a “quiet time” while in college. The idea was to model Jesus’ practice of rising early to spend time with the Father by getting a few moments every day to read the Bible and pray. The idea seemed good and so I set my alarm, went to bed, got up, and then had my first quiet time. It soon became a part of my daily routine. It was a few years later that I heard someone criticize the practice. They believed it caused more guilt than encouragement and understandably so. The danger of any daily practice, particularly a Christian ...

“The sooner he figures out he’s just a booger-eating spaz like the rest of us, the better off he will be.” A pastor buddy of mine said that about a guy who had left his church (Yeah, pastors sometimes say stuff like that). The guy had gone from church to church with a classic consumer posture. He had a list of requirements that the church needed to meet or else he wasn’t going to stay. He hasn’t stayed at a church yet. This pastor was able to see that with this consumer posture, there was a very subtle self-righteousness being nurtured. ...

Steve Jobs died last week. An innovative thinker, contagiously passionate, and obviously charismatic, the co-founder of Apple certainly left his mark. He was one of a kind that made our world a better place. In the stories about Job’s life flooded the internet, I came across a commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2006. A thoughtful and inspiring speech. I want to highlight one part: Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost ...

My son is two years old. He is staring to exert his independence and is constantly discovering new ways of expressing himself. He wants to put his shoes on. He wants to scream. He wants to put himself in his car seat. He wants to pour his own cereal into the bowl and, unfortunately, he wants to hit me with his fist whenever he wants. A couple of days ago, he was on a hitting rampage. I didn’t know how to stop him. I tried everything. We got through the day but it was difficult. After he went to bed and was sleeping for while, I went into h ...