Discipleship, we know from the life of the Christ whom we follow, is not membership in a clerical social club called a church. Discipleship is an attitude of mind, a quality of soul, a way of living that is not political but which has serious political implications,...
How could following Jesus really be that easy? Didn’t he say, himself, that people had to be prepared to leave behind family, possessions, even their own life? Yes, he did. But the ease and the joy, the rest and refreshment which he offered, all spring from his own...
My hope is to interpret the life and example of Jesus in a redemptive and relevant way. Each generation must do this with Jesus, lest it be forced into stale beliefs that strain credibility and diminish life. For the joy of Christian faith is not to be found in the...
I don’t want you to go away with the impression that there’s any—you know—any inconveniences involved in the religious life. I mean a lot of people don’t take it up just because they think it’s going to involve a certain amount of nasty application and...
God wants us to adjust our lives to Him so He can do through us what He wants to do. God is not our servant to make adjustment to our plans. We are His servants, and we adjust our lives to what He is about to do and to His ways of doing it. If we will not submit God...
On our soul-tending journey, our ultimate desire is for our lives with God to “catch fire” in such a way that we can set ablaze the spiritual lives of others. The challenge is to move beyond our traditional understanding of “being Christian” and enter together young...
In our zeal for mass conversion and standard strategies, we overlook the fact that evangelism requires far more than effective methods. The gospel is not a consumer product to be marketed by drawing from a strategic tool kit. People come to faith in Christ through a...
It’s not that if they accept Jesus into their life then “Bam! Life is great!” Accepting Jesus into their life does mean that Jesus is walking alongside them in their pain, frustration, and loneliness. And salvation is wrapped up in that.
Being born-again is a new life, not of perfection but of striving, stretching, and searching—a life of intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit. There must first be an emptying and then refilling. To the extent that we want to know, understand and experience God, we...
Jesus was not interested in making people religious, but leading them to a loving relationship with himself, and therefore with God. He offered forgiveness and healing to sin-sick souls as the basis of new life, opening up a path of discipleship, compassion and...