apprentices of Jesus

Difficult, but necessary I took off my AirPods and stared blankly into the distance near my apartment complex. I had been deep into studying a theological concept for weeks now and I finally realized something that honestly scared me. The books, podcasts, blogs, and...

Streams of Living Water Historically, there have been six dimensions of the spiritual life that have been emphasized or de-emphasized in the church based on geography, time-period, leadership, culture, and theology. Here are the six traditions: The Contemplative...

We are always being spiritually formed I've heard this idea from many different authors and pastors. They may use slightly different language each time, but there is truth in this.   We are always being spiritually formed into something or someone. But the real...

Here is a great idea from Trey VanCamp in his book that just came out "The Non-Anxious Pastor". He shares about pace, practice, and purpose and how they relate to our discipleship.   "This formula for Christlikeness isn't a departure from the gospel but another step...

Discovering Our Soul's Path to God A sacred pathway "describes the way we relate to God, how we draw near to him." These are certain predispositions for communing with God. We may have a few predominant pathways, which make up our spiritual temperament. Gary Thomas...

Discipleship According to James Clear Recently, I read bestselling book Atomic Habits by James Clear. As I read the book, I couldn’t help but really look at some of his concepts as great ways to practice spiritual formation as a Christian. Now, James Clear is not a...

Character formation is a process, not a one-time event I loved my upbringing in church. The Assemblies of God denomination I grew up in was a great experience. They taught people to desire the gifts of the spirit, but not be overcome by it (Ex: believing that speaking...

Come & Go One of the first things Jesus tells His disciples when we started His ministry was, "Come..." (John 1:39). One of the last things Jesus tells His disciples when He ascended into Heaven was, "Go..." (Matthew 28:19). The ministry of Jesus was this...

Follow VS Lead “Followership starts with Jesus, stays with Jesus, goes with Jesus, and ends with Jesus.” -Leonard Sweet I grew up surrounded with mentors and groups of friends who loved self-development. When I went to college, the same ideas echoed through each...

Upstream & Downstream Imagine swimming at a quiet river in the summer with your friends and family. You grab an inner-tube to lay on while you float down the river while basking in the warm sun. After a few minutes of relaxing, you realize that the stream has...

4 Quadrants of Acceptance & Obedience   I came across this quadrant on Instagram a while back. It was on an @RichVillodas Instagram story and I took a screenshot of it. I believe he was preparing this for a talk he was giving and shared a slide that he was...

Bible in a year?Well, it's February. You know what that means. It means that another large group of Christians have already failed at reading the Bible in a year. So here's three reasons why a Bible in a year plan may not be the best for you. *DISCLAIMER: This is just...

Vampire Christianity?What is a Vampire Christian? Think of a the mythical creature, a vampire, who desires the blood of helpless victims. But according to the movies and TV shows, they just want a few ounces of blood from their victim's neck.  Once they have that,...

What is an apprentice? An apprentice? We don't use that word anymore. For you, it may remind you a TV show in which the host exclaimed "You're fired!". For sci-fi nerds, it may signal cues for someone who learns the way of the Jedi in Star Wars. Regardless of what...