apprentices of Jesus
curated resources on christian spiritual growth
Resources on Spiritual Practices
Fasting
Resources on the Practice of FastingWhat is fasting from a Christian perspective? A fast is the self-denial of food in order to intentionally attend to God in prayer. Bringing attachments and cravings to the surface opens a place for prayer. This physical awareness of...
Prayer
Resources on the Practice of PrayerWhat is prayer? Simply put: prayer is talking with or listening to God. -to connect and grow in intimacy and communion with God. Matthew 6:9-13 1 John 5:14-15 Psalm 17:6 Philippians 4:6 James 5:16 Mark 1:35 Surrendering to God and...
Reading Scripture
Resources on the Practice of Reading ScriptureWhat is scripture reading? Bible study or reading scripture involves engaging the mind and focusing attention on Scripture in an attempt to understand and apply truth to every part of my life. -to know what the Bible says...
Community
Resources on the Practice of CommunityWhat is Christian community? Christian community exists when believers connect with each other in authentic and loving ways that encourage growth in Christ. They engage in transparent relationships that cultivate, celebrate and...
Simplicity
Resources on the Practice of SimplicityThe Desire of Simplicity -to uncomplicate and untangle my life so I can focus on what really matters Simplicity cultivates the great art of letting go. Simplicity aims at loosening inordinate attachment to owning and having....
Generosity
Resources on the Practice of GenerosityWhat is generosity? Generosity is the voluntary and generous offering of God’s gifts of resources, time, talents, and treasure for the benefit and love of God and others. -to live as a generous steward of God's resources in all...
Hospitality
Resources on the Practice of HospitalityThe Desire of Hospitality -to be a safe person who offers others the grace, shelter and presence of Jesus Hospitality creates a safe, open space where a friend or stranger can enter and experience the welcoming spirit of Christ...
Silence & Solitude
Resources on the Practice of Silence & SolitudeWhat is silence and solitude? Silence and Solitude is a regenerative practice of attending and listening to God alone in quiet, without interruption and noise. Silence provides freedom from speaking as well as from...
Sabbath
Resources on the Practice of SabbathWhat does it mean to Sabbath? Sabbath is God's gift of repetitive and regular rest. It is given for our delight and communion with God. Time for being in the midst of a life of doing particularly characterizes the sabbath. -to set...
blogs
Deconstructing Faith & Discovering 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...
6 Streams of Christian Tradition
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...
Intention or Allowance
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...
Pace + Practice + Purpose
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...
Sacred Pathways
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...
Atomic Habits for Spiritual Formation
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...
Processes & Habits > Events
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...
Invitation & Challenge
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...
Followership > Leadership
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...
The River of Discipline
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...
Discipleshift – Framework (Pt 4)
Discipleshift In the next edition of this Framework of Apprenticeship series, I would like to show you another framework by Jim Putnam in his book Discipleshift. Just a refresher, I defined a framework as a concept to help one grow into the image of Jesus that is both...
Practicing The Way – Framework (Pt 3)
Practicing the Way The past few weeks, I've been sharing different discipleship frameworks that I have come across that will help Christians have a plan for spiritual formation. The first week, I shared about the Triangle of Transformation. The second week, I...
Expansive – Framework (Pt 2)
Expansive Directions Last week, we looked at what a framework of apprenticeship is. If you want to read that first, check it out HERE. This week, we're looking at another discipleship framework created by Pastor AJ Sherrill. EXPANSIVE is an exceptional discipleship...
Triangle of Transformation – Framework (Pt 1)
How do we become like Jesus? Many pastors will say different things about following Jesus. Some will say to just listen to their sermons every week. Others will say to join a small group and that's how you get discipled. Even others would suggest that it's just by...
Acceptance & Obedience
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...
3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Read The Bible In A Year
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...
There are too many Vampire Christians
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 of Jesus?
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...