We must guard our hearts against greed when we are investing in the lives of others. 1 Peter 5:2 “…not greedy for money, but eager to serve.” Peter tells us to avoid loving and shepherding people out of a selfish desire for money. A friend of mine has told me more than once that “disciple…
Part 2: Guarding Our Hearts as We Make Disciples
As I wrote in the previous post, we must actively guard our hearts as we make disciples of Jesus. This is because we are imperfect people. We make mistakes. Our motives drift. We get off course. One of the lessons I have learned the hard ways is that… I must guard my heart against operating out…
Guarding Our Hearts as We Make Disciples
I have had the privilege of being able to walk alongside a lot of people over the years to help them grow as disciples of Jesus. I have been able to see, first hand, God change many people’s lives, which is amazing. It really is a privilege that I do not deserve and do not…
The Moment of Empowerment
As I close out this series on God Moments, it is good to go back and remember the point of all of this. It is to make disciples, followers of Jesus. The goal is not to help someone have a better life, change a behavior, increase their self esteem, etc.. Those are good things, but…
The Moment of Vulnerability
How often in life do we hear things like, “Never let them see you sweat”, “Fake it ‘till you make it”, “Image is everything”, “Don’t let people see that you are struggling”? The world around us tells us in a thousand different ways that it is not ok to let people know that you don’t…
The Moment of Correction
Sometimes we need another follower of Christ to look us in the eye and tell us that we need to change. We need to be told that we are wrong. We need to be told to quit acting the way we are acting because it doesn’t fit with following Jesus. We need to be lovingly…
The Moment of Privilege
Shelley and I had been traveling for over 20 hours from Ethiopia to Atlanta. We were coming home with our adopted, 8 month old son Andy. As we came to the top of the long escalator in the Atlanta airport, we were greeted with hugs, tears, laughter and all kinds of emotion from our family….
The Moment of Challenge
Helping those we disciple see and embrace situations that require steps of faith. The journey of following Jesus is a journey of faith. If faith is never needed or steps of faith are never taken, then we may not be following Jesus. It is inevitable that there will be moments when God is asking us…
God Moments in Disciple Making: An Introduction
I will never forget showing up to the Community Bakery in downtown LIttle Rock, Arkansas in 2001 to spend time with one of my close friends and mentors. We had known each other for about 5 years at that time. As we sat there with our coffee and pastry he said, “I have 5 questions…
Abiding in Jesus When Your Soul Gets Weary, part 2
From my journal in February 2019. “I am afraid of not making it. I am afraid of losing heart. Please fix what is broken inside of me. I am not sure at all how to dig out. I don’t feel like I can let anyone know.” “Yesterday a friend of mine said, “You look like…
Abiding in Jesus 