All in Discipleship
Out of fear that Mary was getting too much credit for her role in salvation history, we decided to give her none. Among us, there must not even be a hint of devotion to Mary. In the end, we might not have thrown the baby out with the bathwater, but we do seem to have thrown out the baby’s mother. And in doing so, I think we’ve lost quite a bit.
Jesus’ teaching here is that the children of the kingdom will have to wait until harvest time to see evil completely destroyed. This waiting, however, does not imply conforming to the world or indifference to its injustices.
While this is only a short list of ideas, my hope is that these suggestions offer a point of reference for what intentional intergenerationality could look like in your church as you think through your own context. Regardless of how your church seeks to include children more intentionally within its worship practices, the most important point is to start somewhere so that you can embody being a church where all God’s people gather.
Whether it is a stranger needing shelter from the elements, a visitor needing someone to share a meal, or a newcomer needing community, resolve to be the one to welcome—even if you have to leave the comfort of your home and trudge through the storm to invite them in. Be purposeful about welcoming others, and plan to surprise someone with unusual kindness.
Living from the false self distances us from God. By building a persona based on pride or external validation, we alienate ourselves from the divine connection. The false self obstructs our spiritual growth, resulting in a divided life in which we are separated from both our true self and God.
Like many of your families, we have an extravagant meal do the whole routine of “Let’s go around the table and everyone share something they are thankful for.” We resolve to be more thankful throughout the year. And we do the same thing the next year. So how do we live in thanksgiving in between holiday celebrations?
We can follow the example of our Lord Jesus. We can model his humility. We can talk about others the way we want to be talked about. We can refrain from judging, from being hypocritical. We can use discernment. We can lead with love, remembering that each one of us was made in the image of God.
If you want to get serious about studying Scripture, you have to become serious about poetry. God chose to allow his interactions with humanity to be written in both prose and poetry. There are both histories and hymns, statements and also songs.
How great and enduring should our gratitude be? It should be immeasurable and eternal. And how can we show it? By remaining at His feet, serving His cause, confessing before the world that He was “wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed.”
The “burning bush” moment is that they have learned the good news of Jesus—that he died for their sins and was raised from the dead. Their call is to be born again into the Kingdom of God.
For many of us, the default rule of life demands our production and performance. I fear we have allowed ourselves to accept busyness as fruitfulness, when in reality these two things don’t go hand-in-hand all the time. There are so many good things we can do for the Lord, but “good” doesn’t always equal “fruitful.”
God’s creation reveals to us his character. It helps us to experience the God who is the Creative Creator and to reflect on his majesty. In Psalm 50:2 the psalmist writes, “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.” Beauty can reveal to us glimpses of the Ultimate Good, the Truly Beautiful.
“Who am I?” I am God’s! Because I am God’s, I have nothing to fear. So, when He calls, and He will call, we can approach Him in humility and gratitude and say, “Here am I, send me! Do with me what you will.”
Focusing on our future selves is certainly a biblical concept. For instance, Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” This passage encourages believers to think beyond immediate concerns and focus instead on eternal values and future promises.
God adopted the unadoptable—you and me. He did not care for our defects and disabilities. He just wanted to make us members of His family, to be our Father again, to make us His beloved children again.
Your body, mind, and soul respond in gratitude when you care for them. The people in your world appreciate being around you when you are fully who you were created to be instead of a dried-up, used-up, depleted version of yourself.
It strikes me that any one of these communication qualities that I listed is a game-changer for the people around us. There are the rare people, like my dad, who have many admirable communication habits, but if you have any one of these and are maybe working on another, then you are in a strong position to show Jesus to others.
As followers of Christ, we ultimately want what God wants. So how do we figure out exactly what that is? While neither I nor anyone else knows exactly what that is every time, there is time and space to discern and arrive at what that could be.
God created us to be creative, and if co-creating is a way that we can experience the divine—well, God is making things beautiful in their time. And God allows us to join him in that endeavor so that the world will see him, know him, and come to glorify him.
What do I not know about my sin? Every time I sin, it is like a rock that is thrown into the middle of a body of water. A pebble makes small ripples, while a boulder makes big ones. My sin may not seem to be an undersea earthquake that causes a tsunami… but the ripples are undeniable, and it is impossible for me to see them all.
