Roamin' Mythology

Luke 15:1-2 – HCSB

All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

Notice who wanted to be around Jesus? There’s this part of me that totally wants Jesus… and wants to be around Him… to listen to Him. It’s the part that often feels rejected by all the religious… high society type people. There’s something that is very ‘off-putting’ about religion… to many, many people. But often, when those very same people get a true glimpse of Jesus, even a taste of what He’s really like, they find something within themselves that is totally attracted to Him. It’s like the psalmist stated, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!”(Psalm 34:8). I’d suggest that the thing that is most attractive about the Master, is the fact that He is so loving to… rejects. You see, the religious elite may reject me, those in high society might refuse me – but Jesus Christ will always receive me.

I love the often-told story of the poor, dirty, homeless-looking guy who walked into a beautiful, prestigious, very upper-class church one Sunday morning. As he walked in a few minutes late to the service which had already begun, every eye in the place was glued on him as he made his way down the center isle. He slowly walked, looking down each pew for an empty seat. Finally he came to the first row, and still finding nowhere to sit, he crouched down and sat Indian-style in the center of the isle at the front. There was an audible gasp, as he did this. Then one of the older, head-ushers began to walk down that same isle, towards this visitor. The usher was an older, extremely well-dressed, rich man in this particular congregation. Every eye was upon him as he drew closer to the visitor and placed his hand upon the dirty man’s shoulder. Fully expecting him to ask the man to leave, or at the very least move, the crowd gasped in surprise again as the usher crouched down and sat Indian-style right next to the visitor.

I know that story is over-told in churches, but I still love it! I love it, because what that usher did is what I imagine Jesus would have done. The sinners of Jesus’ day loved to be around Jesus… simply because Jesus loved to be around them! The religious folks here are complaining because this is obviously a major characteristic of our Lord. They’re upset, because as they said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” Notice the exclamation point?

As we’ve talked about before, in Eastern culture, it was a very special thing to share a meal with someone. Here, Jesus is sharing a meal with those the high rollers and the holy rollers didn’t think were on His… or their… level. He’s making a major statement. I love it!

Now He will drive this statement home, in three powerful ways…

Luke 15:3 – HCSB

So He told them this parable:

Notice that it says He told them a ‘parable’… a singular parable. Although He goes on to tell three different stories, one about a lost sheep, one about a lost coin, and one about a lost/prodigal son – and we often view them as three separate parables… in reality, they are but one. It’s a parable with three aspects, one play with three acts, one symphony with three movements, one song with three stanzas…it’s actually a pretty cool picture of the Trinity:

·        The shepherd searching for the lost sheep in the first stanza speaks of Jesus… the Son.

·        The woman searching for the lost coin in the second stanza speaks of the work of the Spirit.

·        The father in the final stanza speaks of the Father heart of our awesome God.

We will spend some time on these three aspects over the next month or so, because they reveal so much to us about our Lord. One of the other things I love about this parable is what it teaches us about one of the biggest debates of all time in Christianity: Calvinism vs Arminianism.

In the mid 1500’s, John Calvin came on the scene as a strong proponent of the exclusive role of divine sovereignty in salvation. That is, that man is depraved and hopelessly lost. Therefore, the Lord chooses him apart from anything he can do. Jacobus Arminius disagreed. A contemporary of Calvin, he believed man’s responsibility was definitely a factor in his salvation. After all, hadn’t Jesus said, ‘Come unto Me’? Therefore, Arminius maintained, each person must make his own decision whether to be part of the kingdom.

Recently, we had a young man living with us who would love to sit and talk for hours about this subject with me. It is always intriguing to get in discussions on this particular subject, because people today, much like Calvin and Arminius in their day, have very strong opinions about this subject.

I believe taking either one of these to the extreme is incredibly wrong. An extreme Calvinist would never feel a need to witness. An extreme Armenian would be vulnerable to pride. So what is the answer? I love it, because in this single parable, both positions are taught. Hopelessly and helplessly lost, the sheep and the coin are sought by the shepherd and the woman. But in the story of the prodigal, it is the son who decides to turn toward his father.

Consequently, maybe the best answer to give when someone asks me my opinion on this issue is for me to simply ask them back, “Where do you stand?” And when they tell me, I should just say, “I’m with you, bro”. Because the truth is, dividing over something that I can’t really understand, and that there is lots of Scripture to support both ideas, seems silly. God is way bigger than my understanding. Maybe we should all just marvel at how awesome our God is that He would choose us, and at the same time be eternally grateful that He provided a way for us to choose Him.

Luke 15:4-5 – HCSB

What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?  When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

I really think the shepherd in this first part of the parable is a picture of Jesus, the Son. Remember that Jesus called Himself the “… good shepherd”. Then He went on to say, “…The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). In our text, the Shepherd puts the lost sheep on His shoulders. When you think about the ‘shoulders’ of Jesus, what comes to your mind? For me, it’s the Cross… which reminds me of something absolutely tremendous: Not only does Jesus go out and find us, but He Himself became a Lamb to be sacrificed for us. 

Now the sheep in the story are a great picture of all of us. You know why… because sheep are pretty dumb animals. They are one of the only animals that can get lost very easily, because of their tendency to wander off. As a matter of fact, even if you put food out for them in the same place – you know how most animals will learn to return to that place and expect a meal – sheep will not do that. No matter how good the food is… sheep will allow their curiosity to lead them astray and away from protection and nourishment time and time again. Sound familiar? “We are all like sheep and have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6 & 1 Peter 2:25).

Luke 15:6-7 – HCSB

and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.

When somebody gives their lives to Jesus, declares that He is their Savior and Lord, we’re told there is great celebration in heaven about it. Pretty cool idea, right?

Have you ever back-slid? Have you ever “wandered off”? Maybe you were, at one time, going after God and really walking with Him, but then ‘self’ got in the way and you went the other direction? You had a season, like the prodigal son we’ll read about later in this chapter, where you strayed far away… from the Shepherd.

If you have had times like that… and if you have returned to relationship with the Shepherd again… what was it exactly that caused you to come back?

Do you think that doing that every so often… is okay? “Hey  Pastor Michael, if it causes all heaven to rejoice each time a sinner repents, that’s awesome… I’ll give them reason to party every single day! I’ll just keep wandering off and then repenting!”

Let me tell you about another guy who had his times where he wandered off, a guy named David – who was also a shepherd – and who prayed an interesting prayer:

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.” (Psalm 51:8)

You see, in Biblical times and still to this day in this part of the world, shepherds would take their flocks out for very long periods of time in order to graze and find grass and water. If a lamb wandered away habitually into areas that could be potentially destructive, the shepherd would break its legs. Then, after carefully setting the bones, he would carry the lamb on his shoulders while the bones mended. That might take weeks! When the lamb was healed, so close did it grow toward the shepherd that from that time on, it would never leave his side.

And right there is the reason for not roaming and wandering away. Every time you find 'self' in the way of Jesus. Every time you think a particular sin isn’t so bad, think ‘snap’... because that’s what will happen – not because the Lord is vindictive or angry, but because He wants to save us from danger and damnation.

If, like me, you’ve had a few broken bones on your journey, you too are learning to say, “Lord, I want to stay right next to You every step of the way!”

May you and I be those that don’t buy into the myth that being a Christian is merely believing certain things, while our lives are like some kind of roller-coaster, where we are up one minute and down the next, where we have times when we are close to Jesus and other times where we are wandering far, far away from Him.

May we see that right next to the Shepherd is the very best place to be… because of His great love for us.

Abortion? Sanctity Of Life? or... Soverignty Of God

Psalm 139:13-16 – HCSB

For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

This weekend churches all over America are addressing the subject of ‘the sanctity of life’. Why this weekend? It is the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which was the famous court case that legalized abortion in 1973.

Whenever ‘abortion’ is brought up, whether in private conversations or in public meetings such as this, it can be something of a ‘hot button’ for some… because people have such adamant opinions and beliefs concerning it. It has come to be a very political discussion, as people on both sides shout their views and feel the opposing view is completely wrong. Some are shouting “PRO-LIFE… life begins at conception!”, while others scream “PRO-CHOICE… a woman’s body is her own, and she has the right to do with it whatever she wants!”

I’m not really going to go there.

In all honesty, I approach this subject with much fear and trembling – understanding my audience. You see, there is a wide-array of opinions… and experiences:

·        Some are staunch PRO-LIFE and believe abortion is always wrong.

·        Some are PRO-LIFE, unless the mother’s life is in danger… or in the case of rape.

·        Some are PRO-CHOICE and firmly believe that a woman should be in charge of her body.

·        Some who want to find fault with Christians and scream how ‘judgemental’ we all are.

·        Some have had an abortion.

·        Some have had an abortion and bringing it up… is very painful for them.

·        Some are listening, who one day will be faced with a choice of their own… or know a loved one who will be staring at abortion as an option.

So… let me up-front with my agenda… my goal. It is two-fold:

1.      That we leave here totally aware of our own short-comings, but challenged to make Jesus the Lord of all.

2.     That we all leave here, regardless of our past and the things we’ve done, totally understanding God’s forgiveness and redemption.

Many sermon today will focus on what is called ‘imago Dei’ – ‘image of God’. We get this term from the very first chapter in the Bible:

Genesis 1:26-27 – HCSB

For it Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. ...”So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

To attack another human being in any way whatsoever is seen as attacking the very image of God.

Genesis 9:6 – HCSB

Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made 

man in His image.

For this reason, ‘LIFE’… all ‘LIFE’… is precious. It should be ‘sanctified’ – ‘set apart’ as something special. Whether that life be someone who is our national ‘enemy’… a young teenage girl from the United Kingdom who has been taken from her family and forced through human-trafficking into the sex-trade, or even the unborn child in its mother’s womb. All life is seen as special, simply because of ‘imago Dei’… it is a life that bears the ‘image of God’.

The idea that God created and breathed humanity into existence and that He, literally, knit us together in the womb is absolutely a Biblical worldview and so, passages as the Psalm 139 passage are going to be preached on and read aloud this weekend in tens of thousands of churches.

Now, there will be critics who will say that these churches are simply advancing a political agenda and using their pulpits and influence to disseminate their conservative perspective. They may say, “How can you Christians preach ‘sanctity of life’ when you have so many instances in your Bible where God snuffed out human life?”

·        Noah’s neighbors

·        Pharaoh’s eldest son and all the first-born children of the Egyptians

·        Elisha’s 42

2 Kings 2:23-24 – HCSB

“From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.”

·        Goliath

·        and on… and on…

“So wait a minute Mister Pastor-Man, are you really gonna preach that God thinks human life is so special… that it’s really that important?”

Then the other side might say, “Whoah… YOU wait a second! What we mean… is the ‘Sanctity of INNOCENT Life” – all the people that God took out… were guilty!”

Then the other side says, “Yeah, but don’t you also preach that after ‘the Fall’… after ‘sin’ entered into the world… we’re ALL guilty? You are always quoting that one verse, even WE have it memorized:  Romans 3:23 – HCSB

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

If that’s really true, then aren’t those babies guilty too?”

                       

And maybe you are starting to get a glimpse of how truly difficult it is to talk about subjects like this?  

Let’s take a few steps back for a minute…

James tells us that the reason we ‘kill’ is because ‘we desire and do not have’. Think about that.

James 4:1-2 – HCSB

“What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask."

In the beginning of time, back in Genesis chapter 3, we see Satan tempt mankind and one of the things he says is: “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5). You see, Satan is playing to this very basic desire within the heart of men to ‘be like God’… to be our own bosses. We don’t want others to rule over us… we don’t want that power taken from us. We never have:

We just celebrated Christmas and spent a lot of time reading and thinking about the Christmas story. Why do you think Herod, when he heard that a new king had been born in the city of Bethlehem, had all the children under the age of two murdered? Wasn’t it because he wanted to be the only king? Wasn’t he, in fact, securing his power and his future?

Back in the Old Testament, why did Pharaoh, in the time of Moses’ birth, have all the children murdered by throwing them into the Nile River? The end of Exodus chapter 1 we’re told that Pharaoh commanded all the mid-wives to kill the Hebrew babies immediately as they were born if they were boys. When the mid-wives refused, Pharaoh commanded that they Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile. Why? He saw how fast the Hebrew people were growing in relation to his Egyptian people, and he wanted to assure himself military stability… authority… power!

I was reading this week about a Southern Baptist who’s lust for his own reputation was so great, that although he often preached against pre-marital sex and especially abortion, when his own daughter came up pregnant he was caught sneaking her to a far away town in order to have an abortion. Why? Because he didn’t want to lose his position at the church… He didn’t want to lose his authority.

Gang, as a radical follower of Jesus Christ, Who is to be our King? Who is to call the shots? Think about the term, “PRO-CHOICE”. Who, in fact, is supposed to be the one who has the power of life and death in their hands?

1 Samuel 2:6 – HCSB

“The Lord brings death and gives life; He sends some to Sheol, and He raises 

others up.”

Deuteronomy 32:39 – HCSB

“See now that I alone am He; there is no God but Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from My hand.”

God is the One who has that kind of authority. When you think of all the life in the Bible, that I mentioned earlier, that was snuffed out – In every single case, wasn’t it God who gave the okay for it to happen? Wasn’t it God who brought the rain on Noah’s neighbors? Wasn’t it God who sent the Passover Angel? Wasn’t it God who guided David’s stone? Wasn’t it God who caused the water-walls of the Red Sea that had been held back for the Hebrews, to then come crashing in and drown the Egyptians and their chariots?

The answer is ‘yes’… to all that.

You see, maybe the issue is not really “Sanctity of Life”, but rather it is the “Sovereignty of God”.

[‘Sovereign’ is an adjective that means ‘having supreme rank, power, or authority’]

I’m against abortion. I’m of the opinion that it is never okay… ever. But that is because I believe God is in control… of everything. I believe that He should choose life and death. Many people have sex and no babies are created. Many good people try and try to have a baby but can’t have kids for some reason or another. I don’t always understand it… but I’m reminded that we have very little to do with creating ‘LIFE’.

            But we can sure END it.

·        We can walk into a crowded movie theater in Colorado or an elementary school in Connecticut… and choose ‘DEATH’.

·        We can go into a doctor’s office and pay a small fee… and choose ‘DEATH’.

We can actually usurp the power and authority that is meant only for the true King… and we can play boss… we can do exactly what Satan said we’d be able to do… we can ‘be like God’. And guess what? That’s not something we are supposed to be doing.

So no… I don’t think abortion is okay. I don’t think we should ‘play God’. The argument, “Well… it’s a woman’s body and she has the right to do with it what she wants” just doesn’t fly when you are talking about a person who is a radical, submitted follower of Jesus Christ. Our bodies are not our own. Paul said it this way, “Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Unfortunately, when a person makes decisions that they were never meant to make… ‘death’ decisions… there are serious consequences. Why are there an unbelievably large amount of men and women who come back from war, and deal with “post-war-traumatic-syndrome” and police officers that when they un-holster their guns and take a life in the line of duty, are given a certain amount of time off? It’s because taking a life… is serious… and it has consequences.

I have known many people who have had abortions. One particular lady, when I lived in California, would sink into deep depression once a year… around the time of her baby’s ‘death-day’ as she called it. It affected her greatly. I’ve seen the hurt and agony that abortion causes.

This is why I am on the Liberty Women’s Clinic board of directors. I see the good they do in helping young women who are at a critical point in their lives. I see them practically loving them and sharing options with them… and helping them from a lifetime of agony and hurt.

If you are listening to me right now…or reading these words... and you have ended a life. I want you to know that God still loves you very, very much. He doesn’t want you to be in agony… and He wants you to know that you can be forgiven. He has a plan for YOUR life, from this point on... right now. 

How do I know? 

Because ALL life is precious... and God can make something very, very beautiful out of the mess that is… us.

ADDED NOTES [stuff I studied and wanted to share, but didn't have time to share in the weekend sermon]:

The Jews have a profound way of expressing the idea of the preciousness of life that comes from the first case of shedding of innocent blood, Cain’s murder of Abel. God said to Cain, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!” (Genesis 4:10). The Hebrew word used here for blood is ‘dam’, and the plural is ‘damim’. When the Bible talks about murder, or ‘bloodguilt’, it uses the plural form, ‘damim’. That's pretty interesting because they believed strongly that the life of a creature was in the blood, because when ever somebody was bleeding or an animal was wounded and bleeding a lot, as soon as enough blood left their bodies they always died. Makes sense, right? Understanding that the blood contains the life of a person, to speak of blood in the plural implies that a murder doesn’t just take the life of one person, it takes the lives of many. Jews therefore have a tradition that the voice of the ‘bloods’ crying out from the ground in this verse was actually the voices of all of the future descendants of Abel that would have ever lived. From this they have a saying, ‘To take the life of one person is like taking the life of the whole world, and to save the life of one person is like saving the whole world’.

Am One... Make One

With each New Year at Desperation Church we consider and pray about a theme – something that we feel the Lord is wanting us to concentrate on – pray over – dig into – seek out application for. A few years ago it was the idea of ‘CHANGE’… then it was ‘RELATE’… then it was ‘EPIC’… and last year it was ‘KAIROS MOMENTS’…

I’ve always believed strongly Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. This is why churches and many organizations have ‘mission-statements’ or ‘vision-statements’, in order to make sure that folks aren’t running around aimlessly. It’s easy to get caught up in simply ‘doing life’ and going through the motions and the rituals that can ‘get you by’, rather than having specific goals and living life with purpose.

It is easy to recognize when an organization is not being inspired by vision, because they quickly seem to lose focus on what’s really important. Have you ever gone to a business and been treated so poorly that you left that place thinking, “I’ll never go back there, they have forgotten that their purpose is to be taking care of MY needs”? Of course you have. When you run into a person behind the counter that is obviously approaching their job like it’s simply their job, rather than what I’m sure the owner of the company wants to convey… it’s frustrating and extremely disappointing. So companies will spend large amounts of money on training their people, giving them the vision of the company. They’ll have regular meetings where they re-convey the vision. They’ll post the vision in clever and creative ways around the work-place. Why? It’s all in order to inspire those involved with the stuff that believe to be MOST important.

This is what this verse is all about. When there isn’t vision… people lose heart… people run around without restraint (NASB)… people can live as though they’re dead.

This principle is also true in so many other aspects of life, especially relationships. When a couple is dating and gets engaged they sit and talk about the future for hours and hours. They dream about future children, homes, vacations, and so many other things. But all too often, after they are married… they get caught up in simply ‘doing life’ and going through the motions and the rituals that simply ‘get them by’. This can lead to boredom… a complete dissatisfaction with life… and perhaps even a ‘death’ of the marriage itself. But those marriages that still take time to cast vision… to communicate future dreams and aspirations… to remind each other often of why they are married and chosen each other… those marriages thrive.

Your kids need vision cast for them too… or the goals they need to reach will die. Sometimes, the relationship between parent and child seems to be nothing but trying to cast vision for your kids (“You need to do your schoolwork, because you need to graduate, because you need to get into a good college, because you need to be set up for success… etc).  Or... (“I am going to have to discipline you honey, because you didn’t obey me. That’s called rebellion. If I let you continue walking in rebellion then I am setting you up for serious failure for the rest of your life. The Bible says that if a father doesn’t discipline his child then he hates them”).

Really, if you think about it, every relationship you and I have requires a certain amount of vision. There needs to be a ‘future’… there needs to be a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ to look forward to, or the relationship is in danger of perishing… dying… turning bad and fading away.

I believe that it is ALWAYS the leader’s job to instill, inspire, and remind people of the vision.

In my personal life, I am a pastor… and I am a father… and I am a husband. Each of those ‘roles’ require me to instill vision. Recently, with my wife’s health – I’ve had to remember this principle… especially when times are hard and it gets ‘dark’. My wife NEEDS me to be a man that instills vision… or she ‘perishes’. (“Babe, I know that the doctor’s diagnosis wasn’t what we wanted to hear… but it’s not the end of the world. We can look at this positively and cross some stuff off the list. Now we are going to try a new doctor, or a new way of eating, or research things from a different perspective. Don’t give up hope. We are going to make it!”).

It’s the leader’s responsibility to convey the vision often and clearly, so that those they are responsible for, understand it clearly. This is true in a business… it’s true in a family… it’s true in a church.

Recently, I went into the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist, “Do you have anything that can cure hiccups?” The lady behind the counter reached over the counter-top and slapped me as hard as she could, right in the face. Completely shocking!  Then she said, “Are the hiccups gone now?” I just looked at her and said, “I’m not sure, I guess I’ll go out to my car and ask my wife, she’s the one that’s got ‘em”.

You see, it’s important to be clear.

I want to be really clear today: We have a vision here at Desperation Church! We have a purpose. We have a reason for being here. Our mission is to love God and love others, absolutely… that’s always going to be the message. The message will NEVER change, however, the methods we use to convey that message change quite often.

Message is constant… Methods can stay the same, and they can change. Sometimes they really NEED to change… but they should never get in the way of the Message.

This is one of the reasons we change our ‘theme’ each year here at Desperation Church. It is a way for us to re-evaluate our methods… re-focus our efforts… and re-kindle our fire for what is truly most important – the Message.

This year the theme will be ‘DISCIPLE’. When I think of that word, I think of it having two meanings:             

- First, a ‘disciple’ is a noun… a totally committed follower of Christ.

- Second, ‘disciple’ is also a verb, referring to training/teaching someone in the faith

It is both of these meanings that we will be focusing on this year, more than ever before.

We want to BE a disciple ( ‘Am 1’) and begin to stretch ourselves out of some of our comfort zones and actually see what it could look like to become disciple-makers (‘Make 1’). Why? Because both of those things are what you and I are ‘commissioned’ to do.

You see, after Jesus had raised from the dead, and right before He ascended into the presence of His Father, He gave some pretty specific instructions. Instructions that still stand…

"The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted.

By the way… THAT is a great picture of a disciple – someone willing to travel and sacrifice in order to obey what Jesus had directed them to do. Someone who worships Him passionately. Someone who sometimes doubts. Wow.

Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:16-20)

Jesus' final words were those of what we call the Great Commission - to make disciples of the whole world. But what is a disciple? The ancient, Hebraic picture Jesus had of raising disciples was unique to His Jewish culture. By learning about this practice, we can have fresh insight into how Jesus wants us to fulfill His command.

Well… that’s stuff we’ll talk about, and concentrate on in great detail, as we continue on our journey through the Gospel of Luke this year.

We’ll be doing a few things in light of this:

1. We’ll look at great detail about exactly what an authentic disciple is, so that we can truly endeavor to be one. This will be done in classes, seminars, our weekend teaching times, and retreats.
2. We’ll talk about why and how we are to be making disciples of others.
3. We’ll talk about the extreme importance of helping those around us… sitting next to us in church each weekend… living under our roofs… to be the disciples God has called them to be. This will only be able to happen in the context of relationships.

Let me say, however, that our goal is not to simply grow ‘smarter’. Jesus isn't just interested in having our minds. He wants our hearts and lives too. Once our lives reflect what our minds believe, then the belief has actually reached our hearts. Then our passion for following Him becomes a loud witness for Him, and inspires others to do the same.