We had the wonderful privilege of taking our three sons camping this past weekend. It was incredible fun and the boys had a blast! It brought back so many memories from my childhood and teenage years, of times we camped in the Rockies when we were growing up. Then in Chile we would camp with a few close family friends. As a teenager I would go backpacking with my friends as often as we could. But somewhere over the past several years it has been something i have done very little of. We tried to take the boys once when we went to see my parents in New Mexico but Kim gets terrible altitude sickness and we ended up having to drive her out of the mountains and so the boys and I only stayed one night.

This time we went to Arkansas where the mountains are not as high and Kim wouldn't have to deal with the altitude. We got to spend four days on this trip and it was great! AS we walked some of the several trails in Petite Jean state park I was reminded why I love the outdoors and especially the mountains. With the combination of pine trees that dominate the smell of the air and the various oaks and elms amongst others changing colors for fall it stimulates the senses. Then there are the incredible rocks! Boulders the size of buses and even larger, plenty of things to climb. These are the memories I had from growing up and now my boys will too!

One of my favorite trails we took was the trail to "Bear Cave." this was my boys favorite part as well. The trail ends up at this huge rock formations. Boulders the size of houses piled on top of each other making towers that reach three to four stories high. Perfect for climbing! While I didn't take the boys all the way to the tops as it would have been far to difficult the teens that were with us did. The boys climbed for hours and could have climbed all day had we let them. AS we climbed I was reminded of Luke 19, where Jesus responds to the Pharisees when they ask him to quiet the people who were praising him and throwing palm branches down as he entered Jerusalem. Jesus responds in verse 40 saying:

“I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”

Walking thorough Gods creation. One is reminded of His glory revealed! His Majesty! as if God placed these stones here to build a playground for His children to play on and remember how much He loves us! To drive us to praise Him.

Thank You God for your splendor and your creation. You are truly an amazing God!

Disciplship II

In my last post I talked about discipleship and how we as a church were going through a process of evaluating what we were doing as a church, what was effective and what was not. The conclusion I came too was pretty much summed up in the following statement.

“Quantity cannot replace quality. It wasn't most of Jesus metaphors and teaching that got across to the twelve, in fact most of the time they didn't understand what He was saying. It was the walking with Him in good and bad, everyday life stuff where Jesus rubbed off on them. Time and the Holy Spirit are the key. Maybe we would be better served to make sure the things we are doing are Spirit filled and lead and that we are giving them the time and effort before we go throw other things on the plate.”

I wanted to make sure and clarify what I meant by that statement so that there is no confusion.

Many times as Christians and ministers we are always looking for the next best thing, what is working best in other churches and then implementing the same in our situations? The problem with that is that it often leads us to another program that will most likely not change our current need of Spiritual nourishment. True discipleship doesn't come from a program it comes from the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us! That doesn't mean that programs in and of themselves are bad or are not used by God to help the discipleship process. Rather it is a matter of what is our focus. We would be better served to seek God’s direction in what works best for our ministry scenario in where God has us serving. Than to imitate something that has worked somewhere else.

One of the great things about what the Navigators have been walking us through as a church (although it can seem somewhat tedious at times) is that rather than just coming in and implementing a program they have lead us to take the time to really seek God. To evaluate what we are doing that is working and what we are doing that is not working. Will we be implementing new processes as our new discipleship plan for our church unfolds? Of course we will! Some things won’t change. Some new things will be implemented. But none of those things will remain or be implemented just because they have worked before or somewhere else. It will be because we have sought God! We have gone through a lengthy evaluation process. So whether it be Sunday school, small groups, triads or quads, bible studies or prayer groups it won’t just be a cafeteria of options for people to pick and choose. It won’t be a program implemented just because it has worked somewhere else. No it will be a deliberate effort of the local body of Christ who has spent months praying and seeking God’s desires for this local body.

Hopefully every ministry opportunity, every fellowship group or study group, every time we come together as a church it will be intentional God lead and orchestrated times where we grow together. Where our members are not coming because it is the next thing on the list, rather because people are meeting Christ and growing in the faith. Or in keeping with the theme of the previous blog everything we do has great quality and brings nourishment to the soul!

As I sat there in our meeting I couldn't help but get excited because as I heard people speak I wasn't just hearing that we were adding more quantity to the things we were doing. I was hearing quality as I heard the testimonies of members who’s lives were already being changed by some of the things that this discipleship process has brought about!