Equip for Discipleship

Posted by on Sep 1, 2010 | Comments Off

I am going to steal some of Josh’s thunder and blog about tonight’s Equip class!!

First, WOW!!! The presenters/teachers did a fabulous job with the VERY short time frame they were asked to work within. For a 2 hour “class” the time seemed more like 45 minutes at the most. The material was packed full of great advice and practical insights as well and challenging us to a higher level. Christopher Stedman said that one of the greatest things about tonight was the amount of material we were able to take with us to continue to unpack after the class – Great insight and so very true!

Thank you to Josh Howerton, Rick Howerton, John Howard and Eva Howard for investing in The Bridge family.

One insight that I had personally reinforced this evening for me personally has been on my mind for a couple of weeks. I need more personal time with Jesus.

My work is virtually all within a ministry context. Connections Pastor, Warehouse Manager for World Vision, Trainer for LifeWay and Real Estate. Well, not as much in the RE world, but you get my drift. It is WAAAAYYYYY too easy for me to let my personal relationship with Jesus slip into a “trellis” type of relationship instead of tending the “vine” as Jesus has explained in John 15:5; “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

All the “stuff” I do is great for the Kingdom and probably counts as “good works” for me. BUT – the works do not improve my relationship with Jesus anymore than mowing the grass helps my relationship with Marianne. It is a “good work”, but if all I did toward our relationship was do “stuff”, our marriage would suffer greatly. Conversely, if I did not do any “stuff” I don’t think Marianne would fall deeply in love with me as everything around us continued to decay. As Josh often says, the answer is often in the middle…

Balance = continue the “good works” but  spend more time with just the two of us, Jesus and me, heart to heart.

Comments are closed.