Mentors and discipleship

Hi guys, It's late but I just wanted to send you a quick note. I'm back from my roadtrip and appreciated Eric and Steve adding a few thoughts while I was out of pocket. I think it is helpful to have several voices leading this online chat and I am grateful for the ways each of you have made this blog your own.

Here's a thought provoking passage for you to chew on before Sunday:

"Men want to know God, but many don't know how to begin. And those who do begin to seek relationship with their heavenly Father need help to continue their pursuit. As men, we need someone to show us how to seek, find, and hear God. A gifted teacher can explain the principles of prayer, Bible Study, and worship, but the typical man learns best by example. Discipleship is better caught than taught.

"That is why Jesus chose twelve men to be 'with Him' (Mark 3:14). He knew that his greatest impact would come from living side by side with these men day after day. He knew that the more time he could invest in them, the more they would learn from his teaching and modeling."

Who has been your best spiritual role model?
Have you, in turn, served as a mentor to another brother?

Think about it, comment here if you wish, and know that we'll talk about this on Sunday morning.

Can you be "too involved" in church life?

I'd be curious to hear your perspective about this question. I'll chime in later.

Pray for the persecuted church

As we get into the work week, I thought it might be worth a quick note to recall one of Pastor Ted's exhortations -- and remember to pray for the persecuted church.

While the international day of prayer was set for November 12, let's take that into the rest of our week (at least!) and pray for the over 200 million suffering believers.

For specific information on the persecuted church, you may want to take a look at resources from Open Doors and their online material.

They encourage us with the following message; "The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church presents a tremendous opportunity for millions of people to make a difference in the lives of those being persecuted for their faith in countries like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iraq and many more," says Open Doors USA President Dr. Carl Moeller. "Those persecuted believers have asked us who live in freedom to pray for them – always their number one request. And on Nov. 12 we have the opportunity to collectively lift our petitions to the Lord on their behalf."

10:24 - Message style

I'm growing to enjoy the way Message takes the spirit of a text and presents it in modern language. Here's Peterson's take on our new fave scripture. It's the one I mentioned this morning. (Okay, so I said "innovative" and the Message actually uses the word "inventive", close enough.)

"So let's do it -- full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. "

Hebrews 10:24 - The Message