Discipleship: Reading the Scout Handbook is fine, but don't forget to camp!

Seedbed's timing in running my article on discipleship -- as it relates to a recent camping excursion with my stepson -- goes well with our church's discussion theme this month:

It [discipleship] has to be more than a concept taught by a book. It has to be more than a series of meetings. Discipleship must be lived out and lived together. 

There are, of course, many helpful and proven curricula, book studies, and Bible study guides available for new disciples and their mentors. There are countless retreats, conferences, camps, and camp meetings as well. But, nothing is a substitute for walking alongside a fellow Christian in regular, plain-old daily life. 

While in the tent, I jotted down a few elements often missing from discipleship. ...

Read more: http://seedbed.com/feed/a-basic-vision-for-local-discipleship

Proving who you say you are

Subject: Keeping one's word

Target passage: I John 2:1-6

Date: Jan. 31, 2016

When we're asked today to identify ourselves, there's more than one way to respond. Readers of this blog may remember my misgivings of having to show a driver's license to claim my one-year-old child at a mega-church recently! 

A scanner can verify your identity through your fingerprints and your irises to prove that it's you, so long as your fingerprint and "eye print" are registered in the correct database. A credit score tattles on your financial history. We're on the cusps of facial recognition technology, where a camera can tell who you are from a long distance, and pull up a rap sheet on you in a matter of seconds. "No Hiding Place Down Here," indeed.

The Modern Reject's refreshingly organic take on 'prayer requests'

I ran across this now-inactive blog today and thought I would share the link for future reference for those curious about what this house church thing is all about. 

The author explored many of the topics we've addressed as a community in her journey from institutional church to a home-based fellowship that at one time gathered upwards of 60 people.

http://modernreject.com/category/featured/house-church

Here's an eye-opening snippet concerning why her church doesn't practice prayer "requests," per se (not that there's anything wrong with them -- methods vary!):

'Amen' digs below the surface

Subject: "Amen"
Target passage: Various
Date: Jan. 24, 2016

With the proliferation of social networking "share and type amen" memes, "amen" has continued as one of the most overused, misunderstood, and misapplied expressions in the English language.

Five reasons why you should NOT join a house church

That's not a typo in the headline.

Our friends at Seedbed published a guest blog post from yours truly that lays out a quintet of reasons for why many people may try out house churches, but also why those same people should re-consider their motivations.

If you’re just curious, or seriously considering leaving your brick-and-mortar church for a house church (or simple church, organic church, micro-church, etc.), we want to assist you as you prayerfully seek God’s will. Aside from their many advantages, below are five reasons why you should not join—or not start, for that matter—a house church.

If we talked to people the way we talk to God

Couldn't resist!  Carry on, prayer warriors ...

'Faithful sayings' for when you're not sure exactly what to say

While coming up with a list of the instances of the phrase "this is a faithful saying" (or "trustworthy saying") in the New Testament, I couldn't come up with much in terms of a clever talk. They're unrelated for the most part. Each saying is faithful in its own regard -- maybe this would make for better for a series of lessons on each saying, with supporting verses for each.

Nonetheless, I felt that this was God's leading to share Paul's uses of the phrase, without having to parcel them out into the new year. I'm grateful for having a fellowship of believers that can take Scripture at face value and simply receive it, without there having to be an entertaining tie-in or "ah-ha" moment (house churches for the win!). They even called me out: "I thought you said there were six!" So we read one from Revelation. And, in writing this blog post, I found if you look in the Greek you can throw a seventh one in there from Revelation -- straight from our Lord's mouth.

Some food for thought on the Fruit of the Spirit

Topic: Bearing active spiritual fruit
Target passage: Galatians 5:16-25
Date: Nov. 29, 2015

You've probably heard the venerable litany many times before. You might even have the Fruit of the Spirit memorized: "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." They might seem less like fruits and more like old chestnuts as many times as we've heard them! But they deserve a fresh look.

Children bring prosperity; are never 'wrongful births'

Note: This post of mine originally appeared in The Travis Tracker.

About 120 women are suing drug company Endo because an alleged packaging error they say resulted in unplanned pregnancies ... and, along with that, the expense of raising children.

The class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania last week. The class members hail from 26 states, and it is unclear at the time of writing if a Texan is among them. According to the suit, the birth control pill manufacturer distributed pills (see full list at the bottom of this post) in 2011 with incorrect markings and packaging -- resulting in 113 unforeseen pregnancies in 26 states. Fully 94 of the women carried the babies to term. Other state courts have rejected similar lawsuits.

The class is reportedly seeking millions in damages, including, in a few cases, the costs of raising children through adulthood (allegedly because of the birth control goof-up). While many prestigious sources put the cost-estimate of raising a child from 0 to adulthood at $200,000 to $250,000, that's not a universally held figure.

According to one source we found, a money management site called TheSimpleDollar.com, children can actually bring in money at certain points along the way. Here's the breakdown from author Trent Hamm, based on a working husband and working wife with two children in Iowa at the onset of the Obama Administration (costs have certainly gone up since then, but bear with us!). His comments are in italics below and are worth a read (full article).

Breathing new life into old songs

A quirky take on a forgotten favorite.

Although my wife is a classically trained singer with a degree in performance, sometimes it can be hard for us to figure out from the notes in a hymnal or chord chart how to sing a particular "psalm, hymn, or spiritual song."

Especially when these songs are largely forgotten. And especially when you only have a living room full of voices to mask the fact that none of you really know how to sing them!

Recently, we have been enthralled by the lesser-known hymns of Charles Wesley (no surprise, given my theological leanings). A hymnal I bought for a couple of bucks as Lillenas Publishing Co. was going under provided much inspiration but many questions on how to best interpret the bar notes on its pages.