The Oldsmobile was an American automobile icon. First built in 1897, it sold more than 35 million automobiles over its 107-year history. During the 1980s Olds tried to recapture its declining market by reinventing itself. In 1988 it came out with the slogan, “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The company tried to reposition the elegant Olds […]
This article continues a series on what Jesus set as the hallmarks of discipleship. Servant love (John 13:34-35) is the one trait that gives evidence to the world that our apprenticeship is authentic. When Jesus met with His disciples for the Last Supper, He challenged them with a final measure of true discipleship: “So now I am […]
Many of my generation were raised on TV westerns. We learned that a real cowboy could take a wild horse, put him in a corral, saddle him up, then get on. If the cowboy stayed on, eventually the horse would give up and submit to the authority and dominance of a new master. This was called […]
What does it mean to be a disciple—to be an apprentice of Jesus? Jesus clearly stated five traits that characterize His followers. Let’s look at one of them: faithful obedience. In John 8:31-32, Jesus introduces this requirement for being His disciple and promises results to those who are faithful in it: “So Jesus was saying to those […]
As I have worked on a biblical definition of discipleship, I have discovered some distinctive marks of an apprentice of Christ. These traits are not optional. Neither are they a checklist to be completed—they are lifetime pursuits. We can recognize a true disciple of Jesus when these traits are present and increasingly evident. One of these traits […]
Success in baseball is simple to explain but much harder to achieve. The number of hits, errors, base runners, or any other of the myriad statistics that go into making baseball interesting do not count in the end. All that really matters is the number of players who touch all four bases in a counterclockwise sequence […]
Jesus’ strategy to disciple the nations was simple—as it had to be. The Kingdom expanded person to person, through family and relational networks. In 250 years, the gospel spread throughout the Roman world and beyond without the aid of political power, military force, financial aid, or educational clout. This was not a new strategy—it was […]
Sailing ships and sailboats are powered by many different types of sails. Some, called mainsails, are essential. Others, such as jibs, topsails, and spinnakers, are added to complement the mainsails. Effective sailing requires knowing how to use each of these sails. As we follow Jesus, certain spiritual disciplines act as mainsails, while others are good […]
The keel—the flat blade sticking down into the water from a sailboat’s bottom—is an essential part of every sailboat. It has three functions: It creates forward motion, it prevents the boat from being blown sideways by the wind, and it holds the ballast (counterweight) that keeps the boat right-side up. Pretty simple, right? Also, very essential. […]
“Follow me.” Jesus’ invitation extends far beyond the original Twelve, through the ages and up to the present. What does it mean to be His disciple? A disciple of Jesus should be recognizable in every culture and era. Even the opposition identified the early disciples of Christ: “Now as [the religious leaders] observed the confidence […]
