Little Explorer on Board

The silver-gray VW SUV stopped at the light on Highway 20 just in front of me. On the back of the car was a sticker with the words “Little explorer on board ” in cursive letters. As the father-in-law and grandfather of two firefighters, I know the sticker intends to alert first responders that a child is more than likely in the vehicle.

 

I mused about that idea for the rest of my drive home. What if we had a sticker like that on our Bibles? 

 

Spiritual mentoring is too often understood as only something between one person and an older, wise mentor—end of sentence. 

 

The driver of this SUV wants others to know they have a little explorer on board. Would they consider that their spiritual maturity, discipline, and growth have similar implications for their children or grandchildren? Read More

Surprising candidates for mentoring

I remember when I heard Eugene Peterson tell the story of Reuben Lance, a surprising candidate for mentoring. Eugene decided he was headed to seminary. I think the elders in the small-town Montana church were a bit worried about what might happen to the hometown boy off at Biblical Seminary in NYC. “We better have someone get him ready,” they said. “Who could do it?”  

 

And this is the part of the story I love most. They asked a local handyman, Reuben Lance, to become Eugene’s mentor. The two met every week for the summer in a Sunday School classroom. 

 

They talked about life and God. Eugene said, “We got on very well. Neither of us had a name for what we were doing, but I learned a lot, and Reuben never took over. He was my first and one of the best spiritual directors I’ve ever had.”  Read More

A bad hat, a good heart 

If you’re a Puritan, this picture might not scare you. If you lived in the 1650s, you might recognize this man whose name is Richard Baxter. He has a bad hat and a good heart and wrote an important book. 

 

It is not about a Reformed theology but about formation, primarily how people in a congregation become spiritually formed. The book is older than the United States, is still in print, and is centuries deep. It’s had that kind of impact. I’m not sure he still gets royalties, but his words still need to be heard, especially by mentors, leaders, and pastors. I’m really not cool with his hat.

 

He wrote to his congregation, “See that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls.” Then, four riveting words: “Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others.”[i]  Read More

Perfect people need not apply

If a resume is necessary to be involved in the mentoring ministry, the most essential guideline should be that perfect people need not apply. Mentors are not superheroes or champions. They are those who stand alongside one another with unending curiosity, inexplicable faith, and patience. You might be considering a mentoring relationship yourself and wonder if special qualities, such as a highly successful spiritual life, are required. 

 

What kind of person is best for this ministry? The more time we spend on scripture, the more we realize that there aren’t really heroes of faith or perfect people. Read More

A Required Course

Mentoring the next generation of followers of Jesus is not an elective; it is a required course in the curriculum of faith.  Here’s why: 

  • The Christian faith was grounded in the first two generations of Jesus’ followers, especially in the first generation.
  • It is entirely possible for us to see the decline and/or demise in another generation or two.

I sat in the back of remarkable architecture in a cathedral in Scotland.  It was no longer a vibrant congregation of the faithful; instead, it was a museum of the past. Only a very few saw this as a place for the formation of faith, and this narrative is repeated across Europe.

Mentoring is a required course. 

Mentoring, discipleship, and spiritual formation for the next generation is not an elective for us; it is a required course in the curriculum of faith.  Again, here’s why: Read More

Blessing is waiting

When it comes to mentoring or spiritual direction, blessing is waiting. But why bother? What’s the point of it anyway?

Those are fair enough questions, but let’s be honest: We have other questions that might be quietly paused within your spirit. Let’s try two:

  1. What are you looking for? It’s another way of asking about your level of contentment, I suppose. What makes you curious? When do you feel most at rest within your spirit? When was the last time you would say you knew yourself to be heard, deeply listened to, and highly valued?
  2. What are you longing for?  It’s been said, “Stay close to your longing…” This refers to yearnings, craving, hungering, or just plain desiring. It’s another way to look within to assess your level of interior contentment.

Mentoring gives sacred access to one’s life, heart, interior self, and, yes, soul.

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Managing or Receiving?

 My favorite Bible character is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Though she has many admirable qualities, the one I find myself drawn to the most is the way this ordinary, Jewish young woman responded to the angel Gabriel’s news that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. 

She was initially confused and disturbed and asked some good questions about how this was all going to work out for her, which I appreciate. However, without knowing all the answers, she said, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” 

It’s worth noting that within just a few days of receiving the news from the angel Gabriel, Mary left to go find her relative and friend, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. She did not work out her situation alone. She found support and seemed to gain strength for her call. Rather quickly, Scripture reveals (Luke 1:46–55) that she began to earnestly praise God for what he was doing in and through her.  Read More

A tale of two angels

An angel is a messenger. The wings we ascribe to them are most likely optional accessories, like a sunroof on a car. We can make much of what artists, cartoonists, and novelists have shown about the physical nature of angels, but there are three certainties about them in this tale of two angels:

  • They bring announcements from God. Sometimes, they are words of a personal assignment, such as that to a young Jeremiah to bring truth to his troubled nation or declarations of an impending birth that changes the world for all time.
  • They understand humankind enough to add tender words to the announcement, words of calm, comfort, or tranquility—words like “Fear not.”
  • They bring news, a statement, or notice. Something will happen—be alert, get ready, and prepare to respond.

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My oldest brother Jerry

Yesterday brought the conversation one hopes never to have: My oldest brother Jerry, severely brain-damaged at birth, was given a diagnosis of likely cancer. The treatment for his weakened body would be invasive and painful, with uncertain results. 

A painful choice was made through tears, prayer, and loving conversation. Jerry would be placed in hospice care. Four siblings of a gentle and loving 80-year-old man made the decision, which was painful yet hopeful. 

Gordon Cosby, from Church of the Savior, once said we must realize that we all sit next to someone seated next to their own pool of tears. To love one another and to listen to one another and to help each other grow as apprentices of Jesus, we are invited by life to pay attention to our own tears of grief. Read More