Paying Attention to Jesus

We learn not only by paying attention to Jesus’ words but also the way he lived his life. Following Jesus as our rabbi means three things:

  • You spend time with Jesus
  • You seek to become like Jesus
  • You do as he did. [I]

What were Jesus’ most common classrooms as rabbi?

Have you ever noticed how Jesus’ journey took him from seashore to desert, from urban centers (Jerusalem) to rural Nazareth, and to any place people gathered to listen? He taught in vivo—life as it is lived in real-time. And don’t miss this: along the way, Jesus ate meals with his students and with others, including marginalized people, social outcasts, and those unwelcomed by many. The road and the table formed a paradigm for how Jesus practiced his service to others.

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Mentoring matters.

Mentoring matters.

I have been rereading David Kinnaman’s essay, “The Need to Rediscover: Mentoring as a Crucial Formation Process.” He thoughtfully writes about the need for mentoring among young adults within the Church. His conclusions stretch far beyond the confines of young adult faith development into the whole lifespan of adult faith development. His last three paragraphs capture both the challenge and the opportunity before us as men and women who care deeply about helping others develop and mature in Christ. Kinnaman writes,

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Not a spectator sport…

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. -Jesus (Matthew 7:24).

We face tremendous pressure in our lives today to be spectators of this Jesus. But faithful living has never been a spectator sport. Danish Christian thinker Soren Kierkegaard emphasized this by drawing a contrast between being an admirer and being an imitator. He wrote: Read More

Jesus’ Way with Others

I have been inspired recently by Emily P. Freeman’s words when she wrote,

“I have a vision of a generation of believers who understand that the goal of life is Jesus and all the ways he wants to offer himself both to us and through us to the world.”

Yes, yes, yes! 

Beginning with Jesus’ earliest words to the men and women who would become his disciples, “Follow me,” Read More