Viral Faith

"The Spirit who inhabits us is not mute, restricting himself to an occasional nudge, a hot flash, a brilliant image or a case of goose bumps."           -Dallas Willard in Hearing God I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.   John 10:14-16 NLT One of the most misunderstood roles of pastoral ministry is that of leading congregational discernment.  This is Biblical practice of seeking direction and vision from God.  Even just reading this, causes some leaders discomfort because we have been taught that to seek this kind of direct communication from God is far too mystical for contemporary followers of Jesus.  It is best left to the "few" who we (the church) oft...

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 There is a sense of radicalness in the call of Jesus and a decision to follow him.  In the gospels, as Jesus invites his potential disciples to follow him, he expects an all or nothing response.  The disciples either drop everything and immediately follow Jesus (Mark 1:16-20) or they attempt to fit Jesus into their plans, priorities, and agenda (Luke 9:57-62, 14:25-33).  Those who attempt to make a nominal decision (a decision in name, but not radically changing their lives) are rejected by Jesus as disciples.   Its strange to talk about Jesus rejecting anyone, because Jesus offers an invitation to all, regardless of background, religiosity, character, or experience (Rev 21:6).  However, the invitation is not without expectation.  There is a sense in Jesus' call of "leaving" before "following".  In the call of Andrew and Peter, as well...