Shaping a Discipleship Culture

I recently had the honor of leading a workshop at the 3D Discipleship event held in Williamsport, PA. The event was sponsored by Growing Effective Churches of the Susquehanna Conference of the UMC. Here are some of my notes from the workshop. Centre Grove’s Story I shared a little about what God has been doing … Read more

Our Worship Playlist

Music, particularly worship music, plays an important role in our family. In fact, one of my favorite spiritual disciplines is listening to worship music. In 2007 (before kids), I wrote Songs for Leaders, a post reflecting on some songs that were encouraging me and challenging me, at the time. In 2010, I wrote about how … Read more

Sing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs!

One of the things I’ve discovered over the years that stirs my passion for God is listening to praise and worship music! In Ephesians 5.18-19, the Apostle Paul wrote … Don’t get drunk on wine, which produces depravity. Instead, be filled with the Spirit in the following ways: speak to each other with psalms, hymns, … Read more

“The Power of Introverts”

TED is a great place for ideas and inspiration. And, as a communicator, I like to watch them to inspire me to be a better communicator. In fact, I’ve recently started watching TED Talks while walking on the treadmill (at least once a week) as part of my strategy to grow as a communicator. TED … Read more

5 Children’s Books for Family Devotions

Our most important responsibility as parents is discipling our children! While we can always do better, it is something we’ve been intentional about from the beginning. Some of our previous posts include: Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, Praying for Your Children, Family Devotion, Teaching Kids to Pray, and “Praying Circles Around Your Children” (these … Read more

Teaching Kids to Pray

One of the most important things parents do is teach their children valuable skills they’ll use throughout their lives. “Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.” (Proverbs 22.6, CEB). There’s no greater skill than praying! As parents, we want our kids to have a vital … Read more

Teach Me Your Way, Lord!

Life isn’t easy. We need a guide, a compass, a way to live. Last summer, I was reading through the Psalms, and a verse from Psalm 86 jumped out at me. Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name. (Psalm 86.11, … Read more

New Spiritual Practices for a New Year

We are starting two new spiritual practices in 2013. First, we’re adding a practice to our evening family devotion routine. We’ve always read Scripture or a Bible story and prayed together as a family just before putting the kids to bed. Recently, we became more intentional about memorizing Scripture. This year, we’re adding a little … Read more

5 Benefits of Journaling

I was a 19 year-old college student when I sensed God calling me into full-time ministry. Shortly afterward, I transferred to a different college and changed my major, and my life focus, from engineering to ministry. While I was finishing up my last two years of college, working on a Bachelor’s degree in ministry, I … Read more

Discipleship Wanes When Christianity is Popular

I’m reading Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community by Elaine A. Heath and Scott T. Kisker. I was challenged by the authors’ description of discipleship when Christianity is popular. In its earliest days, Christianity was at times “illegal and semi-covert” until the conversion of Constantine in A.D. 312. Constantine made Christianity legal … Read more