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Strength as We Mature
If you haven’t read the other posts in this series, you can read those here: (1), (2), and (3). This post is a follow up and the final post in this series. I’m very encouraged by the church trend predictions from Carey Nieuwhof 10 Predictions about the Future Church and Shifting Attendance Patterns especially these two: If this is true, are we ready as church members and as disciplemakers to serve selflessly? Do we just continue to do Bible study after Bible study without our lives being transformed as a result of what we are studying? Are we leading women’s Bible studies in this way? If so, it’s time for…
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More Spiritual Maturity Indicators
The last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at the need for discipleship and some indicators of maturity as a disciple. Today I want us to consider as few more indicators. Some time ago, Kathy Ferguson Litton, Director of Planter Spouse Development at the North American Mission Board, wrote a blog post (What Spiritual Maturity Really Looks Like) on this subject and I’ve adapted from that post for us to consider this list of indicators. Some of these I’ve personally experienced and wondered why. Now…evaluate your own growth using this assessment. How many of these can you answer “true”? For those you struggle with, pray for God to help you take…
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The Look of Maturity
For a caterpillar turned butterfly, we know what maturity looks like. There are stages of growth that we recognize if the larvae is growing properly inside its encasing. If you need a refresher science course, I found this interesting video showing how this happens,! We know what to expect for the butterfly-to-be. What about spiritual maturity? It’s not so cut and dried is it? If we are to grow as a disciple of Christ and become a disciple maker, as Matthew 28:18-20, instructs us, then we must assess whether growth is happening or not. So what are some things we are to look for? Let’s ask ourselves if we are…
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Is Discipleship Optional?
I just finished a weekend leadership training and my topic was discipling women. We looked at what spiritual maturity looks like and how to disciple women into the future. SO, I want to ask you the question in the title. “Is discipleship optional?” If you’ve read this blog for very long you may have seen me write about not being personally discipled when I became a believer as a preteen. I had no idea until my early 20’s that there were “NEXT” steps to take after salvation. These steps have nothing to do with receiving salvation and everything to do with understanding salvation and living for His purpose, not mine.…
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Lessons from a Goat…and Other Things
So last week I blogged on the current Bible study I am doing by Jennifer Rothschild, Psalm 23 . You can read it here. Today, something that happened on Valentine’s Day has prompted me to write again on what I learned this week through that study and through my daughter. My kids are often “fodder” for this blog and today is no different. So, we deliver Valentines to our grands late in the day on February 14. Just wanting to bless these grands with more sugar and lots of hugs, we were not expecting to be greeted with a crisis with Fred, the goat. (I know we are studying sheep…
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Who’s Driving?
Have you ever ridden a tandem bike? I have many years ago and I remember there is an unsettling feeling of letting go of the control of the ride completely to another person. Not always an easy thing to do, right? If you have ever taught someone to drive a car, you know that same feeling. This is illustration Jennifer Rothschild shares in her study I am in the middle of right now. I’ve read and studied Psalm 23 many times but this new perspective she shares is from her own personal place of struggle and growth, and it is powerful! Just in case you do not know, Jennifer is…
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Reconciliation Joy
In my chronological Bible reading this year, I just read again the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33. I love when Jacob and Esau reconciled and saw each other again for the first time in many years and Jacob said, “For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me.” (Genesis 33:10) Jacob deceived both Esau and their father Isaac (you can read all about that in Genesis 25 and 27). And that meant he had to hightail it out of town to avoid Esau’s anger. Now after years apart, they reconnected and it was sweet. At least in…
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Right…Or Mostly Right?
Have you ever been on a hike or driving in the car when you came to a fork in the road? Up to that point you knew exactly where you were and how to get where you were heading. Maybe you are so far away from civilization and cell towers that your GPS no longer accurately directs you to go left or right. Both paths look pretty good…but eventually you find yourself at a very different destination than you planned. I was recently teaching a women’s life group at my church on the subject of “truth” or being just “a little off the truth.” We looked at the original half…
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Joy Restored
Have you ever witnessed an old rusty, beat up car being restored to an earlier version of beauty? I love seeing the new ones on the road but if I saw it before it’s restoration I might turn away and not even notice. Or I might comment on how beat up it is! I’ve been doing the Bible study by LifeWay, The Faithful: Heroes of the Old Testament. Each week is authored by a different Bible teacher and this week I’ve been studying Jennifer Rothschild’s portion on Hosea. I’ve been challenged to take a look at Hosea’s wife Gomer at her worst and at her best. Kind of like the…
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Ministry to Women…Then and Now…4 Things to Consider
Last November at the LifeWay Women’s Leadership Forum I had the privilege to do a short video on the changes I’ve seen over the 40+ years of working with women in and through local church. Two aspects have changed greatly, as I mention in that video: fixed structure versus organic (continually evolving) ministry and events versus Bible study as the main focus. Structure: When I first began working with women in the church, we focused on how to structure a multifaceted ministry to reach various generations, life stages, and experiences of women. We had big org charts that showed who led the ministry. Then the next level showed leaders who…
