Discipleship Unveiled

As Christians we can have trouble developing the mindset to do the things we know the Lord called for us to do. Spending time on our prayer list, reading the Word and connecting with other Christians on a consistent basis is almost a mystery to solve. Well, what if we thought of ourselves as Christian entrepreneurs? We generally think of an entrepreneur as being a businessman. The truth is, an entrepreneur is "also" a businessman. They may perform many tasks but more importantly, they are someone who is passionate about an idea. This passion is carried out through a variety of activities. The Dictionary.com definition tells us that an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. The Many Hats of an Entrepreneur  An entrepreneur wears many hats. Let's use the actions presented at the beginning of this article as an example. When we pray, read the Bible and connect with...

Miracles are generally attributed to an event where someone is in a bad situation that seems impossible to get out of. A person gets thrown from a car in a horrific accident where the driver seat is crushed. Somehow that person sails out the window 50 yards and sustains minimal to no injuries. Miracle! It does happen and these really are supernatural events. I'm sure we could all reflect on when one of these unexplainable events has occurred in our lives where we witnessed something that seemingly, should not occur. Yet, somehow it does. Many see these providential moments as acts of God. They are so moving, due to the supernatural aspect of the event that we tell the story for the rest of our lives as an inspiration to ourselves and others. We ask, "maybe God is working on my behalf. Maybe there is a purpose to life?" We as Christians take great joy in celebrating this power and mercy of our Lord and we should. Yet, let's look at a kind of miracle that God...

It's inevitable that when we are in a conversation we are going to say something that is wrong. It can be a misspeak, a missed truth, a missed fact, a misunderstanding. We could simply just be wrong. So, then what's next? As Christians, we are not responsible for knowing everything. We are responsible to continue to learn about our Lord and to be curious about God and His ways. So, there's no reason to be embarrassed. Just apologize quickly and move on! Confess your sins to each other... - James 5:16 NLT That's it! When you or someone you're engaged with in conversation points out something wrong, and it's clear that it's wrong, apologize and move on to the truth. Wasting time waiting to see if what you said will eventually "work itself out" can cause you to drift away from the truth. It will certainly get you off topic and can render you ineffective in the conversation. There a good reasons for apologizing quickly and moving on: Y...

Ok, you find yourself in another philosophical discussion with someone and you are sharing details of your belief system and they are sharing about theirs. It can quickly become difficult to track on all the rabbit trails that can occur as well as the vocabulary challenges. Sometimes we are using common words that mean something different to others. An expert communicator is acutely aware that this happens in nearly every philosophical discussion. The idea is to minimize misunderstandings and clarify thoughts. It works both ways, too. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and realized that you were actually making the same case? It's funny but things like that can be preempted by summarizing as you go.  Test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. - 1 Thessalonians 5:21 NLT Summarizing has its greatest effect when you start early in the conversation. We don't want to assume what someone means when engaged in a thoughtful conversation. The detai...

Many times when we are having a difficult discussion with someone we are being sensitive to not only what to say, but what not to say. We get the feeling that if we "bottom line it" or say something that is generally against common assumptions, we're going to exacerbate an already uncomfortable interaction. It could be something politically incorrect or it may go against a misunderstanding in science or challenge a preconceived idea. It could be about a bad behavior or maybe the boss making a bad decision that hurts you or someone else. We've all had these uncomfortable conversations where we need to speak up and say something that may anger someone. We want to be respectful and think about how we will deal with the situation. We want to follow the scriptures that tell us to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove but this may mean something else, as well. We may find that the best way to address the subject is to simply say the things that need to be sai...