Writing to Help You Find and Share the Hope of Jesus
Posts related to sharing, teaching, and communicating the truth of the gospel to others.
"What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."2 Timothy 2:2 A guy I’ve been mentoring for awhile told me recently that he was able to share hope and encouragement in Christ to someone who had reached out to him … Continue reading What Snacks Teach Us About Making Disciples
"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble."Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 I was in a meeting earlier this week where the speaker, Rob Loane with Vantagepoint3, shared a great visual for … Continue reading In Search of More Mountain Guides: Making Disciples by “Traveling With” Instead of “Talking At”
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”Psalm 127:1 Mentoring is the focus of my work these days. ATLAS, the ministry I work with, disciples hurting people through their struggles by connecting them with volunteer mentors. For many mentors, myself included, there are times when helping someone follow Jesus seems … Continue reading The Rooting Power Of Prayer In Making Disciples
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”Proverbs 27:17 “You need to make sure you have a mentor.” Those were the wise words Pastor Ben Green, a former ATLAS Board member, told me when I first became director of ATLAS. He rightly understood that if I wanted others to see the value of mentoring … Continue reading Why You Need a Mentor: 4 Good Things Mentors Give Us
As my daughters get older, I’m increasingly aware of my decreasing voice in their lives. Other influences (friends, media, etc.) are becoming more prominent. My dad jokes aren’t funny anymore. (Well, they’re still funny, they just biologically won’t be able to laugh at them again for probably another 15-20 years). Yes, I realize I still … Continue reading Wrecking Your Witness – 6 Ways to Make Sure Nobody Listens to You
It is the Lord who goes before you. - Deuteronomy 31:8 “You go first.” This is a statement my wife and I have heard frequently over the years from one of our daughters to our other daughter. From jumping into a lake to trying new food, our youngest has often served as a guinea pig … Continue reading “You Go First” – Giving Others the Gift of Going Second
In my part of the world (rural Minnesota), we are now over a month into this COVID-19 crisis that has gripped much of the world for even longer. If you haven’t been paying attention over the past month, then you’ve likely missed some important information. Because one thing a crisis will reveal to us is … Continue reading Faith at Work in a Crisis
Yesterday I finished reading The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. This insightful book provides an intimate look at British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, his family, and his cabinet during the German bombings, or “Blitz”, of England prior to the United States’ entry into World War II. One of Churchcill’s most remembered traits, of … Continue reading The Right Words for the Right Moment
At our ATLAS Mentor Workshops we often talk about examples of mentoring found in the Bible. We’ll talk about elements from different relationships like Jesus and his disciples, Paul and Timothy, Jonathan and David, Priscilla and Aquila with Apollos, and others. These are almost always entirely positive examples. But I’ve been in the book of … Continue reading Mistakes Were Made – Examples of Mentoring Mistakes in the Bible
“Let us therefore strive to enter [God’s] rest”Hebrews 4:11 “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1) “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) In other words, don’t miss this. That’s the urgent cry of the book of … Continue reading Strive to Enter God’s Rest – 5 Helps to Continue Believing the Gospel
