Enter the Story - Your 9:9 Moment?

At CityEdge one of our practices is to be Story-formed. We believe God is telling a grand narrative of healing, love, and restoration. He calls us to align our story under His story. We discover our true reality and true identity in the narrative of scripture, aka the Bible. This is where we align our story with God's story. We enter the story. This is how Matthew 9:9 looks if it became Kevin 9:9.

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Kevin sitting in a cubicle. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Kevin got up and followed him."

Where is your 9:9 moment?

Strength of Community

Never underestimate the importance of community and how you discover yourself through community. Several years ago I realized that I have all the resources I could ever want. Well not all, but close. I have all the information, tools, and even access to experts to create and produce whatever my heart desires (within my skill set of course). The real obstacle is knowing myself. Knowing where I'm gifted and what potential I have. On our own we deceive ourselves thinking we are something that we are not.

This is why we all think we are going to be a rock star or an actor as a child before we ever pick up an instrument or hit the stage. Putting yourself out there in a community will not only make your work better. It will make YOU better!

Music Monday | Walk by Foo Fighters

A million miles away
Your signal in the distance
To whom it may concern
I think I lost my way
Getting good at starting over
Every time that I return

I'm learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learning to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
Where do I begin?

Do you remember the days
We built these paper mountains
And sat and watched them burn?
I think I found my place
Can't you feel it growing stronger?
Little conquerors

Now
For the very first time
Don't you pay no mind?
Set me free again
You keep alive a moment at a time
But still inside a whisper to a liar
To sacrifice but knowing to survive
The first decline another state of mind
I'm on my knees, I'm praying for a sign
Forever, whenever
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I'm on my knees
I never wanna die
I'm dancing on my grave
I'm running through the fire
Forever, whatever
I never wanna die
I never wanna leave
I'll never say goodbye
Forever, whatever
Forever, whatever

Easy Yoke

Matthew 11:28-30“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The challenge of Christians is to live like Christ, which is only accomplished by walking with him in obedience and discipline. People, in my opinion, use Jesus’ quote, “My yoke is easy”, out of context. Many take that to mean that Jesus teaching is easy, I disagree. Very difficult at times, especially to live out, but a yoke is to train you in right living (or work). Anyone who’s trained an animal with a yoke knows that you have to an accomplished trained animal to teach the untrained wild and wreak-less animal how to work. Guess what!?! You and I are wild and untrained and Jesus is the accomplished one who knows right living. The only reason Jesus’ yoke is easy is that Jesus is and has did most of the work. It’s easy only because he is guiding us. He has taken the lead and he has put his arm around us and picked us up and bared our burden. If we were on our own, the yoke is unbearable.

Who are you yoked too? Is it Jesus or someone else?

10,000 Hour Discipleship

If the mission of the Church is to make disciple making disciples, and it took Jesus 3 years, why do we think we can do it faster? Yes, I know that the Spirit has come which Jesus said was greater than him, but still, Jesus spent almost every waking second with these guys. He ate, slept, walked, and talked with these guys for three years teaching them to be like him.

In Outliers Malcom Gladwell lays out the 10,000 hour principle that says you have to spend 10,000hrs doing something to be an expert. Micheal Jordan, the Beatles, and the person who fixes your car and cuts your hair (hopefully) have this in common. They spent a significant proportion of time developing themselves into people who were fluent in _______. An expert in ______. Fill in the blank.

Is it any surprise that Jesus 3yrs x 365days/yr x 24hrs/day = 26,280hrs - 8hrs/day to sleep - and let's say 4hrs/day to send them out in twos - 1hr/day to go to the bathroom = you still have 12,045hrs they spent with Jesus. Well over 10,000 hours. By Malcom Gladwell's definition they are experts in Discipleship. God impressed this 3yrs idea on my heart when I was in the pre-launch phase of CityEdge.

Mike Breen lays out the three ways we learn in Building a Discipling Culture

1. Information - Class
2. Apprentice - On the Job
3. Immersion - A Fluent Culture

All are important in making disciples, but in my experience immersion is the most powerful, followed closely by apprenticeship, and information is a very distant third. In America we are over informed, under-equipped, and lacking in character. Information is empty talk unless it is put into action, skills aren't developed unless they are actively in practice, and character is developed over time within healthy relationships. Immersion allows all three to rub off; information, skills, and character = Wisdom. It is where the teacher teaches without knowing it. Apprenticeship is where you are teaching by doing it together. But Information lends to teaching the head without the heart and soul, body and spirit.

Why isn't your church making disciples? Have you put 10,000 hours into discipling people to disciple others? My guess the answer would be no. I know I haven't, but I'm changing that.

Disclaimer: The Good News is that God's Spirit is active and he is always teaching, leading, probing, and comforting. He always fills in the gaps where we fail in our discipleship. He is faithful to complete his work.