Discipleship is _________________?
If you had to answer the question, “What does discipleship look like at your church,” what would you say? What kind of disciple is your church trying to create? Every book/article I’ve read on discipleship recently keeps coming back to this main question. Since our church (Velocity) began 5 years ago I've always thought we answered that question pretty clearly through our mission statement. “Velocity exists to Ignite the Faith that Fuels Your Life to Impact the World.” For the last 5 years we've explained our statement in the following way. We want to help people Ignite their faith for ...
Jesus is Not Your Boyfriend
Jesus does not want to be your boyfriend. But, if you spend too much time around many churches today, you might think differently. In fact, I think this idea has become so ingrained in our churches, most of us don’t even recognize it’s there (or a problem). But, it’s a huge problem, and can be especially confusing to a man attending church for the first time. So, I’d like to share 3 ways the church unintentionally encourages this idea and how we can change it. 3 Ways the Church Makes Jesus Your Boyfriend 1. What Jesus looks like. Whenever you ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 2
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. If you think God did some cool stuff in the life of this one man in the first two weeks of this series- wait until you hear the final two weeks. Listen to the final two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out what happens next. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 1
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. I've loved learning about the God of Elijah and I hope you will also. Listen to the first two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out more. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 1 (Is God trustworthy?) Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 2 (How far will God go for His kids?) If you ...
3 Things Jesus Calls Us To
Thanks to Mike Carlisle for collaborating on this post. http://radicaltreeoflife.blogspot.com God asks His followers to commit completely to following Him and there's only one other type of relationship on earth that can be compared to that level of commitment: marriage. There are 3 things that Jesus calls us to that are similar to the commitment of marriage. (1 and 2 won't make sense until you understand 3.) 1. An Exclusive Relationship: You can't say you love your spouse and have a boyfriend/girlfriend on the side. In your commitment to marriage, your committing to love and pour all your affection into ...
15 Greatest Movie Mentors (and 3 Things that made them Great)
In any movie, if you're working towards winning a goal, there's always a great coach right next to you, pushing you along. Below are 15 of the greatest coaches from movies. I came up with 3 things that made these guys great and listed them at the bottom. Maybe you can come up with more. 15. Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) The Mighty Ducks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVF1glhAfk 14. Coach Irv (John Candy): Cool Runnings http://youtu.be/aaov7DNICPg 13. Pai Mei: Kill Bill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETTsJggQl3I 12. Coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell): Miracle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c 11. Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood): Million Dollar Baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-69fLBlLQY 10. Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman): Hoosiers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJS9rFGCHE 9. Coach ...
Discipleship is Not About Do’s and Don’ts
When you think about discipleship, what comes to mind? I’ve been searching extensively online for great questions to get amazing faith discussions going but have become disappointed. Everything I found online about great discipleship questions fell into two categories. 1. Articles describing how important discipleship is (but not explaining how to do it). 2. A list of intense questions, often including, “How many times did you sin this week?” As I read intense list of after intense list I realized it bothered me and I think I know why. The process of discipleship is never about a list of do’s ...
15 Great Worship Songs to Start Your Day
Every once in a while I'll sit down and listen to some worship music. But, I'm always forgetting who plays the songs I like and I'll ask our church's worship leader, "Hey, who sings that song that goes, 'Aaaaamen....'?" He usually tries but has trouble narrowing it down from the terribly sung one line or word I give him. So, I figured I'd make my list and share it, in case you're also trying to find some songs to like. 1. Hillsong- Born is the King https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6OoAZbAQg 2. Gungor- Beautiful Things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is6weMrenls 3. Kristian Stanfill- Jesus Paid it All https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brVIlXlJRkQ 4. ...
10 Simple Discipleship Questions
I've been meeting with a few guys recently and so wanted to come up with one good question we could discuss each week. I feel like we've had some amazing discussions thus far, discussing God and sharing our lives. I love that one question gives us freedom to talk about life. It feels natural and not like we're trying to "check questions off a list." Note: I do want to be honest that I just came up with these questions and I'm only a few weeks into using them. But, I thought I'd share my process in case it'll be helpful to ...
Video: Kindergarten Faith
How do we develop a passion to grow- in ourselves and our people? Think about the alternative! http://youtu.be/6bIf6QD4GFg