Two for Thursday

Tags

challenge, Church, disciple, internet, Kindle Deals, No Sweat Discipleship, Reading, reading plan, resources, Tim Challies, web

Welcome to another edition of Two for Thursday.  As always, I hope to offer you two quality resources from the web that have entertainment value as well as educational value.  Furthermore, if you have a weblink to a resource that you feel others would find beneficial, please feel free to share them in the “comments” section below.

The first resource that I’ll offer today is for those that love to read, or for those that would like to read more.  Many of you may already know of Tim Challies, but for those of you that don’t, he is a “blogger, author, and book reviewer”, and he has a variety of posts on a regular basis.  My personal favorites are his A La Carte posts in which he shares various links to articles and deals across the web.  Kindle Deals are regularly offered within the posts, as well as suggestions for books, software, and other articles.  Of particular interest to me today is his “2020 Christian Reading Challenge.”  About this plan, the article states:

The 2020 Christian Reading Challenge is composed of 4 lists of books, which you are meant to move through progressively. You will need to determine a reading goal early in the year and set your pace accordingly.

• The Light Reader. This plan has 13 books which sets a pace of 1 book every 4 weeks.
• The Avid Reader. The Avid plan adds another 13 books which increases the pace to 1 book every 2 weeks.
• The Committed Reader. This plan adds a further 26 books, bringing the total to 52, or 1 book every week.
• The Obsessed Reader. The Obsessed plan doubles the total to 104 books which sets a demanding pace of 2 books every week.

If you’re in for a good reading challenge, head on over and check his site out!

 

For our second resource, I’d like to present to you “No Sweat Discipleship.”  This is a discipleship tool that is designed to help disciple others.  The approach is straight forward in that it uses simple techniques to study, examine, and apply scripture accurately.  The website explains it this way: No Sweat Discipleship is a simple, transferable, and timeless tool to help every believer learn how to be a disciples maker. You can use it to invest in both a new believer and a seasoned believer. Join the No Sweat movement learning the foundational elements of a disciple’s life.

 

Having used this regularly at our church, I can assure you that it is a very good tool for discipling others.  Additionally, there are videos for each segment of the plan to help you better understand how to use it.  There are also forms that you can download and print, as well.

If you are interested in making disciples everywhere, then go on over and learn to use this valuable resource!

So, there you have today’s Two for Thursday!  Please take a moment to let me know if you found value in today’s offerings.  Or, if you prefer, just take a moment to say hello.

A Few Thoughts…

Tags

Bible Study, Blogging, Church, Community Group, Disciples of Christ, encouragement, God, Making Disciples, No Sweat Discipleship, waterfalls

My writing time has been few and far between as of late.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t have things to write about, rather, I think it has more to do with what I’m doing with my time, other than writing.

As recent transplants to North Georgia, my wife and I both have full time jobs.  When we aren’t working, we’re taking time out to visit various locations throughout this area that we dearly love.  It’s beautiful and breathtaking.  From the rolling hills filled with wildlife and waterfalls to the rivers, streams, and Lake Lanier, we simply feel that God has given us one of the desires of our heart to move here.  And simply put, we’re taking advantage of every moment.

One of our greatest achievements thus far has been to get involved with a local church.  Not only is it a church that we feel wholeheartedly that God led us to, but it is a dynamic church that is “on fire” for the Lord, especially when it comes to making disciples.  In fact, our church’s mission statement is to “make disciples everywhere.”  This is not something that is tossed about flippantly, either, but it is something that is taught from the pulpit, community groups, and regularly communicated by its members.  There is even a small booklet that we use called “No Sweat Discipleship” that not only helps you be a disciple, but it can be used to teach others how to be a disciple and to disciple others.  For more information, click here:  No Sweat Discipleship

Additionally, we have joined a community group within our church, and it has allowed us to make new friends and be involved in the “making disciples” process.  This is similar to a Sunday School class, but we also meet regularly outside of the church.  The women of the group meet together, as do the men.  Both groups are currently using the No Sweat Discipleship model to learn and grow in the things of the Lord.

As I previously stated, though my time hasn’t been spent as much writing here at the Straight, Narrow, and Sometimes Crooked, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t have as much to say, I guess I’ve started directing those efforts to other places.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t intend to continue posting here, because I do.  It just means that I feel that the Lord is leading me to expand my boundaries.  One way is through encouragement texts to the men in my community groups.  And if not for the encouragement of my wife, I probably wouldn’t be sharing one of those texts here, but hoping that you may find encouragement too, here it is:

“Men, last week I sent our a reminder for us to pay attention to what we let our mind dwell on so that we may glorify God even with our thoughts and not be compelled to sin.  This week’s thought centers around us keeping a proper perspective that we are “not home yet.”  Philippians 3:20 reminds us that “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enable him even to subject all things to himself.”  Furthermore, the Psalmist cries out “I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me.”  Psalm 119:19

It is imperative that we not lose sight of the big picture, as we live, love, and share.  Just as Abraham lived in the “land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob” and “was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God”, we too should be encouraged to know that all of those difficult trials and persecutions will culminate in a glorious homecoming in a place that our Savior has prepared for us!  Keep the faith!”

Thanks for stopping by the site, and if you’d like, please feel free to drop a comment!