'Vere Institute' Tagged Posts (Page 2)
How to Survive Enduring Uncertainty and Transition
Rashad Clemons was in the middle of a major transition when the pandemic struck. He’d recently moved back to the east coast with his family to become the new pastor of Reality Church Boston. The plan was to do a one-year handoff, in which he would be the pastor-in-residence and slowly receive responsibilities and leadership as the planting-pastor transitioned out. When the pandemic hit in the middle of this year, the plan had to change. Rashad remembers that he and…
Spiritual Formation in the Midst of Chronic Illness (Mary and Peter Frey – The Frey Life)
“Mary, how has having cystic fibrosis affected your relationship with Jesus?” This question from a summer camp nurse sparked Mary Frey’s curiosity years ago. Since then, part of her journey with a chronic illness has been learning how to ask how following Jesus fits into a broken situation. “The illness that I have does not define me, in the sense that it is not the entirety of who I am, what I am, and my purpose in life,” Mary says.…
Encountering God in Loneliness (Jason Gaboury Book)
Jason Gaboury says he’s wrestled with loneliness his whole life. He felt this sense of disconnection in a particularly powerful way when he was in his mid-thirties, with two young kids at home, doing campus ministry. His home was in a “constant state of relational connection,” but he still felt lonely. “My assumption was that if I was lonely, there was something wrong with me,” he says. “A lot of people assume that. They assume that if I’m lonely, I’m…
Walking with Others Through the Valley (Kim Findlay Story)
Content Warning: This post contains a story of loss and tragedy that may bother some. Fifteen years ago, I sat on a waiting room couch, frozen in fear as the doctor delivered devastating news. “The little girl’s daddy, he’ll be okay. The recovery will be long, but he’ll survive.” Time held its breath as my reality began to shift. “But the little girl? She’s not going to survive.” A few hours earlier, firefighters battled a blaze that engulfed our home,…
The Call Has Not Changed (No Matter the Election Results)
As I’m writing this, it’s still October. I’m sitting on the other side of the election than you are today. Still stuck in the campaigning, the uncertainty, the pre-election rhetoric. When you read this, the election will be in the past tense. The votes will have been cast. And (Lord willing) the results will be in. Some of you will be rejoicing and relieved. Some of you will be mourning, angry, or afraid. Those feelings will coexist in our churches…
A Nuanced Kind of Christianity – The Kingdom of God and Politics
It is clearly evident that we are living in polarized and polarizing times. Christians in America find themselves facing several converging issues at once: the fray of an election season, ongoing conversations about the need for racial justice, all while continuing to navigate a pandemic. What are disciples of Jesus to do in the face of polarization and contention? How does the Kingdom of God shape the way we live in such a context? In the face of such questions,…
Can Whole-Life Discipleship Prevent Pastoral Burnout?
In a time when he was struggling personally, someone came up to Drew Thurman after his sermon and said, “I just wish I had your faith.” He says, “I was dying inside, but they equated the fact that I was on a platform, with theological training, presenting the Word in a way that stirred them with a certain spiritual status.” It became a paradigm he knew he had to shake, but not only because he wanted to embrace a vision…
How Do We Talk About Politics In Church? Political Discipleship
Does God care about our politics? How do we grapple with politics through a discipleship lens? And what role does a pastor play in this process? This is something Jonathan Romig has reflected on as a part of his pastoral ministry. The first need in connecting whole-life discipleship and politics, Jonathan says, is a self-awareness of how our politics shape us spiritually. “When you turn on cable news or that podcast, you are being discipled, even if you don’t realize…
Through the Valley: Whole-Life Discipleship in Suffering and Hardship
I whispered the words to myself in the dark: “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” They came easy and familiar to my mind, and I could feel my heart and breathing still as I repeated them. They were the reminder I needed. They were a prayer anchored in God’s character: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” What a promise—God’s abiding presence…
Frontline Stories From the Whole Body of Christ
It has been a privilege and delight to share the stories of Equippers and Frontliners with you over the last several weeks. As I’ve sat down (virtually) with each of these brothers and sisters to hear what faithful discipleship looks like in their own context, I’ve been repeatedly encouraged. This is part, I believe, of why we need to hear stories like the ones we’ve been sharing this summer. It’s not only about learning from each other, though this assuredly…
Matter-of-Fact Faithfulness & Whole-Life Discipleship (Donny Terenzoni)
Something I love about whole-life discipleship is how matter-of-fact it sometimes is. There’s no fanfare or fireworks for many of us, just simple day-in, day-out faithfulness in the spheres God has planted us. This faithful discipleship in the everyday makes me think of people like Donny Terenzoni. When Donny thinks about what ordinary faithfulness looks like lived out, he says, “The biggest thing for me is how you live and how you act.” Once, in the Navy Reserves, when a…
Follow God’s Nudge – Brooke Sulahian & Hope for Our Sisters (Fistula Prevention & Treatment)
One of the beautiful realities of whole-life discipleship is that you never know where it will take you. It may push you to have a brave conversation with a co-worker, to give sacrificially of your time or money, or to take a different outlook on your role in the Kingdom as a parent. Or it may motivate you to start a nonprofit. This is what happened to Brooke Sulahian. She says, “We are all designed for something bigger than ourselves,…