'whole-life' Tagged Posts
Equipping and Encouraging for the Frontline – We Gather to Scatter
One of the key steps in cultivating whole-life discipleship in the life of a church is reevaluating and reimagining the role the church plays in the lives of faithful disciples. If Sunday morning corporate worship is not the purpose and most “spiritual” moment of the week, if all Christians are called to ministry, if everyone has a frontline where they’re invited to be a part of God’s work in the world, then our time gathered together becomes about equipping and…
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…
Discipled in the Everyday, For the Everyday – How to do Life-on-Life Discipleship
“When I met them, I was in a season that I didn’t have anyone to guide me,” Leigh Hamlet says about the couple who first discipled her. She was in high school at the time, full of questions and unsure how to fully live out her Christian faith. That’s when she met Dan and Lisa (you can read more of Dan’s story here), and their relationship has been pivotal in her life as a disciple of Jesus. Leigh says her…
How Do Relationships Equip Whole-Life Disciples?
When Dan Sylvia reflects on his own discipleship journey, he can’t help but mention his friends. The communities that have been formative in his growth have not been about a revolutionary Sunday morning service but about the relationships that have focused him on the reality that “every day, all day, you’re never not a Christian.” This vision of whole-life discipleship has shaped the support and relationships he seeks out as a pastor. A few years ago, he and another pastor…
Spiritual Connectivity / 6Ms of Fruitfulness on the Frontline
The yellow light blinked slowly, alerting me that there was a problem. I asked Alexa for help, and she told me plainly, “I’m having problems connecting to the internet.” So I called the help desk to get the wireless router back online, but when the technician told me to cycle the power on the modem, the call dropped unexpectedly—I had forgotten that the phone also required an internet connection! Since you’re reading this, you know that I eventually did get…
Worship Leaders Needed / Whole-Life Worship
If your church is typical, you’ll have at least one person who is designated as a ‘worship leader.’ While the responsibilities of this individual vary from church to church, it often includes welcoming the congregation, offering prayers, and inviting everyone to sing songs in adoration to Jesus. As one of the lay leaders in my congregation, over the past year I’ve had the privilege and responsibility to do this. It has been an honor to be able to lead the…
Faithful to the End – John Stott’s Last Week
When we talk about ‘whole-life discipleship’, often what we are referring to is every aspect of our lives – our work, play, volunteering, etc. In other words, how can we live for Christ every day of the week. But it also means every phase of our lives. For example, living as a whole-life disciple will look very different for a freshman in college, as compared to someone in mid-life, or someone who’s recently retired. I recently heard someone share a…