As it’s already been stated, Bible reading and prayer are the two most basic spiritual disciplines of Christian faith.  Prayer in the simplest way is talking to God.  It is sharing with your loving Father your heart, thoughts, emotions, requests, needs, cares, anxieties, worries, praises, thanksgivings, hopes, and desires.  The list could go on for days.  God speaks to you through His Word and you speak to Him through prayer.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of prayer.

Tip #1: Set up “triggers” in your life. We talked about triggers last week.  Take things that you do everyday and make them triggers for you to pray.  Here are some ideas to help you get started: taking a shower, using the bathroom, getting in your car, making coffee, getting in bed, getting ready to read your Bible, finishing reading your Bible, driving to work, driving home, finishing lunch, eating eggs, sailing on a boat, scratching your nose, and buying a tambourine. You get the idea. Take things that you do everyday and use them as a trigger to pray.

Tip #2: Have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you can easily become a random prayer. Whatever comes to your head at the time is what you will pray for. You will constantly be praying for the same things over and over. This isn’t necessarily bad, but there are a lot more things/people in your life that could be praying for.  So have a standard place where you keep track of all the things that you want to pray about. Then review this list at least once a day. This way nothing gets left behind.

Tip #3: Talk to God. 
This might sound dumb to some, but for others this will be an epiphany. I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but some people like to use what could be called “prayer talk.”  This is where a person suddenly embodies the spirit of a TV evangelist and sees how many times they can say the words God, Father God, Lord, or Jesus (whichever is the persons favorite) in a prayer.  It comes as a surprise to most that you can actually just talk to God. You don’t have to use His name as the punctuation to every sentence. You don’t have to speak in old English. You can just talk to Him. Just like you talk to your friends about your troubles and your successes, you can talk to Him. You can tell Him your struggles and failures. You can tell Him jokes. You can even be angry and cry out to Him (read a few Psalms and you’ll get the idea). Prayer is you simply talking to God. No flair. No technicalities. No special formulas. Just talking.

Tip #4: Write it down.   When you develop a habit of constantly praying, it becomes easy to forget what you’ve prayed about.  Therefore, you can lose track of whether or not God has answered your prayers. This is so you can look back and see how God has answered your prayers over time.  Keep it simple though.  Don’t set a limit. That means no minimum or maximum. It puts an unnecessary burden on you. Some days you will write pages worth of prayer to God. Other days it will be the simple phrase, “God help me.” The idea is to simply write it out.

Tip #5: Keep it simple. During the time of Jesus, Jews would have standard prayers for everything that they would do. You would have a standard prayer for plowing a field, eating a meal, drinking wine…even going to the bathroom.[i] The key was that most of these prayers were only a sentence long. The reality is that our prayers don’t have to be five minutes long for God to hear us. Sometimes the simplest prayers are the best prayers. If you can only think of a few things to say to God, then say them. God isn’t keeping a tally of how much you pray. He just wants to hear from you.

Tip #6: Keep it sweet. 
Remember whom you are talking to. While God is the King of the Universe, He is also the Lover of your soul. One of the reasons that David was a man after God’s own heart was because he was passionate and honest with God. He was open and honest as you can only be with a closest friend. The worst prayer isn’t a long prayer or a prayer said in Old English but a prayer that has no heart. If you aren’t praying out of a love for God, then are you really praying?  The reality is that this is the core of all prayer…to seek the face of God….to seek after His heart. Prayer is one of the most intimate times we have with God. Treat it that way.

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1-2

In the beginning, God created us in His image.  Like a mirror, we were created to reflect God’s glory to the world around us.  Unfortunately, sin entered the world and our reflection became distorted.  Our mirrors became bent and broken.

The story doesn’t stop there though.  Jesus entered our world and imaged the Father perfectly.  He reflected God’s glory to the world perfectly.  Everything he did showed us a perfect image of who the Father is.  Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”[i] Jesus imaged the Father.

We are called to image Jesus in the same way that Jesus imaged God the Father.  As disciples we are being conformed into the image of Jesus.[ii] Bruce Ware describes our imaging this way:

Created and finite representations (images of God) of God’s own nature, that in relationship with Him and each other, they might be His representatives (imaging God) in carrying out responsibilities He was given to them.  In this sense, we are images of God in order to image God and His purposes in the ordering of our lives and carrying out of our God-given responsibilities.[iii]

In the next three weeks we will focus on three distinct areas in our lives in which we are called to image God.  We are called to worship Jesus with all of our lives, live in gospel-centered community, and be on mission in the world around us.  For now we will simply focus on the thought of imaging God.

Now that our identity is in Jesus, our lives are called to be a reflection of Jesus.  Our mirrors are being repaired so we can image Jesus in everything we do, think, feel, and say.  This is only possible because of the relationship that we now have with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit as we are continually purified into the image of Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus, it is our goal that every aspect of our life would reflect God’s glory.  Our families should reflect God’s glory.  Our finances should reflect God’s glory.  Our relationships should reflect God’s glory.  Our jobs should reflect God’s glory.  Spend this week focusing on how you are called to be an image-bearer of God.

[ii] Romans 8:29

[iii] Wayne Grudem, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood (Crossway Books, 2002), 79.

So where does our journey begin?  Jesus.  It all starts with Jesus.  He is the creator of all things.  He is ruler over everything.  He holds everything together by His power.  He came to earth; humbly born of a teenage virgin girl in a dirty barn in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago.  He lived a perfect life by the power of the Holy Spirit.   He was betrayed by one of His closest pupils.  He was beaten to a bloody pulp and died a brutal death on a wooden cross for our sins.

It is in the work of Jesus on the cross that our relationship with God the Father is reconciled. Because of the sin of our father Adam, we were separated from God.  In our sin, we ran as far away from God as possible.  Before Jesus, we were viewed as sick-wicked-evil-despicable-depraved-sinful people.  God the Father was ready to pour His wrath out on us.

But God, in His grace, came after us.  He pulled us out of our sin and placed us in Christ Jesus.  For those whom God has called to Himself we are now viewed “in Christ.”  We are now “holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”[i] God the Father no longer sees us.  Instead he sees his Son Jesus Christ.

This happens in what Martin Luther called the great exchange.  On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon himself, and in exchange he gave us his righteousness.  The Apostle Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”[ii] In Jesus, our sin has been exchanged for His righteousness.

But it’s not just about the removal of our sins; everything we do as Christians is “in Christ.”  We are sanctified in Christ.[iii] We serve in Christ.[iv] We are redeemed in Christ.[v] We are made alive in Christ.[vi] We are no longer condemned in Christ.[vii] We are one body of believers in Christ.[viii] We are a new creation in Christ.[ix] We are reconciled to God in Christ.[x] We have freedom in Christ.[xi] We are spiritually blessed in Christ.[xii] We are created for good works in Christ.[xiii] We are encouraged in Christ.[xiv] We become mature in Christ.[xv] We are strengthened by grace in Christ.[xvi] Even our physical death is in Christ[xvii] (and this is just the short list).

If you have put your faith in Him, you are now in Christ.  We no longer have our old sinful identity.  We have His!  We have received His righteousness as our own.   We now have a loving relationship with God the Father by the blood of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Spend this week focusing on your new identity in Christ Jesus.

[ii] (ESV)

[iii] 1 Corinthians 1:2

[iv] Romans 16:3, 9

[v] Romans 3:24

[vi] Romans 6:11, 1 Corinthians 15:22

[vii] Romans 8:11

[viii] Romans 12:5

[ix] 2 Corinthians 5:17

[x] 2 Corinthians 5:19

[xi] Galatians 2:4

[xii] Ephesians 1:3

[xiii] Ephesians 2:10

[xiv] Philippians 2:1

[xv] Colossians 1:28

[xvi] 2 Timothy 2:1

[xvii] 1 Corinthians 15:18, 1 Thessalonians 4:16

My week at Re:Train for the Spiritual Formations class truly helped me to solidify what my concept of a disciple is.  Before then, I had only given minimal thought and study towards the question, “What is a disciple of Jesus?”  Let me clarify my definition of a disciple before I move forward with the implications this has on my ministry.

Before we can understand what a disciple is, we first have to take a look at what a disciple isn’t.  While each of the following is an aspect of a disciple, none of them by themselves give us a full picture of what a disciple is.

First, a disciple isn’t a mystic.  A mystic’s whole life’s goal is to seek to be in the presence of Jesus.  While this is a noble task and one that we should all seek to some degree, it is not a disciple.

Some would say that a disciple is a student.  A student’s goal is to gain knowledge from a teacher.  While we need to grow in our understanding of Jesus and the gospel everyday, a student and a disciple are two different things.

Third, some think of a disciple as a practitioner, focused on actions.  They want to do what Jesus did.  They love seeking out the methods of Jesus and seek to do the same thing as He did.  While we need to learn to do what Jesus did, this isn’t a disciple.

Lastly, some people think of a disciple as a professional.  In his or her mind, a disciple is someone who has finally arrived.  They have read several books, taken classes, and probably hold some kind of title in the church.

So if a disciple isn’t a mystic, student, practitioner, or professional, what is a disciple?  To begin, we need to take a look at what it would have culturally meant to be a disciple during the time Jesus was on earth.  Ray Vander Laan talks about the education system and the relationship between a rabbi and disciples.

A few (very few) of the most outstanding Beth Midrash students sought permission to study with a famous rabbi often leaving home to travel with him for a lengthy period of time. These students were called talmidim (talmid, s.) in Hebrew, which is translated disciple. There is much more to a talmid than what we call student. A student wants to know what the teacher knows for the grade, to complete the class or the degree or even out of respect for the teacher. A talmid wants to be like the teacher, that is to become what the teacher is. That meant that students were passionately devoted to their rabbi and noted everything he did or said. This meant the rabbi/talmid relationship was a very intense and personal system of education. As the rabbi lived and taught his understanding of the Scripture his students (talmidim) listened and watched and imitated so as to become like him.[i]

A disciple doesn’t want to know what the rabbi knows or do what the rabbi does or simply be in the presence of the rabbi; he wants to do all these things to become who the rabbi is.  The disciple’s sole focus is to become who the rabbi is.  So this shapes my definition of a disciple:

A disciple is someone who is on the path to becoming like Jesus by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  As the disciple becomes more like Jesus, they find their identity in Jesus and image Him by worshiping God with all their lives, living in gospel community with other disciples, and going on mission to make more disciples of Jesus.

Tomorrow we’ll break down this definition a little more…

As you know, we moved into our house back in Dec and have to make a lot of renovations. So Shannon and I  took this week off to try and get everything done. Here is our to do list for the week.

- turn half wall into full wall in master bedroom (frame, drywall, and mud)
- tear down fake brick chimney
- paint living room
- paint bedroom
- finish paint cabinets
- finish painting guest bath
- install bucket lights in kitchen

Shannon and I are trying to get this all done by Wednesday, because we head out on Thursday for our 5 year anniversary. Hopefully I won’t die by then.  My hands hurt so bad right now from swinging a sledge hammer yesterday.  It’s a lot of fun swinging a sledge hammer while you’re doing it, but you have a price to pay the next day for all the fun.

So I’m following Brook’s footsteps and taking over a month to do this.  I was tagged…the idea is this:

1. Post these rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of you post
4. If you tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

So here I go….

1. I can wiggle my ears…independently.  I can wiggle just my right ear, or I can wiggle just my left ear.  This is what happens when you have no life.
2. I had a dog named Vern when I was growing up.  It was so dumb that it would run into the fence when you would call it from the other side….needless to say this would happen often.
3. In Jr. High I was the stinky kid.  I hit puberty and no one really told me that I needed to take a bath more than once a week.  I’ve gotten better though.
4. I was a die hard anti-Apple until about 2 years ago.  I saw the errors of my ways and converted to the one true computer…and I’ll never go back.
5. I have a tattoo on my back of a cross with tribal print behind it.  I would get two sleeves too if UPS and my wife would let me.
6. I’m my own uncle….yep…try to figure that one out.  Just so you know…there was no incest involved and everything was legal.

So there you go….now here are my six.

Shannon, Dustin, Brad, CJ, Clayton, and BK

So about six months ago Shannon and I started our search for a home to buy.  Being first time home owners we had a vague idea of what we wanted in a house….three bedroom, two bath, lots a space to grow.  Our realtor started showing us houses in Albquerque, and we started to get depressed.

It seemed like there weren’t really any good houses in our price range.  They were either to small or so run down that they were on the verge of being condemened.  That was until we came accross “the house.”  The second we walked through the front door we fell in love.  It had everything we were looking for in a house and then some.  Most importantly it was in our price range.

There was some small problems though.  The Realtor for the house was a little crooked.  He was part owner and was trying to do a short sale.  But he failed to mention that he was a part owner and that the house was going to foreclose on if he didn’t get someone to pay cash for it in the few days he had left.  By God’s grace we found out and didn’t get caught in a huge mess that could have happened.

So fast forward to this last Sunday.  The house ended up going into forclosure, and no one bought it at auction.  So it came back on the market this last Sunday as a HUD home.  That brought up some small problems since we are qualified for a FHA loan and generally it’s hard to buy HUD houses with FHA loans.  Things are ok though, but we have one last issue to overcome.

HUD houses are sold by a bidding process.  Everyone interested in the house puts in a bid (not knowing if anyone else is bidding or the other bids if there are any) and the most cost effective bid for the government wins.  There’s no counter offers or anything.  You get one chance.  So now we are seeking the prayer support of all our friends.

We really feel like God is opening up the doors for us to get this house (there is so much more to the story that I’m not sharing due to time).  This house is more than a house.  We see it as a place where we can truly do ministry for God.  The only thing we have left to figure out is how much we need to bid.

So please pray that God would give us a clear direction on what to bid for the house.  Pray that He would give us wisdom. Pray that He would give us peace.  Pray that He would ulitimatly give us the house.  Thanks so much and feel free to pass this along to anyone else.  We are meeting with our realtor on Thursday to put in our bid and will find out on Monday if we got the house or not.

Every now and then I have to go on business trips for UPS.  I really don’t like going.  Generally their pointless, but mostly it’s because I have to be away from Shannon (and now Asa).  I have to eat alone, watch TV alone, and sleep alone.  It’s really depressing.

But this week Shannon and Asa went with Shannon’s mom to Denver to see some family.  I have determined that I don’t like going on business trips…but I hate having my wife and kid leave me at home alone.  Like a business trip, I have to eat alone (and now I have to make it too), watch TV alone, and sleep alone, but I have to do this at home where everything reminds me of them.

I’ve been cleaning the house today so Shannon can come home and relax, and everything reminds me of the two of them (hince the reason I’m blogging to take my mind off of it…but I’m blogging about them so it’s not working).  Making the bed, folding the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house, all reminds me of the two of them.  So I’ve determined that I’m never letting them leave me home alone again…..yeah that’s about it.

So men…if you’re at home with your wives and kids…realize your blessing and tell your wife how much you love her and spend some time playing with your kids.  Sometimes you don’t realize how pitiful you are until you’re all alone again.

P.S. Don’t worry about me…Shannon and Asa come home tomorrow.

This is just a quick post to give you and update on the baby.

Shannon had her regular appointment yesterday with our Midwife.  Things are looking good with the kid.  We got the results back from our last ultrasound and everything looks normal.  He is growing at a normal rate and Shannon is doing fine. Shannon is starting to get a little bit of a tummy, and she is able to feel the baby moving (he’s not big enough for me to feel him move yet).

We are also interviewing a couple of doula’s on Friday (tomorrow).  If you don’t know what a doula is, you can read about it here.  They are awesome!  Thanks for everyone’s prayers and thoughts during this time in our lives.  YOU ROCK!!!

Sorry it has taken so much time to post an update on the state of the baby. Shannon and the baby are doing fine. We had a couple of scares with some bleeding, but everything is fine. We’ve had several ultrasounds and we’ve heard the baby’s heart beat. The doctors have said that everything should be clear sailing from here on out.

Shannon is currently at 16 weeks. Her nausea has gone away and she is feeling better than ever. We will have her next appointment in January and should find out the babies sex shortly thereafter.