- What do we do with Jesus's statements about wealth, and what is his message to an American culture?
A host reads Jesus's hard sayings — "blessed are you who are poor" (Luke 6:20), the treasure hidden in the field (Matthew 13:44), and the rich man told to sell all he has, plus the camel and the eye of the needle — and the hosts ask how an American culture is supposed to obey them. The discussion lands on motivation over rules: money is God's tool, the Holy Spirit regulates how each person holds it, and the honest response to "sell all you have" is "gulp." A host recounts his own failed experiment of jumping to 10% giving without listening to God, taking nine months to dig out of overdrafts and credit-card debt, and another describes learning to buy tents and sleeping bags for homeless people instead of trinkets.
More on Discipleship
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Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
- Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
A host asks whether following Jesus should feel more comfortable as time goes on — noting the low-level tension many feel around am-I-doing-enough and the stigma that contentment equals laziness.
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Confetti and lasers: what should God's people be known for?
- Do we want to be known as the confetti and lasers people?
- What should God's people be known for?
Ben redirects to the docket's denomination question: when someone hears Silas's church described as 'the confetti and lasers people,' should that sting?
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
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Recovery ministries, charismatic experience, and sustainable faith
- Can recovery ministries replace a chemical high with a spiritual high, and is that sustainable?
A long pastoral discussion starting from recovery ministries, which tend to come from charismatic backgrounds: the risk of trading a chemical high for event-driven spiritual highs.
From No. 555 · The Aslan Wears Prada
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What does it mean to make disciples
- What does it mean to make disciples — is it just giving information, or does it involve accountability and structure?
The hosts take up the third topic: two extremes of disciple-making. On one side, being only an information provider and leaving everything to the Spirit; on the other, running…
From No. 545 · By Invitation Only