Being a Disciple is Simple: Listening

fear not God can be trusted.

Thank you for your prayers.

Stephen Pressfield in his book The War of Art
talks at length about the resistance all creative people face.

And if you are called
to be a warrior artist for the Kingdom of God,
then you often feel like you are constantly 
pushing 
against the direction of
the culture,
the larger arts community,
and the church.
This is why God told Ezekiel
he was going to make his forehead
as hard as flint.

The only way you can succeed
is by cultivating the reality of 
Jesus Christ in you.
Greater is he that is in you
than the one that is in the world.
This isn't just spiritual talk.
It is a practical reality.   

Over the next few weeks 
I want to share the practical realities of being a disciple.

And where we begin 
is making ourselves familiar with 
the voice and nature of Jesus.
Too often religious people only read the letters of Paul
or the latest book.  
Paul is commenting on Jesus.  
Jesus is the rabbi.

Over the past year I have asked all those who come to me for direction
to follow a very simple process.
Go get a new notebook--nothing fancy,
a cheap school notebook.
Get a pencil.
Read the appointed gospel lesson for each day
and sit.  
(you can find it here.)
You are reading the gospel so that you hear from Jesus.
Write down what you believe God is saying to you.
If you don't hear anything, 
write down what "jumped out" to you in the reading.

Over time, 
you are going to get "tuned" to the voice of the Shepherd.
And over time you will discover two things:
You will start to recognize 
where your "blind spots" are when you are listening to God--no one is perfect.
And you start to discern the sound of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
And you will recognize when someone sounds really good,
but they aren't.
You are called to take a place at the gate,
and you need to know the sounds all around you.
It is a matter of survival.

This process is the first step to getting tuned 
to the reality of
Jesus in you.

Christ in you
is what will make you different
and make your work both easier
and more interesting.

God is not looking for religious artists who sell stuff.
I've said this for a long time, 
and now that reality is hitting many people.
If you are going to thrive in the real world,
you have to be rooted and deep in Jesus.

Keep it simple,
sit and listen.
Anyone can be a disciple of Jesus.

He Never Fails,
+ Christ


It's hard to believe I will be in London in 5 days!  God is good, and we are looking forward to face to face connections with our U.K. Belonging House fellowship.  I took the picture of the phoenix on St. Paul's Cathedral the night I left 18 months ago.  It's motto means, "I Rise Again."  AMEN!