Discipleship is a lifestyle. Whether you're at work, school, or driving, every moment is an opportunity to grow.
Episodes
Thursday May 14, 2020
Thursday May 14, 2020
What happens at the end of a long day at work? All you want to do is go home, sit on the couch and turn off your brain. You just want to rest. But what if I told you that many of our common leisurely activities like watching tv or scrolling through social media aren’t actually restful. Doing them doesn’t take much effort, but they give us small, consistent hits of dopamine that makes them feel restful. But these activities only numb us. They don’t actually recharge us. As Alan talks about in this chapter, it takes effort to rest properly. And if we want to live an unhurried life, we must learn how to rest in a way that breathes life back into us, not numbs us to it.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Wednesday May 13, 2020
Wednesday May 13, 2020
How do you know if you're living a hurried life? If your goal as someone who lives a lifestyle of discipleship is to live a life of rest, how do you begin the change from stressed and hurried to rested and relaxed? In a famous sketch, Bob Newhart played a psychologist who gave his client probably the most important advice you could ever get for a hurried life: "Stop it!" Now this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to just stop being in a hurry. Instead, as Alan talks about in this chapter, it may just mean practicing disciplines of disengagement, disciplines that mean, well, stopping. You won't want to miss Alan's wisdom in this chapter that comes from his own experience over the last 30 years in ministry.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Tuesday May 12, 2020
Tuesday May 12, 2020
It seems that no matter what your culture is or where you’re at in the world, hurry has infected our way life. We all feel hurried. We seem to be perpetually busy, and yet, behind on our work. Whether it’s in ministry or some other vocation, we all feel pressured to produce at the highest level. We desire to be excellent in everything we do. And we should strive for excellence. But excellence doesn’t mean we should be hurried. As Alan Fadling points out, Jesus is proof that you can serve others with excellence and still live an unhurried, relaxed life. And as followers of Jesus, we must learn to make this unhurried life part of our lifestyle of discipleship.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Monday May 11, 2020
Monday May 11, 2020
You know the feeling. It's that constant, day-in day-out, never-ending sense that the next thing is waiting for you, ready to add one more thing to your list. You know this kind of life can't be what God intended, but you just don't see any way to live life differently. Kids need to be taken places, work needs to be done, groceries need to be bought, and bills need to be paid. And it seems like the faster you move in getting things done, the more things get added to your plate. We've got great news for you! A lifestyle of discipleship doesn't and shouldn't look like this. In fact, as Alan points out in this chapter, one of the most important things we can do as we follow Jesus is to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Friday May 01, 2020
Friday May 01, 2020
Ministers and leaders are often ambitious people by nature. They have a desire or drive to do something and accomplish something big. In this chapter, Chris and Josh take a look inward at their own ambitions and reflect on how God may be wanting to shape them as they pursue a lifestyle of discipleship.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
As we grow, it's tempting to compare our progress to those around us. We even have a list of beatitudes in Jesus' sermon on the mount where he lists qualities that we've adopted as a standard we should emulate. And as we compare ourselves, we can tend toward making perfection the goal. This is especially true for ambitious people. But as we seek to grow and to live a lifestyle of discipleship, there are some key dispositions we should look at that will help keep our unhealthy ambitions in check. In this final portion of our conversation with Emma, she unpacks these dispositions by looking at the beatitudes and the ways we can be inspired by others around us.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
What are you doing on a daily basis to cultivate your desires and make sure they are motivated by the kingdom of God? Whether we know it or not, our desires are what really drive our daily lives. And the scary thing is, most of us are completely unaware of the desires that are driving us. We think we are making decisions and taking actions based on pure logic. But our habits speak louder than words. We may profess to wanting to see more people in our churches, but the actions we take tell a different story about what we truly want. The good news is that knowing our desires, and recognizing the habits that form them, gives us tools for changing what drives us. Because if we are not living the lives we say we want, we may have unknown desires that outweigh the known. That’s why in this chapter, Bishop Emma helps us understand how our desires drive our actions, and why counting stuff isn’t a terrible idea.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Few would argue that excellence is a bad thing. We may call different things excellent, but excellence is always seen as good. And this desire for excellence is typically what drives ambitious people. We want to be the best or produce the best because we want excellence. But as our ambitions and desire for success move us forward, how can we know that the excellence we desire is truly excellent? And how can we know that we want excellence for the right reasons? As we try to live a lifestyle of discipleship, one of our tasks is to work to understand our identity. We're called to understand the way our actions are motivated by the person we believe ourselves to be. In this chapter, Emma unpacks the ways we can begin the inward journey of evaluating our motives and our heart. And, in the end, this work is one of the most important things an ambitious person can do.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Many Christian leaders have an internal drive that pushes them to be successful in life and ministry. They naturally want to seek greatness in everything they do. So they are drawn towards books and ideas on leadership and strategic planning. But they also struggle with this drive because as Christians they don’t want to seek their own glory. They recognize their purpose as a Christian is to glorify Christ. And so many Christian leaders struggle with the ambition that drives them. Can ambition be a good thing or is it something that Christians need to die too? This is why Bishop Emma's book, Ambition, is such a blessing. She helps Christian leaders understand what ambition and success should look like and how those of us who are ambitious can go about working to grow the Kingdom of God and not our own egos.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Taking time to pause and reflect on the values we have as a family is an important part of creating a spiritually vibrant home. It gives us a chance to understand why we do what we do and how we can be intentional about making our homes a place of growth. After this week's conversation with Don, Chris and Josh take some time to reflect on what was most impactful to their discipleship lifestyles from this week.
Check out the full show notes and resources for this episode at dailygrowthdiscipleship.com.
Get your copy of the Daily Growth Journal and start creating a lifestyle of discipleship with the simple practice of journaling.