Talia Biel is a member at Crossroads Church. She is a sincere Jesus follower with a gift for connecting her faith to real life, and for sharing that through her writing. Check out her blog “Holding On To Faith.

Going Deeper (2) by Talia Biel
Not to us, but to Your name, be the glory. 
Last night I kept driving my husband nuts with singing this song over and over again. As I have been reflecting on going deeper last week and this week, this song came to my heart late at night.

The cross before me the world behind
No turning back, raise the banner high
It’s not for me, it’s all for You
Let the heavens shake and split the sky
Let the people clap their hands and cry
It’s not for us, it’s all for You
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory

And as I sang it, I sang it like a prayer right from my heart because for someone who wants to go deeper in my walk with Christ. I first have to remember before anything else that it is not about me. It’s so easy to get caught about in the ‘it’s all about me category.’ Once we become too focused in the self-centred category, the whole reasoning for going deeper in the first place is lost. If you want to go deeper, you need to be more Him-focused than I-focused. Continue reading ‘Going Deeper (2)’ »

Talia Biel is a member at Crossroads Church. She is a sincere Jesus follower with a gift for connecting her faith to real life, and for sharing that through her writing. Check out her blog “Holding On To Faith”.

Going Deeper by Talia Biel
This past week, as my husband was away at a conference. I had the opportunity to do some deep thinking and reflection (not always a good thing). It had been a tough week already with news that nobody wants to hear about certain family members, with a demanding work and school schedule to stay on top of. Keep busy. That’s what I would tell myself because I knew the moment I  allowed myself to stop and rest, my thoughts would go all haywire.

One of these nights as I was in my deep thinking box.

I couldn’t help but repeat this question over and over.

Is this really it? Is this all there is?  Continue reading ‘Going Deeper’ »

Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, Bob, why are you resisting me?
I said, I’m not resisting you!
He said, You gonna follow me?
I said, I’ve never thought about that before!
He said, When you’re not following me, you’re resisting me.
–Bob Dylan

“The ‘modern’ idea of church, or ecclesiology, it seems is that the church exists as a venue to “attract” the lost through dynamic programs, performances and events—the more dynamic the better. What one pastor friend of mine referred to as “theo-tainment.” The problem with emphasizing this approach exclusively is that a disproportionate amount of the church’s time and resources go into these efforts at the expense of discipleship and training the already saved. The result is the proverbial church that “is a mile wide and inch deep.” Yes, the local church may grow in numbers but rarely in spiritual maturity and the witness of the Church is often rendered lackluster.” (Michael Craven, What Happened To Making Disciples?)

The fundamental goal and activity of the church should be to – teach and train every believer to become a ‘disciple making disciple’.

Biblically and theologically, if we’re to become effective at ‘growing the church’, at strategically achieving ‘true gospel growth’ (both numerically and spiritually), then we’re to implement the scriptures call to build churches where making ‘disciple making disciples’ is our – ‘core vision’, and where challenging every believer to that task becomes our – ‘call to action’.

What’s needed in churches today to achieve that kind of vision is a culture change, a return to the practice of daily and mutual discipleship and disciple making. Such a culture change will require a redirection in the order of our priorities, renewed focus in our lives, and greater gospel intentionality in our ministries.

If the goal is to ‘make disciples’, and more importantly, to make disciples who make disciples (disciple-making disciples) the question is – what processes, activities or ministries must be put in place to most effectively achieve that goal?

Quoted from http://www.effectiveministry.org/introducing-disciple-making/

We do not need more information, we need more transformation!
We have been pouring bible knowledge into peoples heads for years.
Dave Browning observed: “I am convinced that the gap holding back most believers is not the gap between what they know and what they don’t know. It’s the gap between what they know and what they’re living… We are educated beyond our obedience.” (Dave Browning, Deliberate Simplicity)
Not that we should stop teaching, but we should not stop at teaching.
A mechanic who only has attended classes and read books is not prepared to work on cars.
They need to train, they need time as an apprentice to apply what they’ve learned.
And they need to try for themselves, step out of the class and into real world. Continue reading ‘Moving beyond information’ »

Today’s question is short, but not simple.
Please take a few moments to jot down your thoughts.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

I am wrestling with what this looks like for our church.
How do you set up a church that equips for, but does not take away from, our task in the world.
Even though we are trying to focus on our mission, just maintaining our church services takes a lot of effort.
How do we equip people and set them free to be disciples… and not just go to church?

(The following QA was hosted in Huffington Post, August 26, 2013)

How would you respond to Dr. Stenger?

Victor John Stenger, PhD (1935-2014), was an American particle physicist, outspoken atheist, author, philosopher, and a popular religious skeptic. He published twelve books for general audiences on physics, quantum mechanics, cosmology, philosophy, religion, atheism, and pseudoscience. His 2007 book God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist was a New York Times bestseller. His last book was God and the Atom. Dr. Stenger popularized the phrase: “Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.”

1. What do you say to someone who comes to the realization that this is all there is, there is no personal God?

Stenger: Deal with it. It’s a fact of life. Look at the bright side. You no longer have to worry about eternal punishment. Your life is now your own, not governed by external forces except for those imposed by the fact that you are a physical being in a purely physical world.