Author Archives: chadzaucha

Loved this book by John Ortberg.  He reflects on conversations he had over the years with Dallas Willard and the lessons learned in regard to care for the soul.  The message is much needed in this culture of hurry.

“Our soul is like a stream of water, which gives strength, direction, and harmony to every other area of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do, because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom, including nature; and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream. Therefore we are in harmony with God, reality, and the rest of human nature and nature at large.” — DALLAS WILLARD
IN RENOVATION OF THE HEART

Ortberg, John. Soul Keeping (p. 12). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

I simply can’t get my mind off this chart.  I hope that it will have the same impact on you.  It is from Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden.  The point is to contrast evangelism (addition) with discipleship (multiplication).  In essence, if one person were to invest in making 2 disciples each year (VERY DOABLE), and then those 2 disciples would do the same, in 16 years there would be 65,536 disciples.  By contrast if 1 person were to lead 365 people to faith each year (would certainly be wonderful!), the result after 16 years would be a much smaller net of 5840.  2 disciples a year.  WHAT. ARE. WE. DOING?  How can we help each other fulfill the task of making disciples the way Jesus did?

A couple of months ago Anna was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  The good news is that it was caught early, is slow growing, and is highly treatable.  Part of the treatment is that today she is having her thyroid and some lymph nodes removed.  She is currently in surgery and will spend one night in the hospital.  We have seen God at work throughout this journey, especially in that her treatment is at a wonderful medical center in Milwaukee where Anna  has been doing a civil engineering internship working on a parking garage at that facility.  Please keep her in your prayers today and in the days to come.

I had a flashback today of something my wife did for me years ago that I just needed to share.  Early in our marriage I was commuting from Cadillac to Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary to complete my Master of Divinity degree.  I had a lot of reading to do and an hour and a half drive each way.  So, to make the most of that time, Christy in the evenings would record herself reading some of my text books out loud.  I would then listen to the recordings (cassette tapes!) while I drove.  This was not the most inspiring material, probably some of which she didn’t grasp (or even care to!), but she read it anyway–out loud, so I could make the best use of my time.  This is just one of so many examples of how Christy goes the extra mile.  

https://twitter.com/MarkDever/status/1144219631625875457

An important shift happened for me not long ago.  The shift was from preaching to the congregation to instead preaching to God.  Put another way, the shift was from preaching for the purpose of exhortation to instead preaching for the purpose of exultation (worship).  When my preaching was focused on moving the congregation, I felt such a pressure to make it happen.  But since my preaching has been focused on worshiping God, there has been such a freedom.  And wouldn’t you know it:  the best exultation would seem to result in the most effective exhortation.  I am not far into this book by John Piper, but it seems to flesh out and put into words my recent experience.  It feels good to be on the right track, even if I am a slow learner.