Across Church Street

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Practicing Our Scales

Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.

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Rescue

I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.

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Your Roots Are Showing

The life that I bring to the world can only be found in my attachment to Christ. His presence with me is essential.

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Connection

I live in a U.S. county with traffic problems. It's a peninsula, and what's not swamp land has been developed. Building new roads is difficult and expensive. Making things worse, roads that could connect don't.

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What's in the Bowl?

During a spring trip, my wife and I purchased a glass bowl. It's colorful and handmade. When I turn the bowl upside down, nothing falls out. Does that make it empty?

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Bewilderness

A dog barked in a distant hollow. Truck tires crunched on a gravel road far away. The woods were peaceful, but I was getting a little panicked.

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The Life Gauges have a priority

Expression comes out of formation. And encounter sources everything.

  1. HUMILITY | Worship God

  2. RESPONSIBILITY | Attach to Jesus

  3. ACCLIMATION | Live from the Kingdom

  4. IMITATION | Love the world

  5. MISSION | Persuade others

The Life Gauges have a priority. Worship supports the weight of all the others. Ministry is supported by all the others. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. His command is not “Come be fishers of men”. His command is “Come follow me.”

As we encounter him,
He forms us,
And we express.

For a lifetime, our greatest concern must be our posture of worship and our connection to Jesus. Only then can we have confidence in our spiritual formation and ministry expression.

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Approaching Greatness

A short poem about approaching God.

I journey His Greatness
to trembling’s door.

There
meet His Goodness greeting:

"Do not fear, my child.
Approach
my throne with confidence.”

My Father is fear extinguished;
Perfect Peace is my reward.

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Summarizing the Life Gauges

An overview of five formation gauges, with Scriptures. The dashboard begins with Humility and passes through Responsibility, Acclimation, and Imitation, on the way to Mission. These gauges are covered extensively on this Life Made Manifest website and in the book Taking A Zero.

Imagine we are simultaneously enrolled in five discipleship ‘colleges’. The ultimate objective of our education is fluency in the culture of God’s kingdom.

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HUMILITY | WORSHIP GOD
God is great. God is good. God is near.
We grow in our knowledge of God and our humble dependence on him.
(Mark 12:29-30, Acts 24:14-16, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 John 5:21)

RESPONSIBILITY | ATTACH TO JESUS | CO-REQUISITE: HUMILITY
Good stewards of God’s grace*.
We grow in our readiness to receive and take hold of the God-given position, authority, responsibilities, and resources available to us only in Christ.
(Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 13:24, John 10:27, John 15, Romans 11:16-22, 2 Corinthians 9:8-11, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Timothy 1:3-4, 1 Peter 4:10)

ACCLIMATION | LIVE FROM GOD’S KINGDOM | CO-REQUISITE: RESPONSIBILITY
People like us do things like this.
We grow into our God-given identity and we adapt to God’s ways.
(John 15:19, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 4:4-7, Galatians 5:16-26, Colossians 1:13-14)

IMITATION | LOVE THE WORLD | CO-REQUISITE: ACCLIMATION
We so love the world that we give.
We grow in our expression of self-denying, others-oriented love.
(Matthew 5:43-45, Matthew 22:37-40, John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13)

MISSION | PERSUADE OTHERS | CO-REQUISITE: IMITATION
Our story for God’s glory.
We grow in our discipleship influence on people and on every sphere of culture.
(Matthew 5:13-14, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 18:4, Acts 19:8, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 5:20)

ALL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Not by might, nor by our power.
We participate in God’s government by his power and appointment.
(Romans 8:13-14, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Galatians 3:3, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 2:22, Ephesians 3:5, Philippians 3:3)

*The word 'grace' used here to mean: the unmerited God-given desire, ability, and resources to participate in God's economy (purpose, plan, activity) as His beloved.

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