Author: Jonathan Dodson

Discipleship Begins at Home

Posted on August 26, 2009

Winfield Bevins provides parents with a helpful list of practical ways to pass along the Christian faith to their children. I have made a few edits to his list.

Develop Gospel Family Rhythms

  • Develop family rhythms around the Gospel, predictable times of worship, prayer and Bible reading. Consider doing them around meals, a time when the family should be gathering together free from the distractions of media.
  • Don’t isolate the gospel to predictable times; integrate prayer, worship, and Bible into every day life. When we isolate we program our children for legalism. Show them the gospel in everyday life.
Bible Practices for Family Rhythms
  • Read from a good children’s Bible. Remember to have fun with your children while learning the Bible.
  • Avoid being uber serious and unrealistic expectations. Keep the time brief to hold the child’s attention.
  • Get some Scripture flash cards to do over a meal. We use cards from DGM, but if you know of cards with better pictures for small children let us know!
  • Use the verses in context, applying them to everyday life for instruction.
  • Put the verses to music or rhythm. Your child will enjoy singing and clapping their hands.
  • Get a Scripture Song cd to play in the car. We use this one.

Missional Communities in Suburbs?

Posted on August 26, 2009

If you are doing missional communities in a suburban context, I’d love get get some feedback from you.

  1. How would you describe a missional community? [polldaddy poll=1917669]
  2. Some argue that MCs are only effective in an urban context. Would you agree or disagree?
  3. Have your missional communities grown by adding non-Christians?
  4. What are your top three best practices for your MCs?
  5. What has been your biggest struggle in creating MCs?

Thank you for sharing your insights and time. This reserach will be used for my breakout session on Missional Communities at the Acts 29 ENDURE Bootcamp.

Is Your Mission Driven by Prayer?

Posted on August 24, 2009

I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. I’ve been convicted that if prayer is the engine of mission, then I’m not as missional as I thought! On Sunday, I confessed that I’ve been engaged, in the words or Richard Lovelace, in horizontal communication at the expense of vertical communication.

The proportion of horizontal communication that goes on in the church (in planning, arguing, and expounding) is overwhelmingly greater than that which is vertical (in worship, thanksgiving, confession and intercession…The old midweek prayer meetings for revival have vanished from the programs of most churches or have been transformed into Bible studies ending with minimal prayer. – Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 153

How about you? Horizontal better than your vertical? Maybe we need to bring the old mid-week prayer meeting back! How about your missional communities or small groups? Have they devolved into Bible Studies that simply tack prayer on at the end?

And how about your praying? In order to grow in my intercessory praying, I told our church that if they filled out a card with a prayer request I would pray for them once a week for the rest of the year. It’s already increased my joy in prayer and in mission. I plan on doing this several times a year.

Also, I can’t recommend enough Paul Miller’s book  A Praying Life. It takes prayer off of top-shelf spirituality and places it in the everyday person’s hands. Insightful, gospel-centered, and inspiring.