The Practical Disciple

What if you could be saying this time next year, “I just finished the New Testament.” Today, I had a man come in my office and declare to me that he has finished the New Testament all but the Book of Revelation.  His Bible reading began last Lent when he adopted scripture reading as a lentenndiscipline. Multiple times he has come to me with stories of how a passage has spoken to him or how he understood something differently because of the scripture reading he is now doing. That could be you.

You could be a physically fitter you who saved money for 40 days. Last year I wanted to work on what I call body holiness and simplicity.  I realized that I hadn’t been the best steward of my health.  So, I gave up using my car except for when I had to transport other people.  I road my bicycle to work.  On rainy days I road the bus.  The lessons I learned were many.  To read about them click here. That could be you.

You could be sleeping better at night, better able to focus, and growing in your love of prayer and God. A couple of years ago, I adopted praying for one hour a day.  During that 40 days God brought great peace into my life.  You can read about my experience by clicking here. That could be you.

You could be a more grateful person with stronger relationships. That is what others experienced when they took on writing forty “love notes” for forty days. That could be you.

You could trim excess and clutter from your life. That is what happened to me when several years ago I decided to attack clutter and excess in my life by getting rid of forty bags of stuff in forty days.  I set aside forty grocery sacks and then filled one every day and gave it or threw it away.  I cleaned every closet and drawer in my home and office, my car and my garage.  It changed my relationship to material objects and deepened my gratitude. That could be you.

So how could this or even something better be you?

Look closely and you will notice a couple of changes to The Practical Disciple homepage.  Over in the right columns you will see a countdown until Lent. At the time I am writing this there are just 27 days until Lent.  You will also notice at the top of the home page there is now a “Lent” selection that leads you to a Lent page.  Currently, I am making available 7 handouts on the Lent page to help people like you have an amazing discipleship experience during Lent.  More will come over the next 27 days.  Pick one before Lent which begins Ash Wednesday, February 27th, and you are on you way to becoming a better disciple.  You will be on your way to being a better you for God.

I am posting access to these handouts NOW for two reasons…

First, I am encouraging people to prayerfully consider taking on a spiritual discipline during Lent.  Without a doubt my greatest discipleship strides have occurred during Lent every year for the past 5 years.  Mainly because I am extremely intentional about what I do and spend days ahead of time prayerfully discerning a discipline that will transform me as a disciple.  I guess that has rubbed off on my kids.  One of them, my daughter, last week announced at our dinner table, “I know what I am going to do for Lent this year.  I am going to raise money to buy a cow from Heifer Project.”  For those of you not familiar with Heifer Project , it is a christian ministry that provides needy people with live stock to increase their standard of living.  She is off and running toward that cow.  In fact, she is pursuing businesses to place out collection cans for her.  I am extremely proud of her.  She is a sophomore in high school and came up with this completely on her own.  Lent is not only going to make  a difference in her life, but the life of a family deeply in need.  That could be you.

Second, I want these free resources available for Pastors who would like them as handouts for their own congregations. Pastor’s please feel free to reproduce the handouts on The Practical Disciple for your own church members.  It can really make a difference.  If you are not a pastor and would like to see these handouts made available in your church, then copy and paste the following link into an email and send it to your pastor:  http://thepracticaldisciple.com/page_id126

If you have questions or Lenten discipline suggestions that I can share before the season begins please comment or email me.  Blessings from The Practical Disciple.