I am looking forward to journeying through the book(s) of Ezra-Nehemiah. Below is a link to download a PDF file of the devotional/study guide that goes along with the weekly conversations. I am also linking The Bible Projects overview video which is fabulous!
Download the devotional/study guide here: EZRA NEHEMIAH Discipleship Guide SAPN
Somewhere along the line we settled for test scores and conforming to the “expected.”
In Eric Liu & Scott Noppe-Brandon’s book Imagination First: unlocking the power of possibility, he notes:
Today’s culture of testing and data collection in education was born of a good intention: to close the persistent achievement gaps of race and poverty. But over time, ends and means have sometimes gotten muddled. Too many public schools focus on the measurable to the exclusion of the possible. As a result, too many students end up better prepared for taking tests than for being skillful learners in the world beyond school. ~Eric Liu & Scott Noppe-Brandon
I believe they have landed on something here…But it’s not only in education, it’s everywhere.
It’s time to empower the “What if?” questions along with the “What?” questions.
I have noticed a vast difference…
A vast difference between being a Christian and being a follower of Jesus. Most people have an amazingly positive response towards Jesus, but when you ask them about Christians, well…the response is a mixed bag at best.
Take a moment and experiment with me. Launch a google search with the phrase, “why are Christians so…”
You will get page after page with responses like: “why are Christians so angry, mean, judgmental, hypocritical, hateful…” It takes a number of pages before you find a more positive response.
Here are the first 3 page that came up on my search which neted over 37 million hits:
In light of who Jesus is, how He interacted with all types of people, and how He modeled love on steroids, one might expect His followers to have the same impact, or leave a similar aroma with people, but the google results are in, and it isn’t favorable.
I am looking forward to the first conversation in my new series “What If?” where we will major on becoming more like Christ and less like the Google results!
Stress is killing us…literally.
BUT-God has a plan to de-stress and infuse you with real life.
I am about to launch a 6 week conversation about God’s divine subtraction plan that will de-stress and re-vitalize your soul.