New ventures call for old ventures to be left behind. And I have begun a new venture. 

This will be the last post to For Cost of a Thought.  No, I'm not done writing thought provoking posts I'm just moving them to a new place.

I'm here to announce that my blog is moving to www.astoldbyjosh.com

As Told by Josh was created to reflect the change in perpective that I've gained over the last 2 years. I am begining to see life as a big story book. One that has yet to be completed and is filled with twists and turns that make Hollywood producers jealous. 

Don't worry the topics will be the same. My interests have not changed only the way I look at them have. 

I will be keeping this blog until the end of 2011 but this is the last post. 

I look forward to continuing our discussion at www.astoldbyjosh.com

All Apple fans have had death on their minds since the announcements of Steve Jobs passing. I've been giving thought to what I would really want to say to you if this was my last day on earth. I'm not planning for it to be - but its something you don't know. These are some issues that I hope to address in my future however long or short it may be. 

1. Young ministers and older ministers need each other. Now. More than ever. 

More than ever young and old need each other to parse this culture which is over-saturated and over-stimulated. Young ministers feel the pressure to "have all the answers". This is impossible because the questions seem to change every hour, on the hour. More experienced ministers have had more years to wrestle through some of these issues. "But they don't understand/respect us!" is the cry of each party. How can we start to understand each other? There must be mutual admiration for the struggles that each generation goes through for struggle is the only consistent tie that binds us together. 

2. The Church needs a voice on social issues.

Do we really want the Westboro Baptist Church and their "God Hates Fags" message to be the voice that defines Christianity in our American culture? Right now, it is. Their message is constantly on the news, blogs, and the lips of those trying to figure out if God has anything to offer them. Should the church be defined by just one voice?

3. Pornography is a murderer. 

It should be arrested for committing war crimes against people who don't even realize that they are being hurt. Porn assassinates the soul, murders the mind, and rapes our relationships. Sorry for the harsh imagery...

Real intimacy trumps digital intimacy.

4. Creativity! PLEASE!

Can we try new methods please? We have grown fond of technological innovation that has brought us the radio, telephone, television, computer, internet, and constantly connected smartphones that deliver the information deemed both important and mundane. But when we suggest that we deliver the message of the gospel in any other way than a 3 point outline and a hymn we scream “heresy”. Come on Americans! Drop the double standard. 

5. Money will always run out. Fulfillment will always fuel your future. 

Most everyone I know is in debt. Some are in way over their heads. Some are managing it well. We learn that money is limited to the job that you hold or held. And at some point it just runs out. And when the vision/purpose of your life is to get money- well, when the money is gone so is the reason for being. There is an occupation that fulfills your soul. I don't know what it is for you. For me it is being a pastor and dedicating my life to help others encounter God. I can do that with money or without and thus my level of fulfillment helps me push on to the next day despite its hardships

6. It does not get better. 

Life will never get better for you because life doesn't change. I believe it was Chesterton who said that "All news is old news happening to new people." Life is what unites us and it never has gotten better. 

But you - you can get better. You are not an it. You are a dynamic person who has the power to choose how you react to this it we call life. Your attitude can get better. Your perspectives can get better. You can get better. But life never will. 

7. I love you. 

One of the last and most important thing I would say is that I love you. This is primarily directed to my wife and daughter. They taught me how to love and I gladly supply all the love I can must back to them. 

To you the reader - I love you too. Just in a much different way than I do my wife or child. I love you enough to tell you. Most people claim to love but never say the words. I hope that my actions can back up this statement when we meet someday. 

8. Jesus loves you more than I ever could. 

Jesus was the constant in my life. He never changed. My opinions, my view, my approach to Him may have changed over the years - but he never did. 

No matter what happens in your life - Jesus will be the constant. Even if you don't believe that he was God. Even if you don't believe in the miracles. Even if you don't agree with his teachings. Despite what you feel about Jesus he still died for you. 

Even if you believe that Jesus was some insane man who believed that by his death he could allow you to become a friend, child, worshipper of God - even if you believe that you still have to hand it to him that he actually went through with the plan and gave himself up for you. 

Doesn’t that mean, at the very least, you should give him a chance? Take a chance on Jesus because he died for you. I'm not dying for you. I don't love you that much. Jesus did. He proved it. At least you can check him out right?

You might be surprised at what you find.

One of the biggest buzz words in Christendom is "discipleship". And rightly so. Discipleship is the process of becoming more like Christ in our thoughts, actions, and motives. The latter, of course, driving the former. 

So why do I label it a buzzword?

Because everyone is trying it on for size. Discipleship classes and curriculum help mentors and ministers develop a way of "doing" discipleship. Meetings and retreats are scheduled in order that people can get away and get closer to God. As if becoming like Jesus can be relegated to a weekend experience that supposedly permeates the rest of your life. And it seems that everyone is looking for the formula that just works. 

So I have created the formula. (You can pay me for it later)

I am learning to _______________ Jesus. I will teach others to _________________ Jesus. 

Before diving into the depths of this beautiful formula allow me to lend my perspective on discipleship to you. 

Three points:

1. Discipleship happens. It it up to you whether its done intentionally or unintentionally. 

A lesser experienced Christ follower will imitate a more experienced and well-respected Christ follower. Think Christian see, Christian do. This replication goes beyond actions as well. Attitudes, both good and bad, are passed on from one believer to another. An experienced and respected saint that is seen always complaining gives permission to others to complain without ceasing. 

2. Actions must be seen in action, not just listed on a to-do list. 

You can't give people a list of what to do and what not to do and tell them to "figure it out." That's lazy anyway. Lazy disciplers lead to lazy disciples. You have to show people the how to not just the have to. 

3. You can only disciple others where you have been discipled yourself.

The most damage to discipleship programs is done when leaders think an overview course is enough to cut it. "Here is the big picture of what to do and now go do it." This approach may work to enhance the knowledge of disciples but it is not about what you know now is it? 

Maybe my Christian experience is different than most. But when I look back at my life I see specific seasons of growth that were concentrated in specific areas. Certain times I learned about trusting God in the midst of hard trials. Other points I learned about the necessity of joy-filled worship. There was even times when I learned how solitude was essential for my health and well-being. 

I was being discipled. Not in a class or at a retreat, but as my life was unfolding. And I was being discipled by those saints who spoke to me out of their experiences that happened to be similar to what I was going through. I learned more about being a Christian in short 2-minute conversations that I ever did in some 8 week course.  

This brings us back to the formula. We disciple out of what we know. 

I am learning to _______________ Jesus.

Fill in the blank. Encounter, trust, proclaim, worship, talk about, respect, praise, have faith in, spend time with, obey, love. 

Whatever we learn in the present season of life should be what we teach in the next season of life.

The formula continues:

 I will teach others to _________________ Jesus. 

The same verb here. What I learn, I teach. I will pass on to those who are on this journey with me. 

In order for a person to become discipled they must learn and teach. Some seasons of life demand more learning than teaching and vice versa. But both aspects must be engaged. Teaching without learning eventually becomes stale and hollow. Learning without teaching is like eating too much cake - eventually becoming so full that forward movement is difficult. 

Look, I'm not trying to dump on discipleship curriculum. I have good friends that have written discipleship curriculum and it is really good and beneficial stuff.But I really believe that curriculum is merely a starting point. Classes and retreats need to viewed as incendiary events that launch people into a series of discipling opportunities. But sadly some think discipleship is constrained to dates and times when following Jesus is the "focus" of the meeting and not done in the everyday flow of life where it is the most effective. I encourage you to join that class or get away on that retreat and I pray that God steps in and dramatically changes your life. But please don't live your life expecting that one class or one retreat is enough. Don't treat discipleship like a plaque that hangs on your wall of spritual achievements. Discipleship is about being indentified with Christ and shaping an identity is a 24-hour a day task. 

Most of our movement and travel is based on a destination. I need to start here and go there. "Gotta get from A to B" is a phrase that comes to mind. We drive, fly, ride from point to point. 

But running, at least for exercise sake, is about ending up where you started. We run around a circular track that brings us to where we started. Running around the block brings us back to where we started. The goal always seems to be to get back to where you started. Gotta get from point A to point A, as it were. 

The destination is the same as the beginning. Its only the length of distance in the middle that changes. (One mile or Four)

So with this profound truth now discovered I began to think of other events we take part of that have an A to A path. I could only think of one: 

Outreach. (The mystical and coded church word that means going to people to introduce them to Jesus and helping them find positive life change)

Outreach starts from Jesus with the goal to end up back at Jesus. It starts with leaving the walls of the church with the goal to end up back at the church. 

And for most regular church goers they already have most of this habit down. They come to church on Sunday, leave, and return the next Sunday. But with average church attendance shrinking year after year (depending on which study you read) there seems to be a disconnect - or more accurately a bad connection - between the physical leaving/returning routine and the reason why we leave and return. 

If you were to sit at the same table with your favorite athlete, pop-star, actor, and you met with them and they would do anything that you want and talk about whatever you want - would you ever want to leave?

No. 

But if the person you hold in such high esteem asked you to go and bring others to the conversation you would run out and grab all your friends and compell them to come and meet Brice Springsteen... or, whoever. 

But sadly we do not experience the same "bringing" fervor from people filling our pews and chairs. The Bible that church people read and cling to tells them over and over that God - the God - will show up and talk with them, meet with them and help them. But the only urgency seen on Sundays is to make it home to watch the game and eat the food. 

Even discounting Sunday as a day of rest, most church folks have little urgency during the other six days of the week. Yet they are out and about their lives with the sole desire to show back up on Sunday. Leaving church only to get back to church. But the reason that we leave church in the first place is to go bring others with us! It is pretty clear in Jesus' commission to his disciples that they should go and bring others back to Him. 

I get it some people like to run alone. They don't like to invite anyone to run along side of them. The time alone reenergizes and refocuses them. But thats only the case for running. To get fulfillment, to get refocused and reenergized out of the Christian life one must meet together (in church, small groups, etc) and introduce new people into the routine. Without new people joining, churches can become stale and repetitve. Even runners change courses from time to time, right? 

You know already if you are going to church this Sunday. You already know. You know what it takes to get there and how much energy you will have to expend. You also know that you might encounter Jesus in a different way this Sunday than you did last Sunday. But do you know who you are going to bring with you? Do you know who else in your life needs to encounter Jesus? Are you going to invite them on your run?